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Broadsheet Celebrating the Defeat of the Act of Union, 1799Broadsheet printed in Dublin (W. Dowling) 1799, 60 x 48 cm. Lists in black the members of the Irish Houses of Lords and Commons who voted in favour of the proposed union with Britain, and in red those who voted against. (The motion was carried in the Lords but narrowly defeated in the Commons, to the joy of the publishers of this document.) At top centre is a portrait of John Foster, Speaker of the Commons, in a wreath of shamrocks and oak-leaves, beneath which are a cap of liberty on a pole and the Speaker's mace, with the slogan "Irish Constitution obtained in 1782 - Preserved in the Defeat of an Union 1799" followed by the text: "Dedicated to the Glorious 111 Irish Commoners who on the 26th of January 1799 saved the Legislative Independence of their COUNTRY". As a broadside. Scarce. (1)

M/ss Book of 18th-century French Lessons in AnatomyManuscripts: Comprises notes on a course of Lectures in Paris University. The first two sections cover problems associated with "women's matters" - sexual intercourse, venereal disease, pregnancy, through to post-natal infections; the third (dated 8 September 1765) is a general guide to anatomy. 244 + 267 + 176 pp., cont. full calf.The author, Antoine Petit (1722-1794) was a celebrated, innovative and highly successful professor of anatomy and an authority on surgery and childbirth, who devoted much of his substantial wealth to the provision of medical facilities for the poor. His most famous student was Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, proponent of the method of execution that bears his name, as a m/ss, w.a.f. (1)

Important Early Photograph Album of Irish & Other Military FiguresCo. Cork: Military Interest: Album (28cms x 39cms) in fine original green leather binding with blind and gold tooling. 48 ff (several blank). The owner was R. Roberts of the 9th Regiment and the album contains a large number of photos of officers in the regiment, some singly and some in groups, and also of the regimental sergeants and of officers in other regiments. They are captioned and one is dated 1864. The album also includes photos of famous paintings and sculptures, topographical views (Kilkenny, Cork, Malta, Venice, Gibraltar, Corfu, Pembroke Dock), and of men and women in costumes, including an attractive photograph of Mrs Jane D'Esterre Hill, presumably taken soon after her marriage in 1866 at age 22. There are also coloured cut-outs of French military uniforms.The 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot fought in battles of the First Afghan and Sikh Wars, 1841-1846, and there is a photo of a monument to soldiers who fell in those actions.Many early photograph albums have no captions; this one clearly identifies the officers of a particular regiment in the 1860s and thus forms an important document of the period, in a contemporary full green and tooled décor mor. As an Album. (1)

Seven Beswick Beatrix Potter figures - BP3b - Sir Isaac Newton and The old woman who lived in a shoe; BP3c - Simpkin; Tommy Brock; Diggory Diggory Delvet; Mr Alderman; Ptolemy & Susan (7) Condition Report No chips or cracks

A rare Elsa Schiaparelli couture military inspired evening coat, 1935, Schiaparelli London label, numbered 26519, of heavy red twill 'Rouge Gaulois' wool by Ducharne, the triangular front yoke with six pendant gilt curleque buttons, designed by Jean Cocteau, with unfinished, top-stitched seams, half lined in red silk, bust 86cm, 34in The wool used in this coat is redolent of British Horse Guards uniforms. The stiffness of the fabric emphasises the severe, clean lines of the tailoring.Provenance: Margaret Allsopp, a beautiful Canadian socialite who lived in London and thence by family descent.See 'Elsa Schiaparelli: Empress of Paris Fashion' by Palmer White pp98-99, for a reproduction of a Christian Berard sketch of the coat which is accessorised by fingernail gloves, face-mask fan and a snood.See 'Shocking!' by Dilys Blum pp101-2 for illustrations of this model.The Metropolitan Museum has an identical coat, accession no 2009.300.2625. CONDITION REPORT: Exterior is fresh and good, nice even colour. Very, very slight soiling to hem edge (minor). Buttons are good. Coat is half lined in silk. Lining has split and perished generally - mainly centre back fold area, underarms and cuffs. Overall the piece is good condition

A fine couture bridal gown and train, probably Madame Handley-Seymour (court dressmaker), 1937, un-labelled, of bias cut oyster slipper-satin, with overdress of embroidered ivory lace further adorned with silver bugle beads and 'seed pearls', the draped sleeves open at the shoulders, with matching belt and similarly adorned 308cm, 10ft 3in train, bust approx 86cm, 34in; together with copies of newspaper clippings recording the event (qty)Provenance: worn by Miss Gundred Cunliffe (niece of Sir John Aird, equerry to the Duke of Windsor, who walker her down the aisle), 24th July 1937 upon her marriage to Mr Mervyn Charles Fraser. They spent their honeymoon motoring on the Continent. CONDITION REPORT: Good condition. Dress has been taken in down both side seams. Train is good condition, no problems.

Audrey Hepburn's Jacques Fath cockerel feather hat and matching muff, 1956, with Jacques Fath Paris label to interior, the silk lined tulle toque covered in layers of pewter-coloured plumes, with matching black satin lined muff; together with a copy of 'Harper's Bazaar', October 1956, showing Audrey modelling the hat on p131 (3) In the Harper's article 'Paris Hats - They Fly by Night' it describes how feather hats are 'flying through every collection in Paris...Fath's turban of silver gray cock feathers, settled like a satiny, extravagant hairdo on the piquant brow of Audrey Hepburn, who carries more plumage in its matching muff. Both I.Magnin, Marshall Field, Frederick & Nelson'. Provenance: Purchased Sotheby's New York, 'Planet Hollywood, Selections From the Vault' Auction, lot 55, 14.12.2002.

A fine Mila Schön couture silver beaded and white tulle evening dress, circa 1966, labelled, of white tulle over ivory silk, covered with shimmering Swarovski crystal and bugle beaded snowflake-like roundels, bust 81-86cm, 32-34inMila Schön gained international recognition when two of her white and silver dresses were worn at Truman Capote's Black and White Ball in November, 1966, by Marella Agnelli and Lee Radziwell, who were voted first and third best-dressed women respectively. CONDITION REPORT: Good condition, the tulle is slightly snagged in places, minor losses of beadwork which are not immediately noticeable. Very faint perspiration marks at underarm edges. 2 small brown stains to front left midriff and lower left skirt area.

A collection of framed and mounted Yves Saint Laurent 'Love' cards, 1970-1999, complete run of years with the exception of 1978 and 1993, seven frames each containing four photographic prints, one depicting a nude figure encoiled by snakes, 1973, another of Yves' pet dog Moujik, as painted by Andy Warhol, 1991, each approx 22 by 17cm, 113 by 31cm framed (7)Yves Saint Laurent created his 'Love' cards for thirty years (1970-2000) as 'cartes de voeux' to send New Year's greetings to his friends and colleagues. Each year he would design a bright and bold collage to accompany the word 'Love', which remained his chosen message of good will. This collection of cards were sent to Michael Morris, who was the UK license holder for YSL menswear worldwide during the period. He informs us that the missing years were when YSL was unwell. CONDITION REPORT: Good condition. Frames have some marks, scratches, one corner needs mending. Cards are good.

An Alexander McQueen man's green and yellow woven wool coat, 'It's a Jungle Out There' collection, Autumn-Winter, 1997, narrow white on black label, size 50, the front panel printed with a detail of an angel from Hans Memling's 'The Last Judgement' (1467-71), chest 107cm, 42inIn an interview in 2004 McQueen said, 'I would love to buy a Memling but I don't think I could ever afford it'. In Memling's painting, Archangel Michael weighs souls to see who should be saved or damned. CONDITION REPORT: good condition, faint biro mark to angel's face

A fine John Galliano tailcoat, 'Filibustiers' collection, Spring-Summer, 1993, with black on white John Galliano satin label, size 40, of viscose/rayon linen-effect weave, with black leather rear collar and cuffs, the slashed hanging sleeves revealing pink and ivory damask inner sleeve, the interior seams all beautifully bound in burgundy tape, bust approx 81-86cm, 32-34in On the catwalk an identical example was worn by Helena Christensen.This was Galliano's first collection in Paris under his new backer Faycal Amor. The idea for the collection was of shipwrecked female marauders who wreaked havoc when they came ashore. The clothes in this collection are from specially woven and finished fabrics and are made to a semi couture standard. CONDITION REPORT: Overall good condition, very fresh appearance. Perspiration stains at underarms to moiré lining but this does not go through to the front. Rust spot to rear right sleeve.

Coronation robes for a Viscount and Viscountess, first half 20th century, comprising: Peter Jones cotton velvet kirtle with silver brocade waist-strap with detachable train, white fur trim; the Peer's robe by Northam of silk velvet and ermine, lined in taffeta; with two matching plated coronets (5)Provenance: worn by Edward Knollys (who was Governor General of Bermuda during the second World War) and his wife Margaret née Coats. Both sets were worn to the 1952 coronation, but the Viscount's robe could be earlier and worn at the 1911 and 1937 coronations. CONDITION REPORT: generally good condition

Princess Margaret's Horrockses Fashions printed cotton summer dress, 1967, with 'By Royal Appointment' label, comprising: short strapless sundress with boned bodice and matching button-backed overbodice with bow to neck, bust 86cm, 34in, waist 61cm, 24in; together with a newspaper clipping and a Daily Mail supplement showing the Princess wearing the ensemble with Lord Snowdon on a visit to the Bahamas in 1967 (4)Provenance: Between 1990 and 2001 the vendor's father was head gardener at Alanbay Park when it was owned by The Hon Mrs Jean Wills (née Bowes-Lyon) and Major John Wills (of Wills tobacco fame). Mrs Wills was first cousin to HM the Queen and a Lady in Waiting to HRH Princess Margaret and they regularly played host to the royal family. This dress was included in a bundle of old clothes belonging to Princess Margaret that Mrs Wills had been asked to sort through and either to donate to charity or burn. The vendor's mother picked out this particular dress thinking her daughter (who would have been a teenager at the time) might like it. Suffice to say the young girl declared she 'wouldn't be seen dead in it' and it has remained in a drawer wrapped in tissue paper ever since. CONDITION REPORT: Good condition, no problems

Princess Diana's Caroline Charles printed tartan wool day dress, worn to the Braemar Highland Games, September 4th, 1982, labelled Caroline Charles, with black cord outlined yoke front and back, black buttons and cord loops to fasten, ivory grosgrain collar and cuffs, separate tie belt, bust 86cm, 34in, waist 66cm, 26in; together with a Telegraph magazine which includes a photograph of the Princess wearing this dress, accessorised by a dark green Argyll cap, accompanied by Prince Charles and HM The Queen, who seemed to be clearly enjoying the occasion (3)Provenance: Purchased by the vendor from a dress agency in Hampshire in the 1980s. She was told in confidence by the shop keeper that the clothes had been consigned by a relation of Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. See KTA lot 208, 14.6.2016, for Princess Diana's Emanuel tartan wool ensemble which came from the same shop.Caroline Charles, the designer of the dress, has confirmed that only one dress of this style was made - exclusively for the Princess. CONDITION REPORT: Collar and cuff have faint stains. Approx. 6 small moth holes on front of skirt, two 1cm moth holes to left front side of skirt near hem, a few pinhead moth holes to shoulder area, 1x2cm hole rear right of skirt. Hem has come down and needs re-stitching. Lining has perspiration stains at underarms and slightly at side waist. Discolouration at hem edge. Tie belt has a couple of small patches of peppered moth holes. Overview: generally good, some moth damage but not easily visible.

Princess Diana's Bruce Oldfield crushed purple velvet evening gown, worn for an official visit to Portugal, February 11th, 1987, Custom Made label, the wide, off the shoulder neckline outlined by a band of horizontal pleats, with slim inner skirt and trained over-skirt with draped side panels, with original coat hanger and Christie's lot ticket, bust 86cm, 34in, waist 71cm, 28in (3)Princess Diana wore this gown when she and Prince Charles attended a dinner given by Portuguese president Mario Soares at the Ajuda Palace, Lisbon. On this occasion she chose to wear it with the dazzling Spencer family tiara, which she had previously worn on her wedding day. The Princess sat for an official portrait wearing this gown by the photographer Terence Donovan.Provenance: 'Dresses from the Collection of Diana Princess of Wales' auction, original Christies, 25th June, 1997, lot 74. After purchase this dress was never worn or tried on and is in the same pristine state as when last worn by the Princess. CONDITION REPORT: Good condition, no problems. Princess Diana was the last person to wear this as vendor who purchased it at Christies auction handled it with great respect.

The Bentinck Apron, English, circa 1720-30, of ivory tabby silk, lavishly embroidered in lustrous gold thread and coloured silks with exotic blooms and edged in gold bobbin lace, 105cm, 41in long Provenance: This apron belonged to and was made for Lady Isabella Bentinck, second daughter of Henry, 1st Duke of Portland. Isabella's grandfather was Hans Willem Bentinck, created 1st Earl of Portland (1649-1709), confidante and courtier to King William III and her grandmother was Anne Villiers, Maid of Honour to Princess, later Queen, Mary. Isabella married Henry Monck of Charleville, Co. Wicklow in November 1739, and eventually died in 1783. The apron passed through the female line to her daughter, Elizabeth who married George, 1st Marquess of Waterford in 1769, and then on to their fourth daughter, Elizabeth, Lady Beresford, who married Sir Dennis Pack in 1816 and thence by descent to the vendor. CONDITION REPORT: Colours are as fresh as the day it was made, but numerous splits in silk ground mainly along fold lines

A rare Paul Poiret ensemble for his famous One Thousand and Second Night party, 10th January 1914, large woven Poiret label, the back annotated in ink '45.278 - Mme Barachin Germaine, Robe de la Reine de Perse', comprising: fuchsia velvet harem pants with attached nude organza bodice richly overlaid with bands of Russian silver bobbin lace, with pearl beaded ankle bands; worn under a cloth of silver tunic with long trained hem, raised fuchsia velvet botehs embroidered in silver thread and seed pearls to the chest closure, entirely edged in large pearl beads; the elaborate conical cloth of gold headdress adorned with emerald and sapphire 'jewelled' medallions, with wing-shaped wired silver lace side panels and earring-like pearl droplets to each side, topped by ostrich plumes, bust 86cm, 34in (3)In his memoir 'King of Fashion' 1931 pp98-99, Poiret wrote 'It was on returning from a Bal des Quat'Z'Arts, in the month of May 1911, I think, that I decide to give, in my salons and gardens in Paris, an unforgettable fête, that I called 'The Thousand and Second Night''. He was aided and abetted by his close friend Raoul Dufy.Poiret described how, on the night, his guests had their costumes vetted and if they had arrived in evening dress or fancy dress that bore no relation to his Persian theme they were requested to go upstairs and change into costumes that he had thoughtfully provided, but if they refused then they were asked to leave.Mademoiselle Barachin obviously wanted to look her best and commissioned Monsieur Poiret himself to make her costume. She was rewarded by being dressed by the couturier as 'the Queen of Persia', which was surely a great compliment. His own beautiful wife, Madame Denise Poiret, was dressed as the 'Queen of the Harem'. She was ensconced in a large gilded cage surrounded by her 'ladies of honour'. His guests were treated to a lavish party such as had never been seen before with orchestras, dancers, exotic food, the trees covered with' luminous fruit', exotic birds and monkeys, who all escaped in the dawn over the roof tops of Paris.Poiret himself, was dressed as the Sultan of course. He described how at the beginning of the evening, when all of his 300 guests (composed of artists and 'sensitive amateurs') were assembled, he opened the gate to the cage to restore his 'favourite's freedom'...'She flew out like a bird and I in pursuit of her, cracking my useless whip. She was lost in the crowd.. Did we know, on that evening that we were rehearsing the drama of our lives?'.Poiret sadly recalled, 'These fêtes, in which I gathered together all my friends, did me a great deal of harm among my enemies, and raised against me those who had not the good fortune to be admitted to them.'This opulent party was seen in retrospect as a last great 'hurrah' before World War I was declared later in June that year. Poiret's business post war, with his love of excess, orientalism and fantasy was never to fully recover in a world irrevocably changed by war.Provenance: Elisabeth Barrachin, the elegant daughter of a rich industrialist (Pierre Barrachin), who became the Marquise de Ségur upon her marriage in 1925 to Philippe, Count de Ségur-Lamoigon. CONDITION REPORT: Harem pants ensemble - the nude organza bodice has been repaired and in places re-backed. The lace and velvet areas are good. Jerkin - silver lame is lustrous, pearl beads along hem have been replaced with near identical examples, fabric is frayed and worn around the closure. Hat - good condition, slight wear to lining. Feathers have been replaced with identical plumes

A fine Jeanne Lanvin couture bridal gown, Summer 1935, labelled and numbered 22872 to the slip, the bias-cut gown with large pearlised floral corsage to the neck, long curved, full sleeves, with matching circlet and satin belt, the pointed train with diamond seaming, 350cm, 148in long, bust approx 86cm, 34in (3)Provenance: worn by Anne Marie Astraudo (1914-2004) for her marriage to Christian Bricard (1911-2000) who was director of the department store 'La Belle Jardinière', Paris. CONDITION REPORT: Dress has perspiration stains at underarms, light soiling to train. Clear celluloid film is lifting off the petals in places, a few creased petals but generally good. Original glue marks on inside of bodice from corsage. Headdress is generally good condition, a few of the petals are creased and the clear celluloid film covering the petals has begun to lift off in places. Belt edge has slight rust mark and pin hole to pointed tip. Slip is good condition, 2 white marks below right breast (minor).

2000 GINETTA G27 series IV 1800 cc Registration number W 591 CBC. Chassis number G27S395266. Engine number 95266. Ginetta was founded in 1958 by the four Walklett brothers (Bob, Ivor, Trevers and Douglas) in Woodbridge, Suffolk, they moved premises a few times and following the retirement of the Walkletts in 1989 the company was sold but failed, and was then bought by an international group of enthusiasts, based in Sheffield. Many models have been introduced over the years using a wide variety of engines from the Ford 105E in the G4, through the Hillman Imp 875 cc in the G15 to the Rover 3.9 V8 of the G33. Today they are a fundamentally a track car company with many levels of competition. This particular example in Lotus Racing Green was ordered from Fereday Cars of Hampshire for Keith Neaves of Maidstone in Kent, documents supplied with the car show the total build cost of £19,069 with a comprehensive list of all of the components. The one "old" part of the car is the re manufactured live rear axle, everything was new; the Ford Zetec 1800 engine had a 30 bhp upgraded cylinder head with Raceline ECU, wet sump and manifold, using twin DCOE45 carburettors, mated to a 5 speed type 9 gearbox. The inside is fitted with a Sparco wheel and four point harness and has a full mohair hood and tonneau cover; in addition there is a rare hardtop with the car. The car passed its Type approval on the 26th October 1999. By 2003 it had passed into the hands of Rob Gurney of Northampton with a mileage of 3,466; in March 2005 the next owner was Michael Baker of Leigh on Sea in Essex, when the mileage had risen to 6,224. Our vendor acquire her in September 2007 and had four years of fun with her, taking the mileage up to the present 11,374 but he has not used the car since 2011 due to work commitments. Now she awaits a new owner who will respect the handling and power of this road/race car, weighing only some 650 kilos with about 160 bhp on tap! Gentle recommissioning of the whole engine and braking systems is advised before taking her out the road. Offered with the V5C, build documents/breakdown and various receipts, she is currently SORNed.

2000 Mercedes Benz CLK 320 Elegance 3199 ccRegistration number M55 JRN (Cherished number included with the sale)Chassis number WBD208365F156117Engine number 11294030733362The CLK-Class is a series of mid-size luxury coupes and convertibles, its design and styling was derived from the E-Class, the mechanical underpinnings were based on the smaller C-Class. The CLK name derives from the German Coupe Leicht Kompakt (or Kurz), translated Coupe-Light-Short. The CLK 320 Coupe was introduced in the 1997 model year, powered by a 215 bhp 3.2 L V6 engine.This particular example is part of a local deceased estate and has undertaken few journeys since its purchase in 2013, only some 5,500 miles. In silver over a light blue leather interior, it has some 94,000 on the odometer, has electric memory seats, windows and wing mirrors together with a CD auto-changer in the immaculate boot.The deceased owner was Richard 'Dick' Norris, a WWII veteran who served with the 45th Royal Tank Regiment, which fought Rommel's Afrika Korps at the Battle of El Alamein in Egypt. At his recent funeral he had a guard of honour from the Driffield branch of the British Legion and a Police escort to the graveyard.It comes with the V5C, old MOT's from 2011 (currently SORNed) and three keys.

1968 BSA BANTAM D14/4 175 cc. Registration number VYK 901 G. Frame number D1448171. Engine number 4640. Initially introduced in 1948, the Bantam went through many changes over the years from a solid frame, through plunger rear springs to the later pivoted rear fork, the gearbox started with three gears, ended with four and the engine increased in size from 123 cc, through to 148 cc and in this, the last incarnation 175 cc. It cost a little over £130 to purchase in 1968 and was one of the most popular small motorcycles in production until they stopped making them in 1971. The first owner is unknown, but the second was a Ms Judith Egan from Filey who bought her in 1978, used initially for the short journey to work and when she met her future husband the Bantam was put to one side as he rode larger bikes. The current vendor acquired her in 2003 to add to his BSA collection and has not used her since then, apart from general fettling. She appears in generally original condition and the mileage could well be correct, she will require some recommissioning before returning to the road. Sold with a V5C and SORN documents.

1965 BSA C15 Star 250 cc. Registration number FDT 18 C. Frame number C1547040. Engine number C15F1113. In September 1958 BSA introduced a new '250' that would provide the basis for an entire range of singles in capacities up to 500cc. This newcomer, the C15, featured a compact overhead-valve engine and unitary four-speed gearbox. Alternator electrics and coil ignition were features, early models being distinguished by a distributor-type points housing. The engine/gearbox unit was housed in a conventional cradle frame with bolt-on rear subframe. Trials and scrambles versions were offered as the range expanded during the 1960s. This example has only had three owners from new, the first being Roy Smith of Doncaster who first registered it on the 10th May 1965, subsequently sold to David Platts of Doncaster who removed the original registration number circa 1999. Acquired for our vendors collection thereafter it now has a non transferable number and has been fully restored. There is an old MOT from 1999 which records the mileage as 18,388, a very similar amount to the one it has today. Unused since restoration when it received a top end overhaul and the colour was changed from its original red to blue, it should only require gentle recommissioning before use. Sold with an RF60, an 1999 MOT and a V5 (incorrectly listing the engine as 950 cc).

1957 Chang Jiang CJ750M1M combination 750 cc. Registration number 715 UXV. Frame number LPPBBAMOX5FX60009. Engine number CD2P78FMV-1B050399. The CJ750 motorcycle is based on the original 1956 Soviet IMZ M-72 which itself was derived from the earlier German 1938 BMW R71. Nearly all of them have sidecars. They are often erroneously referred to as BMW "replicas" when in fact, they are derivatives of the IMZ M-72. By the mid-1950s, the Soviets considered the M72 to be obsolete and they sold China all of the tooling to produce their own M72's. According to some sources, it entered production in November 1957 at the state-owned Ganjiang machinery factory. They were originally produced for the Chinese military and are powered by an air-cooled, four-stroke, opposed flat-twin side valve engine displacing 746cc, with a shaft drive. The M1M uses a 12V electrical system, electric starter and is equipped with a reverse gear. This particular example is registered with the DVLA as being produced on the 1st January 1957 although this date cannot be confirmed, it was first registered in the UK in 2006 and believed to have been in storage for most of its life prior to this. Owned by our vendor since 2013 who is selling due to lack of space and another project, it will make a fantastic "oily rag" project for the next owner. It has some wonderful details like the vice on the rear mudguard, the brass rat on the tank, the shell casing on the sidecar and the Chinese brass vase horns. It comes with the V5C and an old MOT from 2011.

1979 Vespa PX150 X 150 ccRegistration number VA 128003 (Italian, unregistered in UK)Frame number VLTIT/28227Engine number unknownThe Vespa PX was first presented in 1977 in Milan as the nuova linea model (new line). The Vespa was built with two drum brakes, a single-cylinder engine (aluminium head) and a steel chassis. It was distributed as a Vespa P 125 X and as a P 200 E with an electronic ignition, in 1978 the Vespa P 150 X was introduced. Production ceased in 2007.This low mileage example (10,648km) was originally owned by Antonio Aggio from Uboldo in the province of Varese in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 20km northwest of Milan. In 1989 he sold it to Gian Paolo Lioni of Tertenia in Sardinia and it was ridden to the UK in the mid 1990's by an Italian who worked in a caravan park in Derbyshire. When he returned home he left the Vespa behind and it then resided in the reception as a display. Offered in good condition and working, at some point it has been resprayed and had a new seat fitted and although it runs, it has never been registered in the UK.Sold with an Italian duplicate of the ownership document and a Carta Di Circolazione, registration with the DVLA will not be difficult.

A good collection (some still sealed) of new and nearly new books including reference, Who's who in classical mythology, The stories of the English etc

ALEXANDER SAMOKHVALOV (RUSSIAN 1894-1971)Girl in an Interior, 1940oil on canvas96.5 x 67.5 cm (38 x 26 1/2 in.)titled, dated and inscribed with a confirmation of authorship on the verso by Maria Samokhvalova, the artist`s daughter, in 1993PROVENANCEProperty of a former United States Senator, who acquired the painting in Moscow circa 1993 LOT NOTESAlexander Samokhvalov is regarded as one of the founders and brightest representatives of the Leningrad school of painting. The present lot, Girl in an Interior reflects the pre-war life of the Leningrad intelligentsia, and is a continuation of the series of Samokhvalov’s works dedicated to young Russian women – builders of new life. This composition was created in 1940 – three-year after the artist’s famous Girl in a Football Shirt was awarded the gold medal at the International Art Fair in Paris, (which also included Pablo Picasso’s Guernica). The tenderness, refinement, and intimacy of this portrait is a rare work by a master of Soviet Socialist Realism and heir apparent to Petrov-Vodkin.

MARC CHAGALL (RUSSIAN-FRENCH 1887-1985)L'homme à la barbe, circa 1922-23lithograph on paper32 x 24 cm (12 5/8 x 9 1/2 in.)PROVENANCECollection of the artist Karlis Miesnieks, RigaAcquired from the family of the above by Moscow Cultural Business center in the 1990s, RigaAcquired by the present owner from Arthur Avotinsh, RigaEXPERTISEA letter of a research and expertise from Ye. Zhukova, N. Markova and I. Shumanova of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, 2004A copy of a letter from Mara Litse, Art Historiann.b. Copies of all above expertises available upon request. LOT NOTESThis very rare lithograph by Marc Chagall of a bearded Jewish man was based by Chagall on his original drawing of the same name of 1911, now in the collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. According to the research performed by both Mara Litse and Ye. Zhukova, several interesting facts about its provenance, rarity, and dating can be noted. While this lithograph is exceedingly rare, there does exist another copy in the permanent collection of the State Tretyakov Museum in Moscow, which was gifted to the Museum by the well known collector George Costakis in 1977, and has been in numerous exhibitions and Chagall Retrospectives as "Old Man," "Head of a Jew", and "Old Jew" amongst other titles (New York, 1981; Moscow, 1988; Athens 1996). According to the expertise, these two copies were compared by Ms. Litse and Ms. Zhukova and were found to be identitical. The currently offered drawing was originally in the collection of the noted Latvian artist Karlis Miesnieks, who acquired it during his studies in Berlin in 1922-23, where he had seen Chagall's works at the Erste Russiche Kunstaustellung at Galerie van Diemen & Co. in 1922. Also in that year 1922, Chagall was actively studying lithography in Berlin at the studio of Hermann Struck, a fellow Jewish artist, master printmaker, and later Jewish activist. A well known and published painting by Miesniks that he painted in 1923, Still LIfe with Doll, shows this lithograph posted on the wall (see reference image here). For these reasons, as the expertises note, it is reasonable to assume that the current lithograph was made around 1922, and no later than 1923.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, British Quad poster 1969, 20th Century Fox, Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Katharine Ross two Old West robbers, who are becoming obsolete in the modern age, flee to Bolivia when the law gets too close. Framed. 30 x 40in. (76.20 x 101.60cm)

Mid 20th century Dunhill Aquarium table lighter. An 'Aquarium' lighter by Alfred Dunhill, the lucite panels intaglio decorated with aquatic plants and fish, the plated metal mounts with cast retailer's mark and stamped registration number '737418'. 'Aquarium' lighters were all designed and hand-made from the early 1950s until the late 1960s by Ben Shillingford (1904-2000), who developed the carving and hand-painting techniques used on the the Lucite panels. 3 x 4 x 2in. (7.62 x 10.16 x 5.08cm)

[BREXIT]: BRITISH POLITICS: A good multiple signed First Day Cover issued to commemorate the Direct Elections to European Parliament and featuring an attractive colour design incorporating images of the Palais de l'Europe at Strasbourg and the Palace of Westminster in London, bearing four different British postage stamps honouring the European Assembly Elections and post marked at London for the first British European Parliamentary Elections, 9th May 1979. The cover is individually signed by fourteen British political figures, five of them former Prime Ministers, comprising -             Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) British Prime Minister 1979-90 who, despite her views on the European Community, initiated Great Britain's membership of the European Union by reluctantly joining the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1990.             John Major (1943-    ) British Prime Minister 1990-97 who, on taking office, had promised to keep Great Britain 'at the very heart of Europe' and claimed to have won 'game, set and match for Britain' by negotiating various opt-outs from the Maastricht Treaty (1992).             Tony Blair (1953-    ) British Prime Minister 1997-2007 who won a landslide victory with his 'New Labour' party in 1997, aided by the unpopularity of Major's conservative government (itself deeply divided over the European Union).             Gordon Brown (1951-    ) British Prime Minister 2007-10 who, in 1997, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, had taken control of the United Kingdom's membership of the European single currency issue by announcing the Treasury would set five economic tests to ascertain whether the economic case had been made. In 2003 the Treasury indicated the tests had not been passed.             David Cameron (1966-   ) British Prime Minister 2010-16 who introduced a referendum on the United Kingdom's continuing membership of the European Union. In the referendum of 23rd June 2016 the British electorate voted in favour of leaving the European Union ('Brexit') and in the wake of the results Cameron announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister.             William Hague (1961-     ) British Politician, Leader of the Conservative Party 1997-2001. Hague led the Conservatives to a successful result at the European parliamentary elections in June 1999 and his opposition to the single European currency was later vindicated by Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown's adoption and subsequent approval of the policy.             Iain Duncan Smith (1954-     ) British Politician, Leader of the Conservative Party 2001-03. A committed Eurosceptic, Duncan Smith was a constant thorn in the side of Prime Minister John Major's government from 1992-97, opposing Major's pro-European agenda.             Michael Howard (1941-    ) British Politician, Leader of the Conservative Party 2003-05. In the 1970s Howard was a leading advocate of British membership of the Common Market (EEC) but later in his career became a Eurosceptic.             Neil Kinnock (1942-     ) British Politician, Leader of the Labour Party 1983-92. Kinnock accepted membership in the European Community, whereas the Labour Party had pledged withdrawal from it under former leader Michael Foot. Kinnock went on to become a European Commissioner and served as Vice-President of the European Commission from 1999-2004.             David Steel (1938-     ) British Politician, Leader of the Liberal Party 1976-88 and of the Liberal Democrats March-July 1988. In 1989 Steel accepted an invitation from the Italian Liberals to stand for the European Parliament as a Pan-European gesture. Although not elected, he polled very well.             Paddy Ashdown (1941-    ) British Politician, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 1988-99. In July 2016 he founded More United in response to the result of the referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union.             Charles Kennedy (1959-2015) British Politician, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 1999-2006. On constitutional reform Kennedy was a long-term supporter of full home rule for Scotland within a federal United Kingdom within a federal Europe.             Menzies Campbell (1941-    ) British Politician, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2006-07. Campbell has been a supporter of the European Union, but argued that it must reform to become more democratic.             Nick Clegg (1967-     ) British Politician, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2007-15.  Deputy Prime Minister in the Cameron coalition ministry 2010-15. A former member of the European Parliament, Charles Kennedy promoted Clegg to be the Liberal Democrat's spokesperson on Europe, focusing on the party's preparations for an expected referendum on the European constitution. All have signed the cover in different coloured inks, each with their names alone and to clear areas. An unusual selection of signatures by various British politicians, all of whom have had, to a greater or lesser extent, an influence on the United Kingdom's role within Europe from 1979 to the present day. A couple of very slight, minor corner creases, VG In June 2016, the British electorate participated in a referendum in which 52% of votes were cast in favour of leaving the European Union. Although the United Kingdom currently remains a full member of the EU, the present Prime Minister Theresa May has indicated that she will invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the formal procedure for withdrawing, by the end of March 2017, putting the United Kingdom on course to leave the EU by the end of March 2019.  

 ALI MUHAMMAD: (1942-2016) American Boxer, World Heavyweight Champion. The Fight of the Century `Muhammad Ali aka Cassius Clay´FRAZIER JOE (1944-2011) American Boxer, World Heavyweight Champion 1970-73.D.S. by both Muhammad Ali (in both forms, 'Muhammad Ali AKA Cassius Clay') and Joe Frazier ('Joe Frazier', twice), twelve pages, 4to, n.p., June 1970. The photocopied document is entitled Ancillary Rights Agreement and is a contract made between the promoters 21st Century Promotions and Marlett Inc., Sports Action, Muhammad Ali (aka Cassius Clay) and Joe Frazier. The contract relates to a World Heavyweight Championship contest between Ali and Frazier, scheduled to take place at the Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan, on 21st September 1970, and states that the two fighters and the promoters have agreed to assign to Sports Action and its licensees 'all radio, television and motion picture rights in and to the Bout', subject to various conditions stated in the document, Sports Action ('SAC') agreeing to 'use its best efforts to exploit the rights to the Bout….so as to derive the maximum proceeds….for Clay', and being authorised to use the name, likeness and biography of both Ali and Frazier for the purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity and also agreeing the percentages of the net proceeds to be paid to Ali, being 32.5% on the first $1,000,000, 35% on the net proceeds between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000, 37.5% on the net proceeds between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000 and 40% on any net proceeds in excess of $3,000,000 and that the minimum amount paid to Ali will be $300,000 and that the payment will be made within twenty days following the bout. Signed by both Ali and Frazier at the conclusion and countersigned by representatives of Sports Action Inc., Cloverlay Inc. and 21st Century Promotions. With a number of red pencil annotations in an unidentified hand in the margins of the document, most significantly increasing Ali's percentages of the net proceeds. The first eleven pages of the document are joined together by a single staple to the upper left corner, and the final page is detached (and with a few small staple holes to the upper left corner where originally attached to the rest of the document). A rare signed document relating to one of the most important World Heavyweight Championship contests in history. VG 'The Fight of the Century' would eventually take place in 1971, almost a year after the present document was signed, and not on the date, or venue, specified in the present contract. In 1971 both Ali and Frazier had legitimate claims to the title of World Heavyweight Champion. The undefeated Ali had won the title from Sonny Liston in 1964 and successfully defended his belt up until he had it stripped by boxing authorities for refusing induction into the armed forces in 1967. In Ali's absence, the undefeated Frazier garnered two championship belts through knockouts of Buster Mathis and Jimmy Ellis. He was recognised by boxing authorities as the World Champion. Frazier was plausibly Ali's superior, which created a tremendous amount of hype and anticipation for a bout pitting the two undefeated pugilists against one another to decide who was the true World Heavyweight Champion. The contest took place at Madison Square Garden on 8th March 1971 and Frazier was victorious, winning in 15 rounds via a unanimous decision and dealing Ali his first professional loss.

DREYFUS ALFRED: (1859-1935) French Jewish Artillery Officer, the central figure in the Dreyfus Affair. A.L.S., A Dreyfus, one page, 8vo, n.p., n.d. ('Samedi soir', c.1910-20), to a lady [Éléonore-Alexandrine Meley], in French. Dreyfus writes a polite letter to his correspondent, in full, 'We were sorry to have been unable to spend some time with you yesterday afternoon, but my wife and my daughter were delayed by their visit and we were going to the comic opera in the evening. With all our regrets, please accept the expression of my respectful and very kind greetings'. With blank integral leaf. About EX Éléonore-Alexandrine Meley (1839-1925) French Seamstress, wife of Emile Zola from 1870.  The Dreyfus Affair began in December 1894 with the treason conviction of Captain Alfred Dreyfus who was sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly communicating French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. Dreyfus was imprisoned on Devil's Island in French Guiana, where he spent almost five years. In 1896 evidence came to light which identified a French Army Major named Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy as the real culprit, however various high-ranking military officials suppressed the new evidence and a military court unanimously acquitted Esterhazy at the conclusion of a trial which lasted just two days. The Army then presented Dreyfus with additional charges based on falsified documents. As a result of the vehement open letter entitled J'accuse which Emile Zola published in a Paris newspaper in January 1898 word of the military court's framing of Dreyfus and of an attempted cover-up began to spread and activists put pressure on the French government to reopen the case. Dreyfus was returned to France in 1899 for a further trial and the intense political and judicial scandal that ensued divided French society. The new trial resulted in another conviction and a ten year sentence, however Dreyfus was granted a pardon and set free. Eventually all of the accusations against Dreyfus were proved to be baseless and in 1906 he was exonerated and reinstated as a Major in the French Army. He went on to serve his country during the whole of World War I and ended his service with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. The Dreyfus Affair represented one of the tensest political dramas in modern French history, with a wide echo in all of Europe.  

MILNE A. A.: (1882-1956) English Author, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh. A remarkable presentation book signed and inscribed, featuring nine original (and presumably unpublished) verses by Milne, being a hardback edition of his play Michael and Mary, First Edition published by Chatto & Windus, London, 1930. Signed and inscribed by Milne, using his family name ('Blue'), to his wife on the front free endpaper, 'For my darling from her Blue', also adding the words ' "I suppose you do know -" ' and the date, 28th May 1930, in his hand beneath the inscription. To the following two pages, including the half title page, Milne has neatly penned nine original verses, comprising a total of fifty lines, each relating to nine of the characters in his play and the actors who created the roles on the London stage, signed ('A.A.M.') at the conclusion with his initials, in part, 'Michael - Rowe played nightly by a BartSteers his way into the heartOnly Michael's Marshall carriagePulls him through that risky marriage' (the role of Michael created by Herbert Marshall) 'Mary - When I hear your "Don't you dare toTouch me" I can hardly bear toSit in silence. I am dyingTo burst in upon you, cryingThank you, Edna, very much. YouAngel, nobody can touch you' (the role of Mary created by Edna Best) 'David - When all of us are dead and goneAnd even Frankie Lawton's oldIf actors still come "off" and "on"And tickets still are bought and sold"How good"…thee…will say"That fellow - can't remember nameses - "Did - you know - in that rotten play"By what's-it at the old St. James's"' (the role of David created by Frank Lawton) 'Inspector - The burglar, whether British born or foreignNever escapes Inspector Thatcher (Torin)If she's a female crook, Inspector ThatcherCan always be relied upon to catch her' (the role of the Inspector created by Torin Thatcher) 'Price - A horrible villain was Price, I'm afraidWith his record of marriages hastily madeAt a registry office, and vice-lessAnd, though it sounds odd, I am bound to confessThat in voice and department, in manners and dressThe way that you played him was priceless' (the role of Harry Price created by D. A. Clarke Smith) Bound in the publisher's dark beige cloth and with a cream paper label (slightly chipped) printed in black to the spine, and lacking the dust jacket. A wonderful and rare association copy. Some foxing and light age toning to the preliminary pages, most notable to the title page, and only very slightly affecting Milne's text. G Dorothy 'Daphne' de Selincourt (1890-1971) Wife of A. A. Milne (from 1913) and the mother of Christopher Robin Milne. Her husband's affectionate inscription in the present volume can be explained by the close of Michael and Mary; in the play the character of Michael turns to Mary, mother of their son, David, and proclaims 'I suppose you do know, Mary, that, much as I love him, I love your little finger - your funny little finger, more than all of David?', Mary gently replying 'I think I did know, Michael. You've got a funny little finger too'. Michael and Mary is considered to be one of Milne's most successful light comedic dramas and is a play about marriage, raising issues regarding law, religion, morality and illegitimacy. The play was originally staged in New York before moving to London where it opened at the St. James's Theatre on 1st February 1930 and starred Herbert Marshall and Edna Best (themselves married from 1928-40, and also the couple to whom Milne dedicated the present book) in the title roles. A year later Michael Balcon produced a film version of the play, retaining the stage cast in their roles. It was the first of Marshall and Best's co-starring talkies and was voted the third best British movie of 1932. A. A. Milne was a noted writer, primarily a playwright, before the enormous success of his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh overshadowed all of his previous work. The enduring popularity of Milne's character is evident in the recent 90th anniversary celebrations of Winnie-the-Pooh's first arrival in Hundred Acre Wood. Provenance: The present volume was previously part of The Roy Davids Collection of Poetical Manuscripts and was originally acquired by him directly from the Milne family without any intermediate ownership. 

ELISABETH OF AUSTRIA: (1837-1898) Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Queen Consort of Croatia and Bohemia 1854-98, spouse of Emperor Franz Joseph I. Assassinated.  A rare, attractive signed greetings card, the stiff oblong folding 12mo card (now neatly split into two halves at the central vertical fold) featuring a decorative colour floral design to the front cover and a printed caption ('Besten Gluckwunsch') in German to the inside, signed ('Elisabeth') by the Empress to the verso and with a five line greeting in her hand, in German, in full, 'May the lucky wings fulfil their mission and bring a wholehearted wish to you, from your faithful old friend'. VG  Elisabeth of Bavaria (also affectionately known as 'Sisi') was, at 44 years, the longest serving Empress-Consort of Austria and had married her husband, Franz Joseph I, at the age of sixteen. Elisabeth was ill-prepared for the formal Habsburg court life and early in her marriage she was at odds with her mother-in-law, Princess Sophie, who took over the rearing of Elisabeth's daughters. The birth of a male heir, Rudolf, improved her standing at court considerably. However, the death of Rudolf and his mistress in a murder-suicide tragedy at his hunting lodge in Mayerling in 1889 had a huge impact on Elisabeth from which she never fully recovered. She withdrew from court duties and travelled extensively, unaccompanied by her family. Unusually tall, particularly beautiful and with long, flowing hair, Elisabeth became obsessively concerned with maintaining her youthful figure and beauty, spending two or three hours each day on her coiffure. While travelling in Geneva in 1898 she was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist. 

 CASANOVA GIACOMO: (1725-1798) Italian Author and Adventurer. 'This modern evil called Grippe'.A.L.S., Casanova, two pages (written on the first and third sides of the conjugate leaves), 4to, Prague, 18th May 1788, to Count Antonio Collalto ('Your Excellency, my Beloved Lord') in Vienna, in Italian. Casanova announces `This modern evil called Grippe, after travelling through the Austrian capital, did not forgive the Bohemian capital and caught me, obliging me to attend V[ostra] E[ccellenza] with such an ungrateful appearance; but thank God, V E is free of it, not me, I am in bed´ further remarking `I have here with me your precious letters dated 10th and 13th, but with my headache I am unable to remember if I have already answered to the first or not, so in order not to fail, I´ll answer to both of them.´ Casanova continues to refer to some books sent to his correspondent and also to some other individuals, `I understand, according to your letter, that you have received the box with the books, and I read also and appreciate the news regarding the call from the French Ambassador´s to Venice, and as a consequence the imbroglio with Naples, an affair on which I fully ignore the cause. According to your second letter I understand that with your usual excess of goodness, V.E. went personally to deliver to Countess Clari-Ligne the volumes, and that you refused to accept the nine Guilders. V.E. acted wisely, nevertheless I will write today to the Prince of Liechtenstein who knows me, and I hope that all will be taken care of in a noble way.´ He further writes `My brother wrote to me and he praised your kindness in sending the thirty volumes, and promised he will send the money to you as soon as he will receive it from the associates… Count Waldstein has the first 72 copies…and my brother promises he will get 24 more associates....´ Casanova concludes his letter `Additionally to all mentioned, I beg you to send me on the 27th of the present month the money you may have for me as I have to pay a bill of exchange before the end of the month. The third volume was welcomed here with applause and allowed me to get eight more associates. The King´s speech on page 261 pleased a lot.´  An attractive, boldly penned letter. A few very minor, insignificant holes to some words of text, evidently caused by the ink burning the paper, otherwise VG Count Antonio Collalto - Italian Nobleman and Military officer. Aloys I (1759-1805) Prince of Liechtenstein. He expanded the Liechtenstein library through the purchase of complete collections of books. Joseph Karl Emanuel Waldstein (1755-1814) Count Waldstein. Casanova spent the last years of his life in Bohemia as a librarian in Count Waldstein's household, where he also wrote the story of his life. Casanova's autobiography, Histoire de ma vie, is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century. Casanova is remembered today for his often elaborate and complicated affairs with women and his name is synonymous with 'womanisers'. He associated himself with European Royalty, Popes and Cardinals as well as luminaries including Voltaire, Goethe and Mozart. 

LENIN VLADIMIR: (1870-1924) Russian Communist Revolutionary. Head of the government of the Russian Republic 1917-18, of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 1918-24, and of the Soviet Union 1922-24. TROTSKY LEON: (1879-1940) Russian Marxist Revolutionary and Theorist, the founding leader of the Red Army.A very fine pair of vintage dark fountain pen ink signatures by both Vladimir Lenin ('Lénine, president du Conseil des Commissaires du Peuple') and Leon Trotsky ('Léon Trotsky, Commissaire aux affaires étrangères') individually on a feint ruled 8vo page removed from a notebook, n.p., n.d. (November 1917). To the upper right corner of the page appears an original contemporary pencil and coloured crayon vignette, drawn by an unidentified individual and signed ('J. M. Bros....'; the conclusion of the signature a little smudged and hence illegible), the image depicting several individuals standing in a row as they face execution by the guillotine which appears before them, with a large crowd of onlookers in the foreground and a rising sun in the background, featuring the caption, in French, 'Ce que nous souhaitons aux soussignés' (translation 'What we wish for the undersigned'). To the verso of the page appear ten individual fountain pen ink signatures by various French fighter pilots of World War I, each of them members of the Escadrille BR 209 squadron, including Léon Ribière (1893-1918) and others, a few with additional sentiments and one dated 23rd January 1917. An exceptionally rare pair of signatures by two of the most significant figures in Russian history. Neatly inlaid, VGThe present signatures of Lenin and Trotsky were obtained shortly after the historic October Revolution, a seizure of state power instrumental in the larger Russian Revolution of 1917. It took place with an armed insurrection in Petrograd and followed, and capitalised, on the February Revolution of the same year, which overthrew the Tsarist autocracy. The October Revolution resulted in the power being shifted to the local Soviets in Petrograd, whom heavily supported the Bolshevik Party. After the Congress of Soviets, now the governing body, had its second session, it elected members of the Bolsheviks to key positions which immediately initiated the establishment of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the world's first self-proclaimed socialist state. On 8th November 1917 the Congress elected a Council of People's Commissars, with Lenin as leader and Trotsky as Commissar of Foreign Affairs, the positions they have added to the present signatures.Provenance: The present signatures were removed from a notebook previously owned by Robert de Flers (1872-1927) French Playwright & Journalist who, as the head of a French military mission, travelled to the Eastern front taking him to Romania, Moscow and Petrograd, at which time he obtained the signatures of Lenin and Trotsky. A first hand account of Flers' travels was written by Emmanuel Chaumé (1890-1934) and published by Firmin-Didot of Paris in 1929 under the title La Belle Aventure de Robert de Flers - Russie-Romanie (Fevrier-Mars 1918). The album was subsequently passed to his nephew, the French Diplomat and Pilot of World War I, Viscount Amédée de Flers, and later acquired by the present vendor.Lenin, founder of the Russian Communist Party, engineered and led the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and was the architect of the Soviet state, later taking over as the first leader of the newly formed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Regarded as the greatest revolutionary leader and thinker since Karl Marx, Lenin is also widely considered as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the 20th century.Trotsky joined the Bolsheviks shortly before the 1917 October Revolution and eventually became a leader within the Communist Party alongside Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and others and was one of the seven members of the first Politburo. During the early days of the Soviet Union Trotsky served as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army. He was a major figure in the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War (1918-23). After leading a failed struggle of the Left Opposition against the policies and rise of Joseph Stalin in the 1920s, Trotsky was removed from power, expelled from the Communist Party and finally exiled from the Soviet Union. As the head of the Fourth International, Trotsky continued to oppose the Stalinist bureaucracy in the Soviet Union from exile. On Stalin's orders, he was assassinated in Mexico in August 1940. Trotsky's ideas formed the basis of Trotskyism, a major school of Marxist thought that opposes the theories of Stalinism. 

JAMES II & VII: (1633-1701) King of England & Ireland and King of Scotland (as James VII) 1685-88.D.S., James R, as King, at the head, one page, folio, Court at Whitehall, London, 11th April 1685. The manuscript Warrant is addressed to Francis, Lord Guilford, Keeper of the Great Seal, and states, in part,  'Whereas Our Most Deare Brother the late King deceased did by his Letters Patents bearing date the 12th day of January last past grant the Deanary and Church of Bristoll with all its Rights and Priviledges unto Richard Thompson ... who was instituted thereunto, but the Mandate for his Instalment becoming voyd by the Demise of Our said Most Deare Brother, the said Dr Thompson hath humbly besought Us to direct a New Mandate', further requesting Lord Guilford to direct 'the Canons of the said Church to install the said Deane ... in pursuance of Our said most Deare Brothers Royall Intention…' so as 'the same might have been done & compleated if the Demise ... had not hapned ...' Countersigned ('Sunderland') at the foot Robert Spencer (1641-1702) 2nd Earl of Sunderland. English Nobleman and Statesman, Secretary of State for the Southern Department 1682-88. With blind embossed seal at the head. With blank integral leaf. An attractive, clean document. VGA fine, early document signed by King James just two months into his reign.Francis North (1637-1685) 1st Baron Guilford. British Lawyer, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal 1682-85, succeeding Lord Nottingham.Richard Thompson, English Vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe in Bristol. King Charles II had presented him to the Deanery of Bristol on 12th May 1684, and again on 7th January 1685 owing to a clerical error. He was instituted on 2nd February (that is, to the temporalities of his post) but King Charles died on the 6th February 1685, just four days later. Thompson was re-instituted by the present document, and installed by the Cathedral Chapter on 24th May 1685, but himself died the following 29th November 1685.James II and VII was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. King James is remembered for his struggles with the English Parliament and his attempts to create religious liberty for English Roman Catholics and Protestant nonconformists, against the wishes of the Anglican establishment. Parliament, opposed to the growth of absolutism that was occurring in other European countries, as well as to the loss of legal supremacy of the Church of England, saw their opposition as a way to preserve what they regarded as traditional English liberties. This tension made King James's four-year reign a struggle for supremacy between the English Parliament and the Crown, resulting in his deposition in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and the passage of the Bill of Rights (1689).

 WORLD WAR II: An historically important original Cipher Message, one page, 4to, n.p., (Headquarters, British Main Second Army), n.d. (May 1945). The purple ink telex document, marked TOPSEC (Top Secret) and signed in facsimile by an unidentified Major General, Acting Chief of Staff, was sent to Main 8 Corps and states, in part, 'members of the so called German Government of Admiral DONITZ and of OKW at FLENSBURG will now be arrested by you as quickly as possible after consultation with head of SHAEF Control Party OKW…nominations of personnel to be arrested will be made by SHAEF Control Party OKW (.) total numbers of personnel for disposal are estimated to amount approximately to 470 off[ice]rs and 2400 OR (.) all arrested personnel should be held in a separate camp until such time as orders for their final disposal are issued by this HQ….certain special personnel nominated by SHAEF Control Party OKW estimated to number NOT more than 30 will be conducted to Main HQ Second Army for fwd transmission to ASHCAN….OKW personnel will not be arrested as yet(.)….archives at FLENSBERG will be seized and secured by you with a view to SHAEF intelligence exploitation(.) they will be disposed of as directed by the SHAEF Control Party(.)….treat as very urgent and report on progress of arrests as plans develop'. With various instructions at the base noting that the message is a priority and most immediate and is not to be signalled. A couple of pencil annotations appear at the head and the foot of the page. Two file holes to the left edge and with some light overall creasing, about VGAn historically important Top Secret Cipher Message issued at the end of World War II announcing the arrest of Dönitz and the end of the Flensberg Government. Karl Dönitz (1891-1980) German Admiral who played a major role in the naval history of World War II. Dönitz succeeded Adolf Hitler as the Reichspräsident of the 'Flensberg Government' (2nd May - 23rd May 1945).OKW - the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ('Supreme Command of the Armed Forces') was part of the command structure of the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Germany during World War II. Created in 1938, the OKW had nominal oversight over the German Army, the Kriegsmarine (German navy) and the Luftwaffe (German air force).SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) - the headquarters of American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. Eisenhower ordered General Rooks, G-3 of SHAEF, to establish the SHAEF Control Party at Flensburg. Its purpose was to impose the will of the Supreme Commander on OKW in the areas of Germany occupied by the Western Allies. General Rooks issued the orders, supervised their transmission through German command channels, and compiled information about the German command system through the collection and safeguarding of all OKW documents at FIensburg.Camp ASHCAN - the Central Continental Prisoner of War Enclosure No. 32, code-named Ashcan, an Allied prisoner-of-war camp in the Palace Hotel of Mondorf-les-Bains in Luxembourg during World War II. Operating from May to August 1945, it served as a processing station and interrogation centre for the 86 most prominent surviving Nazi leaders prior to their trial in Nuremberg, including Hermann Göring and Karl Dönitz.On the morning of 23 May 1945, General Rooks summoned Dönitz, Jodl, and von Friedeburg to the liner Patria. Here they were greeted by a large crowd of press reporters, alerted by speculation of a Control Party action and SHAEF correspondents leaving from Paris. On entering the ships' conference room, they found General Rooks who informed them that they had been summoned on instructions from General Eisenhower, who in agreement with the Soviet High Command, had decided the Acting German Government and OKW should be arrested. This officially ended the 'Flensburg Government'. Now as prisoners of war, and under guard, they were told to pack and were escorted to an awaiting aircraft. When asked by Rooks if he had any statement to make, Dönitz replied 'Any word would be superfluous'. Meanwhile, members of the government, unaware of the proceedings on the Patria, had gathered for their daily conference. Fully armed British soldiers burst into the room shouting 'Hands Up'. All the Germans were then strip searched for concealed weapons and documents. The arrests were intended to make the headlines, with over sixty reporters invited to record the scenes. In the New York Times of the 24th May, Drew Middleton wrote 'The Third Reich died today'. The American Diplomat Robert Murphy summed it up as thus, 'After the arrest of Grand Admiral Dönitz and his associates, not even a remnant remained of any German government. The conquerors of the Nazis were in complete control and the administration of Germany was their responsibility.' That struggle was about to begin.  

ROUSSEAU JEAN-JACQUES: (1712-1778) French Writer and Philosopher. An interesting autograph manuscript, unsigned, one page, 4to, n.p., n.d. (c.1746), in French. The page of manuscript, with a couple of alterations in Rousseau's hand, is from his unpublished work relating to the history of women which he prepared between 1746-51 for his benefactress Louise Marie Madeleine Dupin. Rousseau writes his text in the right column of the page, the left reserved for additional notes, the present manuscript annotated in his hand 'Ordonn[ance]: des R[ois] de Fr[ance]…p.205'. In his text Rousseau writes regarding King Philippe le Long of 1317, stating '…by letters given to the Abbess…of Cusset, who previously had given to the King half of the Justice and duties that they had and received in their village during the fairs…granting them that the Abbess will in future decide on her own behalf of belongings and not him nor any successor King will be able to remove such right.´ VG  Philip V (c.1292/1293-1322) King of France and Navarre 1316-22, known as 'Philippe le Long'.  Cusset is situated in the department of Allier, Auvergne, close to Vichy, in the central region of France. The Abbess Rousseau refers to was the superior of a female community of nuns from the Order of St. Benoit.Rousseau's political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment in France and across Europe. His sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise (1761) was of importance to the development of romanticism in fiction and his Discourse of Inequality (1754) and The Social Contract (1762) are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. During the period of the French Revolution Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophes among members of the Jacobin Club. Rousseau was interred as a national hero in the Pantheon in Paris in 1794, sixteen years after his death. 

GUILLOTIN JOSEPH-IGNACE: (1738-1814) French Physician, Politician & Freemason who, in 1789, proposed the use of the guillotine as a device to carry out death penalties in France. Manuscript D.S., Guillotin, one page, 4to, Paris, 24th January 1796, in French. The document is a medical prescription and states, in full, 'Take a quart of scrag of mutton and half a dozen turnips; put in a pint of water; boil at low heat until the turnips are cooked, then remove the turnips and mutton and let dissolve. Manna en sorte [flake or common manna] one ounce. Then pass it through a linen. You must drink the broth hot, in the morning, with an empty stomach, glass by glass, every half an hour, until all is finished'. Signed and dated at the conclusion. With a small slim 12mo French newspaper clipping announcing the death of Guillotin neatly affixed at the foot of the document. Some light overall foxing and with slightly irregularly trimmed edges, otherwise about VG It is unclear which ailment the present prescription would alleviate, however turnips are a very good source of anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins and dietary fibre and have been cultivated as staple food since ancient Greek and Roman periods. Guillotin proposed the use of the device known as a guillotine on 10th October 1789 as a less painful method of carrying out death penalties by execution in France. The apparatus, with which Guillotin's name has become eponymous, was particularly used during the French Revolution, where it was celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the pre-eminent symbol of the Reign of Terror by opponents. One of the most famous individuals to be executed by guillotine was Marie Antoinette, Queen consort of the French, on 16th October 1793.

[BYRON LORD]: (1788-1824) British Poet, a leading figure in the Romantic Movement. MILBANKE ANNE ISABELLA (1792-1860) Lady Byron. Wife of George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron, from 1815-16. Two A.Ls.S., A I Noel Byron, both two pages, 8vo, Brighton and Regents Park, 1st April and 12th July 1856, each to [Revd. George] Armstrong. In the first letter Lady Byron replies to her correspondent and states 'I can only say that the evidence is in my opinion against the genuineness of those lines - It is difficult to prove a negative however' and adding that she will make enquiries 'to elicit the truth'. She continues 'I do not believe that any Lady was authorised to write that life'. In the second letter Lady Byron declares 'I have satisfied myself as to the quarter from which the lines in question proceeded. Certainly not from any Lady of the respectability of the one named in your letter' and continues 'Mr. Grant has been imposed upon, but whether consciously or unconsciously by the Gentleman (for of him I have no knowledge) I cannot say. Mr. Grant's statement in his letter does not agree in all points with that made to me in writing at the time by the Gentleman who had the interview with him - on my behalf. To take any further notice of the matter would probably fall in with the views of the originators of this forgery'. Both letters with blank integral leaves. An intriguing pair of letters concerning a Byron forgery. Some light age wear and very minor, light staining, otherwise VG, 2 Revd. George Armstrong (1791-1857) Unitarian Minister, a vociferous opponent of slavery, as was Lady Byron. Byron forgeries are not uncommon. The self-styled 'Major Byron' who claimed to be the son of the poet as a result of a liaison between Byron and a Countess de Luna in Spain in 1809, contributed both poems and letters to the field. Lady Caroline Lamb forged a letter from Byron to herself with the purpose of acquiring a portrait of the poet. The identity of the lady referred to in the present letters is not known. A highly educated and strictly religious woman, Anne Isabella Milbanke's marriage to the amoral and agnostic poet George Gordon Byron seemed an unlikely match and, indeed, soon ended in acrimony. However the marriage did produce a daughter, Ada, who later worked as a mathematician with Charles Babbage. Lady Byron had felt that an education in mathematics and logic would counteract any possible inherited tendency towards Lord Byron's insanity and romantic excess.  

PAGNOL MARCEL: (1895-1974) French Filmmaker, Novelist & Playwright. An excellent vintage signed and inscribed 9 x 11.5 photograph by Pagnol, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose looking directly towards the camera. Photograph by Henri Moiroud. Signed ('Marcel') by Pagnol in bold, black fountain pen ink to a clear area at the base of the image and further inscribed ('a toi, mon cher Tintin, avec ma meilleure affection') in French and dated 1943 in his hand. Signed photographs of Pagnol of this size and quality are rare and desirable. VG Henri Moiroud (1911-1999) French Photographer who served as still photographer at Pagnol's film studios in Marseille from 1941-56. Pagnol became the first filmmaker to be elected to the Academie francaise in 1946 and is widely regarded as one of France's greatest 20th century writers and is notable for excelling in almost every medium - memoir, novel, drama and film. 

DICKENS CHARLES: (1812-1870) English Novelist. A fine A.L.S., Charles Dickens (a good example, with paraph), one page, 8vo, Gad's Hill Place, Higham by Rochester, Kent, 26th June 1866, to George Dolby ('My dear Dolby'). Dickens writes, in full, 'Assuming that your domestic anxieties [regarding his wife's pregnancy] will be over by Saturday the 14th July, will you come down here on that day and arrange to stay over the Monday, so that we may see something of the country? I have asked Mr. Arthur Chappell for the same time and have told him (both by this same post) that I am writing to you'. With blank integral leaf. About EX George Dolby (1831-1900) English Theatre Manager, employed by the publishers Chappell & Co. to manage Dickens' reading tour of 1866. In her biography Dickens: A Life (2011) Claire Tomalin describes Dolby as 'a big man, full of energy, optimism and know-how, and talkative, with a stammer he bravely disregarded. He was thirty-five, just married, a theatre manager out of work and keen to take on the running of Dickens' next reading tour. He was sent by Chappell, the music publishers who were setting up the tour, and he won Dickens' confidence at once and quickly became a friend. They laughed and joked together like boys, and enjoyed the small rituals of travel'. Dolby wrote of his experiences in Charles Dickens As I Knew Him (1885).  Samuel Arthur Chappell (1834-1904) English Publisher, youngest son of Samuel Chappell of the music publishers Chappell & Co.  Dickens' last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend, had been published in 1865. In 1866, the year of the present letter, despite not being in the most robust health, Dickens accepted an offer of £1500 from Chappell & Co to participate in a series of thirty public readings in London and the provinces. It was the first such tour he had undertaken for three years. The tour concluded on 12th June 1866, shortly before the date of the present letter, and it would be reasonable to assume that the weekend planned by Dickens would give himself the opportunity to review the tour with Dolby and Chappell, and also discuss the next which was scheduled to start in the following January. Dickens created some of the world's best known fictional characters and his novels have enjoyed lasting popularity. Regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, critics and scholars of the 20th century have recognised Dickens as a literary genius. 

STANLEY HENRY M.: (1841-1904) British Explorer & Journalist.A.L.S., Henry M Stanley, four pages, 8vo, Balinakill, Kintyre, Scotland, 9th July 1885, to Miss Felicie Hegemans. Stanley informs his correspondent that with regret 'it has not been my good fortune to be able to pay a visit to the kindly, sympathetic & warm hearted people of Cadogan Gardens', explaining that 'various circumstances and a singular unbroken run of engagements mainly have prevented me from paying my respects to yourself & the sister graces who did me the honor to escort me round Hampton.' Stanley continues 'In respect to your invitation - re Mons Hegemans I fear that I shall never have the courage to pay a visit to a stranger, simply because I am on a visit to Anvers ... Even in London it is a difficult matter to get me out of my chambers…' and concludes 'However Mons. Moscheles is such a friend of your father & has spoken so warmly of him I should look more to him to bring us together rather than to myself ... Should I be in Anvers it would be better for Mons Hegemans to call on me at my hotel when it would be most likely it would not require much persuasion to induce me to accompany him to his House especially as the charming Miss Felicie would be there.' Some light overall age toning and a small tear at the base of the central vertical fold, only very slightly affecting a couple of words of text, but not the signature, about VGThe present letter was written from Balinakill in Kintyre, the home of Sir William Mackinnon (1823-1893) Scottish Shipping Magnate. Mackinnon had plans to lease from the Sultan of Zanzibar a vast area of East Africa from the coast to the Congo, which the British Government refused to sanction. He also played the major part in financing Stanley's Emin Pasha expedition.Felix Stone Moscheles (1833-1917) English Painter, Peace Activist and Advocate of Esperanto. Moscheles lived at Cadogan Gardens and had recently painted Stanley's portrait.Stanley was famous for his exploration of central Africa and his search for the missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, Stanley reportedly asked, 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' Stanley is also known for his search for the source of the Nile, his work in and development of the Congo Basin region in association with King Leopold II of the Belgians, and commanding the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. He was knighted in 1899. 

EINSTEIN ALBERT: (1879-1955) German-born Theoretical Physicist, Nobel Prize winner for Physics, 1921. A.L.S., Albert, one page, 4to, n.p., n.d. (c.1930), to his first wife Mileva, in German. Einstein states that he is very much looking forward to seeing his younger son, Eduard ('Tetel') and will ensure that he will have a quiet and agreeable time, and has been informed by Professor Maier that Tetel will take a second class night train, 'I bow to high science and think it will do no harm', further observing that 'the lives of ordinary people with prescribed activities and daily routines are better for their nerves than the lives of the rich lazy classes' and also commenting on the debilitating nervous effect of indolence. Einstein continues in a somewhat bitter manner on the prospect of his son Hans Albert and daughter-in-law Frieda having a child, remarking 'I am sorry to hear that those in Dortmund are to have a child. This destiny must run its course, as tragic as it is'. In a postscript Einstein adds that a graphologist has been able to detect from Mileva's handwriting that she suffered from back pain, declaring 'Quite a feat!'. A few very small, minor tears to the edges of the folds, not affecting the text or signature, otherwise VG Mileva Maric (1875-1948) Serbian Physicist, the first wife of Albert Einstein from 1903-19. The couple had two sons, Hans Albert (1904-1973) Swiss-American Engineer & Educator and Eduard (1910-1965) who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 20 and was committed to asylums for long periods of his life. Both sons are referred to in the present letter. In 1927 Hans Albert married Frieda Krecht ('those in Dortmund') and Albert Einstein disapproved of his daughter-in-law, much in the same way as his parents had of Mileva. Convinced of bad heredity in Frieda and equally bad genes in Hans Albert, inherited from Mileva's side, Albert Einstein prophesied disaster, as hinted at in the present letter, if the couple were to have children. Their first son, Bernhard, was born in 1930 and the couple had three other children, two of whom died at very early ages. Einstein developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics, and is best known in popular culture for his formula E=mc2, the world's most famous equation.  

WRIGHT ORVILLE: (1871-1948) American Aviator who, with his brother Wilber, invented and built the world's first successful airplane, making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight on 17th December 1903. D.S., Orville Wright, being a signed cheque, Dayton, Ohio, 14th July 1917. The partially printed cheque, completed in another hand, is drawn on The Winters National Bank and is made payable to The Dayton Gas Company for the sum of $6.80. A perforated bank cancellation only very slightly touches the first letter of Wright's signature. The cheque has been attractively contained within a large reproduction image depicting the first flight of the Wright Flyer I in North Carolina on 17th December 1903. Orville Wright can be seen piloting the machine as his brother Wilbur runs alongside. Also contained within the display is a small 0.5 x 1 swatch of pale beige fabric, apparently taken from the original Wright Flyer I. Framed and glazed to an overall size of 22 x 18. VG Orville Wright, along with his brother Wilbur, were the inventors of the world's first successful airplane, conducting their first controlled flight of a power driven airplane in 1903. They subsequently became successful businessmen, filling contracts for airplanes in both the United States and Europe. Orville Wright is also known for developing technology for the US Army and spent the last three decades of his life serving on boards and committees related to aeronautics, including the predecessor to NASA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Orville & Wilbur Wright are together considered the 'fathers of modern aviation'.

RUSSIAN IMPERIAL ROMANOV FAMILY: An exceptional vintage signed sepia 10.5 x 12.5 photograph by all seven members of the Russian Imperial Romanov family individually, comprising the last Emperor of Russia, his consort and their five children -             Tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918) Emperor of Russia 1894-1917             Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918) Empress Consort of Russia 1894-1917             Olga Nikolaevna (1895-1918) Grand Duchess of Russia, the eldest daughter of the           Tsar and Tsarina             Tatiana Nikolaevna (1897-1918) Grand Duchess of Russia             Maria Nikolaevna (1899-1918) Grand Duchess of Russia             Anastasia Nikolaevna (1901-1918) Grand Duchess of Russia, the youngest daughter        of the Tsar and Tsarina and             Alexei Nikolaevich (1904-1918) Tsarevich of Russia, the youngest child and only son       of the Tsar and Tsarina.  The circular image (6.5" diameter) depicts the Romanov Family in a group pose, the Tsar, wearing a military uniform, seated in a full length pose at the centre of his family, the Tsarina, wearing her tiara, standing in a full length pose behind her husband, with their children gathered around them, Grand Duchess Olga seated in a full length pose at the left of the image alongside her father, Grand Duchess Maria standing in a full length pose behind her father and alongside her mother, Grand Duchess Anastasia standing in a full length pose to the left of her parents and holding one arm around the shoulder of her brother, Tsarevich Alexei, who is seated in a full length pose, wearing a sailor suit, alongside Grand Duchess Tatiana who is seated in a full length pose at the right of the image. Each of the Grand Duchesses are seen wearing plain long white dresses. Photograph by the Imperial Russian Court photographers Boissonnas & Eggler of St. Petersburg and bearing their blind embossed stamp to the lower left corner of the photographer's mount. Signed ('Nicolas') by Tsar Nicholas II and signed ('Alexandra') by the Tsarina in bold, dark fountain pen inks with their names alone to the lower photographer's mount, and further signed ('Olga', 'Tatiana', 'Maria', 'Anastasia' and 'Alexis') by each of the Romanov children, also with their names alone in bold, dark fountain pen inks, to the lower photographer's mount and in a row immediately beneath the signatures of their parents. Lightly affixed to a beige matt with a gold border to an overall size of 12 x 14. A couple of very small, minor spots to the photographer's mount, not affecting the signatures, and some extremely light age toning, the matt with some light staining and age wear, VG AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE FULLY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH BY THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL ROMANOV FAMILY Autographs of all of the Romanov family on a single item are extremely rare in any form, and the present signed photograph is of the utmost rarity. American Book Prices Current record only two items signed by multiple members of the Romanov family, although neither featured the complete set of seven signatures as the present photograph does. This photograph of the Russian Imperial Romanov family was one of a series taken at Livadia Palace in 1913 to mark the tercentenary of Romanov rule. An unsigned image from the same setting is housed in the Royal Collection Trust of Queen Elizabeth II (RCIN 2926945). A very similar image (again, unsigned) to the present photograph (Tsar Nicholas II with his hands gently clasped and Grand Duchess Olga with her head slightly tilted) is illustrated on the front cover dustjacket of the book Nicholas & Alexandra - The Last Imperial Family of Tsarist Russia, published by Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1998, in conjunction with a major exhibition organised jointly by the Russian State Hermitage Museum and the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The same image is also reproduced on page 309 of the book (somewhat confusingly attributing the photograph to the studio of Levitsky and Co. with a date of 1914). The exhibition (which also featured contributions from the world-famous Forbes Magazine Collection) included many signed photographs, letters and documents, all of which are handsomely reproduced in the book. However, it would appear that no photograph signed by all seven members of the Romanov family was included in the exhibition, and it would appear safe to assume that had one existed within the major contributing archives to the exhibition then it would most certainly have been included. The apparent absence within the archives of a signed photograph similar to the one offered here can only serve to reinforce the extreme rarity of the present lot. It is interesting to note that both the Tsar and Tsarina, as well as each of their children, have signed the photograph not in Cyrillic, but in Latin script, most likely indicating that the photograph was originally signed for, and presented to, a European recipient, perhaps even a relative (the Tsar was a first cousin of King George V of the United Kingdom and had family ties to several other European monarchies). Furthermore, it is interesting that the Romanov family appended their signatures to the present image; the Imperial Russian Court photographers created a number of different images at the sitting at Livadia Palace and the fact that the Tsar and his family signed the present image from the series could be seen as an indication that this was their favourite image from the series. Provenance: The present signed photograph was previously contained within the archives of a European noble family.  The reign of Tsar Nicholas II saw the fall of the Russian Empire from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Two revolutions occurred in Russia in 1917, the first known as the February Revolution, the immediate result of which was the abdication of the Tsar and the end of the Romanov dynasty. The Russian Imperial Romanov family (the seven signatories of the present photograph) and all those who chose to accompany them into exile were executed by a firing squad at Yekaterinburg on 17th July 1918.    

 DUMAS ALEXANDRE: Pere (1802-1870) French Writer whose historical novels of high adventure include The Three Musketeers (1844). 'I must have finished my three acts by the 15th.'A.L.S., Alex. Dumas, one page, 8vo, n.p., n.d., to Porcher, in French. Dumas states `I will come to have dinner with you when my first act will be finished, and it won´t be finished before Wednesday´ further adding `When I go for dinner with you I will eat for three days like a wolf and a fool´ and concludes `I must have finished my three acts by the 15th. ´ With blind embossed monogram to the upper left corner. Some very light staining and minor age wear and a few small traces of former mounting to the left edge, not affecting the text or signature, about VG  Jean Baptiste Porcher (1792-1864) & Alix Renique Porcher (1807-1887), French Theatrical Agents who used to purchase copyrights and ticket passes for their authors, later reselling them at the entrance doors of theatres.  Dumas is one of the most widely read of French writers and his works have inspired more than 200 motion pictures. 

 HEMINGWAY ERNEST: (1899-1961) American Novelist, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 1954. 'What the hell is angling anyway?'.A.L.S., Ernesto, four pages, 4to, Key West, 31st March 1936, to Erl Rowan of the Miami Herald. Hemingway states that he was glad to hear from his correspondent, but was sorry not to be present at a committee meeting, explaining 'Was over my head in work. Am behind on my book and working to a deadline…' and continuing 'Suppose you saw what I wrote Mrs. [Oliver C.] Grinnell about the broadbill harpooning and that's why you sent the clipping….Listen, kid, I had not seen one single comment on C. B. Millers speech when [I] wrote Mrs. G. nor have seen any. We don't get columns here. Sorry he ratted on you. That was lousy. I have no ax (sic) to grind in this, except possibly that have found plenty of pro fishermen as good or better fellows than amateurs'. Hemingway also questions his correspondent's statistics, remarking '1929 was a wonderful broadbill year. 1934 pitiful…3 only caught on rod and reel that year! So you can ignore 1935 as a good year in your American production and crash down on us with 1935 Canadian production. Always more broadbill off Nova Scotia anyway than off U.S.' and continues to enquire 'Erl, tell me, what are you shooting for? Who is this C.B. Miller? Why should you bat for him? Probably he is a marvellous fellow but you and I know broadbill, marlin and tuna run in cycles. When they are thick they are cheap. When they are scarce they bring plenty in from outside but why not tax the imported fish and not throw even 1200 good swordfishermen out of work so rich pricks can pass baits to them….I am for making a living and for sport for the rich man and the poor man, and especially the poor man and against all class legislation. It is better that every rich man should have to go up to New Brunswick and learn to cast a salmon fly properly and pay for his fishing or rent a good trout stream or go out and find new ocean fishing (there is a world of it to fish) than that one single poor man should be deprived of the livelihood that the sea has brought and that he has learned to take since over a hundred years. That's where I stand'. The writer further adds 'If you want to publish this [I] would be delighted. In my remarks about the broadbill figures (and I think they may be just) simply…say choosing your yearly figures' and poses the question 'What the hell is angling anyway? You don't make the living you should recording it. We all go broke doing it. It was designed to be done for fun. But the fish should not be wasted! Everyone should be allowed to practice it according to their own standards so long as the supply of fish is preserved.' Hemingway concludes 'Cuba, where I get completely accurate figures, has had lousy marlin figures for 2 years. Next year may be a better one than the great 1933 - or the 1927 or 1929 - In one year I caught 54 in another 17. Should I blame commercial slaughter? In 1929 I might have caught 154. They were that thick. Anyway good luck to you always. I certainly appreciate all you do and the work you put into it. You are a damned fine sportsman. But don't let politicians suck you in - But of course you won't. Have been working like hell'. Accompanied by the original envelope hand addressed by Hemingway, marked 'Personal', and signed ('E. Hemingway') by him in the return address. A letter of good content relating to one of Hemingway's great passions. VG Mrs. Oliver C. 'Bill' Grinnell - Author of American Big Game Fishing (1935) in collaboration with Lynn Bogue Hunt and Ernest Hemingway. Grinnell's introduction to the book and the charts provided within it explain that the fishing records started in the 1930s (the period when Hemingway began big game fishing, inspired by the Cuban fishermen who had been towed for two days by a giant marlin) were inaccurate on the subject of size. Her description of fishing for big game also contains many elements found in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea (1952) - the beauty of the ocean and marine life in particular. Hemingway's economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.   

BEAUHARNAIS JOSEPHINE DE: (1763-1814) Empress of the French 1804-14, the first wife of Napoleon I. L.S., Lapagerie Bonaparte, two pages, 8vo, n.p. (Chateau de Malmaison?), 30th May 1800, to an unidentified recipient, in French. Josephine thanks her correspondent for the plants which she had been promised and informs her correspondent that her gardener (Alexander Howatson?) will receive and take care of the plants, which she provides a list of, and which includes a rose, as well as various species of Eucalyptus, Magnolia, Laurel and Hibiscus etc. She further invites her correspondent to visit her garden and provide her with some advice. The text of the letter is in the hand of Mme. De Remusat. Some very light, minor age wear, otherwise VG    In 1799, while Napoleon was in Egypt, Josephine purchased the Chateau de Malmaison. She had it landscaped in an English style, hiring landscapers and horticulturalists from the United Kingdom including Thomas Blaikie, a Scottish horticultural expert, and Alexander Howatson, a Scottish gardener. The rose garden was begun soon after purchase and Josephine took a personal interest in the gardens and the roses, as illustrated by the present letter, and learned a great deal about botany and horticulture from her staff. Josephine wanted to collect all known roses so Napoleon ordered his warship commanders to search all seized vessels for plants to be forwarded to Malmaison. The English nurseryman Kennedy was a major supplier and, despite England and France being at war, his shipments were allowed to cross blockades. Sir Joseph Banks, Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, also sent her roses. The general assumption is that she had about 250 roses in her garden when she died in 1814. Unfortunately, the roses were not catalogued during her tenure, however Josephine produced the first written history of the cultivation of roses, and is believed to have hosted the first rose exhibition, in 1810.                                                                                                                                                              The present letter was written just nine days before the Battle of Montebello on 9th June 1800, part of the lead-up to the Battle of Marengo on 14th June 1800, when the vanguard of the French Army in Italy engaged and defeated an Austrian force in a glorious victory. In 1795 Josephine Beauharnais met Napoleon Bonaparte, six years her junior, for the first time. She became his mistress and in January 1796 Napoleon proposed to her. The marriage was not well accepted by Napoleon's family, who were shocked that he had married an older woman with two children. As the wife of Napoleon, Josephine became the first Empress Consort of the French and was crowned by Pope Pius VII at Notre Dame de Paris on 2nd December 1804. She did not bear Napoleon any children and, as a result, he divorced her in 1810 to marry Marie Louise of Austria.

MOMORO ANTOINE-FRANÇOIS: (1756-1794) French Printer, Bookseller and Politician during the French Revolution. Momoro is the originator of the French Republic motto `Liberté-Egalité-Fraternité´. Guillotined. A rare L.S., Momoro, one page, small 4to, Paris, 15th January 1794, to the President of the Electoral Assembly, in French. Momoro accepts his correspondent's proposal to become a member of the Electoral Assembly and states `I have forwarded to the General Prosecutor my acceptance to the post of member of the department. I inform the Electoral Assembly about this and report that I will not be able to attend the assembly meeting today.´ Countersigned at the foot by citizen Leblanc (in whose hand the text of the letter is written) who also accepts the appointment. A boldly penned and attractive letter. Some extremely minor age wear to the edges, VG Momoro was condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal and guillotined at the young age of 37 on 24th March 1794, a little over two months after the present letter was written. Upon hearing the sentence of the Revolutionary Tribunal Momoro loudly responded `You accuse me, who has given everything for the Revolution! ´ Somewhat forgotten today by historians, Momoro was, however, an important figure in the Cordeliers Club and in Hébertisme. As the originator of the phrase Unité, Indivisibilité de la République; Liberté-Egalité-Fraternité ou la mort', one of the mottos of the French Republic, his contribution to French history is in no doubt. 

WORLD WAR II:An extremely rare and historically important original flow-chart, the partially printed document, completed in typescript, is entitled Gliederung Oberkommando d. Wehrmacht, one page, oblong folio, n.p. (Flensburg), May 1945, in German. The organisational diagram showing the composition of the German Army High Command (OKW) as at 10th May 1945, with Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel as Chef OKW/Chefgruppe and Generaloberst Alfred Jodl as Chef Wehrmachtsfuhrungsstab and also identifies the ranks of various other German officers within the structure of the OKW including Hermann Reinecke, Rudolf Lehmann, Siegfried Adolf Handloser, Leopold Bürkner, Erich Dethleffsen and Heinz Assmann. Some light overall creasing and some tears and areas of paper loss to some edges and corners, professionally restored in places, GProvenance: The present document was previously the property of Major General Sir Kenneth Strong, General Eisenhower's Chief of Intelligence, and retained by him as an historical souvenir of the end of World War II in Europe.The present document was produced at the insistence of the Allies when a SHAEF Control Party visited Doenitz’s headquarters at Flensburg on 12th May 1945. The team comprised fourteen Americans led by Major General Lowell W. Rooks and eleven British under Brigadier E.J. Foord. A meeting was convened between 8.25pm and 8.45pm on the 12th May with the OKW representative, Colonel Meyer-Detring. As a result OKW were ordered to produce by 10am on the 13th May a number of documents relating to the composition of the Armed Forces and their senior commanders. The present document was one of those so produced and is historically significant in that it is the last OKW organisational diagram to include Field Marshall Keitel as its chief. However, by midday, Germany’s new Chancellor, Grand Admiral Döenitz, was advised that the Supreme Commander of the Army High Command, Field Marshal Keitel was, on the instructions of General Eisenhower, to be relieved of his post immediately and treated as a prisoner of war. Colonel General Jodl assumed Keitel’s position until both the Acting German Government and the German High Command were dissolved, and its members arrested, on the 23rd May 1945.Four days after the surrender at Reims, General Eisenhower ordered General Rooks, a deputy G-3 of SHAEF, to establish a Control Party at Flensburg in order to impose the will of the Supreme Commander on the OKW in the areas of Germany occupied by the Western Allies. Headed by General der Infanterie Friedrich Fangohr, Rook’s orders were to compile information about the German command system through the collection and safeguarding of all OKW documents at FIensburg. Following Field Marshal Keitel’s arrest, General Jodl assured the Allied general that he would undertake to carry out SHAEF directives in the interests of maintaining order and saving the German people from catastrophe. Meanwhile, Doenitz declared that the German armed forces had taken an oath to him personally and would obey his orders. He understood the critical situation that the Reich now found itself in, with severe shortages of food, currency, and fuel. The focus had shifted from military to civilian needs, in which Doenitz felt compelled to organised through a central German authority. General Rooks brushed suggestion aside, stating that SHAEF army group commanders would organise their own zonal affairs, and that the OKW would only be involved in matters common to all Allied zones. On the 17th May, Doenitz’s censored statement to the German people removed any doubts or aspirations the fledgling continuation government had of leading its citizens, "The German Reich has had to capitulate because it was at the end of its power of resistance. The first consequence that we have to draw is the most loyal fulfilment of the demands made on us. There must be no officer and no soldier, who would try by illegal means to evade the consequences which have arisen out of the last war and an unconditional surrender." Despite these evidences of co-operation, messages of were still being transmitted from inside the OKW enclave that were angering the Allies, including arrangements made to established a German chain of command through which it could carry out the initial steps of disbanding the enemy forces. This prompted the imposition of censorship of Flensburg radio and its ultimate closure. Other criticisms arose when senior Allied officers were photographed in friendly poses with high-level German commanders and when reports were printed that enemy leaders were receiving special treatment, and that some members of the old regime might be perpetuated in power. On 19th May, the Supreme Commander directed the 21 Army Group to consult with the SHAEF control party at Flensburg and then to arrest the members of Doenitz' "so-called government" and of OKW. On the morning of 23rd May, General Rooks summoned Doenitz, Jodl, and Friedeburg to his office and informed them of the Supreme Commander's order. The officers were then put under guard, but, despite all precautions, Admiral Friedeburg killed himself by taking poison. With the arrest of Doenitz and members of his staff, the main work of the SHAEF Control Party at Flensburg was ended. General Rooks indicated his intention of leaving the area about 27th May and handed over local control to a small joint U.S.-British Ministerial Control Party. However, he retained general policy control of the southern branch of OKW which was still in existence and made attempts to disband German forces in that sector. Wilhelm Keitel (1882-1946) German Field Marshal who served as Chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) for most of World War II, making him the Chief of Defense for Germany.Alfred Jodl (1890-1946) German General, who served as the Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command (OKW). After the war, Jodl was indicted on the charges of conspiracy to commit crime against peace; planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression; war crimes; and crimes against humanity.The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (or OKW), part of the command structure of the German armed forces during World War II. It served as the military general staff for Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, coordinating the efforts of the German Army (Heer), Navy (Kriegsmarine), and Air Force (Luftwaffe). In theory, the OKW was only Hitler's military office, was charged with translating Hitler's ideas into military orders, and had little real control over the Army, Navy and the Air Force High Commands. The OKW was headed for the entire war by Wilhelm Keitel and reported directly to Hitler, from whom most operational orders actually originated as he had made himself Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht (Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces). Alfred Jodl was Keitel's Chef des Wehrmachtführungsstabes (Chief of Operation Staff).Owing to restrictions imposed by the-saleroom the complete catalogue description can not be shown here. Please contact the auctioneers for further details.

BILLOT JEAN-BAPTISTE: (1828-1907) French General and Politician. Minister of War 1882-83. A rare 4to printed brochure bearing the ownership signature of General Billot, being an edition of Le Bordereau - Etude des Depositions de M. Bertillon et du Capitaine Valerio, au Conseil de Guerre de Rennes, par un Ancien Eleve de L'Ecole Polytechnique, published in association with the Dreyfus Affair by Hardy and Bernard of Paris, 1904. The interesting publication, in French, is an essay concerning the Bordereau which Dreyfus had been accused of writing (the Bordereau document, which included secret military information and which was sent to the German Embassy in Paris had constituted the start of the Dreyfus affair). The brochure includes images of Dreyfus' handwriting, drawings for graphology analysis and more, based on testimonies in the Dreyfus trial, and particularly the testimonial of Alphonse Bertillon. Signed ('Gal. Billot') by Billot in fountain pen ink with his name alone to the upper right corner of the front cover. Bound in green printed paper wrappers with red and black text. The paper wrappers a little loose in places and with a neat tear at the base of the spine. G Alphonse Bertillon (1853-1914) French Police Officer and Biometrics Researcher who was a witness for the prosecution in the Dreyfus affair in 1894 and again in 1899. He testified as a handwriting expert and claimed that Alfred Dreyfus had written the incriminating document (the 'bordereau'). However, he was not a handwriting expert, and his convoluted and flawed evidence was a significant contributing factor to one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice - the condemnation of the innocent Dreyfus to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. Using a complex system of measurements, he attempted to prove that Dreyfus had disguised his handwriting by imitating his own handwriting as if someone else was doing so, so that if anyone thought the bordereau was in Dreyfus's hand, he would be able to say that someone else had forged his writing. Both courts martial evidently accepted this, and Dreyfus was convicted. The verdict of the second court martial caused a huge scandal, and it was eventually overturned. Bertillon pretended that his graphological system was based on mathematical probability calculus. A later expertise undertaken in 1904 by three renowned mathematicians, Henri Poincare, Jean Gaston Darboux and Paul Emile Appell, concluded that Bertillon's system was deprived of any scientific value and that he had failed both to apply the method and to present his data properly. With this key evidence against Dreyfus debunked, he was finally acquitted in 1906. General Billot was a dark, key figure in the Dreyfus affair, being implicated by Emile Zola of conspiracy to frame Alfred Dreyfus for espionage. In Zola´s open letter 'J´accuse' he accused General Billot of having held in his hands absolute proof of Dreyfus's innocence and covering it up. The Drefus affair captivated and divided France.

EDWARD VI: (1537-1553) King of England & Ireland 1547-53. Son of King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and England's first monarch to be raised as a Protestant. A good, rare D.S., Edward, as King, at the head, one page (vellum), oblong folio, Manor of St. James's, 24th May 1547. The manuscript document is a Warrant addressed to Richard Bonnye (or Bunny), Receiver of the Royal Rents and Revenues in the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, the Bishopric of Durham and the Archdeaconry of Richmond, commanding him to annually deliver to Sir Thomas Grey, Treasurer of the town of Berwick, the sum of £3000 for payment of the fees and wages of the officers and soldiers of the town. Countersigned at the foot by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset ('E: Somerset'; c.1500-1552, Lord Protector of England 1547-49 during the minority of his nephew, King Edward VI) and five other members of the Privy Council comprising John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford ('J Russell'; c.1485-1554/55, Lord Privy Seal 1542-55 and Lord High Steward, for the Coronation of King Edward VI, 1547) Sir Thomas Cheney ('T Cheyne'; c.1485-1558, English Administrator & Diplomat, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in South East England 1536-58), Sir Anthony Denny ('A D….' a large part of the signature worn away, 1501-1549, Groom of the Stool, a confidant of King Henry VIII who attended the monarch on his death bed), Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel ('H. Arundell', 1512-1580, English Nobleman, Lord Chamberlain) and Sir Ralph Sadler ('R. Sadleyr', 1507-1587, English Statesman, Secretary of State 1540-43, Master of the Great Wardrobe 1543-53). With a large portion of the blind embossed paper seal of the Privy Council affixed. A small diamond shaped spindle hole appears in the upper left margin, not affecting the text or signatures, some light overall creasing and minor dust staining and with a few very small holes to the lower edge and the upper edge a little frayed. A small area of text to the right side of the document is a little rubbed and a few words are partially illegible, G A rare document signed by the nine-year old King Edward VI in the first year of his reign, four months after the death of King Henry VIII, and countersigned by his uncle, Edward Seymour, leader of the Regency Council. Sir Thomas Grey (c.1509-1570), the beneficiary of the present Warrant, served as Justice of the Peace for Northumberland 1547-54 and as Treasurer for Berwick-upon-Tweed 1547-50. The fall of Edward Seymour as Protector in 1550 cost Grey the treasurership of Berwick, which was transferred to Richard Bunny (c.1513-1584) to whom the present Warrant is addressed.  Provenance: The present document was formerly contained in the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) English Antiquary and Book Collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscripts in the 19th century. The document was sold by Sotheby's on 27th June 1977 (lot 4865, MS 25912) and most likely derived from the collection formed by the antiquary John Wilson of Broomhead (1719-1783) which included a volume of Bunny's paper as receiver of the Northern Revenues.  The third of the Tudor monarchs, King Edward VI's reign was marked by economic problems and social unrest that culminated in riot and rebellion in 1549. The transformation of the church into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under Edward, the architect of the reforms being Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose Book of Common Prayer is still used. King Edward VI fell ill in February 1553 and died at the young age of 15. 

BEATLES THE:  An excellent vintage set of signatures by all four members of the English rock band of the 1960s individually, comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, on a page contained in an autograph album. Neatly annotated in a small hand in red ink by the collector at the head of the page, 'Thursday Nov. 21st 1963'. Each of the Fab Four have signed the page in bold blue inks (Lennon signing in black fountain pen ink, with a couple of extremely light, minor smudges to a couple of letters). The album also includes signatures of Peter Jay (of Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers), The Brook Brothers (Geoff and Ricky individually) as well as a number of friends and relatives of the collector. A small oblong 12mo section of the head of the page signed by The Beatles has been neatly clipped away, otherwise VGProvenance: The signatures of The Beatles contained in the present album were obtained by a friend of the vendor, a young female fan of the band who had won a competition to meet The Beatles following their performance at the ABC Cinema in Carlisle on 21st November 1963.The Beatles are recognised as the best-selling band in history and the band were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people. They are recognised as the foremost and most influential musical act of the rock era.

[NICHOLAS II]: (1868-1918) Emperor of Russia 1894-1917.A fine white glazed china plate with the blue Kuznetsov Porcelain factory mark (c.1908), originating from a service used by Tsar Nicholas II and the Imperial Russian Romanov family on board the Russian Imperial yacht Standart. The plate (diameter 9") is decorated with two gilt bands at the rims and a double-headed eagle featuring the Russian Imperial arms of the Tsar, hand decorated in black, gold, blue and red. With some minor age wear to the outer gilt rim and some very minor paint loss to the centre of the eagle crest, about VG Matvey Kuznetsov, owned almost all of the porcelain factories in Russia, including those at Verbilki, Gzhel Disctrict, Dulyovo, the village of Pesochnoye and Yaroslavl Province. The present china was made for the Imperial family at the time of the coronation in 1896 and replacements were manufactured until 1914. Although a considerable quantity was produced over the years a survey after World War I found only about 1000 pieces had survived.The Standart was launched in 1895 and was in her time the largest Imperial Yacht afloat. Standart was fitted out with ornate fixtures, including mahogany paneling, crystal chandeliers, and other amenities that made the vessel a suitable floating palace for the Russian Imperial Romanov Family. Tsar Nicholas II and his family were vacationing on the Standart during the summer of 1914, when they received the news of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. The reign of Tsar Nicholas II saw the fall of the Russian Empire from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Two revolutions occurred in Russia in 1917, the first known as the February Revolution, the immediate result of which was the abdication of the Tsar and the end of the Romanov dynasty. The Russian Imperial Romanov and all those who chose to accompany them into exile were executed by a firing squad at Yekaterinburg on 17th July 1918.   

CASEMENT ROGER: (1864-1916) Irish Patriot, Revolutionary and Nationalist, executed for treason. A.L.S., Roger Casement, three pages, folio, Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, 29th May 1897, to His Excellency the Governor of Mauritius. Casement writes in his capacity as a British Diplomat and Consul and announces, for the information of the next of kin, that the Director of the Civil and Military Hospital in Lourenco had deposited £6.11.10 with him, 'belonging to a native of Mauritius whom the hospital authorities styled "Luiz Oguis", who died… on the 4th…' Casement continues to state that, from other sources, he has been informed that 'a native of Mauritius named Louis Auguste, a mason by profession was admitted to the hospital some time ago suffering from a contagious disease.' In concluding he asks which authority in Mauritius should be sent the money. Some extensive, neat splitting to central fold (repaired), small tears to edges and light water staining, just affecting a few words of text but not the signature, G Casement worked in the Congo for Henry Morton Stanley and the African International Association from 1884 before joining the Colonial Service, under the authority of the Colonial Office, first serving overseas as a clerk in British West Africa before transferring to the Foreign Office service as British Consul in the eastern part of the French Congo.  Casement has been described as the 'father of 20th century human rights investigations', in recognition of his Casement Report on the Congo (1905) in which he exposed the abuses of the enslavement, mutilation and torture of natives on the rubber plantations, and his important investigations of human rights abuses in Peru, which led to his knighthood in 1911. During World War I Casement sought the aid of the German military for the 1916 Easter Rising which sought to gain Irish independence from British rule. As a result he was arrested, convicted and executed for treason. 

LINDBERGH CHARLES: (1902-1974) American Aviator who made the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, 20th - 21st May 1927. An excellent vintage signed 10 x 7.5 photograph, the historic image depicting Lindbergh standing in a full length pose on the balcony of a Parisian building on the occasion of the aviator being a guest of honour at a reception organised by the Aero-Club de France following the completion of his historic flight the day before. Lindbergh is accompanied on the balcony by American Ambassador Myron Herrick and two United States flags can be seen flying either side of the large circular emblem of the Aero-Club de France. Photograph by Henri Manuel of Paris and signed by him in pencil to the lower photographer's mount and also featuring his blindstamp to the lower left corner of the image. Signed ('Charles A. Lindbergh') in bold black fountain pen ink with his name alone to a clear area of the image. Matted in black and cream to an overall size of 15 x 12.5. VG Henri Manuel (1874-1947) French Photographer who served as the official photographer of the French government from 1914-44. Myron T. Herrick (1854-1929) American Politician, Governor of Ohio 1904-06 and Ambassador to France 1912-14 and 1921-29. Herrick hosted Lindbergh in Paris after his successful New York to Paris Atlantic crossing and the Ambassador wrote of the experience 'The next day [22nd May 1927, the day on which the present photograph was captured] serious business began. The President wanted to see him, Monsieur Poincare wanted to see him, the Aero Club arranged a reception, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate both invited him to pay them a visit and suspended their sitting to receive him; a medal was struck in his honour, the city of Paris gave him a reception, he was decorated, feted and adored. He deserved it all, and it was fine to see him bearing himself throughout like the charming young gentleman he is'. The Aero-Club de France played a significant role in Lindbergh's historic flight. The certification of the aviator's flight required several documents to prove the performance. A sealed barograph, an instrument working with atmospheric pressure, was loaded on the Spirit of St. Louis; its six-hour cylinder recorded the altitudes flown and proved that the flight was uninterrupted. The start of the flight was attested by the US National Aeronautic Association and the Procés-verbal established by the Aero-Club de France on Lindbergh's arrival attested that the barograph was found sealed and reported that 322 litres of gas (85 gallons) remained in the sealed tanks. This Procés-verbal was signed by no less than 13 French officials, as well as Myron Herrick, the Belgian Air Attaché Willy Coppens and, of course, Lindbergh himself. Charles Lindbergh emerged from virtual obscurity as a U.S. Air Mail pilot to instantaneous world fame as a result of his solo nonstop flight from New York to Paris in 1927. He became an instant hero and his feat inspired an enthusiastic interest in aviation. (See also lot 170).

WASHINGTON BOOKER T.: (1856-1915) American Educator, Author, Orator, a dominant leader in the African-American community.L.S., Booker T Washington, one page, 4to, Tuskegee, Alabama, 31st March 1911, to Edwin C. Lewis, on the printed stationery of The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for the Training of Colored Young Men and Women. Booker sends a request to his correspondent, stating 'I am writing this personal appeal to you because I believe that you are interested in the kind of work we are trying to do at The Tuskegee Institute ', and continuing 'Our students pay their own board partly in cash, and partly in labor and in addition provide their own books, clothing, travelling expenses, etc., but they are wholly unable to pay the cost of fifty dollars per year, the cost of teaching each one.' Washington further adds 'This we have to ask friends to provide and I thought that you might like to assist in providing the whole or part of the support of a student for a year.' Some very light, extremely minor age toning to the extreme edges of the letter, VGEdwin Lewis (1881-1959) American Methodist Theologian.From 1890-1915 Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community. From the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery, Washington was the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants, basing himself at the Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college in Alabama, and from where the present letter was signed. Washington mastered the nuances of the political arena in the late 19th century, which enabled him to manipulate the media, raise money, strategise, network, pressure, reward friends and distribute funds while punishing those who opposed his plans for uplifting blacks. His long-term goal was to end the disenfranchisement of the vast majority of African Americans, who still lived in the South. Washington also was a key proponent of African-American businesses and one of the founders of the National Negro Business League.

 NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) Emperor of France 1804- 14, 1815 LANNES JEAN (1769-1809) Marshal of France. Duc de Montebello. One of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals and a personal friend of the Emperor. BESSIERES JEAN-BAPTISTE (1768-1813) Marshal of France. Duc d´ Istria. CAFFARELLI DU FALGA MARIE-FRANCOIS AUGUSTE DE (1766-1849) French General who served as aide-de-camp to Napoleon and organised Pope Pius VII's trip to France for Napoleon's coronation as Emperor. A rare D.S. by Napoleon I ('Bonaparte'), Jean Lannes ('Lannes'), Jean-Baptiste Bessieres ('Bessieres'), Marie-Francois Auguste de Caffarelli du Falga ('A. Caffarelli') and a number of others, at the conclusion, six pages, folio, Paris, 20th October 1800, in French. The manuscript document is a marriage certificate issued for Leon Aune and Anne Clair, in the presence and agreement of Napoleon, and comprises ten clauses with references to the endowment provided by the parents of Anne Clair, and to the wedding contract. Signed by Leon Aune and Anne Clair at the conclusion, alongside the signature of Napoleon and the other witnesses at their marriage, and also with a number of annotations in the margins throughout the document, each initialled by both the bride and groom. An interesting combination of signatures with a good association. Neatly tied into the original paper wrappers with the title and date to the front cover. The edges of the paper a little ragged and with some light overall age wear, otherwise VG Leon Aune (1777-1803) French Military officer, labelled 'the second Grenadier of France' by Napoleon. Aune served as a Second Lieutenant in the Foot Grenadiers of the Consular Guard and received a sabre and musket of honour in March 1800 in recognition of his brilliant actions. Aune wrote to Napoleon to thank him for his weapons of honour and he was to receive a reply from Bonaparte stating 'I have received your letter, my brave comrade. You needed not to have told me of your exploits, for you are the bravest grenadier in the whole army, since the death of Benezete. You received one of the hundred sabres I distributed to the army, and all agreed you most deserved it. I wish very much to see you. The War Minister sends you an order to come to Paris'. This letter, circulated throughout Napoleon's army, would serve to have a tremendous effect on the enthusiasm and morale of the troops. Napoleon had Aune taught to write, so that he could be promoted, although was to tragically die at an early age from pneumonia. Napoleon signed a decree following Aune's death approving a pension of 500 Francs to Anne Clair, his widow. Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military and political leader, rose to prominence during the French Revolution and, as Napoleon I, served as Emperor of the French from 1804-14, and again in 1815. Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He was victorious in most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, building a large empire that ruled over continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815. One of the greatest commanders in history, Napoleon's political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and controversial leaders in history.