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Lot 421
* Gordon (Charles George, 1833-1885). A long autograph letter signed `C.E. Gordon’, Khartoum, 27th November 1878, to Sir Samuel [Baker], `Thank you for your kind letter, 16 Oct. How well you write, I fear you have difficulty in reading my scrawls’, the letter continuing in a difficult hand, `Although I have made my apologies to you for my rudeness years ago, I think you will not think me breaking(?) impudence, if I mention what happened, at the same time, as I saw the McM[illan] advertisement. They were [?] the church Miss. Nyanza Expedition, and I have been writing to Grant, saying that Utesa was a Negro &c. &c. & that he & the troops might come into collision... `, continuing to give an account of why he had been cross with Baker and apologising once more then moving on to two numbered sections `Cairo Affairs’ and `Slave Trade’, the latter beginning, `Wylde tells me that our slaves have come to Jeddah & that the people are in despair. You must know I advised the seizure of III Dhows belonging to the Turks of Jeddah, who came over with water & food, evidently for slaves. We annexed the Dhows & sent the crews to Jeddah, this has stopped these people ...’, continuing which much detail about the slave trade and politics of it plus some account of his own actions and affairs, ending `As for trade with Blacks or any hope of getting any more ivory, it is over, each [?] having cost us 80 pounds & nothing, but misery. I hope you will come out. As for [?] tribunals, it has been this year, a terrible unhealthy year & I fear if any Europeans could stand the climate, you know the demands for high salaries & compensation which these men would bring forward (I think justly), and it makes me quail to think of the bother & expenses’, sending regards to Lord and Lady Baker and their nephew and finishing with postscript hoping he can ask Lieutenant Watson, R.E., to send Baker a copy of the Equatorial map, 15 pp. on four numbered bifoliums, a few spots and small marginal splits, final leaf sl. browned and worn on centrefold, 4to, together with Baker (Samuel), `The Albert N’yanza, Great Basin of the Nile’ [contained in] Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. 10, no. 1, 14th December 1865, Baker’s first printed account of the discovery of the Albert Nyanza, folding map and 29 pp., orig. printed blue wrappers, a little soiling and wear to spine ends, slim 8vo (2)
Lot 423
* Gregory (William, 1803-58). Autograph letter signed `William Gregory’, Dublin, 27th April 1837, to Sir Charles Morgan, regretting having missed him on his arrival in Dublin, continuing `The trial, on account of which I was summoned to Glasgow, was again postponed for a day or two owing to the dangerous illness of our first counsel. The gentleman chosen to succeed him had to make himself acquainted with the details of a most voluminous case, which required time. In the meanwhile, they kept just hold of me, so that I had nothing for it but the George, and the Literary Society of the Traveller’s Room, not omitting its library which includes an almanach, a directory, and half a dozen stale newspapers’, continuing to give brief details of the case where he and Dr. Christison were examined in front of the judge Lord Cockburn, `and in giving his own opinion, stated it almost in the same words as I had used more than a year ago, when, after inspecting the locale, I sent him my first report. After the trial, the solicitors ascribed their success entirely to our evidence, founded, as it was on careful analsyses. Thus, my trip has been a prosperous one, and I have only to wish that Lady Morgan’s maybe equally so, referring further to Lady Morgan and commenting that he is anxious to see her new work when it is ready, `for I expect that I shall have a battle with her Ladyship about it. Not that I stand up for the inferiority of woman, God forbid! but I rather think we do not altogether agree as to the line of her superiority, which no one admits more readily than I do. Indeed I have so high an opinion of the sex that I protest most energetically against the hieretical [paper loss from seal tear affecting next word at inner margin of third page] which Lady Morgan entertains on the subject of matrimony, and to which she has attempted to convert me ...’, referring to a pamphlet that he has brought with him and the `malignant Toryism of the Judges’, 3 pp. with integral address leaf, paper loss from seal tear affecting one or two words as already noted, docketed upper left corner of first page, 4to. The trial refers to the case of a proprietor of a dye works, in which madder was used, polluted a stream and so affected a paper works. `Professor Christison and Dr. Gregory expressly swore, that the spots on the paper not only did not consist of madder, but they answered the character of cam or barr-wood or some of the red woods, as if derived from inpalpable dust floating out of the mills for pounding or rasping the dye-woods,’ (The Scottish Jurist, February 1838, pp. 284 ff.). (1)
Lot 429
* Page (William, Private in the 38 Regiment of Foot). An unusual archive of fifteen autograph letters from the low-ranking soldier William Page to his parents Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Page (corkscrew maker and later steel toymaker), Wolverhampton, 27th May 1807 to 1st July 1812, written in a reasonably clear hand that improves over the years, describing details of his life and health and colleagues and wishing his parents and friends well, sometimes asking for money and usually signing himself as their `undutiful son’, the first three letters written from Lichfield and Alton, one letter written from Bandon, Ireland, six letters from Guernsey (Doyle Barracks and variously in Captain Rogers, Captain Wrench’s, Captain Taylor’s and Captain Forster’s Company, 2nd Battalion, 38th Regiment), one letter from Oxford, and one each from Lisbon, Sobigol, Nava Froas(?) and Coinbra, together with a letter from a friend Thomas Watson writing to his parents on his behalf giving them an update on his situation in June 1807 and a clearly written letter by a colleague, Thomas Morris, from the plains of Almeida, 21st May 1811 (written to Morris’s wife), plus a fragment of a letter from Page to his parents in Ireland, all somewhat soiled and with numerous fold splits and occ. chips and tears, many with indistinct name or date strikes, a total of approx. 38 pp., mostly folio, plus two unusual period corkscrews, presumably made by Joseph Page, one with a screw-thread fitting into a purpose-made case and loop handle, the other with a butterfly screw nut through upper stem, both approx. 8cm. Included with the bundle of letters is an old bible page with some family notes written to blank verso: `Benjamin Page, the son of Joseph and Mary Page, born 31st March 1806. Hannah, wife of the above, daughter of Joseph and Ann Lloyd, born 25th September 1806. Benjamin Page, died February 2nd 1869’. Benjamin Page who is described in one of William’s letters as `always my favourite’ of an unknown number of brothers was only a baby when William joined the army. This unusual collection of letters from a low-ranking soldier, while containing much of family concerns, also gives good insight into his army life and concerns. Letter one: `...I have been very ill for this two days with a very violent purging & other pains for these last two or three nights I have up and down every five or ten minutes for the living is so unregular to what I have been used to and the duty so very strict that I am really weary of my life tho’ there is plenty of meat and bread but you are put in the rooms from the [?] & nobody to cook for you but you are obliged to cut a bit of [?] & frizle it how you can that is a Soldiers Living from Year to Year without any [?] Except you can buy them yourself which is unpossible for we get but one shilling & 7d a week besides your Bread Meat & Washing which the pay for themselves & out of that small trifle you have pipe clay & oil & many other small articles and if you have any Small Beer you must pay a penny a pint & what money I thought of Receiving what stopt for I cursed thing or another I have not settled yet...’ (27th May 1807). Letter fifteen: `...I was obligated to go into the rear owing to having a rupture come on by hard Marching and heavy fatigues which rendered me incapable of Marching with my regiment so I was sent to General Hospital but was well in health three Days after I left the Regiment I got to be a Clerk in the Commissary Department and had a guinea per week wages besides my corporals pay from the regiment at which place I continued for five months and was allowed besides my wages what provisions Spirits & wine I wish for my Own use and a friend if I Choosed During which time I saved more than Eleven Guineas which I have by me at this time and ten months pay Due at the Regiment which would be of great service to me if please god I was at Home Again... I have very Little to inform of Concerning the State of Affairs in this Country [Spain] for being Away so long from them and so very far off that I see nothing of it and hear very little at this time I ham as much as much as three Hundred Miles away from them the Army are a Considerable long way in Spain Driving the French before them & if the Spanish troops stand firm I am of Opinion that we will be Clear out of the two Countries this Summer which will be a happy Day for Soldiers here for their hardships are undescribable but still fight with the Greatest of ardour and firmness never undertake a Battle but what the Complete it with Spirit & loyalty the British Army is prior to the Eyes of All nations and a Severe terror to their Enemy tho of a much infiror number I can give you but Very Little Account of the Battle of Badajoz but our Loss is Estimated at three thousand men as I hear our Regiment Got very much Hurt... `. Recent typed transcriptions of the letters are included with the lot. (a bundle)
Lot 249
A George II rococo kettle and stand, the kettle profusely decorated with flowers, fruit and masks, with the spout terminating in an eagle’s head, scrolled handle with raffia binding, the semi-domed cover with semi-open end finial, the sides of the body engraved with armorial and blank cartouche; the stand with floral swag aprons, raised on three leaf-capped scroll supports terminating in scroll pad feet, the lamp fixed in the centre, London 1748, maker’s mark scrolled ‘JC’ (with a two-handled vase above a star motif between the initials, all in a shaped shield), hallmarked on the base of the kettle and lamp, 37cm high, 54 ozs. (2)
Lot 265
Thomas Mudge and William Dutton. A silver pair-cased pocket watch, the white enamel circular dial with Roman numerals for the hours and Arabic numerals for minutes, the fusee chain and cylinder escapement with foliate pierced cock and backplate inscribed Tho Mudge London 665, the dust cover inscribed ‘Tho Mudge W Dutton London’ in a later silver case with hallmarks for London 1847 together with a turned oak watch stand under glass dome.
Lot 654
G. Adams, 60 Fleet Street, London. A late 18th/early 19th century lacquered brass ‘Cuff’ type microscope, with rack and pinion focusing, the shaped stage signed G. Adams, 60 Fleet Street, London, on a folding Y-shaped stand, with accessories contained in a fitted mahogany case, 34cm. high.
Lot 740
An early 18th Century walnut veneered chest on chest on later stand, with cavetto cornice, canted corners, two short and three graduated long drawers to the upper section, two short and one long drawer below, all with holly stringing, the stand with serpentine apron and cabriole legs with pad feet, 183cm (6ft) high x 104cm (3ft 5in) wide, one leg broken.
Lot 779
A Victorian mahogany extending dining table of large size, with a telescopic action, the top with rounded corners and a moulded edge, on turned polygonal tapered legs, terminating in brass cappings and castors, the top 150cm (4ft 11in) x 160cm (5ft 3in) and with three additional centre leaves housed in a leaf stand, together with a smaller leaf, extending to 428cm (14ft 0 1/2in).
Lot 786
A 19th Century French ebonised ‘boulle work’ and gilt metal mounted cabinet on serpentine fronted stand, veneered in scarlet tortoiseshell and inlaid with a marquetry of cut brass in foliate, scroll and figural designs, the domed upper part with palmette scroll and foliate cresting, flanked by twin handled urns, the frieze centred with angels carrying a foliate wreath, enclosed by a pair of arched panel doors, decorated with Diana the huntress and a stag, within beaded, foliate and husk bandings and fitted with two short drawers below between rounded stiles applied with scrollwork palmettes and floral foliage, the serpentine fronted base with a baize inset writing slide and shaped apron drawer below, on cabriole legs, headed with female masks, husks and scrollwork trailing to sabots, 84cm (2ft 9in) wide.
Lot 799
A carved alabaster figure group of a young seated peasant girl being offered a flower by her admirer 82cm. high on a Chinese hardwood urn stand with circular cleated top, pulvenated frieze pierced and carved with stylised foliage and the five scroll supports joined by a cloud band carved under tier, 57cm. (1ft 10 1/2in) diameter, height of table and figure group 160cm. high
Lot 43
A Mason’s Patent Ironstone China part dinner service comprising a soup tureen and cover, two vegetable dishes, covers and one stand, two sauce tureens, one cover and two stands, six graduated serving plates, twelve dinner plates, twelve soup plates, twelve side plates and twelve dessert plates each printed and enamelled with a pheasant amongst chrysanthemum, peony and prunus, the majority with black backstamps, smaller plates with blue backstamps, mid 19th century, odd minor chip.
Lot 209
A George V canteen of Art Deco influence, with bead and ribbon borders, comprising:- six tablespoons, twelve soup spoons, two sauce ladles, twelve dessert spoons, twelve grapefruit spoons, twelve coffee spoons, twenty four teaspoons, a soup ladle, twelve table forks, twelve dessert forks, eleven cake forks, a pair of sugar tongs, together with twelve pairs of mother-of-pearl handled stainless steel fruit knives and forks, twelve stainless steel table knives, twelve similar dessert knives, twelve fish knives and forks and a pair of servers, two pairs of carving knives and forks, a pair of cut glass knife rests, maker H.R & Co, Sheffield, 1931, weighable silver 179ozs, contained in a walnut cabinet on stand.
Lot 231
A Victorian table centre piece, finely modelled with three cast classical goat motifs between the apron of three vine leaves on a silver gilt trefoil base, the whole supporting a circular shallow glass dish with stylised leaf decoration, fully-marked in three places, London 1862, maker Stephen Smith and William Nicholson, height of stand 13.5cm, weight excluding the glass dish 21.5 ozs (2)
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456571 item(s)/page