MY DEAR FRED,--The wording of the Minute is certainly
discouraging. If I saw any way of helping you by coming up
to town, I would do so, immediately. But I cannot possibly
apply to the Tories for _anything_. I daresay they would
be glad enough if I would, but I cannot with any regard to
honor, consistency, or truth, ask any favour of people whom
politically, I despise and abhor. It would tie my hands, seal
my lips, rob my pen of its honesty, and bind me neck and heels
in discreditable fetters.
_Is_ Archer in Town? If so, have you spoken to him? If not,
when is he coming? You should speak to him certainly. I have
told you before, that I am much afraid you have not treated him
with that show of respect, which he has a right to claim. Why
in the name of God should he have a personal dislike to you,
but for some such reason as this?
If you think, and I see no objection to your asking Mr. Archer
the question, that without doing anything improper, you might
memorialise the Treasury, I will draw a memorial for you.
If you have reason to think this would be unofficial and
ill-advised, I know of nothing better than waiting and hoping.
I should be as sorry as you, if you were to lose this step. Let
me hear from you by return
Affectionately always
C. D.
[Illustration: EARLY A.L.S. OF W. M. THACKERAY TO MR. MACRONE,
PUBLISHER, DISCOVERED BY MR. GEORGE GREGORY, OF BATH.
(First style of handwriting in 1836.)]
The touching letter recording his feelings at the death of his
little daughter is, I think, a human document of more than ordinary
interest:--
_Charles Dickens to Thomas Mitton._
DEVONSHIRE TERRACE
_Nineteenth April 1851_
MY DEAR MITTON,--I have been in trouble, or I should have
written to you sooner. My wife has been, and is, far from well.
Frederick caused me much vexation and expense. My poor father's
death caused me much distress--and more expense--but of that,
in such a case I say nothing. I came to London last Monday to
preside at a public dinner--played with little Dora my youngest
child before I went--and was told, when I left the chair, that
she had died in a moment. I am quite myself again, but I have
undergone a great deal.
I send you all the papers I have relating to Thompson's affair.
I am in town again now and shall be at home on Monday, Tuesday,
Friday and Saturday mornings. I am not going back to Malvern,
but have let this house until September, and taken the Fort at
Broadstairs.
Y^{rs} faithfully
C. D.
[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF ONE OF CHARLES DICKENS'S LAST LETTERS, MAY
15, 1870.]
Here is one of the last letters he ever wrote, to which I have
already alluded as a rare specimen of a valuable autograph written in
duplicate:--
_Charles Dickens to J. B. Buckstone._
GAD'S HILL PLACE,
HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT
_SUNDAY Fifteenth May 1870._
5 HYDE PARK PLACE W.
MY DEAR BUCKSTONE,--I send a duplicate of this note to your
private address at Sydenham in case it should miss you at the
Haymarket.
For a few years past, I have been liable, at wholly uncertain
and incalculable times, to a severe attack of Neuralgia in
the foot, about once in the course of the year. It began
in an injury to the finer muscles or nerves, occasioned by
over-walking in deep snow. When it comes on, I cannot stand
and can bear no covering whatever on the sensitive place. One
of these seizures is upon me now. Until it leaves me I could no
more walk into St. James's Hall than I could fly in.
I hope you will present my duty to the Prince, and assure
His Royal Highness that nothing short of my being (most
unfortunately) disabled for the moment, would have prevented my
attending as a Trustee of the Fund, at the dinner, and warmly
express my poor sense of the great and inestimable service his
Royal Highness renders to a most deserving Institution by so
very kindly commending it to the public.
Faithfully your's always
CHARLES DICKENS
J. B. BUCKSTONE EQR
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF HONOURABLE MRS. NORTON CONTAINING AN
INVITATION TO MEET CHARLES DICKENS, THE AUTHOR OF "PICKWICK," AT
DINNER.]
[Illustration: EARLY LETTER OF CHARLES DICKENS TO MR. MACRONE (1836)
FROM FURNIVAL'S INN.
(Now in the collection of Mr. Peter Keary.)]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF "PERDITA" (MARY ROBINSON) TO GEORGE, PRINCE OF
WALES, JANUARY 19, 1785.]
Carlyle's letters vary in price from £2 2s. to £5 5s. or more. The
following note explains how the specimen of his calligraphy I reproduce
was obtained for an autograph hunter by his nephew in 1877:--
NEWLANDS COTTAGE
_7th December 1877_
MY DEAR SIR,--I was much pleased to have your's of the 4th
inst. I enclose card of admission to the Install^{n} at
Edinburgh which I cribbed from the Gov^{r's} Sunday coat long
after its date, and which to tell the truth I did not intend to
part with; but I think it so thoroughly what your friend would
like that I have resolved to send it.
All Uncle Tom's late letters _to his relatives_ are written on
scraps of paper that might be at hand when he finished work for
the day and signed 'T. C.' only--all full signatures in letters
in my possession have long ago been clipped off....
Always faithfully your's
JAMES CARLYLE.
The letters of Whistler have quadrupled in value since his death.
I possess several of them, but only give as an illustration of his
handwriting a post-card from Lyme Regis bearing by way of signature
the once familiar butterfly. "Mark Twain" was also a very amusing
letter-writer. The following postscript is characteristic of his
humour:--
Since penning the foregoing the "Atlantic" has come to hand
with that most thoroughly and entirely satisfactory notice of
"Roughing it," and I am as uplifted and reassured by it as a
mother who has given birth to a white baby when she was awfully
afraid it was going to be a mulatto. I have been afraid and
shaky all along, but now unless the N. of "Tribune" gives the
book a black eye, I am all right.
With many thanks
TWAIN
[Illustration: HOLOGRAPH ORDER OF ADMISSION OF THOMAS CARLYLE TO HIS
RECTORIAL ADDRESS AT EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY, DATED MARCH 23, 1866.]
George Augustus Sala and Edmund Yates were friends and contemporaries
of Charles Dickens, and survived him. They are both entitled to a
place amongst the last of the Victorian letter-writers. The minute
handwriting of Sala was even more distinct than that of Thackeray. Here
is a typical Sala letter:--
HOTEL DE FLANDRE, MONTAGNE DE LA COUR, BRUSSELS,
_Thursday November Twenty Seventh 1884._
DEAR LADY WOLSELEY,--My wife who during my absence is my
Postmistress General, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary of
State for Home and Foreign Affairs and Chief Commissioner of
Works all rolled into one, has forwarded me your note, and has
scribbled on the margin "with two lovely photographs." I hasten
to thank you for the graceful and thoughtful kindness which
has prompted your welcome gift. I am proud to believe that you
_know_ how much I admire and esteem your illustrious husband;
how eagerly I have followed the course of his splendid and
well-deserved fortunes, and how highly I value the friendship
with which during so many years he has honoured me. It is
really to me a pleasure to have grown old when I remember that
amongst my most prized relics at home are a visiting card
inscribed "_Major_ Wolseley, for Mr. Sala, St. Lawrence Hall,
Montreal 1863"; the walking stick which _Sir Garnet_ Wolseley
brought me home from South Africa; the letter which _Lord_
Wolseley wrote me from the Kremlin, Moscow on Coronation Day
1883, to which I am now able to add "two lovely photographs"
and your kind note. Were I going alone on my long and arduous
journey, my abiding hope would be, of course, to come home
safe and sound to my wife. Happily we are not to be separated
(although the friendly but cynical solicitor, who made my will
just before I left town was good enough to remark _you must add
a codicil in case you are both drowned_); so we shall both,
during our wanderings be able to nourish the pleasant hope that
we shall be permitted on our return to pay our homage to the
_Earl_ and _Countess_ Wolseley. I have, dear Madam, in my time,
prophesied a great deal more in print about your Lord than you
are aware of, and I am confident that my latest prediction
will come true--_and more than true_. Meanwhile, I am,
Your Ladyship's faithful and obliged servant
GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF JOHN WESLEY, JUNE 14, 1788.]
Some hundreds of Edmund Yates's letters are in my possession, and I
have utilised them to extra-illustrate his "Recollections" which I have
extended to seventeen volumes. In the last edition of his entertaining
book he alludes to the pleasure a letter from Mr. Charles Kent, the
friend of Dickens, gave him in "troublous times." More than twenty
years after I gladly gave 5s. for the original in the auction room:--
To Charles Kent Esq
1 Campden Grove, Kensington, W
Ah! my dear old friend, how good and thoughtful of you and what
a perfectly acceptable gift!
'though fallen on evil days
on evil days though fallen and evil tongues'
(vide to-day's _Times_)
I am receiving such evidences of love and sympathy from my
friends, and such kindness from officials here, that I am
fairly broken down by them.
God bless you
EDMUND YATES
_HOLLOWAY, Jany 17 '85_
FOOTNOTES:
[43] Manager of Messrs. Sotheran's, 37, Piccadilly.
[44] See _ante_, Chapter IV., p. 109.
[45] See my own article in _The Outlook_, March, 1910.
[46] See _post_, p. 220.
[47] March, June, September, and December, 1892.
[48] From £30 upwards.
[49] From £3 to £10.
[50] Anna Williams's Memorial.
[51] Mr. Ryland was associated with Johnson in the formation of the
last Club which owed its existence to Johnson's initiative and support.
[52] See _Outlook_, March 5, 1910. Article on Johnson and balloons.
[53] Appeal for subscription for the relief of Leigh Hunt (1784-1859).
It reached Trowbridge January 23rd. On February 3rd Crabbe died.
[54] 37, Piccadilly, W.
VIII
NAVAL
AND
MILITARY
AUTOGRAPHS
CHAPTER VIII
=Naval and military autographs=
Good ink, like good wine, is none the worse for age.
SAMUEL JOHNSON.
There are some autograph collectors who limit their sphere of
operations to the writings of great sailors and soldiers. The subject
has already been touched on incidentally under the head of Royal
Autographs, for James II. and William IV. were for a time Lord High
Admirals of England, while other sovereigns met the enemy on the field
of battle.[55] If Wellington can claim distinction as our greatest
soldier, he ranks also amongst our most prolific letter-writers. The
same may be said of Nelson with almost equal truth. Of Wellington's
innumerable letters, a great many are supposed to have been written by
his Secretary, Colonel Gurwood, and Nelson's amanuensis is also said
to have successfully imitated the handwriting of his chief. There are
numerous facsimiles of the letters of both Nelson and Wellington,
and the axiom _caveat emptor_ cannot be too frequently remembered when
a suspicious specimen is offered for sale. In 1827 we are informed that
"English Generals and Admirals vary greatly in value," and they do
still. We are told, moreover, that at this epoch "the Royalist Prince
Rupert is worth £1 9s., while the Parliamentary General, Fairfax, with
four Peers for his supporters, is worth only 10s. The naval hero, Lord
Nelson, commands £2 15s., while four other gallant admirals sink to 7s.
3d. each. Washington ranks with Cromwell at £5 15s. 6d., and leaves
all other competitors behind." To-day a letter of Thomas Fairfax would
bring anything from £7 to £20 or more, and a good D.S. at least £4 or
£5. His autographs are always much in request. Washington letters have
realised as much as £100 and more, and so have Cromwell's.
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF DUKE OF MONTROSE TO THE KING.
(In the collection of Mr. F. Sabin.)]
[Illustration: PART OF A.L.S. OF EARL HOWE TO EARL SPENCER AFTER HIS
GREAT VICTORY OF JUNE 1, 1794.]
In 1876-77-78 Mr. Waller was selling letters of Hood and Rodney at
prices varying from 4s. 6d. to 7s. and "Wellingtons" at an average
of 5s., but asked 12s. 6d. for a good letter of Villeneuve, who was
defeated and taken prisoner at Trafalgar. In the same catalogue I
find an A.L.S. of Wellington for 3s. 6d., and "fine specimens" of
Turenne Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough (Commander-in-Chief of the
Forces in Spain _temp._ Queen Anne), priced respectively at £2 10s.
Five years ago, however, a short letter written by the Iron Duke on
the evening after Waterloo realised £105 at Sotheby's, and, as I have
already stated, Wellington paid £60 for two similar letters during
his lifetime--and committed them to the flames. At this time I see
three interesting letters of Marlborough and three of his wife, with
one document signed by the latter, were sold in a lot for £10 10s.
Very good letters of Marlborough may even now be bought in Germany
and Belgium for £3 or £4. In the "eighteen-seventies" very little
Nelson MS. seems to have been in the market, but Mr. Frederick
Barker offered a long A.L.S. of Lady Nelson (May 2, 1805) for 6s.,
and "directions for approaching Cadiz, 1 p. folio, wholly in Nelson's
handwriting," for £3 5s. He priced two good A.L.S. of 1794 and 1795 at
£5 5s. and £4 4s. In 1887 I met with a letter of General Gordon, quoted
as "very rare," for £2 2s. In the same catalogue is a fine letter of
Prince Rupert for £3 3s. I frankly envy the purchaser for 9s. 6d. of a
letter written by Marshal Ney, from Montreuil, Boulogne, in 1804, when
the terror of French invasion was at its height.
[Illustration: OFFICIAL MS. ACCOUNT OF EXPENSES INCURRED AT FUNERAL OF
QUEEN ANNE.]
At the present moment there is little demand for the letters of the
less known sailors and soldiers of the latter part of the seventeenth
and first half of the eighteenth centuries, like Shovel, Wager, and
Rooke, and I have seen a letter of Vernon, whose coat of grogram gave
rise to the familiar word which still denotes the dilution of spirits
with water, sold for 5s.! There is, however, one naval autograph
of this period which now commands high prices. I allude to letters
and other MSS. of the ill-fated John Byng, judicially murdered on
March 14, 1757, "_pour encourager les autres_," as Voltaire says in
"Candide," or in other words, to save the face of an inefficient and
discredited Ministry. I gave £3 in 1907 for an A.L.S. of his which
thirty years ago was sold by Mr. Waller for 12s. 6d., but I regard as
a veritable autographic treasure the original of his will, which bears
his signature in three places, and was executed only forty-eight hours
before his tragic death. The _sang-froid_ displayed in its elaboration
shows the courage and deliberation of the unlucky admiral when face to
face with the "Grim Sergeant."
[Illustration: ONE PAGE OF A.L.S. OF GENERAL BYNG, OCTOBER 27, 1727.]
[Illustration: SIGNATURE OF ADMIRAL BYNG ON HIS WILL A FEW DAYS BEFORE
HIS DEATH, MARCH, 1757.]
Only twelve months divide the death of Byng from the birth of Nelson,
whose autographs are even more costly than those of the Elizabethan
heroes of 1588. They now hold, as I shall presently show, the record
as regards both price and interest. I have already alluded to the
perils and pitfalls of Nelson forgeries. The collector must, of course,
bear in mind the striking differences in the calligraphy of the great
Admiral before and after the loss of his right arm in July, 1797. The
earliest example I possess of Nelson's handwriting is a commission,
signed on April 5, 1781, by him as well as by Lord Lisbourne, Bamber
Gascoyne, and J. Greville. Nelson was then twenty-three. He was
thirty-nine when he penned with his _right hand_ the following historic
letter to Earl Spencer:--
_Lord Nelson to Earl Spencer._
_THESEUS, May 28 1797._
MY LORD,--On my arrival from the Mediterranean two days past I
received from Sir John Jervis your Lordship's Letter of April
3 together with a Gold Medal which the King has been pleased
to order to be struck in Commemoration of the Victory obtained
by His Fleet on the fourteenth of February last and which His
Majesty has been graciously pleased to direct me the honor of
wearing.
May I presume to say that when I observe the Medal that it must
be a strong inducement for the continuance of my exertion for
His Majesty and for my Country and my Country's Service and it
shall be my pride to preserve it unsullied to posterity.
Your Lordship having from the moment of your coming to the
Admiralty represented my services in the most favourable point
of view to the King, allow me once more to return you my thanks
together with those for the very handsome and flattering manner
in which your Lordship have executed the King's Commands.
I have the Honor to be my Lord,
Your most obedient servant,
HORATIO NELSON.
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF LORD NELSON TO EARL SPENCER, WRITTEN WITH HIS
RIGHT HAND, _THESEUS_, MAY 28, 1798.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF NELSON TO LADY HAMILTON ABOUT HIS WIFE,
WRITTEN WITH HIS LEFT HAND, JANUARY 24, 1801.]
Two months later occurred the accident which deprived Nelson of
his right hand. The Bath facsimile[56] is a good specimen of his
writing with his left hand in the last years of the eighteenth
century. In reading any life of Nelson one cannot help being struck
with the tenderness of the letters he addressed to his wife up to
their abrupt separation. At the end of 1799, while he was still in
the Mediterranean, she wrote him the following letter, now in my
collection:--
ST JAMES'S ST
_Dec 10 1797_
MY DEAR HUSBAND,--I have seen a letter from Lady Berry
to Mr. Davison. She tells him of Sir Edward's letter, dated
Foudroyant, Minorca, Oct^{r} 18^{th}, and mentions you were
quite well which I hope is true. I dined a few days back at Mr
Nepean's. He told me you were at Gibralter (_sic_). I thanked
him for his intelligence. Would have given something to have
asked a question, but that could not be done--therefore I still
flatter myself as you are half way we may stand some chance of
seeing you. Capt^{n} Foley has this instant left me. From what
Capt^{n} Hood said I was in great hopes Capt^{n} F had very lately
seen you. He is full of the Earl's commanding the Channel
Fleet. Lord Bridport has sailed again. Our good father received
yesterday [a letter] from your B^{r}. William teazing him about
no dignitaries (_sic_) for the Nelson family. I must write
to the Rector and beg him not to be so tiresome, for truly
I am nursing and doing everything I can to make your father
comfortable and then he is quite upset by one of these epistles
Mr W. N. [William Nesbit] requested me to give Mr Windham a
_gentle hint_. Sir Peter and Lady Parker called yesterday. We
have agreed to go and see the famous French milliner. Lady P
declares they will put me in a sack and send me to Bonaparte.
Her spirits are good indeed. She sends Sir Peter to the
Admiralty to hear when you are expected home. I don't know what
she is _not_ to do--Dance and grow young. We dined yesterday
(Susanna I mean) with the Hamiltons. I wish I could say Mrs
Hamilton is the least modernized of all the antique figures.
She certainly (is) the most. Mr Morton pais (_sic_) great
attention. Bob Jones tells me Forbes has got Mr M to sign some
papers for him. I long to hear what you have done for Captain
Hardy. _His_ character is excellent indeed.
Our father has received direction how to proceed in sending
to the stage coach for Horace Susanna Bolton is to go to buy
Maps in St Paul's Churchyard to amuse his children. Our good
father's love to you and Blessing. God Bless and Protect my
Dearest Husband
Believe me your affec. Wife
FRANCES H NELSON
[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF A.L.S. OF LADY NELSON TO HER HUSBAND,
DECEMBER 10, 1799.]
[Illustration: NAVAL COMMISSION SIGNED BY LORD NELSON, APRIL 25, 1781.]
The tone of Lady Nelson's letter to her husband presents a striking
contrast to that in which, little more than a year later, he speaks of
her in a letter to Lady Hamilton, for which I paid a very large sum
early in 1905. As might be expected, the demand for Nelson autographs
became more urgent as the centenary of Trafalgar approached, but,
on the whole, the rise of price was not quite as marked as might be
expected, although one particular letter to Lady Hamilton, apparently
little more striking than the one now given, was sold for £1,050. The
great Nelson sensation (as far as the autograph market is concerned)
came off some five months later, viz., on March 14, 1906, when the
unique Nelson document described as follows was disposed of at
Christie's:--
NELSON'S FAMOUS MEMORANDUM TO THE FLEET ON THE EVE OF TRAFALGAR.
133. NELSON (ADMIRAL LORD) "GENERAL MEMORANDUM," IN THE AUTOGRAPH
OF THE FAMOUS ADMIRAL, IN WHICH HE FORESHADOWED THE PLAN
OF ATTACK AT TRAFALGAR, AND WHICH HE ACTUALLY CARRIED OUT.
"VICTORY," OFF CADIZ, 9 OCT. 1805, 8 pp. 4to.
Thinking it almost impossible to bring a fleet of 40 sail
of the line into a line of Battle, in variable winds, thick
weather, and other circumstances which must occur, without
such a loss of time, that the opportunity would probably be
lost.... I have therefore made up my mind to keep the fleet
in that position of sailing (with the exception of the first
and second in command) that the order of sailing is to be the
order of battle; placing the fleet in two lines of 16 ships
each, with an advanced squadron of eight of the fastest sailing
two-decked ships [which] will always make if wanted a line of
24 sail, on whichever line the Commander-in-Chief may direct,
etc.
It was bought by Mr. Frank Sabin for £3,600. A newspaper controversy
at once arose on the subject of the transaction. Public attention was
forcibly directed to the supreme importance of the document, and an
effort was made to secure it for the nation, Mr. Sabin most generously
offering to sell it to the authorities at cost price. The movement to
acquire it fell through, owing to the impossibility of obtaining a
grant-in-aid. Quite unexpectedly the late Mr. B. M. Woollan offered to
buy it for the nation, but stipulated that during his life-time the
MS. "should remain in his possession and be accessible to the public
in the Town Hall at Tunbridge Wells." This was agreed to, Mr. Sabin
maintaining his proposal to sell at cost price. The Trafalgar order
was framed in oak taken from the _Victory_ under the direction of a
British Museum expert, and after remaining for some time at Tunbridge
Wells, has found (since Mr. Woollan's death) a final resting-place in
the National Collection. On March 14, 1906, Messrs. Maggs paid £170
for one of the official copies of the "General Memorandum," viz., that
addressed to William Lechmere, Captain of the _Thunderer_. It filled
5 pp. It was marked "secret," and contained a note to the effect that
"the Captain should return the Secret Memorandum to the _Victory_ when
the _Thunderer_ quits the fleet for England." The original has been,
or will shortly be, facsimiled by the British Museum MS. Department.
Collectors will then be able to procure copies of it at an almost
nominal price. During the weeks which followed March 14, 1906, the
"Memorandum" became the subject of a dozen romantic legends. Several
years ago I purchased the signature of Nelson appended to the last
few lines of another of these "official copies" for one sovereign.
It was formally attested by the widow of the Captain to whom it was
originally sent. I possess a 3 pp. A.L.S. written by Lord Nelson to
Lord Collingwood on board H.M.S. _Victory_, on October 10, 1805--eleven
days before Trafalgar. It cost £20. Some time since, the album of
the Honourable Charles Greville, the first lover of Emma Hart (Lady
Hamilton) was broken up. Amongst the documents I purchased from it was
a MS. account of Nelson's household expenses while residing in Bond
Street, with Mr. Greville, from April 7 to 18, 1803.
The letters of "Nelson's Hardy"[57] fetch from £1 to £2 each. They
lack style, but are characterised by the breezy heartiness which was
typical of the man whom Nelson loved and trusted. The discovery of many
hundreds of Hardy's letters to his Dorset relatives in 1905 enabled me,
writing in collaboration with my friend the Rev. R. G. Bartelot, to
supply to some extent a long-felt want in naval history. Here are two
Hardy letters which came to light subsequent to our examination of the
great mass of his correspondence:--
_Captain T. M. Hardy, at Plymouth, to his brother-in-law, Mr. Manfield,
at Dorchester._
SAN JOSEF--TORBAY.
_Feby 8 1801_
DEAR MANFIELD,--We are in Hourly expectation of the St George,
where the Admiral is to hoist his flag. The moment she arrives
myself and all the officers go with him. We shall sail as soon
as possible for Portsmouth, and from thence to the North Sea.
After we have done _the business_ there, which we expect to
do in about two months, the Flag is again to be hoisted in
San Josef. The Squadron under Sir Henry Harvey arrived the
day before yesterday and sailed the same evening to detach a
squadron after the ships that left Brest about a fortnight
ago. Lawrence arrived yesterday with Roberts. He is a fine
lad and will do, but he is very young. Admiral [Lord Nelson]
tells me he saw you. You landed and of course you made your
_grand salam_ to him. I suppose a number of _wonderful_ stories
has been told of San Josef in and about Dorchester. Our Beer
is reduced to six bottles and on a moderate calculation that
cannot last more than three days. Therefore you will add to the
many obligations I am under to you if you will order our friend
Oakley to send as soon as possible six or eight dozen more
directed to Lord Nelson, St George, Spithead, by any vessel
that sails from Weymouth. With duty to all friends, I remain,
dear Manfield
Your's sincerely
T. M. HARDY
_Captain T. M. Hardy, Torbay, to Mr. Manfield, Dorchester._
DEAR MANFIELD,--I have only time to say that we are now getting
under weigh for Spithead, and shall probably pass Abbotsbury
Ferry during the night. Do write to me at Spithead and tell me
if the Beer is sent as the Ad^{ml} _longs_ for it every day at
Dinner
Your's in great haste
T. M. HARDY
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF SIR THOMAS HARDY ABOUT LORD NELSON'S BEER,
TORBAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1801.]
[Illustration: LETTER OF DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO MR. ALGERNON GREVILLE,
OCTOBER 24, 1841, SPEAKING OF THE NECESSITY OF HIS BEING PRESENT AT THE
BIRTH OF KING EDWARD VII.]
Letters of Rodney and Howe now fetch from £1 to £2 each; those of
St. Vincent, Collingwood, and the Hoods somewhat less.
[Illustration: ENVELOPE DIRECTED BY DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO LADY SIDMOUTH
ENCLOSING LOCK OF NAPOLEON'S HAIR, 1821.]
Letters of most of the Nelson captains can still be bought at very
moderate prices, but if addressed to Nelson the value would be at once
doubled.
The finest collection of letters by Fairfax and other soldiers of the
Civil War, both Royalist and Parliamentarian, I know of, is in the
possession of Mr. F. Sabin, by whose permission I reproduce the letter
of Montrose to the King, which is priced at £60:--
Superscription, "for the King's Maiesty," and endorsement, "LORD OF
MONTROSE, 3d February."
PLEASE YR MAIESTY
Haveing never receaved any of yr Mas Commands, since I had
the honor to attend you, bot on letter from france only, and
knoweing what strange newses yr Ma may daly heare, I heave
directed thes that your Ma may know (notwithstanding all
opposition and encouragements) I am hopefull, to be once againe
in the termes to doe your service I will not trouble yr
Ma with particulars bot leave them unto Mr Elliott, who will
informe yr Ma att greatter lenth I am
Yr Mas Subject and Servant
MONTROSE
I have already alluded to the varying prices of Wellington's letters,
which depend entirely on the time at which they were written. If dated
June 17, 18, 19 or 20, 1815, they might be worth anything from £50
upwards; letters from the Peninsula on military topics bring from £2
to £5, but I only gave 30s. for the note and envelope franked and
addressed to Lady Sidmouth, covering a lock of Napoleon's hair--the
latter being included in the price! In my opinion there could not
possibly be a more interesting souvenir of the victor of Waterloo. The
letters of Sir Hudson Lowe are sold from £1 to £3, those of Marshal
Blücher fetching about the same price.
Few of the letters of living warriors fetch high prices. The amusing
and satirical letters of Frederick Burnaby are worth from 4s. to 10s.,
but I refrain from publishing those in my collection. Letters of
Earl Roberts and Viscount Wolseley average from 3s. to 5s., but Lord
Kitchener writes little and declines persistently to be "drawn." I once
saw a letter of his priced at £2 12s. 6d., but that was when the Boer
War was at its height.
FOOTNOTES:
[55] See _ante_, p. 126.
[56] _Vide_ Chapter III., p. 78.
[57] See further "The Three Dorset Captains" and "Nelson's Hardy," by
A. M. Broadley and R. G. Bartelot (London: John Murray, 1906 and 1909).
IX
AUTOGRAPHS
OF MUSIC,
THE DRAMA,
AND ART
CHAPTER IX
AUTOGRAPHS OF MUSIC, THE DRAMA, AND ART
=Illustrated letters=
We pry
In the dark archives and tenacious scrolls
Of written thought.--HARTLEY COLERIDGE.
On December 17, 1907, four-and-twenty letters of Ludwig van Beethoven
were sold at Sotheby's for £660, notwithstanding the fact that the
autographs of musicians, artists, and actors, are not even mentioned by
the chronicler of prices in 1827! For the solitary letter of Beethoven
in my collection I paid M. Noël Charavay £10, and it was at the same
outlay I acquired in England an interesting letter of Joseph Haydn's.
In extra-illustrating the "History of the Festivals of the Three
Choirs," of which my ancestor, William Hayes, Mus. Doc. (1707-1777),
was one of the founders and subsequently a conductor, I acquired
considerable experience in the market prices of all sorts of musical
MSS.
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF THE ABBÉ LISZT TO SECRETARY OF PRINCESS OF
WALES (QUEEN ALEXANDRA), APRIL 16, 1886.]
In this particular class of autographs "album specimens" have often
considerable value, for musicians have always been the target of the
autograph-hunter, especially so of those of the fair sex.[58] It is
no uncommon sight after a "star" concert to see the tired-out central
attraction in a state of autograph siege, either for inscriptions in
albums or signatures to photographs. The plaintive autograph letter of
Franz Liszt tells the tale of the request made on behalf of the owner
of a Royal Album to the exigencies of which he gracefully surrendered.
A few bars of music written and signed by Handel would now be worth
quite £20 or £25; and some day the musical autographs of Edward Elgar
will fetch very high prices. William and Philip Hayes rank in the first
class of English composers of Church music, although the father was
overshadowed by his loyal friendship for Handel, and the latter by
his admiration for Haydn. I have acquired (with one or two trifling
exceptions) the MSS. of their compositions, several of which have never
been published. Like most musicians, the Hayeses were humourists. They
wrote anthems and chants, but they won fame in their generation by
catches, canons, glees, madrigals, and fugitive pieces of all sorts.
The tuneful airs of Philip Hayes [1738-1797] re-echoed amidst the
glades of Blenheim, and were often heard at Ranelagh, Vauxhall, and
"Marybone."[59] Musical autographs have risen considerably in price
during the past thirty years, as shown at the comparatively recent
Taphouse Sale. A very fine letter of Chopin's was offered for sale at
250 francs last year by Madame Veuve Gabriel Charavay. Letters of
Mendelssohn and Wagner are in great request. The former vary in price
from £3 to £10. Although Richard Wagner was a prolific letter-writer,
any letter of his is worth £5 or thereabouts, and many have sold
at from £20 to £50. I have never seen an A.L.S. of Handel's in the
sale-rooms. A good one will probably fetch £50. A fragment of one of
his compositions, once in the possession of William Hayes, lately
realised £100. Much of his music seems to have been written out by
Smart.
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF JOSEPH HAYDN, THE COMPOSER, JUNE 5, 1803.]
In 1876 Mr. Waller offered a letter of Beethoven's for sale at £3 10s.;
one by Dr. Blow for £1 and 2 pp. of one of William Boyce's compositions
for 7s. 6d.! The latter would certainly fetch 40s. to-day, but thirty
years ago autographs of Catalani, Bishop, Cooke, Holmes, Hummel,
Michael Kelly, Lablache, Loder, Meyerbeer, Offenbach, Louisa Pyne,
Rossini, Rudersdorff, Tamburini, and Samuel Wesley averaged about 3s.!
I lately gave £3 3s. for the signed MS. of Wesley's "Ode on the Death
of Boyce," the bicentenary of whose birth occurs this year (1910), in
which also the centenary of the birth of Wesley's musical son, Samuel
Sebastian Wesley, might appropriately be celebrated at Gloucester.
Amongst Mr. Frank Sabin's autographic _rariora_ is the MS. of the
original score of Thomas Moore's "Last Rose of Summer." There is a
great demand in America just now for Moore MSS. of this sort, although
ordinary letters rarely fetch high prices. Charles Burney's letters (of
which I have many) are to my mind always interesting, although they
only bring from 15s. to 30s. in the sale-rooms.
For some collectors the Drama offers a peculiar fascination. I have
already described the letter of William Wilson of the "Fortune"
Theatre, with whom Shakespeare possibly played.[60] The great dramatist
himself, from the autograph point of view, has been alluded to. In
turning over the catalogues of 1876-86 one is struck with the high
prices of letters of David Garrick and Sarah Siddons. Garrick rarely
wrote a dull letter. When Paul Sandby asked for a box he replied--
I will maintain Good Master Sandby
And with my blood, the Fact will stand by,
The trifle ask'd is no great favour,
And you and your's are wellcome ever
D GARRICK
Here are some examples of Garrick's letters to Mrs. Montagu not
generally known:--
_Mr. Garrick to Mrs. Montagu._
DRURY LANE THEATRE.
DEAR MADAM,--I take up ye first piece of paper to answer
your note. I feel for you and for poor amiable Miss Gregory
from my heart of hearts! These exquisite feelings are too
often tortured not to wish them changed for the less sensible
dispositions and were mortal matters balanc'd and calmly
considered it would be a question whether Mrs. Montagu is more
to be envied than a late female cousin of mine who being told
of a favourite Brother's death said she foresaw it long ago
for he would not leave drinking Punch and then she bespoke her
mourning. I shall take care that you have your refusal of a box
next Friday if I am able to perform. If you should be engaged
pray let it revert to me. I must desire you not to say a word
to anybody of my intentions....
Mrs. Garrick and I shall do ourselves the honour of attending
you on Sunday.
Most faithful ever and ever Yours,
D. GARRICK.
_David Garrick to Mrs. Montagu._
MY DEAR MADAM,--We are unfortunately engaged on Sunday next but
if we are able to quit our Company, may we be permitted to pay
our respects to you? If you should be engaged we will wait upon
you ye first opportunity. I have made bold to answer for you a
subscription to Mr. Capel's School of Shakespeare. I will tell
you more of this when I have the honour and pleasure of seeing
you.
I am most devotedly yours,
D. GARRICK.
[Illustration: SIGNATURE OF THE NONAGENARIAN MRS. GARRICK A FEW DAYS
BEFORE HER DEATH.]
I have in my collection a Drury Lane box-ticket dated and signed by
Mrs. Garrick a few days before her death. In the last decade of the
nineteenth century the late Mr. Thomas Knox Holmes told me he had
danced with Mrs. Garrick in her drawing-room at the Adelphi when she
was past ninety. She was actually engaged in inspecting her dress
for the theatre when Death once more "eclipsed the gaiety" of the
brilliant little côterie in which Garrick's widow moved.
The letters of Sarah Siddons fetched quite as much or even more in
the "eighteen-seventies" than they do now. As a matter of fact, the
charming letter to Mrs. Piozzi, now reproduced, exchanged hands in 1876
at £2 2s. more than I gave for it in 1910.
[Illustration: A GENUINE SHORT NOTE SIGNED BY EDMUND KEAN, AFTERWARDS
IMITATED.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF R. B. SHERIDAN ASKING FOR TIME TO PAY A DRAFT.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF CHARLES MATHEWS, THE ACTOR, PROPOSING HIS SON
FOR ELECTION TO GARRICK CLUB, N.D.]
_Mrs. Siddons to Mrs. Piozzi, Westbourne Farm, Paddington,
January 29, 1809._
MY DEAR FRIEND,--I am merely anxious to know how you and
Mr. Piozzi are, and the distance between me and your fair
daughters, are now so great that I get no accounts of you.
You know of old, my distaste of writing, and I know full well
my inability of amusing you, so that my letter has nothing to
recommend it, except the true love of the writer, which knows
no change. Often, very often, do I think of you, and most
sincerely do I lament your suffering, but there is nowhere but
heaven I believe that is exempt from affliction; but dear Soul
let me hear from you. You have heard of the fire in which I
lost every stage ornament so many years collecting, and at so
great expense of time and money. All my Jewels, all my lace,
and in short nothing left. The Duke of Northumberland has given
my Brother Ten thousand pounds! and the manner of bestowing
this noble gift was so great as anything I have ever heard or
read of,
"The lucky have whole years and those they choose
Th' unlucky have but hours and those they lose"
but poor fellow he is I fear in a wretched state of health,
yet he looked the other night in Macbeth as beautiful as ever;
he is never now without his cough, which they say is gouty
(certainly the disorder is flying about him) and if it would
come to a good fit that he woud be well. It seems a strange
thing to say that a man recovers his health by the loss of his
limbs. So thinks poor Mr. Piozzi I suppose, poor dear Soul, how
he has suffered from it! and _you_! You will perhaps scarcely
believe how often and how tenderly I think of you, and how
deeply I regret the distance between us, but it is nevertheless
true. Pray dear Soul let me hear from you very soon and tell
me truly how your health and spirits hold out the incessant
claims upon them. I have got Cecilia home from school, she is
very well at present, but to keep her well she must have sea
bathing in the summer. Is there any place of that sort near
Brynn Bella? if so, I shoud hope I might be able to see you
sometimes. I have got a genteel well principled young woman as
a Governess for her, and my family which would consist of seven
or eight persons would perhaps be too large to be accommodated
very near you. Oh that you were again at Streatham! Remember
me very kindly to dear Mr Piozzi. God bless and support you my
very dear friend. I am unalterably
Your affte
S. SIDDONS[61]
I lost in the fire a Toilette of the poor Queen of France, a
piece of beautiful point Lace an ell wide and five yards long
which having belonged to so interesting a person of course I
regret more than all other things. It could not have cost at
first less than a thousand pounds. I us'd to wear it _only_ in
the trial scene of Hermione in the Winters Tale, it covered me
all over from head to foot. I suppose my losses could not be
repaired for Twelve hundred pounds, but God be praised that the
fire did not break out while the people were in the house!!!
[Illustration: LAST PAGE OF A.L.S. OF MRS. SIDDONS TO MRS. PIOZZI AFTER
THE FIRE AT COVENT GARDEN THEATRE.]
Fine letters from Mrs. Siddons fetch from £10 to £20. A specimen may
be obtained for £5 or even less, for I note an invitation "to dine at
pretty Westbourne" has just been sold (February 28, 1910) for £2 14s.
The letters of the brother of the great actress, J. P. Kemble, sell at
from £1 to £3 each. He evidently (according to one of the specimens in
my collection) moved in very high circles. This letter is addressed
to Sir Thomas Lawrence, whose fatal relations with the Siddons family
circle have already been alluded to:--
MY DEAR LAWRENCE,--I am this moment come from Carlton House. I
did not myself see the Prince of Wales; but His Royal Highness
desired Mr. McMahon to tell me how highly pleased he is with
the Drawing; but would submit to your consideration whether
or not the forehead is a little too round and in obedience to
His Royal Highness I do submit it to your consideration. The
Prince, my dear Lawrence, is charmed with the Portrait. Mr.
Smirke writes to-night to the Engraver at Birmingham
Yours,
J. P. KEMBLE
Friday, _October 28, 1808_.
The most curious letters of that mysterious personage the Chevalier
d'Éon in my collection relate to two public exhibitions of his skill
as a fencer, given in Bath during the year 1796. While staying in his
native Tonnerre the _ex-chargé d'affaires_ gave a supper in honour of
Prince Henry of Prussia. In a bundle of his MSS. I bought in France I
found the bill for the historic feast. It was not expensive, and must
surely have been enjoyed _tête-à-tête_.
The letters of artists do not as a rule command large prices, but there
are many exceptions. I have never seen a letter from Sir A. Vandyke
or Sir P. Lely, but Mr. W. V. Daniell prices the following letter of
William Hogarth to his wife in Dorset at £35:--
_LONDON, June 6 1749_
DEAR JENNY,--I write to you now, not because I think you may
expect it only, but because I find a pleasure in it, which is
more than I can say of writing to any body else, and I insist
on it you don't take it for a mere complement; your last letter
pleased more than I'll say, but this I will own if the postman
should knock at the door in a week's time after the receipt of
this, I shall think there is more musick in't than the beat of
a kettle drum, and if the words to the tune are made by you
(to carry on metafor) and brings news of your all coming soon
to Town, I shall think the words much better than the musick,
but don't hasten out of a scene of pleasure to make me one.
You'll find by the enclosed that I shall be glad to be a small
contributer to it. I don't know whether or no you know that
Garrick was going to be married to the Violetta when you went
away. I supt with him last night and had a deal of talk about
her. I can't write any more than what this side will contain;
you know I won't turn over a new leaf I am so obstinate, but
then I am no less obstinate in loving you
Your affectionate Husband,
WM. HOGARTH.
[Illustration: LETTER OF THE CHEVALIER D'ÉON TO COLONEL MONSON, BATH,
JANUARY 7, 1796.]
[Illustration: ACCOUNT FOR SUPPER GIVEN BY THE CHEVALIER D'ÉON TO
PRINCE HENRY OF PRUSSIA, AUGUST 15, 1784.]
Letters of Sir Joshua Reynolds, George Romney, and George Morland
always fetch from £3 to £10 or more. I gave £7 7s. for the letter of
Reynolds to Crabbe, covering Dr. Johnson's criticism of the poem
submitted to him. The examples of Romney and Morland I possess are
placed behind the frontispieces of standard works on their Art. The
letter of poor Morland is melancholy reading, and suggestive of the
squalor in which he moved and died:--
_George Morland to Mr. Graham._
DEAR GRAHAM,--I am worse than ever. Had an opium pill to take
last night, and as I thought two must do me more good than one,
I took them both. I expected it was _up_.
However I am not quite so bad, but I will use my best endeavour
to get on for you this week the whole of which I must keep
quiet.
Good bie,
G. MORLAND.
Wednesday
_On other side_--
John Graham Esqre
30 Red Lion Square London
_Postmark--May 6 1801_
[Illustration: ONE OF THE LAST LETTERS EVER WRITTEN BY GRIMALDI, THE
GREAT CLOWN, DECEMBER 20, 1829.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF WILLIAM HOGARTH TO HIS WIFE, JANUARY 6, 1749.]
[Illustration: LAST PAGE OF AN A.L.S. BY THE PAINTER GEORGE ROMNEY.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS TO GEORGE CRABBE, MARCH 4,
1783.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF GEORGE MORLAND.]
[Illustration: TWO PAGES OF ILLUSTRATED LETTER FROM THE HONBLE. MRS.
NORTON TO A SISTER, JULY, 1854.]
In May, 1810, George Cruikshank, born in 1792, was in the thick of the
fight which the caricaturists waged against Napoleon. It was seventy
years later than the date of Morland's grotesque scrawl that there
appeared in _The Times_ (December 30, 1871) a letter from "Glorious
George" claiming to be the originator of the idea of "Oliver Twist." On
the following day Charles Manby, a mutual friend of the writer and the
artist, thus writes to the latter:--
60 WESTBOURNE TERRACE HYDE PARK
_December 30 1871_
MY DEAR OLD FRIEND,--I see with pleasure that, as I expected
you have in the "Times" of this day vindicated your claim to
originating the story of "Oliver Twist," which I have a notion
you told me of a long time ago. I am persuaded that Dickens
himself, would, with his inherent love of truth, have confirmed
your statement, and it is a pity that his historian should
have written vehemently on the subject. Be prepared with your
Sketches, etc. to maintain the position which will be hotly
contested, although in reality there is so much positive merit
in all that Dickens originated and did, that there is not
any necessity for laying claim to the works of others,--his
collaborateurs. I should much like someday to see the sketches
in question--that is if there is not any indiscretion in the
request. I will ask you to allow me to call upon you and look
over them.
With every good wish for the New Year believe me
Your's very sincerely
CHARLES MANBY
Lt Col: Cruikshank.
On January 2, 1872, Cruikshank replies as follows:--
263 HAMPSTEAD ROAD N W
MY DEAR OLD FRIEND,--It is so long since I illustrated "Oliver
Twist," that I do not at present know where the original
sketches are, but will look over the bundles of papers for them
and when found will let you know, and shall be highly pleased
if you will visit my studio and take a peep at them, although
some are so rough that they are hardly worth looking at,
having been done in such haste. The sketches that Dr. Sheldon
Mackenzie alludes to of "The Life of a London Thief" were made
about 50 years back, when Charles Dickens was a little boy, and
it is a chance if I ever see these sketches again, but I have a
list of the subjects which I will show you.
Wishing you and your's a happy New Year and many of them,
I am, Dear Friend, Your's truly
GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Charles Manby Esqre CE etc.
[Illustration: PORTION OF ILLUSTRATED LETTER BY JOHN LEECH.]
[Illustration: PAGE OF ILLUSTRATED A.L.S. FROM MR. WHEELER TO SIR F.
BURNAND.]
I often wonder that some zealous collector does not confine his
attention solely to letters illustrated by the writers. I have already
mentioned the achievements in this connection of Thackeray[62] and
Sir Frank Lockwood. I have come across illustrated letters in the
correspondence of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Mrs. Piozzi; Mrs. Norton
embellished her letters with admirable sketches of a humorous
character, and so did John Leech, Hablot K. Browne, Frederick Barnard,
and, of course, George Cruikshank. In my three grangerised volumes
relating to the history of _Punch_ are letters illustrated by Sir
Francis Burnand (who delighted his friends with this kind of _jeu
d'esprit_ before he left Cambridge), Mr. G. A. Sala, Mr. Linley
Sambourne, Mr. H. Furniss, Mr. Phil May, and Mr. E. T. Reed. One of the
most curious illustrated letters in my possession is a rough sketch of
a projected bath at Windsor, made by King George III. for the benefit
of Wyatt, the architect. Napoleon often added sketch-plans of battles
and movements of troops to his letters, and Louis Philippe was fond of
making quaint drawings, which are sometimes to be found even on the
official documents which passed through his hands. It was from a rough
sketch in a letter of Mr. Cobden, now in possession of Mr. T. Fisher
Unwin, that we find the genesis of the idea of the "big" and "little
loaf," which has achieved something very like political immortality.
[Illustration: ILLUSTRATED A.L.S. OF FRED BARNARD RELATING TO THE
PLATES OF "DOMBEY AND SON," N.D.]
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF CHARLES PEACE, THE MURDERER, ON A.L.S. OF
SIR FRANK LOCKWOOD, WHO DEFENDED HIM, WRITTEN IN 1888.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF GEORGE CRUICKSHANK, SEPTEMBER, 1836, ABOUT
DICKENS'S FIRST CALL ON HIM.]
[Illustration: POSTCARD OF JAMES WHISTLER FROM LION HOTEL, LYME REGIS,
CIRCA 1888.]
[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF A.L.S. OF THE PAINTER MEISSONIER, JULY 25,
1861.]
[Illustration: PORTRAITS OF SIR R. REID (NOW LORD LOREBURN) AND THE
LATE SIR FRANK LOCKWOOD ON AN ILLUSTRATED LETTER WRITTEN BY THE LATTER
DURING THE PARNELL COMMISSION.]
[Illustration: TWO PAGES OF AN ILLUSTRATED LETTER BY HABLOT K. BROWNE.]
[Illustration: TWO PAGES OF A LETTER FROM RICHARD COBDEN IN "THE
FORTIES."
(By courtesy of Mr. William Darby, Edgbaston.)]
FOOTNOTES:
[58] A fan covered with the drawings, signatures, and handwriting of
modern artists and musicians was sold at Sotheby's on May 4, 1910, for
£101.
[59] A great deal of interesting information on this head will be found
in Dr. Mee's "History of the Oldest Music Room in Europe," which will
shortly be published by Mr. John Lane.
[60] See _ante_, Chapter IV., p. 109, and Chapter VII., p. 196.
[61] For another exceptionally fine letter of Mrs. Siddons to Mrs.
Piozzi see "Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Thrale," Chapter III., p. 148.
[62] See _ante_, p. 198.
X
AUTOGRAPH
COLLECTING
IN FRANCE
CHAPTER X
AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING IN FRANCE
=Autograph letters of Napoleon--His associates and
contemporaries--Other French autographs=
"I cannot write well because my mind is engaged on two
subjects at once; one, my ideas; the other, my handwriting.
The ideas go on fastest, and then goodbye to the letters and
the lines! I can only dictate now. It is very convenient to
dictate. It is just as if one were holding a conversation"
(Napoleon).--GOURGAUD, p. 261.
The subjects of autograph collecting and autograph dealing in France,
as well as the wealth of French literature dealing with the whole
subject, and the abundance of collections of facsimiles, have already
been incidentally alluded to. The business now carried on by M. Noël
Charavay was founded in 1843 by his father, M. Jacques Charavay, who
died in 1867. He was succeeded by his son, Stephen Charavay, who
lived till 1899. At his funeral an eloquent address was delivered
by M. Anatole France. Five years before the autograph business had
been made over by M. Stephen Charavay to his brother, Noël Charavay,
who now carries it on. In 1865 M. Gabriel Charavay, the brother
of Jacques Charavay, acquired the goodwill and connection of M.
Laverdet, one of the earliest dealers in autographs. His son and
successor, Eugène, died young in 1892, and the head of the house is
now the widow of Gabriel Charavay. Monthly catalogues are issued by
both firms under the respective titles of _Bulletin d'Autographes_
and _Revue des Autographes_. The first publication is now (1910) in
its 63rd, the other in its 45th year. Autograph collectors would do
well to study both, as English letters are frequently offered for sale
in them, and the price of Napoleonic MSS. and similar _rariora_ is,
as a rule, much less in England than in France. I strongly recommend
beginners in autograph collecting to carefully read the introduction
to the fine Bovet catalogue, afterwards published as a pamphlet by M.
Stephen Charavay. The four volumes, entitled "L'Isographie des Hommes
Célèbres," are of inestimable use in acquiring familiarity with the
handwriting of celebrated French men and women. M. Jacques Charavay
and his sons are responsible as "experts" (and in France autograph
"experts" have an official character) for the compilation of nearly the
whole of the elaborate catalogues of autograph sales which have taken
place in Paris since 1843. The solitary exception to this assertion is
the sale of the MSS. of Madame Récamier. It was Jacques Charavay and
his two successors who presided over the dispersals of the autograph
collections formed in succession by Brunet, Yémeniz, Fillon, Bovet,
Piot, Champfleury, Pichon, and Dablin.[63] A list of these catalogues
down to 1902 was prepared by M. Edmund Brébion and published. It is
already out of print.
Of Napoleon I. as a scribe my friend Dr. J. Holland Rose writes me as
follows:--
Napoleon was the greatest letter-writer of all time. The number
of letters written or dictated by him up to the end of the
Waterloo Campaign is 22,061; many more belong to the subsequent
period, and some 2,000 or 3,000 letters have been found since
the publication of the "Correspondance de Napoléon," published
by order of Napoleon III.
On very many occasions he wrote or dictated thirty or forty
letters and dispatches in one day. A well-known example of
his epistolary activity is that recorded by a Saxon Colonel,
von Odleben, who describes him while staying at Düben shortly
before the Battle of Leipsic, October, 1813. In those anxious
days Napoleon kept his secretaries on the watch day and
night, and is known to have sent off six important letters
in the small hours of October 12th, shortly before he set
out for Leipsic. In later days he wrote comparatively few of
his letters himself, simply because his writing was almost
illegible.
His early letters to Josephine were of course in his own
handwriting; they are remarkable, among the love-letters of
great men, for their passionate ardour: which, however, soon
cooled under the frivolities and neglect of his Consort.
Some of his letters never have been deciphered. The present
writer has in his possession an excellent photograph of a long
Napoleon letter which is a rough draft of a proclamation to his
army after the great victory at Rivoli in January, 1797. It has
been much erased and altered. The skill of experts at Paris and
London has failed to decipher the contents of three-fourths
of this scrawl, yet the original was sold recently for a very
large sum of money.
I have already mentioned[64] the seven Napoleon letters sold in London
in 1904 for £350. In the following year I was much interested in three
letters which M. Noël Charavay offered for sale at the modest price
of £100, throwing light on certain negotiations between Bonaparte and
the Bourbons, which supplement a curt letter of the former in the
Morrison Collection declining to entertain certain proposals. The three
letters sold in 1905 are in the easily recognisable handwriting of
Louis XVIII. (known in 1801, when they were written, as the Comte de
Lille), and in them he puts before the Abbé de Montesquieu, who was
acting as a go-between in the matter, the reasons which should induce
the First Consul to facilitate the return of the descendant of St.
Louis to the throne of his forefathers. In the first of the series
(dated Warsaw, March 22, 1801) Louis congratulates himself on the
idea which has prompted him to take the initiative in the matter. He
writes as follows: "Buonaparte is to-day the greatest of our country's
soldiers. He will be her saviour. As the Father of the French it is for
me to make the first advance.... I charge you to communicate to him the
following arguments: the restoration of the Monarchy is necessary; the
existence of the Republic has only proved its impossibility; the only
Republicans in France are abstract reasoners, faddists, &c." In a last
and final memorandum he says: "When I appeal to Buonaparte, do I do so
merely to march over the bodies of the dead? If glory has chosen him to
restore the Monarchy, let glory be the witness of my engagements." At
the same time he energetically denies the allegation that he has ever
encouraged or approved any project for the assassination of the First
Consul.
In February of the present year I saw in London a superb Napoleonic
letter of great historic importance, and authenticated by a declaration
made by the Duke of Wellington. This letter once belonged to an
English Prime Minister. It was written on May 1, 1803, when the
delusive Treaty (or Truce) of Amiens was about to be torn up. A part
of the letter has appeared, but I now give it _in extenso_ with a
translation[65]:--
ST. CLOUD 4½.
Je recois votre lettre, qui m'a été remise à la Malmaison, je
désire que la conference ne se tourne pas en parlage--mettez
vous y froid, altier et même un peu fier.
Si la notte (_sic_) contient le mot ultimatum fait lui sentir
que ce mot renferme celui de guerre, que cette manière de
negocier est d'un superieur à un inferieur, si la notte ne
contient pas ce mot, fait qu'il le mette, en lui observant
qu'il faut enfin savoir à qui nous en tenir, que nous sommes
las de etat d'anxieté--que jamais en n'obtiendra de nous,
ce que l'on a obtenu des dernières années des Bourbons, que
nous ne sommes plus ce peuple que recevoit un commissaire à
Dunkerque, que l'ultimatum remis, tout deviendra rompu.
Effrayez le sur les suites de cette remise S'il est
inébranlable, accompagnez le dans votre salon sur le point de
vous quitter, dit lui "mais le Cap, et l'ile de Gorée, sont ils
evacués" radoucissez un peu la fin de la Conférence, et invitez
le à revenir avant d'écrire à sa Cour, enfin que vous puisiez
lui dire l'impression qu'elle a fait sur moi, qu'elle pouvoit
être diminuée, par l'assurance de l'evacuation de Cap et de
l'ile de Gorée.
NAP.
[TRANSLATION.]
ST. CLOUD 4½
I am in receipt of your letter which was given me at Malmaison.
I desire that the conference should not end in idle words. Be
cold in your demeanour--haughty and if need be proud. If the
note contains the word ultimatum, let him feel that this word
means war, and that this manner of negotiating is that of a
superior to an inferior; if the note does not contain this word
see that he uses it saying that we must really know where
we are, that we are weary of this state of tension and that
they will never obtain from us, what they obtained in the last
years of the Bourbons, that we are no longer the people to
receive a Commissioner at Dunkirk and that the ultimatum once
delivered everything will be broken off. Frighten him as to the
consequence of this act on his part, if he is unwavering take
him to your drawing-room and as he is on the point of leaving
say to him "But the Cape and the Isle of Gorée, are they
evacuated?" Then towards the end of the interview tone down
matters a little, and suggest his coming back before writing to
his Court, so that you may be able to tell him the impression
which the conference has made upon me, and that it could be
softened by the assurance of the evacuation of these places.
NAP.
This letter was purchased by the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, whose
attention I called to its great interest. Lord Crawford probably
possesses one of the finest sets of Revolutionary and Napoleonic MSS.
in the hands of any private collector. He is at the present moment
engaged in cataloguing them.
* * * * *
[Illustration: EARLY SIGNATURE OF NAPOLEON I. AS "BUONAPARTE" ON
MILITARY DOCUMENT, DATED FEBRUARY 1, 1796.]
[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF A.L.S. OF ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE ANNOUNCING
TO THE FRENCH MINISTER OF MARINE THE DISASTER OF THE NILE, SEPTEMBER,
1798.]
Of the various autographs of Napoleon in my own collection, the
earliest (now reproduced) is dated February 1, 1796. Napoleon then
signed himself "Buonaparte." He was then Commander-in-Chief of the Army
of the Interior. The last I possess consist of a note in pencil written
at St. Helena and the various hieroglyphics with which he controlled
the entries in Pierron's journal of household disbursements. All the
autographs of the Bonaparte family fetch high prices, especially
letters of Madame Mère (Napoleon's mother), Josephine and Marie Louise
(his wives), and the sisters Eliza, Pauline, and Caroline. Letters of
his father are now extremely difficult to obtain, although ten years
ago they fetched only from £1 to £2. Letters of Talleyrand are
not rare, but the one I now place before my readers possesses both
exceptional interest and value.
_Talleyrand to Napoleon I._
SIRE,--La naissance d'un prince dans la famille de votre
majesté est un évenement heureux pour tous ses sujets. Je
dois en sentir davantage l'importance moi que le sentiment,
le respect, et la reconnaissance attachent d'une maniere plus
particulaire à votre majesté. Je la supplie d'agréer avec
bonté l'expression de ma joie et les veux ardents que je forme
à chaque moment de ma vie pour la prosperité de son auguste
famille, elle ne peut être trop nombreuse pour la tranquillité
et le bonheur du monde.
Je supplie votre majesté de recevoir avec bonté l'assurance du
profond respect avec lequel je suis
de votre majesté impériale et royale
les très humble, très obeissant et très
fidèle serviteur et sujet
CHARLES MAURICE TALLEYRAND
_Prince de Bénévento_
[TRANSLATION.]
SIRE,--The birth of a prince in your Majesty's family is a
happy event for all your subjects. I feel the importance of it
more particularly on account of the sentiment, the respect and
the gratitude which bind me to your Majesty. I entreat you to
accept with favour my congratulations, as well as my ardent
wishes, formed every moment of my life for the prosperity of
your august family, which cannot be sufficiently numerous for
the peace and prosperity of the world.
I entreat your Majesty to graciously accept the assurance of
profound esteem with which I subscribe myself,
Your Imperial and Royal Majesty's
faithful servant and subject
CHARLES MAURICE DE TALLEYRAND,
_Prince de Benevento_.
[Illustration: SIGNATURE OF EMPRESS MARIE LOUISE AS REGENT, JULY, 1813.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF JOSEPH BONAPARTE, AFTERWARDS KING OF SPAIN,
JANUARY, 1806.]
In this letter, dated April 20, 1808, Talleyrand conveys to the
Emperor, then at Bayonne, his congratulations on the birth of the
future Emperor, Napoleon III., at which he was present, and it must
have been written the very day when that event took place. In his "Life
of Napoleon III.," at page 10, the late Mr. Archibald Forbes writes
thus: "It was on the afternoon of April 20, 1808, in her _hôtel_ in
the Rue Cérutti, now the banking-house of the Rothschilds in the Rue
Lafitte, that Queen Hortense gave birth to her third son, the future
Napoleon III. The Empress was then at Bordeaux and the Emperor at
Bayonne. Talleyrand, with other high officers, had been commanded by
Napoleon to be present at the impending accouchement of Queen Hortense.
She thus notes regarding him: 'The visit of M. de Talleyrand aggravated
my nervous state. He constantly wore powder, the scent of which was so
strong that when he approached me I was nearly suffocated.' Talleyrand
looked down solemnly on the new-born infant; some thirty years later,
in Lady Tankerville's drawing-room in London, he did not choose to
recognise the son of Hortense. The heir of the Empire was then an
exile, and Talleyrand was serving a new master."
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF TALLEYRAND IN PARIS TO NAPOLEON I. AT BAYONNE
CONGRATULATING HIM ON THE BIRTH OF NAPOLEON III., AT WHICH HE HAD BEEN
PRESENT, APRIL, 1808.]
[Illustration: LETTER SIGNED BY THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, 3 VENTOSE AN X
(FEBRUARY 22, 1802).]
I possess letters and documents signed by Napoleon in Egypt
(1798-99), at Rambouillet (1807), at Bayonne (1808), and on a pardon
(1812). Possibly the finest is on a letter written in 1805 from the
camp at Boulogne. I paid £5 for this; it is worth at least five times
as much now. Letters of most of Napoleon's Marshals vary in value from
10s. to 20s. The rarest are those of Desaix (killed at Marengo) and
Poniatowski (drowned in the Elster in 1813). They are worth from £3
to £5. An autograph letter of the Duc d'Enghien would probably bring
its owner £20. I gave £5 for a good L.S. Letters of Murat are worth
from 15s. to 20s. I bought the letter written to Napoleon by him for
12s. 6d. in England. Letters of Eliza Bonaparte and Marshal Masséna
are now somewhat hard to procure, as those of the former are purchased
by an historian, while the present holder of the title of the Prince
d'Essling is credited with being a liberal buyer of the MSS. of his
gallant ancestor.
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF MARSHAL NEY, PARIS, DECEMBER 23, 1813.]
[Illustration: EXERCISE OF THE KING OF ROME, DUKE DE REICHSTADT, CIRCA
1827.]
As regards the Roi de Rome (Napoleon II.), I have already referred to
his exercise-books. If he had lived he would have had a rival in the
Comte de Chambord, of whose early compositions I now give an example.
His handwriting was excellent. Few boys at eight write anything like as
well:--
_Exercise of Count de Chambord, 1820-83._
François Premier après avoir vaillamment combattu sous les
murs de Pavie, fut fait prisonnier par les Espagnols. Ce roy
chevalier annonça son malheur à sa mère par ces mots écrits sur
le champ de bataille 'Tout est perdu fors l'honneur.' Il fut
conduit en Espagne et mené à Madrid où il fut gardé dans un
château. Charlequint l'y laissa long temps sans l'aller voir.
St. Cloud _le 18 Juillet 1828_.
Nearly half a century later the writer preferred to lose his chances
of a throne rather than renounce the white flag of his ancestors. If
I mistake not he used the very words of Francis I. recorded on the
copy-book page now in my possession!
[Illustration: PORTION OF ESSAY ON GUNNERY WRITTEN BY THE LATE PRINCE
IMPERIAL OF FRANCE WHILE A CADET AT THE WOOLWICH MILITARY ACADEMY.]
Ordinary letters of Napoleon III. and the Empress Eugénie are priced
at figures varying from £l to £5. Like Napoleon I., the heir to the
Napoleonic traditions was an industrious letter-writer. I possess many
examples of his letters, ranging from 1830 to 1870. Here is one written
during his detention in Germany:--
_WILHELMSHOE le 29 Oct. 1870_
MON CHER LORD ALFRED,--Je suis bien touché de votre bon
souvenir; les sentiments qui renferme la lettre que vous avez
bien voulu m'adresser m'ont fait grand plaisir et je vous
remercie des nouvelles que vous me donnez de l'Imperatrice et
de mon fils.
C'est une vrai consolation pour moi dans mon malheur que de
recevoir des preuves de sympathie comme les votres, et je
vous prie de dire à Lady Paget combien je suis sensible à son
souvenir. Je vous prie aussi de vouloir bien vous charger de la
lettre ci-jointe pour Sir John Burgoyne. Il m'a écrit une
lettre très aimable, mais on m'a pas donné une adresse, et je
perir à le remercier.
Recevez, mon cher Lord Alfred l'assurance de mes sentiments
d'amitié.
NAPOLÉON.
[Illustration: PAGE OF A.L.S. OF NAPOLEON III. TO DR. O'MEARA, MARCH 9,
1836.]
[Illustration: SKETCH BY THE LATE PRINCE IMPERIAL, CIRCA 1866.]
Autograph letters of the Prince Imperial fetch very high prices
indeed--anything from £5 upwards. The fine essay written by him at the
Royal Military College, Woolwich, is worth quite twice that sum.
Letters of the Empress Eugénie are now generally priced higher than
those of her husband, and I have known as much as £10 asked for one.
Her Majesty is, or was, a zealous collector of autographs. Twenty years
ago she was credited with possessing several letters of Catherine of
Aragon, and a letter from Henry VII. to King and Queen Ferdinand and
Isabella, of the highest historical importance.
Fine letters of Louis XVIII., Charles X., and Louis Philippe can be
obtained for a pound or less, and the correspondence of the statesmen
who served under them is even cheaper. I gave 20 francs for a very
confidential letter written to the last-named monarch by Count Molé
(1781-1853) in July, 1835. It begins thus:--
SIRE,--His Majesty will probably recollect that by means of
a little monthly arrangement I have very nearly silenced the
grape-shot of the _Morning Chronicle_, obtaining occasionally
even favourable mention. I have undertaken now and then to
obtain news paragraphs from London. Here is the first. It is
curious, very curious indeed. I believe in the truth of its
contents. I have opened up relations with _The Times_.
At this point he suddenly drops the subject, and enlarges on certain
gossip from the German Courts and the lack of intelligence shown by
the War Minister, General Bernard.
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF ADMIRAL BRUEYS, THE FRENCH ADMIRAL
COMMANDING-IN-CHIEF, WHO WAS KILLED AT TRAFALGAR, DATED MAY 25, 1797.]
The official letters of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods are
often distinguished by engraved vignettes of great artistic beauty.
The designs of the earlier ones are often classical. The letters of
naval officers are often headed by a medallion on which a Roman galley
figures conspicuously. It was by carefully studying the sale catalogues
that I obtained the letter of Talleyrand to Napoleon at an outlay of
27 francs. For 52 francs I purchased in the open market one of the
earliest official letters of Villeneuve to the Minister of Marine at
Paris, after the battle of the Nile.
Some of the autographs of the Revolution fetch very high prices.
Letters of Mirabeau are comparatively cheap, but those of the
Robespierres and Anacharsis Cloots command almost as much as those
of Montesquieu. Letters of Madame Roland and Marat are also much in
request. Autographs of Charlotte Corday are probably more valuable than
those of Marie Antoinette.
[Illustration: TWO SIGNATURES OF MARIE ANTOINETTE ON A WARRANT,
OCTOBER, 1783.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF NAPOLEON III. TO LORD ALFRED PAGET FROM
WILHELMSHOHE, OCTOBER 29, 1870.]
In the early part of the nineteenth century MSS. of every description
were sold at prices which now seem incredible. Miss Berry tells us that
the "Deffand collection of letters and documents consisting of 1 folio
of _œuvres de_ Boufflers; 1 do. of letters from different persons; 2
do. of letters from Voltaire to Madame de Deffand; 1 do. Journal of
do.; 1 do. _divers ouvrages_ of do.; 5 large bundles of manuscript
papers; 1 packet containing several hundred letters from Voltaire,
Rousseau, Delille, Montesquieu, de Staël, Walpole, Henault, and 7
_large packets_ containing 800 letters from Madame de Deffand to Horace
Walpole were sold in one lot to Dyce Sombre for £157." Lucky Nabob!
I may say without indiscretion that the single letter from Napoleon
to Talleyrand mentioned at the opening of this chapter obtained a
better price. Letters of Voltaire are worth from £1 to £5 each. I gave
10 francs for the apothecary's account for the embalming of his
body prior to its inhumation in the Pantheon. The following letter in
English from Voltaire to Lord Chesterfield--certainly a rarity--cost me
£3 3s.:--
_Voltaire to the Earl of Chesterfield._
À FERNEY PAR GENEVE,
_5 August 1761._
MY LORD,--give me leave to apply from the foot of the Alps to
the english nobleman whose wit is the most adapted to the taste
of every nation. j have in my old age a sort of conformity
with you. tis not in point of wit, but in point of ears, mine
are much hard too. the consolation of deaf people is to read,
and sometimes to scribble. j have as a scribbler, made a prety
curious commentary on many tragedies of corneille. t'is my duty
since the gran daughter of corneille is in my house.
if there was a gran daughter of Shakespear j would subscribe
for her. j hope those who take ponticheré will take
subscriptions too. the work is prodigeously cheap and no money
is to be given but at the reception of the book
_nurse_ receives the names of the subscribers. y^{r} name will be
the most honourable and the dearest to me.
I wish y^{r} lordship long life, good eyes and good stomak.
my lord _souvenez vous de votre ancien serviteur Voltaire qui
vous est attaché comme s'il était a londres_.
* * * * *
The original spelling of the letter has been preserved.
[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF LETTER IN ENGLISH FROM VOLTAIRE TO EARL OF
CHESTERFIELD, FERNEY, AUGUST 5, 1761.]
It is needless to discuss the value of such priceless treasures as the
autographs of Rabelais and Molière, the subjects of so much discussion
and (if truth be told) so much deception. Like the signatures of
Shakespeare, they may be described as the Koh-i-noors of calligraphy.
They do not come within the domain of practical autograph collecting.
FOOTNOTES:
[63] It was at this sale I acquired the "House-expenses book" of
Napoleon at St. Helena and the correspondence of Poniatowski.
[64] See _ante_, Chapter I., p. 32.
[65] See "Life of Napoleon," by J. Holland Rose, Litt.D., vol. i. p.
424.
XI
A CENTURY
OF AMERICAN
AUTOGRAPH
COLLECTING
CHAPTER XI
A CENTURY OF AMERICAN AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING
=The great collectors and collections of the United States--The
autograph sale-rooms of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia=
"How very inconsiderate some of our great people have been in
the matter of epistolary correspondence! If Thomas Lynch, jun.,
and Button Gwinnett, and John Morton had only understood the
feelings of a collector, they would surely have favoured their
friends more frequently with an A.L.S. or even an A.N.S. When
they were signing the Declaration on that warm July afternoon,
and committing themselves to the famous fallacy that 'all men
are created equal,' they might have foreseen the day when every
American collector would begin his colligendering career by
gathering 'signers.'"--ADRIAN H. JOLINE.
If the conscript fathers of autograph collecting can be fairly claimed
by the country of their birth, the majority of their most ardent and
enthusiastic successors are to be found to-day on the other side of
the Atlantic. It is in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, San
Francisco, St. Louis, Savannah, and elsewhere that one must now look
for many of the choicest and most priceless literary MSS. in existence,
and it is obvious that the New World has in a measure become the
guardian of many of the traditions and treasures of the Old. Before
me lie the calendar of the Emmet collection of papers relating to
American history, presented some ten years ago to the New York Public
Library, which fills no less than 563 closely printed pages; next to
it is the catalogue, in three parts, of the Louis J. Haber collection,
sold in December, 1909, by the Anderson Auction Company of New York,
the successors of the historic firm of Bangs; the monograph, "Privately
Illustrated Books," by Daniel M. Tredwell, of New York--the largest and
most carefully written book on the subject yet produced in America (475
pages, handsomely printed in De Vinne's best style), the exhaustive
catalogue of that treasure-house of Southern history, beneath the
laurel and jasmines of historic "Wormsloe," Georgia, recently sent me
by Wimberley J. De Renne; the already often-referred-to "Meditations"
of Mr. Adrian H. Joline; the standard American book, "Autographic
Collections of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution," by the late Lyman C. Draper, LL.D., the interesting
MSS. so carefully arranged by Chas. De F. Burns, of New York, whose
knowledge of early American collecting is very great; and, last but
not least, a pile of valuable notes and statistics from the pen of my
excellent friend Mr. Telamon Cuyler, without whose aid the present
chapter could never have been written. My initial difficulty is a
plethora of interesting information. I must not even attempt to
summarise the autographic trophies to be found in such famous libraries
as those of Mr. Pierpont Morgan, Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet (at the present
moment the Nestor of the world's great collectors of MSS.), Mr. W. J.
De Renne of Wormsloe, or Mr. W. H. Bexby of St. Louis.
Dr. Emmet, now the most vigorous octogenarian in New York, and divided
only by a single generation from the Irish patriot of 1804 (his uncle),
forms a living link between the days of Israel K. Tefft of Savannah,
the pioneer of American autograph collecting, whose library was sold
half a century ago in Philadelphia, and men like Mr. Louis J. Haber,
Mr. Bexby, and Mr. Telamon Cuyler himself; for is not my enthusiastic
_confrère_ himself the proud possessor of a holograph document
containing seven times the name of Button Gwinnett? To nine-tenths of
my lay readers the mention of B. Gwinnett, who was killed in a duel
in May, 1777, and T. Lynch, drowned at sea in the same fateful year,
will probably have no particular signification. Let me tell them that
if they could discover a fine autograph letter, duly signed, of either
of these signers of the Declaration of American Independence, they may
consider themselves provided for for life, and far richer than the
owners of red and blue "Post Office Mauritius," "Hawaian blues," or
other priceless _rariora_ dear to the votaries of philately!
The great majority of American autograph collectors apparently utilise
their letters and documents for the purposes of extra-illustration, or
the creation of "association-books."[66] Although the arrangement of
autographs on these lines does not receive the whole-hearted sanction
of Mr. Joline, Dr. Emmet has successfully demonstrated the supreme
importance of this source of illustration to the "grangeriser," and
it is constantly practised by both Mr. Cuyler and myself. In this
connection I do not, of course, allude to the MSS. of famous authors,
which should obviously be kept apart, and bound by experts like Mr.
Cedric Chivers, in such a way as not to interfere with their original
condition or appearance, but to isolated letters or documents. I fail
to imagine anything more interesting or attractive than a copy of
Clarendon's "History," illustrated not only by portraits and views, but
by MSS. like those in the possession of Mr. Sabin, or those I shall
describe when giving some account of the sales of the last decade.[67]
Then, and then only, do you seem to actually live again in the
veritable atmosphere of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The American collector generally begins his career, both as an
autograph collector and extra-illustrator, by dealing with such
works as Sanderson's "Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of
Independence" and Lossing's "Field-book of the Revolution" (1776-1783).
The Emmet Collection in the New York Public Library,[68] which numbers
10,800 documents, is classified under such heads as the Albany Congress
of 1754, the Stamp-Act Congress of 1765, the Continental Congress of
1774, the members of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, Presidents
of Congress, Presidents of the United States, the Signers of the
Declaration of Independence, and so forth.
The cult of the Signers is one of the most distinctive features of
American autograph collecting.[69] The late Dr. Raffles, of Liverpool,
is credited with having got together a complete series, and I have
heard the subject attracted the sympathetic interest of Queen Victoria.
While the Rev. Dr. Wm. B. Sprague (born at Andover, Conn., U.S.A.) was
the first man to form the first unbroken set of the immortal fifty-six
"Signers," Dr. Raffles' set was the second to be completed. This fact
is shown in a letter of June, 1835, by Benjamin B. Thatcher (born at
Warren, Me., 1809; died Boston, Mass., 1840), the earliest writer on
American autograph collections. Some of the signatures of the "Signers"
are common enough, but those of Button Gwinnett and Lynch, both of
which I am able, thanks to the kindness of Mr. Cuyler, to illustrate,
are of quite phenomenal rarity. Gwinnett and Lynch both died tragically
"before their time," and this may possibly account for the scarceness
of their handwriting. Some collectors spend their lives in the
perpetual quest of these unfindable autographs.
Mr. Cuyler has sent me several anecdotes on the subject of these
Gwinnett and Lynch signatures. He informs me that the earliest American
collector, Israel K. Tefft, was called from Savannah to the estate of
a gentleman resident near that city. Having to wait, he wandered on
the lawn, under the cypress and the jasmine, and, perceiving a scrap
of paper blowing about, he carelessly picked it up. To his joyous
astonishment he found that it was a draft on the Treasury of Georgia,
dated 1777, ordering certain payments, and signed by Button Gwinnett!
Though Mr. Tefft was the first autograph collector in America, and had
begun operations as early as 1815-20, in Savannah, he had, until that
tour, never even seen the signature of Button Gwinnett--other than
that appearing upon facsimiles of the Declaration of Independence.
After transacting his business, he exhibited his find to his client,
and said that he would gladly take the paper in place of money for his
services. The gentleman generously presented him with the paper and
also paid him. (This signature of B. G. is now preserved in the "Set of
Signers" in the State Library at Albany, New York, U.S.A.)
Mr. Cuyler has ascertained that there are only twenty-two known
signatures of Button Gwinnett extant. These include his holograph will,
drawn up a few hours before his fatal duel with Gen. McIntosh (May,
1777), which is now in the collection of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, of New
York. No A.L.S. of Gwinnett is known. The State of Georgia, in which he
was Master of Pilotage, Justice of the Peace, Member of the Provincial
Assembly, Member of Council of Safety, and Governor, possesses not a
line of his writing. One L.S. is in the _private_ collection of Thos.
Addis Emmet, M.D., of New York.
I have previously alluded to the holograph document, with his name
repeated seven times, in possession of Mr. Cuyler. The A.L.S. of
Thomas Lynch, jun., "Signer for South Carolina" (now published),
came from the Washington correspondence.[70] It was ultimately sold
for £1,400 (_i.e._, £370 more than the record Nelson letter), and is
the only one in existence. It now figures in Dr. Emmet's best set of
"Signers" in the New York Public Library. In this set fifty-five out
of the fifty-six signers of the American Magna Charta are represented
by signed holograph letters. Dr. Emmet regards the acquisition of a
letter signed by Gwinnett as the crowning triumph of his sixty years'
work in the fields of autograph collecting. If a holograph letter of
Gwinnett could be discovered, _and such a letter may very likely exist
in England_, it would probably fetch £5,000.
Gwinnett was an Englishman, a descendant of Admiral Sir Thomas Button
(who entered our navy in 1589, explored Hudson's Bay, and died in
1634), migrated early in life to Charleston, South Carolina, finally
settling in Georgia, where he accumulated wealth. After his tragic
death, his widow and only child, a daughter, returned to England. The
daughter married but died childless.
In the list of American collectors Dr. Sprague comes next to Mr. Tefft.
George Washington at his death left his correspondence neatly arranged
and filed. His widow, however, burned the whole of the letters she had
ever received from the first President of the United States! This is
almost the greatest known destruction of valuable autograph matter.
From his first love-letter, penned in Virginia, to the young Widow
Custis, his correspondence during the fatal Braddock campaign, his
homely domestic instructions to the _châtelaine_ of Mount Vernon, to
his war letters, in which he opened his heart and there recorded the
true history of the American War, she had preserved all, which now
went into the fire and £100,000 on to-day's valuation, and priceless
American historical data, went up in smoke!
[Illustration: THE SIGNATURE AND WRITING OF BUTTON GWINNETT, THE RAREST
AUTOGRAPH OF THE "SIGNERS."]
By the unwise permission of the Washington family, Dr. Sprague
was permitted to abstract "as many letters as he liked" from the
wonderfully accurate letter-files of George Washington, preserved at
his home, "Mount Vernon," in Virginia. Dr. S. there got some of his
best papers, being only requested to "leave copies of all letters he
took"! Among the papers he thus acquired was the A.L.S. of Thomas
Lynch, jun., "Signer" for South Carolina.
The following is the text of this wonderful autograph, a portion of
which is reproduced in facsimile:--
SIR,--'Though the acquaintance I have with your Excellency be
but slight, I am induced to hope that you will readily excuse
the trouble I am going to give you, when you shall become
acquainted with the merits of the Gentleman, in whose favour
that trouble is given.
Coll: Pinckney, the Bearer of this Letter, now Commands the
first Regiment raised in this State for the Continental
Service. At the commencement of the present War, he entered
into the Service with the rank of Captain, and has since, to
the satisfaction of every real friend of American liberty in
this State, been advanced by various promotions to that of
Coll. His family being as respectable as any amongst us, and
his fortune abundantly competent, nothing but a passion for
glory and a zeal for the cause of his Country, could have led
him into this measure. I shall say nothing of his Abilities,
convinced as I am that your Excellency's penetration and the
frequent opportunities he cannot fail to have, will soon
discover them, but as to Principles, I will be bold to say,
that no Man living has a higher Spirit, a nicer sense of
Honour, or a more incorruptable Heart, than he has. Such a man
cannot but be highly acceptable to one in your Excellency's
situation, & I will willingly engage my life that the friend
I now venture to recommend to your favour is such an one--I
fervently pray God to watch over your Excelly's life, & to make
you as happy and successful as you are good and brave. I have
the honour to be with the most sincere regard and most profound
esteem, your Excellency's
most obedient hu^{ble} ser^{vt}
THOMAS LYNCH
Charles Town,
_July 5 1777_
His Excellency General Washington.[71]
[Illustration: THE LAST PAGE OF THE LETTER OF THOMAS LYNCH, JUN., ONE
OF THE AMERICAN "SIGNERS," WHICH FETCHED 7,000 DOLLARS.]
Letters of George Washington often find their way into the English
sale-rooms. During the first decade of the present century they
have varied in price from £6 to £60. Mr. Cuyler enables me to give
my readers not only one of the finest letters of Washington's in
existence, but one hitherto unpublished. I need not point out either
its characteristic style or historic value, but will only observe
that Lund Washington, his cousin and manager of his Virginia estates,
possessed his confidence before any other person, excepting perhaps
Mrs. Washington.
_CAMP AT CAMBRIDGE Augt 20th 1775_
DEAR LUND,--Your Letter by Captn Prince came to my hands last
night--I was glad to learn by it that all are well.--the acct
given of the behaviour of the Scotchmen at Port Tobacco &
Piscataway surpriz'd & vexed me--Why did they Imbark in the
Cause?--What do they say for themselves?--What does other
say of them?--are they admitted into company?--or kicked out
of it?--What does their Countrymen urge in justification of
them?--they are fertile in invention, and will offer excuses
where excuses can be made. I cannot say but I am curious to
learn the reasons why men, who had subscribed, and bound
themselves to each other, and their Country, to stand forth in
defence of it, should lay down their Arms the first moment they
were called upon.
Although I never hear of the Mill under the direction of
Simpson, without a degree of warmth & vexation at his extreame
stupidity, yet, if you can spare money from other purposes, I
could wish to have it sent to him, that it may, if possible, be
set a going before the works get ruined & spoilt, & my whole
Money perhaps totally lost.--If I am really to loose Barran's
debt to me, it will be a pretty severe stroke upon the back of
Adams, & the expense I am led into by that confounded fellow
Simpson, and necessarily so--in seating my Lands under the
management of Cleveland.--
Spinning should go forward with all possible dispatch, as we
shall have nothing else to depend upon if these disputes
continue another year.--I can hardly think that Lord Dunmore
can act so low, and unmanly a part, as think of seizing Mrs.
Washington by way of revenge upon me; howevr as I suppose she
is, before this time gone over to Mr Calverts, & will soon
after retug, go down to New Kent, she will be out of his reach
for 2 or 3 months to come, in which time matters may, and
probably will, take such a turn as to render her removal either
absolutely necessary, or quite useless.--I am nevertheless
exceedingly thankful to the Gentlemen of Alexandria for their
friendly attention to this point and desire you will if there
is any sort of reason to suspect a thing of this kind provide
a Kitchen for her in Alexandria, or some other place of safety
elsewhere for her and my Papers.
The People of this Government have obtained a character which
they by no means deserved--their officers generally speaking
are the most indyferent kind of People I ever saw.--I have
already broke one Col. and five Captains for Cowardice, and
for drawing more Pay and Provisions than they had men in their
Companies there is two more Cols now under arrest, and to be
tried for the same offences--in short they are by no means
such Troops, in any respect as you are led to believe of
them from the accts which are published, but I need not make
myself Enemies among them, by this declaration although it is
consistant with truth.--I daresay the men would fight very
well (if properly officered) although they are an exceeding
dirty & hasty people.--had they been properly conducted at
Bunkers Hill (on the 17th of June) or those that were there
properly supported, the Regulars would have met with a shameful
defeat, & a much more considerable loss than they did, which
is now known to be exactly 1057 killed & wounded--it was for
their behaviour on that occasion that the above officers were
broke, for I never spared one that was accused of Cowardice but
brot'em to immediate Tryal.
Our Lines of Defence are now compleated, as near so at least as
can be--we men wish them to come out as soon as they please,
but they (that is the enemy) discover no Inclination to quit
their own Works of Defence, & as it is almost impossible for
us to get to them, we do nothing but watch each others motions
all day at the distance of about a mile, every now and then
picking off a stragler when we can catch them without their
Intrenchments, in return they often attempt to Cannonad our
Lines to no other purpose than the waste of a considerable
quantity of powder to themselves which we should be very glad
to get.--
What does Doctr Craik say to the behaviour of his Countrymen, &
Townspeople? Remember me kindly to him & tell him that I should
be very glad to see him here if there was any thing worth his
acceptance, but the Massachusets People suffer nothing to go by
them that they can lay hands upon.--
I wish the money could be had from Hill & the Bills of
Exchange (except Col Fairfax's, which ought to be sent to him
immediately) turned into Cash, you might then, I should think,
be able to furnish Simpson with about £300, but you are to
recollect that I have got Cleveland & the hired People with him
to pay also.--I would not have you buy a single bushel of wheat
till you can see with some kind of certainty what Market the
Flour is to go to--& if you cannot find sufficient employment
in repairing the Mill works, and other things of this kind for
Mr. Robets and Thomas Alferd, they must be closely employed
in making Cask or working at the Carpenters or other business
otherwise they must be discharged for it is not reasonable,
as all Mill business will probably be at an end for a while,
that I am to pay them £100 a year to be Idle.--I should think
Roberts himself must see, & be sensible of the reasonableness
of this request, as I believe few Millers will find employment
if our Ports are shut up, & the wheat kept in the straw, or
otherwise for greater security.
I will write to Mr. Milnor to forward you a good Country
Boulting Cloth for Simpson which endeavour to have contrived
to him by the first safe conveyance.--I wish you would quicken
Lasphire & Sears about the Dining Room Chimney Piece (to be
executed as mentioned in one of my last letters) as I could
wish to have that end of the house compleatly finished before
I return.--I wish you had done the end of the New Kitchen next
the garden as also the old Kitchen with Rusticated Board,
however as it is not I would have the corners done so in the
manner of our New Church (those two especially which Fronts
the Quarter.--What have you done with the Well? Is that walled
up?--have you any accts of the Painter? how does he behave at
Fredericksburg?--
I much approve of your sowing wheat in clean ground, although
you should be late in doing it, and if for no other purpose
than a tryal.--It is a growing I find, as well as a new
practice, that of Overseers keeping Horses, & for what purpose,
unless it be to make fat Horses at my expense, I know not as it
is no saving of my own Horses. I do not like the custom, & wish
you would break it, but do as you will, as I cannot pretend to
interfere at this distance.
Remember me kindly to all the neighbours who enquire after
yr affecte friend and servt
G. WASHINGTON
Letters of Franklin are less valuable than those of Washington. The
letter reproduced was purchased by me in Paris for £10. It of course
derives additional value from being addressed to Washington. The seal
is intact.
_PASSY, NEAR PARIS, March 2. 1778._
DEAR SIR,--M. de Fontevieux, who hopes to have the honour of
delivering this into your hands, is a young Gentleman of a
considerable Family, and of excellent character, who goes over
with Views of improving himself in the military Art under your
Auspices. He is willing to serve as Volunteer, in any Capacity
for which your Excell^{y} shall find him qualified. He is warmly
recommended to me by Persons of great Distinction here, who
are zealous Friends to the American Cause. And I beg leave to
recommend him earnestly to your Excellency's Protection, being
confident that he will endeavour to merit it. With the greatest
Esteem & Respect I have the Honour to be,
Your Excellency's
most obedient and most humble Servant
B. FRANKLIN
To his Excellency George Washington Esq^{re} General &
Commander in chief of the American Armies, Philadelphia.
[Illustration: THE LAST PAGE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON'S SPLENDID A.L.S.,
NOW PUBLISHED THROUGH THE KINDNESS OF MR. T. C. S. CUYLER.]
[Illustration: A.L.S. OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TO GEORGE WASHINGTON MARCH
2, 1778.]
The names of Lyman Draper, G. W. Childs Kennedy, Proctor, Fogg,
Dreer, C. C. Jones, jun., W. J. De Renne, and Elliot Danforth,
are, like those of Emmet, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Joline, familiar to
all American autograph collectors. I find in _The Archivist_ (1894)
many interesting details of the wonderful collection of Mr. George
Washington Childs, publisher and proprietor of the _Philadelphia
Ledger_. Mr. Childs acquired amongst other _rariora_, the MSS. of
Byron's "Bride of Abydos," Thackeray's "Lecture on the Four Georges,"
and Scott's "Chronicles of Canongate." He possessed a MS. parody by
Byron on Wordsworth's "Peter Bell," which began with the somewhat
prosaic lines:--
There's something in a flying horse
And something in a huge balloon.
Byron wrote:--
There's something in a stupid ass,
And something in a heavy dunce;
But never since I went to school
I heard or saw so d----d a fool
As William Wordsworth is for once.
Amongst the autographs greatly sought after in America is that of the
ill-fated Major André. One of the gems of Mr. Childs's collection is
described as a holograph poem by the unlucky soldier, entitled the "Cow
Chase," and dated July 21, 1780. Its closing stanza runs:--
And now I've closed my epic strain
I tremble as I show it,
Lest this same warrior-drover Wayne
Should ever catch the poet.
André was soon after captured and executed. To the concluding verse
some unkind and unknown hand has added the lines--
And when the epic strain was sung
The poet by the neck was hung,
And to his cost he finds too late
The "dung born tribe" decides his fate.[72]
Mr. Cuyler sends me some interesting information on the subject of
André from the collector's point of view. It appears that André was
twice captured during the American War. Upon the first occasion he
was hastily searched, and though he lost his watch, arms, sword, and
purse, he managed to save the framed miniature of his beloved Honora
Sneyd by concealing it in his mouth! The occasion of his second capture
was on that fatal ride along the east bank of the Hudson River,
after his interview with Benedict Arnold. At this time the whole of
André's papers, both official and personal, were in New York. Upon the
evacuation of New York, 1783, some one took his papers to Halifax, Nova
Scotia. Seventy-five years later a friend of Dr. Emmet called on a
gentleman resident there. Receiving no response to his ring, he walked
through the house, and as he entered the kitchen he found his friend
kicking the last of a heap of musty, faded papers into the fire, on an
open hearth. Leaping over several great oaken chests, the visitor saved
seven or eight documents, several already scorched, from the flames.
The gentleman of Halifax explained that he needed the chests, which his
grandfather had deposited in their garret, and so burned the papers.
Those saved were autograph documents of André--and the New Yorker gave
them to Dr. Emmet, in whose collection they now are. André's writings
in America are exceedingly scarce.
André was an artist, and executed several drawings of his friends,
among whom were portraits of Abraham Cuyler and his wife, which are now
preserved in that family. This man was the last Royal Mayor of Albany,
New York, and the father of General Sir Cornelius Cuyler, whose sons
fought in the Guards defending Hougomont at Waterloo.
As in France and England, there has been much wanton destruction
of MSS. in the United States, on which subjects Mr. Joline speaks
feelingly. Mr. T. Cuyler tells me that after the crushing defeat of
the Federals by the Confederate Army at Bull Run (First Manassas),
Virginia, in 1861, the former fled in wildest disorder to Washington
City, where they rallied. The consequent confusion, the urgent demands
for food and lodgings for a large force of men, caused improvised
bakeries to be established in the lower story of the National Capitol.
A lady, in passing through a corridor, observed an officer urging
his men to roll away into an adjacent marsh great barrels, dusty and
stained with age, out of which protruded ancient papers. She paused,
and thinking of Dr. Emmet's collection, she begged leave to fill her
pockets with documents. Those which she so saved were found to be
priceless--being correspondence of 1776-1783, and among her finds was a
long letter from Benjamin Franklin, dated at Passy, France, during the
American Revolutionary War. Later inquiries disclosed the fact that,
after the British victory at Bladensburg, Maryland, the secretaries
of the Federal Government had hastily packed these archives in
barrels and carried them to safety before the British forces had
taken Washington City, in the "War of 1812." Upon their return, these
precious papers had been left in the Capitol until ruthlessly tossed
out in 1861.
One of the most striking features in American autograph collecting,
important and extensive as it is to-day, is the smallness of its
beginnings. Tefft, the originator of the autograph cult, who commenced
operations by securing a few signatures in the year of Waterloo, was
only a bank-cashier; Dr. Sprague was a clerical tutor in the Washington
family, and pure accident put unique opportunities in his way;
Ferdinand J. Dreer was a merchant who took up the hobby when his health
gave way, and lived to complete a collection second only in importance
to that formed by Dr. Emmet. It was Dreer who, at the expense of £200,
recovered Washington's last letter, after it had remained for nearly
a century in Sweden. Charles C. Jones, jun., of Augusta, Georgia, was
the first to set the fashion of looking for letters connected with the
Civil War of 1861-65. The era of autograph sales began in 1810, at
Charleston, South Carolina, by the dispersal of the collection of MSS.
formed by a French Consul, but the first autograph sale catalogue is
nearly a quarter of a century later, and includes the papers of Aaron
Burr, at one time Vice-President of the United States. It was not,
however, till the "eighteen-fifties" that dealing in autographs came to
rank as a business.
As regards the prospects of this popular pursuit in the United States,
Mr. Telamon Cuyler writes as follows:--
"The future of American autograph collecting seems to be
directed to the illustration of the beginnings of our
industrial and financial life rather than to the forming
or attempting to form what would only result in being very
inferior sets of 'Signers,' generals, governors, &c. The
beginnings of newspaper life, of iron manufacturing, of cotton
milling, of cotton culture, of the steamboat business, of
maritime life along the Atlantic seaboard, and such efforts
with special attention to great inventions, such as the
telephone, telegraph, typewriter, electric light, automobile,
flying machines, and many hundreds of smaller discoveries.
The gathering of documents connected with the foundations of
great industries, such as the steel business, is now being
carried forward by collectors of great wealth who have drawn
their immense fortunes from the source which they endeavour
to retrace to its petty beginning. You can readily understand
how perfectly natural such a form of collecting appears when
you view it in the light of our national development and our
national character. I myself have taken up certain lines of
collecting in this field and which I find of the greatest
interest."
Mr. C. E. Goodspeed, of 5A, Park Street, Boston, who, like Mr. Benjamin
of New York, issues frequently very useful sale catalogues of autograph
letters, also writes me:--
"I think the most interesting autograph which I have ever had
was a one-page quarto letter from Martha Washington to Mrs.
John Adams, the wife of the second President of the U.S., in
answer to Mrs. Adams' letter of condolence on the death of her
husband (President Washington). That letter sold for $300.00,
but would bring perhaps twice that to-day. The most interesting
historical document, perhaps, which I have had was a letter
from Governor Hutchinson to the Committee of the town of Boston
in answer to the demand of the Committee for the removal of
the troops. This was written the day after the famous Boston
Massacre of March 5, 1770. I have had a great many Washington
letters, but never any of great historical importance. An
interesting note might be made of those aggravating incidents
where autographs are brought in by parties who wish to find
their value, but who would not sell them. Amongst items of this
class I may mention, having been brought in quite recently,
Benjamin Franklin's famous epitaph for his own tombstone,
written in his own autograph; it is found in all the "Lives
of Franklin"; an autograph album containing about a dozen
letters from Byron to Lady Blessington; a letter from Byron to
his wife, written after their separation, but never sent, as
Lady Blessington advised against it and retained the letter;
also in the same album three or four letters from Dickens to
Lady Blessington; two charming Thackeray letters followed with
pretty pen-and-ink sketches; an autograph poem of Thackeray's;
two autograph poems, each of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert
Browning; and poems of Landor, and others! Was not that a nice
little collection, and was it not an aggravation not to be able
to even make an offer on it?"
The President of the Anderson Auction Company (12, East 46th Street,
New York) has most obligingly sent me a priced catalogue of the Haber
Sale, already more than once mentioned in these pages.
Mr. L. J. Haber has also given me the price at which the letters sold
were originally acquired. If the reader bears in mind that five dollars
represent a pound he will easily be able to judge not only the prices
which now rule in the autograph market of New York, but the rise in
them which has taken place in the past ten or twenty years. No list of
this kind has ever before appeared:--
FROM PARTS I. AND II.
Cost. Sale Price.
Lot No. $ $
9 Aldrich 7.50 32.00
90 Presidents 415.00 930.00
312 Browning (E. B.) 27.50 100.00
315 " " 20.00 37.00
326 Bryant (W. C.) 9.00 13.00
355 Burroughs (John) 7.50 46.00
409 Mark Twain 15.00 150.00
410 " " 5.00 100.00
422 Coleridge 12.00 29.00
431 Cooper 13.00 85.00
478 De Quincey 10.00 34.00
486 Dickens 12.50 53.00
553 Emerson 18.00 115.00
768 Hardy (T.) 5.00 36.00
774 Harris (Joel C.) 10.00 53.00
775 Harte (Bret) 24.00 161.00
784 Hawthorne[73] 16.00 75.00
825 Holmes 28.00 195.00
881 Irving 120.00 445.00
929 Keats 125.00 2,500.00
The above-mentioned autographs were either included in books or bound
up separately. The following apparently were detached letters:--
PART III.
Cost. Sale Price.
Lot No. $ $
1 Addison 20.00 42.00
30 Jane Austen 20.00 60.00
42 Beecher (H. W.) 2.00 21.00
45 Blackmore 2.50 8.50
47 Blake (Wm.) 15.00 55.00
44 " " 1.00 8.50
51 John Bright 1.00 7.25
52 Brontë (C.) 15.00 25.00
46 John Brown 20.00 46.00
60 Browning (E. B.) 20.00 35.00
76 Burns 70.00 165.00
81 Byron 40.00 85.00
84 Carlyle 10.00 21.00
91 Chesterfield 12.00 17.00
114 Darwin 4.00 12.00
118 Dickens 18.00 35.00
127 Doyle (Richard) 10.00 21.00
144 Franklin 30.00 86.00
151 Gladstone 1.50 5.00
165 Hardy (Thomas) 1.50 9.75
170 Hawthorne 20.00 45.00
208 Johnson (Samuel) 35.00 85.00
216 Kipling (R.) 4.00 17.00
229 Lewes 2.50 14.00
242 Macpherson (James) 2.50 9.50
246 Marryat (Capt.) 3.00 9.00
251 Meredith (Geo.) 5.00 15.50
262 Morris (Wm.) 9.00 21.00
274 Paine (Thos.) 10.00 25.00
288 Piozzi (Mme.) 12.00 43.00
290 Poe (E. A.) 28.00 96.00
292 Pope (A.) 40.00 145.00
293 Porter (Jane) 2.00 10.00
304 Reade (Chas.) 1.00 6.00
309 Richardson (Samuel) 15.00 29.00
315 Rossetti (D. G.) 4.00 16.50
325 Shelley 60.00 105.00
326 " 7.50 80.00
347 Stevenson (R. L.) 12.00 51.00
353 Swinburne (A.) 3.00 15.00
358 Tennyson (A.) 9.00 31.00
358 Thackeray (W. M.) 8.00 60.00
371 Walpole (H.) 10.00 24.00
377 Wesley (J.) 8.00 20.00