CHAPTER XII

THE PRICES OF AUTOGRAPHS AND THEIR VARIATIONS

=William Upcott and his contemporaries--Sale prices 1810-1910=

Letters are the soul of trade.--JAMES HOWELL (1595-1666).

William Upcott, the conscript father of modern autograph-collecting, was born in 1770, and lived until 1845. He was the natural son of the painter Ozias Humphry, the maiden-name of whose mother he assumed. His own mother was Dolly Wickens, the daughter of an Oxford tradesman. From his father he inherited a taste for antiques of every description, as well as a valuable collection of miniatures, pictures, and engravings. The life-story of Upcott is told with unusual detail in the "Dictionary of National Biography."[74] While acting as an assistant to the well-known booksellers, Evans of Pall Mall and Wright of Piccadilly, he attracted the attention of Dean Ireland and other _literati_. He was appointed Assistant-Secretary to Porson at the London Institution in 1806, and on his death continued to occupy the same post under Maltby. Mr. H. R. Tedder tells us that "every inch of the walls in his rooms, whether at the London Institution or in his subsequent residence, was covered with paintings, drawings, and prints, most of them by Gainsborough or Humphry, while all the drawers, shelves, boxes, and cupboards were crammed with his [autograph] collections." Upcott spent the evening of his useful life at 102, Upper Street, Islington, naming his house "Autograph Cottage." In 1836 he published privately a catalogue of his MSS. One of his greatest finds (and they may be counted by scores) was the discovery of the MS. of Chatterton's "Amphitryon" (now in the British Museum) in a cheesemonger's shop. He never married. There is a capital portrait of Upcott engraved in March, 1818, by T. Bragg, after a drawing by W. Behnes. My copy of it is inscribed in minute but peculiarly clear handwriting, "Presented to his much esteemed Friend and fellow-traveller Mrs. Robert Nasmyth of Edinburgh. William Upcott," London Institution, August 26, 1833. By his side is a cabinet of medals; in his hands a volume of "Topography," and on the table a deed on which one at once recognises the sign-manual of Queen Elizabeth.

It is impossible to over-estimate the value of the work done by Upcott in providing sources of reliable information for future generations of historians. In my own collection is the following interesting letter of this collector, written nine years before his death:--

AUTOGRAPH COTTAGE, UPPER ST, ISLINGTON _Sep 19 1836_

DEAR SIR,--When you favoured me with a visit to take a hasty glance at my collection of autographs I was much pleased to find that you were gratified by the inspection. I expressed a wish, which I still entertain, that this collection--a labour of more than 25 years--should be placed in the hands of those who could appreciate its value either in a Public Library, or with a private individual of acknowledged taste.

At present, it remains in the same state as when you saw it, nor am I desirous to accede to its removal from my shelves until you shall again repeat your visit, agreeably to your promise.

When may I expect that gratification? Should you deem the mass, as particularized in my printed catalogue, too voluminous to purchase, what say you with possession of the 13 volumes in folio _not_ noticed in my catalogue containing 2078 Autographs including Letters and illustrated with 1000 portraits with Short Biographical notices, subjoined, written by myself and bound by Herring in morocco with leather joints. Their contents comprise Sovereigns, Statesmen, Divines, Lawyers, Noble and Military Officers, Medical men, Authors, Men of Science, Artists, Actors, Musicians, Foreigners and celebrated Women with property; printed Title pages and Indexes.

All the Autographs are mounted on tinted drawing paper and those who have examined the drawings pronounce them to be altogether unique. The collecting and writing of the Memoirs cost me 3 years' labour. When my friend Dawson Turner inspected them in 1830 he furnished me with his opinion of its merits of which the following is a copy:--

MY DEAR UPCOTT,--You asked me as to the value of the 13 volumes of Autographs and I should be glad that, if you are disposed to sell them, I might be allowed to place a price upon them for I have often examined them as you know very carefully, and now think that nobody is much better able than myself to esteem property of this description. Pass on a few short years and these volumes will be one of the best Biographical Records in existence.

Considered in the four-fold character which they derive from the interest of the individuals they contain, the beauty of the portraits the care you have taken in illustrating the history of the parties and the exquisite beauty and taste with which they are put together:--I certainly know no series of the kind equally desirable, and I regard the whole as unquestionably unique. Such is my idea of their merit, and their price I should say should be _at least seven hundred pounds_.

I am a single man, without a relation possessing a corresponding feeling with myself. My earnest desire therefore is to see all my articles of vertu as well as Pictures, Drawings, Autographs, and curiously Illustrated Books, pass from me to other hands who can appreciate their works, _without_ the notoriety of a public sale. My friend Turner's valuation of the 13 volumes just alluded to has, I find, been backed by the opinion of other collectors, yet if you should entertain the idea of possessing them _I will part with them for 500 Guineas_.

An early answer, stating when I shall be likely to see you will be esteemed a favour, as my intention is to go to Paris for a short time about the end of the month.

Believe me to remain, dear Sir, Your ever faithful servant, WILLIAM UPCOTT.

P.S.--Did you mention to your friend my small collection of Original Pictures? You kindly told me you would favour me with his company. My best compliments were on Mr. Lomax and Mr. Bentley, your travelling companions.

It was to his brother autograph collector, Mr. Dawson Turner, of Yarmouth, that Upcott dedicated in 1818 his standard work on the literature of English topography. Mr. Greaves, of Isham Hall, Manchester, apparently missed the chance of a lifetime. He might have acquired for £500 what would be now worth £15,000 or even £20,000.

In 1846 Upcott's _rariora_ were sold by Sotheby at Evans's auction-rooms, 106, New Bond Street, and realised £4,125 17s. 6d., and that at a time when the science of autographs was in its infancy. In the "Dictionary of National Biography" reference is made to the large paper copy of the Upcott catalogue now in the British Museum as once belonging to Dawson Turner. Numerous purchases were made for the national collection, which now form the series known as additional MSS. 15841 to 15957. Amongst these 116 volumes are the papers of John Nicholas, the papers of Brown and Evelyn, Burton's diary, Curtius's letters, the Dayrolles correspondence, the letters addressed to Sir Christopher Hatton, Shenstone's poem, the "Snuff-Box," and many other items of extraordinary interest, including Prior's papers while in Paris, and the papers of the French Army in Italy.

The following are fair examples of the prices realised at this memorable sale of January 22-24, 1846:--

LOT 43. _Dayrolles Correspondence._--1,368 Letters and Documents and Diplomas (A.L.S. fr. Harley, Boyle, Bothmer, St. John, Addison, Craggs, Stone, Holdernesse, George II., Newcastle, Chesterfield, Pelham, &c.)

£110 0 0

LOT 67. _Autographs of Kings of France_ on Vellum.--Original Documents from Philip V., 1319, to Napoleon, 2 vols.

£7 10 0

LOT 140. _Navy._--535 Letters and Documents from Papers of Adm. _Norris_ w. Portraits (_e.g._, Blake, Monk, Pr. Rupert, Pepys, Byng, Rooke, Oxford, Lestock, Wager, Anson, Sandwich, Warren, _Nelson_, Keith, Cornwallis, Popham, S. Smith, St. Vincent, &c.)

£10 0 0

LOT 166. _Sidney Correspondence._--66 Letters addressed to Sir Ph. Sidney and his family (_e.g._, Leycester, Danby, Thanet, Ormond, Sir J. Temple, Robert Sidney, father of Algernon, &c.)

£5 7 6

LOT 199. _Voltaire_--MS. copy of _La Pucelle d'Orleans_ w. marginal notes by V., 1755

£2 3 0

LOT 211. _Napoleon_, as First Consul; _Do._ as Emperor from Wilna and from Moscow, 1812; Portion of Las Cases' Life of Napoleon corrected by N. at St. Helena; Marie Louise as Regent, and various papers

£16 0 0

LOT 228. Letter of _Washington_, 1790. Letters and signatures of Adams, Madison, Monroe, Jefferson, Von Buren, &c.

£3 10 0

LOT 421. 383 Letters of _literary_ men of XVI., XVII. and XVIIIth centuries, most addressed to John Evelyn, w. 62 Portraits (Addison, Attenbury, T. Browne, Boyle, Congreve, Marvel, _Pope_, Prynne, Newton, Flamstead, Pepys, Orrery, Waller, Vanbrugh, Sloane, &c.)

£80 0 0

LOT 422. 752 Letters of _literary_ men of XVIII. and XIXth Centuries, w. 181 Portraits (Boswell, Blair, Beattie, Gifford, Herschel, Horne, Hoole, Percy, Wilkes, Young, &c.)

£33 0 0

LOT 423. 1,279 Letters of _literary_ men XVIII. and XIXth centuries, w. 109 Portraits (Astle, _Byron_, Cary, Ducarel, _Gibbon_, T. Paine, Pownall, _Scott_, White, &c.)

£42 0 0

LOT 424. 1,768 Letters of _literary_ men XVIII. and XIXth centuries, w. 29 Portraits (Chalmers, Dibdin, _Foscolo_, Hazlitt, Lort, _Malthus_, Pinkerton, Steevens, _Whalley_, Dr. Parr, &c.)

£16 0 0

The examination of this truly marvellous catalogue not only shows the extent of Mr. Graves's loss, but that the increase of prices between 1827 and 1846 had been infinitesimal. The earliest indications of a noteworthy upward movement are discernible at the Donnadieu Sale of 1851, and still more markedly so at the dispersal of the collections of Mr. Young and Mr. Dillon in 1869. It was reserved for the present year of grace to see a Keats letter sell for £500, and one of Charlotte Brontë for £50. My friend Dr. Scott is quite in despair over the prices of February 28, 1910, and regards the figure at which the Brontë autograph sold as "positively wicked"!

One of the most industrious (but not always discriminating) collectors who followed was Sir Thomas Phillipps, of Cheltenham (1792-1872), who not unfrequently acquired the whole contents of a dealer's catalogue _en bloc_. Sales from the _Bibliotheca Phillippica_ have taken place at intervals since 1892, and the store is not yet exhausted.[75] I am personally grateful to this voracious accumulator of autographic treasure, as I picked up at one of the sales seven volumes of eighteenth-century water-colour sketches of Dorset buildings and scenery for--_five shillings!_

In 1832 he wrote the following letter (now in my possession) to the late Sir Henry Ellis:--

_February 16 1832_

DEAR SIR,--You expressed a wish that I would consent to part with my Library of MSS to the British Museum. It cannot be expected that I should make a gift of them after the enormous sum I have paid for them, but I am willing to cede them, if the nation will pay my debts, which I now owe. The number of MSS I consider to be above 8000 Vols, containing probably 20,000 articles.

Believe me to be yrs truly THOS PHILLIPPS

PS.--I must observe that the money thus paid, will not be lost to the nation, while the manuscripts will be gained.

The priceless Morrison Collection has already been mentioned. Its dispersal would certainly occasion a dislocation in autograph prices throughout the world.

Since 1900 I have carefully noted the prices realised at all the principal sales in London, and more recently in New York, and although there has been a steady rise in prices for high-class autographs, not a single sale has ever occurred at which some bargain or other might not have been picked up.

The existing firm of Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge, of 13, Wellington Street, Strand (the premises, by a strange coincidence, once occupied by the elder Ireland), was really founded as far back as 1696, when Messrs. Cooper & Milling first began to dispose of MSS.--generally in the evening. The business passed successively through the hands of Messrs. Ballard, Paterson, & Baker. In 1744 Samuel Baker moved to auction-rooms over "Exeter 'Change" in the Strand. At the death of Mr. Baker he was succeeded by Mr. John Sotheby, when the firm became Leigh & Sotheby. From 145, Strand, they removed to the premises in Wellington Street, long familiar to buyers of MSS.

At the "Sotheby" sale of November 1, 1901, I note the following prices:--

£ s. d. Queen Henrietta Maria, D.S. 5 12 6 Queen Victoria, A.L.S., to Lady Dover 5 10 0 (Now in my collection.) Sir Walter Scott, A.L.S., 2 pp. 3 10 0 Edmund Burke, A.L.S., 2 pp. 2 10 0 Several A.L.S. of Thos. Campbell, averaged 0 10 0 Several A.L.S. of Wm. Cowper, averaged 3 0 0 Several A.L.S. of Edwin Landseer, averaged 0 8 0 Several A.L.S. of Thomas Moore, averaged 0 11 0 A fine A.L.S. of William Pitt the elder 4 15 0 A whole series of A.L.S. of the Duke } From of Wellington to Lord Beresford } 7 0 0 (over 50), nearly all written during} to the Peninsular War } 0 7 0

At the sale of Colonel John Moore's autographs at "Sotheby's" (November 29-30, 1901), I note a magnificent series of Civil War MSS. Amongst the letters sold were the following:--

£ s. d. A.L.S. John Bradshaw (1644) 24 10 0 " Sir Wm. Brereton (1643) 8 0 0 " Lord Byron (1652) 7 5 0 D.S.O. Cromwell (1649) 8 0 0 " " (1649) 12 0 0 " " (1651) 10 12 6 A.L.S. William, Earl of Derby (with other papers) (1672) 10 10 0 D.S. Thomas, Lord Fairfax (1643) 9 10 0 L.S. " " (1649) 13 0 0 A.L.S. Colonel John Hewson (1648) 8 15 0 D.S. William Lenthall (1645) 5 0 0 A.L.S. Sir Edward Massey (1660) 2 10 0 D.S. Colonel John Moore (1645) 7 0 0 A.L.S. " " " (1647) 11 0 0 " " " " (1646) 11 15 0 " " " " (1650) 8 5 0 A.L.S. Algernon Percy, Duke of Northumberland (1645) 19 15 0 A.L.S. Sir Christopher Wren (1693) 49 0 0

The two days' sale of 318 lots realised £956 13s.

In the five-days' sale at "Sotheby's," which commenced on December 2, 1901, books and autographs were mixed. The total reached £6,216 11s. 6d. Amongst the autographs figured:--

MS. of Isaac Watts's Address to the Church of Christ assembled £ s. d. in Mark Lane (1702) 7 0 0 A.L.S. Isaac Watts (1735) 4 0 0 A.L.S. Thomas Gray (1758) 15 10 0 A.L.S. Thomas King, actor, to Garrick (n.d.) 6 15 0 Holograph Prayer by Samuel Johnson, Jan. 1 (1784) 13 0 0 A.L.S. Charles Lamb (n.d.) 6 0 0 A.L.S. Lord Tennyson, 2 pp., 8vo 7 5 0 "Gathered Leaves," collected by Edmund Yates, including about 100 A.L.S., including two from Dickens and one from Thackeray 49 0 0

(At the sale of Mr. Yates's Library in 1895 "Gathered Leaves" had fetched £65.)

There was a two-days' sale on December 9 and 10, 1901, devoted solely to autographs, in which 478 lots brought £473 12s.

£ s. d. A.L.S. Allan Ramsay, 1 p. (1732) 7 5 0 A.L.S. Sir Walter Scott, 3 pp. (1811) 9 15 0 A.L.S. Lord Tennyson, 1 p. (1854) 3 17 6 A.L.S. Earl of Chesterfield, 2 pp. (1762) 7 10 0 A.L.S. Thomas Doggett, 2 pp. (1714) 5 2 6 A.L.S. Edward Gibbon, 4 pp. (1789) 13 5 0 D.S. Robespierre (M.) (1793) 4 15 0

Fifteen A.L.S. of Charles Dickens ranged in price from £6 to 10s.

Of the autograph sales at "Sotheby's" in 1902 the most interesting took place on December 11, 12, and 13. The 865 lots sold realised a total of £1,373 4s. 6d.

Amongst the MSS. sold may be noted:--

£ s. d. A.L.S. Thomas Chippendale (1813) 5 5 0 A.L.S. Garrick to Hannah More (1777) 5 5 0 A.L.S. Mendelssohn, 3 pp. (1841) 6 5 0 A.L.S. W. M. Thackeray, 2 pp. (1849) 12 0 0 A.L.S. Samuel Foote, 4 pp. n.d. 8 0 0 A.L.S. David Garrick (1759) 5 5 0 A.L.S. Samuel Johnson, 2 pp. (1771) 11 15 0 A.L.S. Bishop Percy to S. Johnson (1783) 10 0 0 (The value of this letter was evidently determined by the person to whom it was addressed.) A.L.S. Verdi (1863) 5 2 6 A.L.S. Sir T. Fairfax to Duke of Buckingham (1663) 21 10 0 A.L.S. Hugh Peters, Regicide (1652) 11 0 0 A.L.S. George Eliot, 5 pp. (1859) 22 0 0 " " (1859) 9 0 0 " " (1863) 7 10 0 A.L.S. Samuel Richardson (1746) 4 18 0 D.S. William Penn (1682) 5 17 6 A.L.S. Sarah Siddons (n.d.) 10 0 0 A.L.S. Sir W. Scott (1814) 12 15 0 23 A.L.S. Thomas Campbell 14 0 0

There were several autograph sales at "Sotheby's" in 1903. The late Mr. Frederick Barker was good enough to price for me the catalogue of the sale of June 23rd-24th. On the first day five long letters of Samuel Richardson to the Rev. Mr. Lobb (1743-56) averaged about £12 12s. A conveyance signed by Guido Fawkes (reputed to have been picked up for 10s.) fetched £101, and a 6½-pp. letter of Nelson to Sir Alexander Ball was sold for £30 10s. Throughout this sale prices ruled very high--quite a short note of Thackeray's realising £7 5s. A fine series of letters by Earl St. Vincent averaged about £2, but one of these (dated January 17, 1801), in which he wrote: "Nelson was very low when he came here, the day before yesterday, appeared and acted as if he had done me an injury, and felt apprehensive that I was acquainted with it. Poor man! he is devoured with vanity, weakness and folly, was strung with ribbons, medals, &c., and yet pretended he wished to avoid the honours and ceremonies he everywhere met with on the road," brought no less than £9 5s. A number of letters by Edward Fitzgerald, the translator of Omar Khayyám, addressed to Joseph Fletcher ("Posh"), averaged about 30s., and several letters of Charles Dickens £2 2s. each.

The two-days' sale of June 8th and 9th in this year brought no less than £1,963 9s. 6d. for only 618 lots.

Amongst the autographs disposed of at this sale were:--

£ s. d. A.L.S. Robert Browning, 2 pp. (1880) 3 18 0 A.L. Lindley Murray (1821) 7 0 0 A.L.S. John Boydell (1804) 5 5 0 12 D.S. Colley Cibber (bearing also the signatures of Wilks and Booth) 18 0 0 MS. Richard Cumberland, relating to altercation between Dr. Johnson and the Dean of Derry 9 0 0 A.L.S. William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke (1619) 24 0 0 A.L.S. Thomas King to David Garrick 12 10 0 A.L.S. Richard Porson (1807) 5 10 0 A.L.S. William Smith, actor (n.d.) 5 5 0 A.L.S. Lord Byron (1811) 12 15 0 A.L.S. Sir W. Scott to Southey 12 10 0 MS. Charles Lamb. Lines "The First Leaf in Spring" 11 5 0 A.L.S. Shenstone (1750) 7 0 0 A.L.S. John Keats--28 in number 1,070 0 0 (purchased by Mr. Quaritch). Several letters by De Quincey and Carlyle averaged 3 0 0

Another autograph sale was held at "Sotheby's" on July 23, 1903, and the following days, when some fine letters by Oliver Cromwell, Burns, Dickens, and "George Eliot," were sold at good prices. The last sale of this season took place in Wellington Street on the 19th of November and two following days. The 738 lots in this sale brought a total of £971 12s. 6d.

Amongst the autographs sold were:--

£ s. d. A.L.S. Lord Byron (1819) 10 0 0 D.S. Sir Francis Drake (1593) 18 10 0 D.S. Sir R. Hawkins (1615) 5 5 0 A.L.S. Elizabeth Browning (1844) 3 10 0 A.L.S. William Penn (1684) 34 0 0 Twenty letters of Charles Dickens averaging only 1 0 0 A.L.S. Colley Cibber (1742) 5 0 0 A.L.S. Samuel Johnson 6 15 0 A.L.S. Walter Scott to Thomas Moore (enclosing Notes on Byron) (1829) 37 10 0 A.L.S. Marat 13 0 0 A.L.S. Andrew Marvel 11 0 0

The first autograph sale of 1904 in Wellington Street lasted two days only (13th and 14th of May), but it included No. 218, the A.L.S. of Nelson to Lady Hamilton (September 25, 1805), 4 pp. 4to, which realised £1,030, possibly still the record price for a single letter. Other letters of Nelson at this sale fetched £16, £13 (two), £6 15s., and £4 15s. A letter of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, beginning with the emphatic words, "Ay, ay, as you say my dear, men are vile inconstant toads," was sold for 15s. only. A great many letters of great interest were included in this catalogue. Amongst them may be noted A.L.S. Beethoven, £30; A.L.S. Sir Stamford Raffles, nearly 25 pp. 4to, described as "giving a most lively and interesting description of the interior description of St. Helena with _Napoleon Buonaparte_, and Napoleon's answers to certain charges commonly brought against him, etc., _marked 'private,' probably unpublished. Off St. Helena, May 20, 1816._" This is now in my collection.

It was at this sale that a letter of the Duke of Wellington fetched the record price (as far as his autographs are concerned) of £101. It was thus described:--

127. EXTREMELY INTERESTING LETTER WRITTEN THE DAY AFTER THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO. LETTERS WRITTEN AT THIS PERIOD BY THE GREAT DUKE ARE EXTREMELY SCARCE.

Poor Canning had my small dispatch box in our battle yesterday and when he was killed it was lost. I shall be very much obliged to you if you will send me another of the same size as the last with the same lock and key and leather cover, &c., as soon as possible. Let it have in it a small silver or thick glass inkstand with one of Braham's patent penholders and one of his pens. What do you think of the total defeat of Buonaparte BY THE BRITISH ARMY? Never was there in the annals of the world so desperate or so hard fought an action or such a defeat. It was really the battle of the Giants. My heart is broken by the terrible loss I have sustained of my old friends and companions and my poor soldiers. I shall not be satisfied with the battle however glorious if it does not of itself put an end to Buonaparte.

This letter was written at 4 o'clock in the morning after the battle.

The letter before it (126) realised only 8s., and two letters sold together (128) after it, only 9s., although both were excellent specimens of Wellington's style.

There was another autograph sale at "Sotheby's" on July 18th and 19th. In this sale the following prices were obtained:--

£ s. d. Queen Elizabeth. Letter with sign-manual 10 0 0 Henry VIII. Letter with sign-manual 8 10 0 A.L.S. John Keats, 3 pp. (1818) 35 10 0 A.L.S. Matthew Prior (1704) 10 5 0 Francis Bacon, note of 10 lines, signed 30 0 0 One hundred A.L.S. of Dorothy Wordsworth 26 0 0

By way of contrast the following letter of the late Sir H. M. Stanley, addressed to the Secretary of the Temple Club, realised only _one shilling_:--

I can assure you it is none the less welcome, on the contrary when my eyes glance over the list of illustrious men composing the Honorary Committee I am lost in admiration of the brilliant prize I have so unexpectedly received. Where Froude and Dickens, Dixon, Taylor, and Hood tread I am only too conscious that very much greater men than myself ought to be proud to follow.

The following A.L.S. of Lady Hamilton's was sold for £12 15s.:--

CLARGES ST., _May 8_, to:

MY DEAREST TYSON,--The long absence of our dearest Nelson makes me apply to you. First I must tell you that what money I had in my banker's hands, I have laid out at Merton, and Lord Nelson thanked me in his last letter and said he would settle with me with thanks when he came home. Could you then my dearest Tyson either on my account or Lord Nelson's lend me a hundred and fifty pounds.

I lately saw, in possession of Mr. Sabin, Nelson's private banker's pass-book during the last eighteen months of his life. With two exceptions every cheque he had drawn was in favour of his "dearest Emma."

A one day's sale of 213 lots at "Sotheby's" on December 1, 1904, brought £582 17s. An account verified by Henry VII. with his royal initials realised £10, and a document with sign-manual of Henry VIII., £7 5s. A Privy Council letter from Whitehall (April 27, 1640) was sold for £8 15s. A series of official papers signed by Bonaparte averaged £3, but a certificate of service signed by Captain James Napoleon sold for more than twice as much. One of the features of this sale was quite a number of letters by Governors, Deputy-Governors, and Judges in Australia. Many of these fetched £10 each. A letter of Colonel William Paterson to Sir Joseph Banks (1805) went as high as £13 10s., and one of David Collins, founder and first Governor of the Van Diemen's Land Settlement, yielded the same price.

This was followed by the sale of December 5th and 6th, in which 4,116 lots brought £1,009 16s. Nelson's letter-book (1796-97) was sold for £150.

A series of six holograph letters from Dr. Samuel Johnson to his friend Sir Robert Chambers, afterwards a judge in Bengal, all said to be unpublished, and extending from October 22, 1762, to April 19, 1783, realised £125; the original galley and second proof sheets of "The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture," with numerous corrections and alterations in the handwriting of Mr. Gladstone, £10 10s.; an autograph letter of John Keats, June, 1819, to Miss Jeffrey, in which he says, "You will judge of my 1819 temper when I tell you that the thing I have most enjoyed this year has been writing an 'Ode to Indolence,'" 4 pp. 4to, £35 (Quaritch); and the autograph manuscript of W. Morris's "A King's Lesson, an Old Story Retold," on six leaves of paper, £27 10s.

The second day's sale included a remarkable series of autograph letters addressed to Mrs. Thrale and inherited by a descendant. Sixteen of the letters were written by Dr. Samuel Johnson, chiefly to Mrs. Thrale; two were from Boswell to the same, and there were others from Mrs. Siddons, Garrick, Goldsmith, Burke, and various other celebrities of the day. The Johnson letters for the most part possessed but little literary interest, but in the longest one in the series, written by Boswell and dated from Banff, August 25, 1773, he refers to his journey in Scotland, and says concerning their arrival at St Andrews: "The professors who happened to be resident in the vacation made a public dinner and treated us very kindly and respectfully. They showed us their colleges, in one of which there is a library that for luminousness and elegance may vie with the new edifice at Streatham. But learning seems not to prosper among them; one of their colleges has been lately alienated, and one of their churches lately deserted." The Johnson letters date from July 19, 1755, to April 15, 1784, and the entire series was sold _en bloc_ for £300.[76] The sale also included an interesting series of five autograph letters from S. T. Coleridge to Thomas Poole, 1797-98, giving a history of his life, and covering 17 pages folio and quarto, which fetched £14 10s., and an autograph letter from Charles Lamb to J. H. Green, August 26, 1834, which sold for £6 2s. 6d.

Allusion has been made elsewhere to the excitement caused at the beginning of 1905 by the sale of January 25th, at which the 33 4to pages, described as belonging to the original MS. of "Paradise Lost," were bought in, the reserve price of £5,000 not having been reached.[77]

From the 2nd to the 4th of March following there was a three-days' autograph sale in Wellington Street, in which 905 lots brought £1,834 9s. 6d. A series of letters by General Gordon averaged £1 each; the Dickens letters disposed of sold better than in 1903 or 1904, realising from £2 to £6, and 52 letters of Gilbert White brought £150. Some splendid musical and dramatic letters collected by the late Mr. Julian Marshall realised high prices, showing a marked advance in this kind of autographs.

£ s. d. Dr. Arne A.L.S. (n.d.) 7 0 0 Brahms A.L.S. 4 16 0 Donizetti MS. 5 5 0 Handel Autograph on MS. 10 0 0 Haydn A.L.S. 10 10 0 Paganini A.L.S. 6 0 0 Schumann A.L.S. 7 5 0 Scarlati MS. signed 14 5 0 Schubert MS. signed 12 15 0

The one-day sale of April 13, 1905, was almost entirely devoted to Civil War and Royal autographs, 205 lots (in striking contrast to the Upcott Sale) making a total of £2,009--or nearly £10 each lot! Some of the rarest items fetched the following prices:--

£ s. d. Henry Jermyn A.L.S. (Feb. 22, 1649) 41 0 0 Charles II. L.S. (May 10, 1649) 15 10 0 James Graham, Duke of Montrose, A.L.S. (Sept. 4, 1649) 48 0 0 William, Prince of Orange, A.L.S. (Nov. 4, 1649) 27 0 0 Abraham Cowley A.L.S. (Jan. 8, 1650) 31 0 0 Queen Henrietta Maria A.L.S. (Jan. 8, 1650) 31 0 0 Queen Henrietta Maria A.L.S. (addressed to Charles II.) (Jan. 25, 1650) 151 0 0 Queen Henrietta Maria (addressed to Charles II.) (May 20, 1650) 51 0 0

The late Mr. Frederick Barker showed me the whole of this collection bound up in a shabby looking volume, with small rope and thick glue! The separating them without injury was a matter of the greatest difficulty, and the necessary operation was performed at Oxford.

This was the centenary year of Trafalgar, and its influence was soon felt in the autograph market. The one-day sale at "Sotheby's" on May 17th offered abundant attractions to Nelson buyers; but the 226 lots only fetched £397 10s. The Nelson items were somewhat over-catalogued, and the results were probably disappointing. The highest price paid for a Nelson letter was £25. Some went as low as £3 3s. Nelson's captains fared badly. Letters of Berry, Bickerton, Brereton, and so forth went for two or three shillings each, and Ganteaume, Decrès, and Gravina were equally unfortunate. An order signed by Hardy, informing Admiral Berkeley that three men had been lashed with the "cat-o'-nine-tails," was disposed of for 7s.

Far more important, however, was the sale of the previous week (May 11th, 12th, and 13th), which included the Bunbury MSS. In this sale 842 lots fetched £2,108. The Bunbury correspondence was quite as important to the story of the days of George III. as the documents sold during the previous month were to that of the Civil War. The dispersal of both collections must ever be a matter of regret. I do not think the Bunbury letters would have been sold at all in 1910.

Before the Bunbury portion of the sale was reached a series of twenty-four letters addressed by Mrs. Siddons to Mrs. Pennington, chiefly relating to the troubles occasioned by Thomas Lawrence's courtship of her daughters,[78] was disposed of. They belonged to Mr. Oswald G. Knapp and realised £100. As no letter of Sarah M. Siddons was included in the lot, I do not regret having acquired the letter catalogued in error as that of her mother. The letters of Mrs. Piozzi to Dr. Whalley (twenty-five in all) published in the Rev. Hill Wickham's book on his ancestor[79] were sold for £16. Mrs. Wickham parted with them for £6, and got little more fifty years ago for Dr. Whalley's correspondence with Mrs. Siddons. Two letters of Burns brought £25 and £14 10s. respectively, and the buyer of the letters written by Sir Thomas Noël Hill, K.C.B., during the campaign in the Peninsula and in Flanders, possibly got a bargain. One Nelson letter only was sold on May 11th. It was addressed to Lady Hamilton from the _Victory_, on May 4, 1805, and realised £71. In my opinion it was far finer than that for which £1,030 was paid. It ran thus:--

Your poor dear Nelson is my dearest beloved Emma very very unwell, after a two years hard fag it has been mortifying the not being able to get at the Enemy, as yet I can get no information about them, at Lisbon this day week they knew nothing about them but it is now generally believed that they are gone to the West Indies. My movements must be guided by the best Judgment I am able to form. John Bull may be angry, but he never had any officer, who has served him more faithfully, but Providence I rely will yet crown my never failing exertions with success, and that it has only been a hard trial of my fortitude in bearing up against untoward events. You my own Emma are my first and last thoughts and to the last moment of my breath, they will be occupied in leaving you independent of the world, and all I long in the world that you will be a kind and affectionate _Father_ to my _dear_ [a word obliterated] DAUGHTER HORATIA, but my Emma your Nelson is not the nearer being lost to you for taking care of you in case of events which are only known when they are to happen and an all wise Providence, and I hope for many years of comfort with you, only think of all you wish me to say and you may be assured it exceeds if possible your wishes. May God protect you and MY DEAR HORATIA, prays ever your most faithful and affectionate

NELSON.

The Bunbury MSS. were included in the lots from 607 to 842. Considering their great historical importance the total price paid for them--£896 19s.--can hardly be considered adequate. The Crabbe A.L.S. to Burke (6 pp. 4to), for which I subsequently gave £20, went for £14. Some very important letters of General Dumouriez were sold for £6 10s. and £6 5s., and C. J. Fox's confidential letters to his brother, General Fox, averaged less than £3.

Some important A.L.S. and L.S. of Frederick the Great brought from £6 to £20, and a letter from Oliver Goldsmith to Mrs. Bunbury, partly in verse and extremely witty, was cheap at £82, although it made a record as far as Goldsmith's letter is concerned. Another Goldsmith letter to H. W. Bunbury about his "last literary effort" ("She Stoops to Conquer"), fetched only £50. The letters of the third Lord Holland (1773-1840) went for a song, although every page of them would materially help the historian. The finest letter of Sir Hudson Lowe was sold for £15, and three letters from Pope to Lord Strafford realised £29 10s., £12, and £8 15s. respectively. Ten letters of Matthew Prior in one lot were disposed of at £140. The letters of Charles, Duke of Richmond (1735-1806), to Lady Louisa Conolly almost failed to find buyers, although in reality they were little less historically important than those of Lord Holland. It must not be forgotten that the MSS. of Sir Thomas Hanmer were sold with those of the Hanbury family. An A.L.S. of Sir Richard Steele to Sir T. Hanmer fetched £25 10s., and one of Swift £18 10s. I am quite unable to understand why a letter of Benjamin West should have brought £24 10s., while a long political letter of the Duke of Wellington to Colonel Bunbury sold for only £6. In these two last lots there were the makings of two books, but Mr. Quaritch obtained the whole of the MSS. relating to the affairs of the Mediterranean, 1806-14, for £35, and those connected with the War in Germany and in Belgium, 1813-15, for £5 more.

The next sale devoted solely to autographs took place at "Sotheby's" on July 8, 1905. It was essentially a Trafalgar commemoration, and 215 lots made a total of £1,034 14s.

In this sale a very curious letter of General Dumouriez to "My good and glorious Nelson," written in English, was purchased for the British Museum by Mr. Quaritch at the low price of £3 7s. 6d.[80] I must content myself with giving the price of the principal Nelson letters now sold.

£ s. d. A.L.S. of Lord Nelson (April 1, 1798) 11 0 0 " " " (October, 1798) 17 0 0 " " " (July 14, 1799) 8 0 0 " " " (July 19, 1799) 7 7 0 " " " (August 29, 1799) 13 10 0 " " " (September 13, 1799) 9 0 0 " " " (September 17, 1799) 8 10 0 " " " (October 11, 1799) 9 0 0 " " " (October 26, 1799) 12 0 0 " " " (November 12, 1799) 9 0 0 (All these letters are addressed to Sir James St. Clair Erskine.)

£ s. d. A.L.S. of Lord Nelson (February 14, 1801) 9 0 0 " " " (September 23, 1801) 15 10 0 " " " (May 18, 1803) 26 0 0 " " " (n.d.) 27 0 0 (These letters are addressed to Lady Hamilton.)

A.L.S. of Lord Nelson to Sir A. J. Ball (November 7, 1803) 50 0 0

The official dispatch announcing the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Nelson, from Lord Collingwood to the "Rt. Honble. Lord Robert Fitzgerald, Minister Plenipotentiary, Ambassador at Lisbon," dated October 24, 1805, was purchased by Mr. Sabin for £95. Five letters from Lady Hamilton to Mr. George Rose, Mr. C. F. Greville, and Lord Stowell, were sold for £12, £13 10s., and £27 respectively. Just at the end of this sale two letters of Shelley realised £38 and £20 respectively.

There was another three-days' autograph sale at "Sotheby's" on the 24th, 25th, and 26th of July of this year. The 1,087 lots included in it brought a sum total of £1,578 8s.

In the autumn of 1906 Mr. Frederick Barker, who was held in high esteem as an autograph expert, died, and three sales were devoted to the dispersal of his MSS., but these sales call for no note. In fact, they were felt to be disappointing. Most of Mr. Barker's best "finds" had been parted with during his lifetime. The first of the Barker sales commenced on December 18, 1905. Almost simultaneously the Irving relics were dispersed at "Christie's." Amongst them were a few autographs. The death of the famous actor caused a sudden rise in the price of his letters, but it has since subsided. On the night before his tragic death Irving had signed a few portrait postcards for my friend Mr. Peter Keary, who has very kindly given me one of them.

The three days of the Barker Sale, with 910 lots, only brought £916 12s. 6d. It should be noted that the price of Nelson autographs since the centenary year of his death has been well maintained, and the writer is well aware that some of the very best of his letters have still to come into the market. Possibly they never will.

The sales of the following year opened with the dispersal of Mr. Barker's Royal autographs on January 22nd. On February 19th, 279 lots belonging to him and relating to Napoleon fetched only £147 5s. 6d. There was another autograph sale at "Sotheby's" on February 26, 1906, when 327 lots yielded £779 18s. Nelsonians were still very much to the fore.

An important bundle of Temple-Greville-Lyttelton-Pitt MSS. was sold for £10 15s. I also notice the following interesting items:--

£ s. d. 2 A.L.S. of Benjamin Disraeli about his duel with O'Connell 10 12 6 26 other A.L.S. of Disraeli averaging 1 10 0 Naval document signed by Lord Nelson, dated _Victory_, April 29, 1805, showing disposition of ships and the historic signal. (The date given in the catalogue is manifestly absurd) 70 0 0 Lord Nelson A.L.S. to Lady Hamilton (September 24, 1801) 7 10 0 MSS. relating to Keats 70 0 0 Lord Nelson A.L.S. to Horatia, dr. of Lady Hamilton. "My dear Horatia, I send you a watch which I give you permission to wear on Sundays and on very particular days, when you are dressed and have behaved exceedingly well and obedient. I have kissed it and send it with the affectionate blessing of your Nelson and Bronté" [_Victory_, January 20, 1804] 51 0 0 Lord Nelson A.L.S. to Lady Hamilton [_Victory_, June 16, 1805] 24 0 0

On the last day of a mixed book and autograph sale, March 27-31, 1906, Ben Jonson's Bible with the words _Benedica Dominum in omni tempore Semper laus eius in ore meo_ (Psa. xxxii.), fetched £320. A 2 pp. folio A.L.S. of General Washington (July 20, 1788) was sold for £26 10s., and a number of documents signed by Napoleon averaged about £3. One page of holograph notes in pencil, made at St. Helena by Napoleon, and relating to "Montholon's Mémoires," fetched £16 5s. and another £10. A series of documents and letters signed by Napoleon III. averaged from 1s. to 2s.! The autograph section of this sale, including only 123 lots, realised £981 13s.

The autograph sale of May 19th, at "Sotheby's," was distinguished by a wealth of English Royal autographs and a small series of letters by Lady Hamilton:--

£ s. d. Charles II. short A.L.S. in French (April 11, 1670) 25 10 0 Richard Plantagenet, Regent of France. Signature "R. York" to State paper 85 0 0 Edward VI., sign-manual to superb document dated April 1, 1547 450 0 0 Disraeli, B., A.L.S. to the Duke of Wellington, "Will you accept a mouthful of Caviare? It comes direct from Astrachan. I tasted it, but it seemed selfish to eat it alone--it shall be shared with a friend. But who has a friend? I think I have and so send it to you" 2 2 0

In this sale 332 lots brought a total of £1,235.

The sale of July 9-10, 1906, attracted a crowd of Wesley autograph buyers. The 296 lots sold realised a total of £1,069 17s. 6d. The seven unpublished letters of Wesley fetched from £2 to £9 5s.--averaging over £4. Oliver Goldsmith's desk-chair figured between some copies of letters by Frederick the Great and the probate of a Wesley will. It went for £39. Another sale on December 1st, comprising 242 lots, brought a total of £725 14s. In this sale some letters of the actress "Kitty Clive" were sold at £17 and £3 3s. respectively. The latter had been mutilated.

The autograph season of 1907 began with a two-days' sale at "Sotheby's"--January 21st-22nd. The 743 lots disposed of realised a total of £1,210 14s. 6d. Another series of eleven Disraeli letters was sold at good prices, ranging from £9 12s. 6d. ("Heard Macaulay's best speech ... but between ourselves I could floor them all. This _entress nous_ (_sic_). I was never more confident of anything than that I could carry everything before me in that house. The Time will come," January 7, 1833) to £2 12s. In this sale Messrs. Maggs acquired a series of twenty-five letters of Johnson to Mrs. Piozzi for £240. Mrs. Mainwaring, of Brynbella, gave £94 for five volumes of "Piozziana," presented by the writer, H. L. Piozzi, in 1810, to her adopted nephew and heir, John Piozzi Salusbury. At the sale of June 3-4, 1907, Messrs. Sotheby disposed of 459 lots for £1,101 19s. A series of letters about Keats, addressed to John Taylor the publisher, was sold for £44; a notable advance was made in the price of Thackeray letters; Disraeli letters showed a distinct fall, one selling for only 16s., and a very fine letter of Samuel Pepys, covering four folio pages, went to Mr. Sabin for £22. The 315 lots sold on November 8th realised £1,095. For thirty-six letters addressed to Lady Blessington, by Thackeray, Dickens, and others, Mr. Sabin gave £315. A single letter of Shelley's brought £46, and six letters of Byron to Trelawny £70. A letter of Charles I. to the Elector Palatine went to the late Mr. W. Brown for £56.

On March 10-11, 1908, a two-days' autograph sale of 557 lots realised a total of £1,191. A number of Nelson documents, the property of the late Viscount Bridport, Duke of Bronté, were sold for £125.

Six days in June were taken up by the sale of autographs. On June 1, 254 lots realised £260. At this sale I secured for 5s. two most interesting letters of Captain Wright, whose death in the Temple (October, 1805) brought so much obloquy on Napoleon.

Messrs. Sotheby devoted no less than four days (June 15th-18th) to the dispersal of another section of the Phillipps Library. The 855 lots brought £3,796 19s. The sale was devoid of any sensational Incidents.

On July 3rd, 252 lots were sold in Wellington Street for £415 18s. Sixteen important letters of Mr. Gladstone sold for £4 10s., and I secured several very interesting Disraeli letters at prices varying from 15s. to 21s. At this sale Disraeli letters went as low as 2s., 3s., 5s., and 7s. A fine series of Thomas Carlyle letters varied in price from £2 2s. to £8 15s. The Sir Arthur Vicars' sale of heraldic and genealogical MSS. (July 27th-28th) excited some interest. The 671 lots brought a total of £1,571 10s. The sale of November 16-17, 1908, was of more than ordinary interest, and the 334 lots of which it was made up realised £1,007 9s. Amongst the interesting MSS. disposed of were--

£ s. d. Robert Burns, 34 lines of verse 25 10 0 Queen Henrietta Maria, A.L.S. (n.d.) 20 0 0 Keats, original assignment of poems 50 0 0 Cotton Mather A.L.S., October 10, 1720 38 0 0 Schiller A.L.S., January 27, 1791 10 10 0 Swift A.L.S. (short), June 1, 1737 14 15 0

The season of 1909 opened with the Stoddart Sale of historical MSS. (February 22nd-23rd). In this sale 404 lots brought £510 6s. The fine A.L.S. of Mrs. Siddons, now in my collection, fetched £12 5s., or £2 less than it did thirty years ago. The price of Nelson letters was well maintained, a small collection of them, with portraits and sundry relics, fetching £145. A letter to Lady Hamilton, dated March 23, 1801, although covering only half a page, went for £31. On March 1st (a one-day's sale) 201 lots brought £798 2s. 6d. A short letter of Keats sold for £25 10s., two A.L.S. of James Wolfe for £35 10s., and a fine holograph letter of Raphael Sanzio d'Urbino for £41. A series of MSS. relating to the American War of Independence (including four letters and documents signed by Washington) was purchased by Messrs. Maggs for £40. I have already alluded to the sale of June 9th-10th, from which the Windham correspondence was withdrawn. The remaining 524 lots realised no less than £2,145 10s. 6d. A series of twenty-four Nelson letters and other MSS. relating to him was purchased by Mr. Sabin for £121, a very low price considering that fourteen letters of Lady Hamilton went with the others, as well as Nelson's original will and seven codicils, _from which eight signatures had been removed!_ Mr. Quaritch, at this sale, gave £275 for the correspondence of John Robinson, Secretary of the Treasury, 1770 to 1782, which included 194 letters from George III. These MSS. have an important bearing on both American and British history, and ought to have been acquired by the nation along with the Windham papers. A one-day's sale on July 22nd, consisting of only 269 lots, realised £1,113 14s. 6d., and another on December 17th, composed of 269 lots, brought a total of £1,318 6s. A rise in price at both these sales was very marked. In the first a song of Burns (2 pp.) fetched £57, and two unpublished letters of Lord Byron £17 10s. and £28 respectively. £20 was paid for some notes of Goethe in pencil, and £40 for a 2 pp. 8vo letter of Shelley. It was in the latter that the twenty-four letters of Beethoven were sold for £660. On the same day Mr. Cromwell gave £31 for an exceedingly interesting letter addressed to the Genevan Senate, signed by Oliver Cromwell.

On the 28th of January of the present year (1910) 264 lots realised £742 13s. 6d. It was on this occasion that £50 was given for an 8½ pp. 8vo letter of Charlotte Brontë. It is doubtless a high price, but only just before Mr. Sabin paid £17 10s. for a letter of Mr. R. Waldo Emerson to Thomas Carlyle (October 7, 1835), and Mr. Quaritch gave £56 for a 2 pp. 4to letter of George Washington to S. Powell (May 25, 1786). Within a few days no less than £81 was expended on a blue Hawaian postage-stamp, in Leicester Square. About a quarter of that sum gave Mr. Sabin, on February 28th, a long holograph poem of Frederick the Great addressed to Algarotti, beginning with the lines:--

My trembling timid pen Presents its first attempt To the rigid public censor, To assure it against attacks May Minerva guide it.

The cost of the Hawaian "specimen" would have sufficed to buy both the poem of the Prussian King and Charlotte Brontë's touching confession that the "only glimpses of society she ever had were obtained in her vocation of governess," and her earnest appeal to the necessity of a creed.

FOOTNOTES:

[74] Vol. LVIII. pp. 36-7.

[75] A further Phillipps sale took place at "Sotheby's," June 6-9, 1910.

[76] A number of these letters, including that of Oliver Goldsmith, are now in my collection, and were utilised in writing "Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Thrale," 1909.

[77] See _ante_, Chapter I., p. 32.

[78] See _ante_, Chapter III., pp. 85-6.

[79] See "Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Thrale," p. 59.

[80] See "Dumouriez and the Defence of England against Napoleon," by J. Holland Rose and A. M. Broadley, p. 208.

INDEX

Addison, Joseph, 56, 341

Adelaide, Queen, 163-4

Agar, Welbore Ellis, 182

Albert, Prince, facsimile of letter of, 165

Aldrich, 340

d'Alençon, Duc, 34

Alexander of Battenberg, anecdote of, 144

Algarotti, letter to, 377

Alleyn, Edward, letter to, 109

_Amateur d'Autographes_, 58

Amelia, Princess, 134

American catalogues and books on autographs, 320, 322

American MSS., destruction of, 337; prices, 341-2; Civil War documents, 375

André, Major, 335-7

Arabi Pacha, 9, 11

Arago, E., 98-9

_Archivist, The_, 58

Arne, Dr., 365

Arnold, Christopher, 34-5

Austen, Jane, 341

Autographs, antiquity of collecting, 33-4; tricks of collectors, 42-9; hints to collectors, 53-9; dealers, 60-1; care and restoration of, 65-6; royal, 118; statesmen's, 172; literary, 196-8; naval and military, 238-41, 254; music, drama, and art, 259-81; collecting in America, 237-40

Bacon, Lord, quoted, 171, 361

Bailie, Mr., 37-9

Ball, Nelson's letters to Sir A. J., 370

Ball, Sir Alex., letter from Nelson to, 358

Banks, Sir Joseph, 362

Barker, Frederick, 110, 120, 197, 202, 357, 365, 370-1

Barnard, Fred, illustration by, 281

Bathurst, Earl, 111

Beaconsfield, Lord, 39, 187, 189-92, 371, 373-5

Beattie, James, 39

Beecher, H. W., 341

Beethoven, L. van, 257, 360

Belvoir, discovery of letters at, 100-1

Benjamin, William Evarts, 124

Berry, Miss, 65, 311

Bindley, James, 36

Bismarck, Prince, 40

Blackburn, Douglas, work by, 81

Blackmore, 341

Blake, William, 341

Blathwayt, R. W., 60

Blathwayt, William, 343

Blessington, Lady, 374

Blott, Mr., 38

Blücher, Marshal, 254

Bodleian Library, the, 36

Books on Autographs, 56-9, 69

Boswell's correspondence, discovery of, 96; letter to Mrs. Thrale, 363

Bousy, Charles de, 35

Bovet, Alfred, collection of, 58-9, 69, 292

Boydell, John, 358

"Boyhood of a Great King, the," 154-5

Bradshaw, John, 355

Brahms, 365

Brandling, W., letter of, 98

Brébion, Edmund, 293

Brereton, Sir William, 355

Brewster, Sir David, 88

Bright, John, 341

Brontë, Charlotte, 353, 376, 341

Brougham, Lord, 98-9, 185

Broughton, Lord, 111

Brown, John, 341

Browne, Hablot K., illustration of, 286

Browning, E. B., 340-1

Browning, Robert, 56, 358-9

Brueys, Admiral, facsimile of letter of, 310

Bryant, W. C., 340

Buckingham, Duke of, letter of, 54; letter to, 357

_Bulletin d'Autographs_, 57, 60, 292

Bunbury sale of MSS., 110-11, 366, 368-9

Burckhardt's Journal, 100

Burke, Edmund, sale of poem by, 12; letter to from Crabbe, 65; letter to Mrs. Montagu, 211-12; value of autograph of, 355, 363, 368

Burns, Charles de F., 13

Burns, Robert, 341, 359, 367, 375-6

Burr, Aaron, 338

Burroughs, John, 341

Byng, Admiral John, 241-2

Byron, Lord, 69, 76, 78, 99, 341, 355, 359, 376

Caddell, Captain W., work by, 81

Cain, George, 58

Camolin Cavalry Detail Book, the, 112

Campbell, Thomas, 355, 357

"Canadie, La," 54-5

Carlyle, James, 229-30

Carlyle, Thomas, 56, 229, 341, 359, 375-6

Caroline, Queen, 139-43

Catharine of Aragon, 56

Catharine II. of Russia, 129-33

Cawdor, Lord, 105

Chamberlain, Joseph, 47

Chambers, Sir Robert, 363

Chambord, Comte de, 164, 306

Chapman, Frederic, work by, 142

Charavay, Étienne, works by, 58-9, 69, 87, 90

Charavay, Mme. Veuve G., 57, 60-1

Charavay, Noël, 13-14, 57-8, 60-1, 118, 129, 257

Charavay, the house of, 291-2

Charles Edward Stuart, 61

Charles I., 61

Charles II., 56, 365, 372

Charlotte, Queen, 162-3

Chasles, Michel, 88-9

Chatham, Lady, 38

Chesterfield, Lord, 12, 181-5, 341, 356

"Chesterfield's Letters," 67

Child, Mr., 335

Chippendale, Thomas, 357

Churchill, John, 56

Cibber, Colley, 358-9

Cleopatra, copy of forged letter from, 89

Clive, Kitty, 373

Cobden, Richard, illustrated letter of, 281; facsimile of letter of, 287-8

Coburg, Duke of, 35, 40, 148-9, 166

Coleridge, S. T., 56, 341, 364

_Collectanea Napoleonica_, 110

Collingwood, Lord, 370

Collins, David, 362

Connaught, Duke of, 148

Conolly, Lady Louisa, letters from Duke of Richmond to, 368

Cooper, 341

Corot, 15

Cowley, Abraham, 365

Cowper, William, 355

Crabbe, George, 65, 100, 110, 210-11, 368

Cranmer, Archbishop, 56

Crawford, Earl of, 296

Cromwell, Oliver, 56, 120, 125, 355, 359, 376

Cruikshank, George, 277-8

Cumberland, Richard, 358

Cuyler, T. C. S., 13, 320-4, 329, 336-7, 339

Damer, Arne, 65

Darwin, Charles, 342

Davey, Samuel, 57-8

Davy, Sir Humphry, 97

Dayrolles Correspondence, 351

Deffand, Mme. du, 61

De Quincey, 341, 359

Derby, Earl of, 355

Desaix, Marshal, 303

Dibdin, Charles, discovery of songs by, 105-7

Dickens, Charles, 15, 42, 44, 56; forgeries, 82, 84; letters of, 220-6, 356; value of autograph of, 356, 359, 364, 374, 341-2

Digby, Colonel, 107-8

Dillon, John, 120, 353

"Diplomatique, Manuel de," 117

Disraeli, _see_ Beaconsfield

Doggett, Thomas, 356

Donizetti, 365

Donnadieu Sale, the, 353

Doyle, Richard, 342

Drake, Sir Francis, 359

Dreer, Ferdinand J., 338

Dryden, John, 56

_Dumouriez and the Defence of England against Napoleon_, 105, 369

Dumouriez, General, MS. by, 101, 102, 105, 368-9

Edward VI., 56, 372

Edward VII., facsimile of bulletin of birth of, 116; facsimile of the early writing of, 344

Elgar, Sir Edward, facsimile of bars of a song by, 49

Elizabeth, Queen, 56, 361

"Elliot, George," 40, 357, 359

Ellis, Sir Henry, 353

Emerson, R. Waldo, 341, 376

Emmet, Dr. T. A., 13, 321-2, 324, 327, 336-7

Erskine, Nelson's letters to Sir J. St. C., 369

Evelyn, John, 201, 352

Extra-illustrating, 66-8

Facsimiles, how to obtain, 55-6

Fairfax, Lord, 355

Fairfax, Sir Thomas, 357

Fawkes, Guido, 357

Fénelon, Archbishop, 14

Fishguard Invasion, correspondence regarding the, 105

FitzGerald, Edward, 358

FitzGerald, Lord Robert, 370

FitzGerald, Pamela, 54

FitzRoy, Lord William, 38

Fletcher, Joseph, letter to, 358

Flint, Sir Charles, 129

Foote, Samuel, 357

Forbes, Archibald, 303

Forgeries, 75-91; how to detect, 80-2, 90-1

Forster, John, 210

Fox, C. J., 111, 368

France, Anatole, 58

France, autographs of Kings of, 351

"Frank," the, 36-9

Franklin, Benjamin, letter of, 332; facsimile of letter of, 334; value of autograph of, 342

Frederick, Duke of York, 156

Frederick, Empress (of Germany), 168

Frederick the Great, 368, 373, 377

French autographs, 292-3

Frowde, J. A., 41

Garrick, David, 262-3, 357-8, 363

Garrick, Mrs., 263

Gascoyne, Bamber, 243

"Gatty," _see_ Agar

Geoffrin, Mme. de, 61

George III., 56, 119, 137-42, 155, 278, 376

George IV., 161

George V., facsimile of letter of, 167

Gerothwohl, Prof., 13, 131

Gibbon, Edward, 356

Giry, A., work of, 117

Gladstone, W. E., 187-8, 342, 363, 374

Goethe, W. von, 213-4, 216, 376

Goldsmith, Oliver, 363, 368, 373

Goodspeed, C. E., 339

Gordon, General, 56, 364

Grangerising, _see_ Extra-illustrating

Gray, Thomas, 356

Greaves, Mr., 350

Green, J. H., 364

Grenville Library, 55

Greville, C. F., 370

Greville, J., 243

Greville, Hon. Charles, 249

Grimston, Sir Harbottle, 37

Guizot, F. P. G., 40

Gulston, Miss E., 57

Gurwood, Colonel, 237

Gwinnett, Button, 321, 323-5; facsimile of writing and signature of, 326

Haber, Louis J., sale of library of, 12-3, 211, 216, 320; catalogue of, 340-2

Hamilton, Lady, 56, 360, 362, 367, 370, 375-6

Handel, 365

_Handwriting of Kings and Queens of England, The_, 117

Hanmer, MSS. of Sir Thos., 368-9

Hardy, Captain T. M., 249-50

Hardy, T., 341-2

Hardy, W. J., work by, 117

Harley, _see_ Oxford, Earl of

Harris, J. C., 341

Harte, Bret, 341

Hawaian postage stamp, 377

Hawkins, Sir R., 359

Hawthorne, N., 341-2

Haydn, Joseph, 257, 260, 365

Hayes, William, 257

Hearne, Thomas, 36

Heber's hymn, discovery of Bishop, 96

Henrietta Maria, Queen, 355, 365, 375

Henry VII., 362

Henry VIII., 56, 118, 361-2

Heralds' College, 36

Hewson, Colonel John, 355

Hill, Sir Thomas Noël, 367

_History of the Festivals of the Three Choirs_, 257

Hobhouse, _see_ Broughton

Hogarth, William, 270, 273

Holdernesse, Earl of, 155-61, 173

Holland, Lord, 368

Holmes, 341

Holmes, Thomas Knox, 263

Holst, Duke of, 34

Hood, Lord, letter of George III. to, 137-8

Hooper, correspondence of Bishop, 96

Hortense, Queen, 303

Ibrahim, Hilmy, Prince, 11

"Iconographies," the, 59

Illustrated letters, 278

Ireland, finds relating to rebellion in, 112

Ireland, W. H., forgeries of, 75-6, 196; facsimile of, 77

Irving, Sir Henry, 341, 370-1

Ismail Pacha, 9, 11

_L'Isographie des Hommes Célèbres_, 58, 292

James II., 125

James Stewart, 56

Jay MSS., the, 100

Jeffrey, Miss, letter from Keats to, 363

Jekyll, Joseph, 39

Jermyn, Henry, 365

John II. of France, 118

_Johnson, Dr., and Mrs. Thrale_, 364, 367

Johnson, Samuel, 76, 206-10, 342, 356-7, 359, 363-4, 373

Joline, Adrian, quoted, 10, 33, 41, 66, 117, 144, 196, 337

Jones, Charles C., Jr., 338

Jonson, Ben, 372

Joseph Bonaparte (King of Spain), facsimile letter of, 299

Kean, Edmund, 80, 264

Keary, Mr. Peter, 371

Keats, John, sale of letter of, 12, 62; facsimile of, 56; forgery, 87; discovery of letters of, 100; letter of, 215; value of autograph of, 341, 353, 359, 361, 363, 371, 374, 375

Kemble, J. P., 269

Kent, Duke of, 156

King, Thomas, 356, 358

Kipling, Rudyard, 342

Knapp, O. G., collection of, 366

Lacordaire, 42

Lamb, Charles, 216, 356, 359, 364

Landseer, Edwin, 355

Lang, Andrew, signed poem by, 343

Lansdowne, Marquis of, 80

Larochejaquelein, Louis, 110

Latimer, Bishop, 56

Lavoisier, 133-4

Lawrence, Thomas, 366

Lechmere, Captain William, 248-9

Le Neve, Peter, 36

Lenthall, William, 355

Lescure, M. de, 59

Lewes, 342

Lisbourne, Lord, 243

Liszt, facsimile of letter of the Abbé, 258

Literary Letters, value of, 352

Lloyd, Thomas, 78, 80

Lobb, Rev. Mr., 357

Lockwood, Sir F., 278; illustrations by, 282, 285

Longfellow, H. W., 40

Longwood Household, expenses book, 111, 292

Louis XVI., 133-4

Louis XVIII., 294

Louis Philippe, 278

Lowe, Sir Hudson, 111, 254, 368

Lynch, T., 321, 323-5, 327; facsimile of letter of, 328

Lyte, Sir H. Maxwell, 100-1

Mackey, George, discoveries amongst the MSS. of, 105

Macpherson, James, forgeries of, 75-6, 87, 342

Madan, F., 152

Mainwaring, Mrs., collection of, 373

Majendie, Dr., letter to from Prince William (William IV.), 143

Manby, Charles, 277

Marat, J. P., 359

Marie Antoinette, facsimile of letter of, 312

Marlborough, Duke of, correspondence of, 96

Marryat, Captain, 342

Marshall, collection of Mr. Julian, 364

Martin, Sir Theodore, 65, 210

Marvel, Andrew, 359

Mary, Queen, facsimile of letter of, 168

Mary, Queen of Scots, 56

Massey, Sir Edward, 355

Masson, Frédéric, 10

Mather, Cotton, 375

Mathews, Charles, facsimile of letter of, 266

Mauritius Post Office, stamps of, 31-2

Mee, Dr., work of, 259

Mendelssohn, F., 357

Meredith, George, 217, 342

Milton, John, 32, 35, 201-3, 364

Molé, Count, 309

Monmouth, Duke of, 56

Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, 360

Montchenu, Marquis, 111

Montesquieu, Abbé de, 294

Montrose, Duke of, 365

Montrose, Lord, 253

Moore, Colonel John, 355

Moore, Thomas, 355, 359

More, Hannah, letter of Walpole to, 206; value of letter of Garrick to, 357

Morland, George, 274

Morris, W., autograph MS. of, 342, 363

Morrison, Alfred, collection of, 36, 68, 294, 354

Mount Norris, Earl of, 112

Mulgrave, Lord, letter to, from George III., 140

Murray, Lindley, 358

Napoleon I., 32, 62, 105; facsimile of letter of, 123; illustrated letter of, 278; as letter-writer, 293-6; value of letter of, 352, 362, 372

"Napoleon and the Invasion of England," 105

"Napoleon, Last Reign of," 111

Napoleon II., facsimile of letter of, 305-9

Napoleon, Captain James, 362

Napoleonic Correspondence, 110-11

Napoleon III., forged letter of, 90; birth of, 303

Nelson, Lady, 244-7

"Nelson, Life of," Clarke and McArthur's, 67; Churchill's, 78

Nelson, Lord, 32, 56, 78-80, 237, 243-9, 358, 360, 363, 366-72, 374-6

"Nelson's Hardy," 249

Nethercliff, Joseph, work by, 57

Newman, Cardinal, facsimile of autograph of, 43

Ney, Marshal, facsimile of letter of, 304

Nichols, John Gough, work by, 56

Norris, Admiral, 351

Northumberland, Duke of, 355

Norton, Hon. Mrs., 226

O'Connell, Daniel, 185-6

Oldys, William, 100

Oxford, Robert Harley, Earl of, 36

Paganini, 365

Paine, Thomas, 342

Palloy, M., 180-1

"Paradise Lost," 32, 364

Paris, Comte de, 164

Parnell Letters, forged, 90

Paston Letters, the, 99

Paterson, Colonel William, 362

Paul, Emperor of Russia, 62

Pembroke, Earl of, 358

Penn, William, 357, 359

Pennington, Mrs., letter from Mrs. Siddons to, 366

Pepys, Samuel, 374

Percy, Bishop, 357

Peters, Hugh, 357

Philbrick, Judge, K.C., 31

Phillipps, Sir Thomas, 89, 353-4

Picard, Ludovic, 42

Pigott, Richard, 90

Piozzi, Mrs., 13, 342, 363, 367

"Piozziana," 373

Pitt, William (the elder), 56, 80, 173-5, 355

Pitt, William (the younger), 175, 179-80

Poe, E. A., 41-2, 342

Pollapiolo, Antonio del, 15

Poniatowski, Marshal, 292, 303

Poole, Thomas, letter to, 364

Pope, Alexander, 202-5, 342, 368

Porson, Richard, 359

Porter, Jane, 342

Portland, Duke of, 105

Powell, S., letter to, 377

Pretyman, Bishop Tomline, 99

Prior, Thomas, 181, 361, 368

Privy Council Letter, value of, 362

Raffles, Dr., 96, 323

Raffles, Sir Stamford, visit of to St. Helena, 110; value of autograph of, 360

Rambaud, M., 129

Ramsay, Allan, 356

Reade, Charles, 342

Reed, Lady, 138-9

_Revue des Autographs_, 57, 60-1, 292

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 64

Richard Plantagenet, 372

Richardson, Samuel, 342, 357

Richmond, Duke of, 368

Robertson, Ross, 55

Robespierre, 356

Robinson, John, 376

Robinson, Memoirs of Mrs., 108

Romney, George, facsimile of letter of, 274

Rose, George, 370

Rose, Dr. Holland, 10, 105, 175, 180, 293, 295

Rosebery, Lord, 41, 46

Rossetti, D. G., 342

Royal autographs, value of, 118-25; sale of, 164

Ruskin, John, 48

Russell, G. W. E., work by, 144

St. Vincent, Earl, 358

Sala, George Augustus, 231-3

Sandby, Paul, 262

Sandeau, Jules, 42-3

Sandwich Islands stamp, 32

Scarlati, 365

Schiller, F. von, 375

Schubert, 365

Schumann, 365

Scott, Dr. H. T., 13, 57-8, 60, 65-6, 109, 201, 353

Scott, Sir Walter, 335-7, 359

_Sévigné, Letters of Mme. de_, 57, 76

Shakespearean forgeries, 75-9; Wilson's letter, 109-10; documents, 195-6

Shelbourne, Lord, 61

Shelley, P. B., 342, 370, 376

Shenstone, William, 359

Sheridan, R. B., facsimile of letter of, 265

Siddons, Sarah Martha, 84-6, 264-9, 357, 363, 366, 375

Sidney, Sir P., 351

_Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Lives of the_, 322

Simonides, Dr. Constantine, 89

Sims, _see_ FitzGerald

Sloane MSS., 34

Smith, Charles John, work by, 56

Smith, William, 359

Sophia of Hanover, 126

Sotheby's, the firm of, 354-5; notable sales at, 355-65, 369-70, 372-4

Southey, William, letter to, 359

Sprague, Rev. Dr. W. B., 323, 325, 338

Staël, Mme. de, 65

Stanhope, Lord, 180-1

Stanley, Sir H. M., 361

State Papers, 376

Steele, Sir Richard, 368-9

Stevenson, George, 98

Stevenson, R. L., 41, 342

Stoddart Sale of MSS., 375

Stowell, Lord, 370

Strafford, Lord, 368

Strode, William, 125

Sussex, Duke of, 161

Swift, 375

Swinburne, Algernon, 342

Sydney, Lord, 139

Talleyrand, C. M. de, 300-3, 311

Tayleure, William, 38

Taylor, letter to John, 374

Tedder, H. R., quoted, 348

Tefft, Israel K., 321, 323, 338

Temple, Rev. W. J., 96

Tenniel, Sir John, 44-5

Tennyson, Alfred, 216-17, 342, 356

Thackeray, W. M., 42, 56; forgeries, 81-3; letter of, 198, 217-20; value of autograph of, 342, 356-8, 374

Thatcher, Benjamin B., 323

Thibaudeau, M. A. W., 68

Thiers, 40

Thoresby, Ralph, 36

Thrale, Mrs., _see_ Piozzi

_Three Dorset Captains, The_, 249

Tonson, Jacob, 32

Turner, Dawson, 350

Twain, Mark, 229, 341

Tyndall, correspondence of, 96

Upcott, William, 120, 347-50; sale of collection of, 351-3

d'Urbino, R. S., 375

Value of autographs: Royal, 118-25; diplomatic, 172; literary, 196-8; naval and military, 23-8, 41, 254; musicians', 259; dramatic personages, 263-4, 269; artists', 270; French, 303-11; American, 342-3; variations in, 356-77

Verdi, G., 357

Vicars, Sir Arthur, 375

Victoria, Empress of Germany, 168

Victoria, Queen, 56, 144-7, 355

Villeneuve, Admiral, 311

Voltaire, 311, 315, 355

Vrain-Lucas, 87-9, 90-1

Wallace, Dr., 110, 195

Waller, John, 120, 124-5, 238

Walpole, Horace, quoted, 8, 133-4, 205-6, 342

Washington, George, 56, 325, 329-32; value of autographs of, 352; facsimile of letter of, 333; portfolio of, 372; documents signed by, 375; letter of, 377

Watson, G. L. de St. M., 214

Watts, Isaac, 356

Wellington, Duke of, 56, 64, 237, 253-5, 360-1, 369, 373

Wesley, John, facsimile of letter of, 232; value of autograph of, 373, 342

West, Sir Benjamin, 369

West, James, 36

_Wexford, the War in_, 112

Whalley, Dr., 367

Wheeler, H. F. B., works by, 105, 112

Whistler, J. Arch., 229

White, Sir George, collection of, 68, 76, 125

White, Gilbert, 364

Whitelock's MS., discovery of, 99

Wilkinson, Miss Patty, 85

William III., 56, 126

William IV., 143, 156

William of Orange, 365

Wilson, William, 109

Wolfe, James, 375

Woollan, B. M., 248

Wordsworth, Dorothy, 56, 361

Wren, Sir Christopher, 355

Wright, Captain, 374

Yates, Edmund, 233, 356

York, Cardinal, MSS. of, 96

Young, Mr., 120, 353

* * * * *

UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.

* * * * *

Transcriber's note--The following corrections have been made to this text:

Page 81: "nowledge" to "knowledge"--an expert knowledge of

Page 111: "Gourgarid" to "Gourgaud"--opinion of Gourgaud

Page 129: "Bielka" to "Bielke"--Madame de Bielke

Page 220: "colletion" to "collection"--from the splendid collection

Page 374: "Thackerary" to "Thackeray"--Thackeray, Dickens, and others

Page 378: "von" to "van"--Beethoven, L. van,

Page 379: "Etienne" to "Étienne"--Charavay, Étienne, works by

Page 381: "Iconographics" to "Iconographies"--"Iconographies," the,

End of Project Gutenberg's Chats on Autographs, by Alexander Meyrick Broadley