19th Century Student of MedicineMareMagnum
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Manuscript notes made by a nineteenth century student of medicine, possibly intent on becoming an apothecary, who examines and records the earlier works of German physician and professor Andreas Elias Buechner (1701-1769), including numerous medicinal recipes and commentary on physiological effects. 8vo. 56 pages in manuscript. Text is in German. Marbled paper boards with blank label to front. Volume measures approximately 17 x 21 cm. Very slight wear to boards, otherwise in very good condition, internally crisp and bright. The 18th century was the 'Golden Age' of scientific academies and learned societies. This work provides valuable information on the historic application of natural ingredients with medicinal qualities, as well as a somewhat early history of the experimentation and progress in the field of medicine, by drawing from the methodology and recipes of a notable eighteenth century German physician and educator in the field - Andreas Elias Büchner. Following a five-point outline, the writer compiles a lengthy and well organized list of medical ailments or discomforts and the simple remedies for them, over 24 pages, a very small sampling of these being parageusia (a distortion of the sense of taste), digestive issues for which are listed various laxatives, skin sensitivities and emollients, "alterantia" or hormonal alterants, and diaphoretics. A section headed "Special Formulas," comprising 23 pages of more complex medicinal recipes, provides ingredients and measurements for various emulsions, syrups, pills and much more. Andreas Elias Büchner (1701-1769) was a German physician, naturalist, Professor of Medicine at some of Germany's leading institutions, president of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina from 1735 to 1769, and one of Friedrich Hoffmann's most zealous followers. Manuscript
Three (3) original signatures of Hardy Amies, the couturier for Queen Elizabeth for some thirty-nine years, contained in three books from his personal library, and each also containing his bookplate. 8vo. Three volumes each signed and dated by Amies to front endpaper, very slight wear to boards, otherwise in Very Good condition, signed on crisp, clean leafs. Sir Edwin Hardy Amies, KCVO (1909-2003), was a British fashion designer, best known for being the dress designer for HM Queen Elizabeth II for thirty-nine years. In the 1930s Amies rose to become one of Britain's leading couturiers and his salon was one of the few to rival the great dress houses of Paris. After a successful pre-war career as a designer in other people’s fashion houses, Amies opened his own establishment at 14 Savile Row in 1946. In 1950 Amies made several outfits for Elizabeth's royal tour to Canada (then Princess Elizabeth). He received the award of a Royal Warrant as official dressmaker in 1955. One of his best known creations is the gown he designed in 1977 for Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee portrait. Knighted in 1989, Amies held the warrant until 1990, when he gave it up so that younger designers could create for the Queen. He was also the couturier for Lady Alice Egerton, who was appointed as lady-in-waiting to the young Princess Elizabeth in 1949, and who would go on to become Woman of the Bedchamber when Elizabeth became queen in 1953. For three years he travelled and worked in France and Germany; becoming fluent in both countries' languages. Amies worked for a customs agent and then as an English tutor in Antibes, and later in Bendorf, Germany where in 1928 he acquired one of these volumes for his library. Around the same time, another of the volumes was acquired in a village on the Mosel River. He returned to England in 1930. The third volume is signed by him in 1933 and appears to have been gifted to him by famous Austrian writer Karl Heinrich Waggerl. Manuscript
Manuscript record of the unexpected arrival of the British HMS Mariner led by Commander Charles Mitchell Mathison in Japan, in 1849, with interest in making surveys around Edo (Tokyo), four years prior to Commodore Perry's arrival, and during Japan's period of isolation (Sakoku) during which most foreigners were prohibited entry in to the country and locals prohibited exit; containing also a description of Japanese castaway Otokichi who was on the British vessel, disguised as a Chinese to evade capital punishment, who later assisted Admiral James Stirling in establishing the 1854 Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty. Text is in Japanese. 8vo. 44 pages in manuscript, plus title page, on 23 unpaginated double leaves. Traditional karitoji binding ("semi-bound" meaning title page and contents without a book cover) string-stitched at spine, fukurotoji style ("bound-pocket" with folded leafs bound into spine), and opening from left to right. Complete in a single volume, measuring approximately 24 x 17 cm. A scant few ink marks to rear leaf margin, indication of some burrowing, unobtrusive to legibility, otherwise in very good condition, beautifully preserved, clean and bright, an exceedingly scarce work. Certainly an assertive manoeuvre, for the British to show up unannounced in the harbour of Edo, Japan was in the state of Sakoku ("locked country"), the isolationist foreign policy of the Tokugawa shogunate under which relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, and nearly all foreign nationals were barred from entering Japan, while common Japanese people were kept from leaving the country. The long-standing policy had been in place for over two centuries, since 1603, and would last a few more years after the departure of HMS Mariner. It was Commodore Perry in 1853, and his equally brazen arrival with his American Black Ships, that would force the opening of Japan to American trade through a series of treaties called the Convention of Kanagawa, ultimately ending the island's declaration of Sakoku, and facilitating other trade relations with Western nations. On 14 October, 1854, the first limited Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty was signed by Admiral Sir James Stirling and representatives of the Tokugawa shogunate (Bakufu). Yamamoto Otokichi (1818-1867), who was onboard HMS Mariner disguised as a Chinese interpreter during the ship's attempted entry in Japan, later played an instrumental role in establishing this treaty, providing Stirling with intel on language and culture during the negotiations. On 26 August 1858, the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed by the Scotsman Lord Elgin and representatives of the Tokugawa shogunate for Japan, after the Harris Treaty was concluded. Britain obtained extraterritorial rights on Japanese with the British Supreme Court for China and Japan, in Shanghai. A British iron paddle schooner named Enpiroru was presented to the Tokugawa administration by Bruce as a present for the Emperor from Queen Victoria. A scarce compilation of records from the Japanese perspective on a pre-Perry interaction between Bakufu authorities and a British ship, with references to Otokichi. This manuscript collates four Japanese reports of the British ship the HMS Mariner, which arrived in Japan from Shanghai in May of 1849 to make a topographical survey of the area around Edo (modern-day Tokyo), led by Commander Charles Mitchell Mathison, who had entered the Royal Navy on 5 August 1819. The event marks a very early British appearance at Japan, also pre-dating by four years the imposing arrival of Commodore Perry and his American Black ships also intent on making surveys. The first record briefly describes the layout of the Mariner and the aim of its visit to Japan. It also mentions the considerable Japanese language abilities of the Chinese interpreter on board who explained things in a way that is easy to understand, he in fact being the Japanese castaway Yamamoto Otokichi (1818-1867). The second section records foreign ship sightings from daimyo with guardhouses on the Miura Peninsula. [daimto were the most powerful landholding magnates holding the largest sections of land] The third report describes the meeting of Commander Mathison and the Bakufu intendant Egawa Tarozaemon (1801-1855), a dispute over a map of Japan, and Japanese observations of the ship and the crew. The last report is a copy of Isenokami Abe's (Masahiro Abe: 1819-1857) message to the bugyo (magistrates) and metsuke (censors/inspectors) in which, with HMS Mariner in mind, he expresses concern about the increase in the number of foreign ship arrivals in recent years and the abandoning of the Edict to Repel Foreign Ships. Abe notes that if the edict is enforced again, while there is no illegality on the part of the foreign ships, a dispute could arise, thus cautioning the noble families on the coast to prepare defenses. [Only a few years after the arrival of HMS Mariner, Isenokami would play a major role in the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa, as a result of pressure from the Perry Expedition.]
A numbered (278) and printed document granting financial compensation to a slave owner in Suriname, by the Dutch government, signed in the original by numerous parties including the Gouverneur de Kolonie Suriname [Governor of Suriname] Van Lansberge, the Administrateur van Financienvan Het Ministerie van Kolonien te s-Gravenhague [Finance Administrator for the Ministry of the Colonies, at The Hague], and the recipient of the funds who is not only a slave owner but well-known chirurgeon A.D. Charlouis. Text is in Dutch. With steel engraved colonial coat of arms, official ink stamps, the embossed stamp of the "Klein Kolonie Suriname" government. Single leaf measuring approximately 26,5 x 13 cm. Very good condition, beautifully preserved, a scarce and historical slavery document with notable signature. The present document is interesting, as is was made almost two years after the official abolition of slave ownership in Suriname, which reveals the lengthy time period over which this process was stretched. The government's primary concern was not the freedom of the enslaved people; it was the preservation of the plantation economy, lest there be a mass exodus of workers leaving the plantations. The latter was cited as the reason and justification for the mandatory employment contract which accompanied 'free status' of a slave. Chirurgeon Andries Daniel Charlouis (Emden, Lower Saxony 1820 - Paramaribo, Suriname 1880) is the recipient of this compensation. Historical evidence reveals that he had more slaves than what is represented with this document, and that he released them gradually. He was well-known in the field of medical science, particularly for his studies on medicinal matters and the indigenous people of South America; his name appears in numerous medical journals of the period. Reinhart Frans Cornelius van Lansberge (1804-1873), whose signature authorizes this document, was the Governor-General of Suriname from 1 August 1859 to 29 June 1867. Slavery was abolished in the Dutch West Indies during his governorship. Previous to this post, he was Governor of Curacao from 1855 to 1859, and formerly Dutch Consul-General Venezuela. Doctor Charlouis, whose original signature is found to verso, received 1935 guilders with this promissory note effective 15 August 1865. This figure represents the release of approximately 6 slaves. A manuscript annotation to upper left margin, penned in a West Germanic language, refers to the abolition act: "Opheffing der slavernij... 1863" [Elimination of slavery... 1863]. Red ink annotations reveal that this document was registered on 16 September 1865, and signed by a Geregistreerde referendaris J.C. Jaunen [registered secretary]. Additional annotations to the upper margin suggest that the funds were cashed in on 16 October 1865 "Betaalbaar te Amsterdam" [paybale to Amsterdam]. Also interesting to note, two of the signed annotations to verso, those of Charlouis and a witness, make reference to German plantation owner, banker Wilhelm Eduard Ruhmann at Paramaribo. As such, this transaction was most likely transacted at Surinaamsche Bank which had been founded earlier the same year, and the funds dispatched from there to the Dutch government in The Netherlands. The Netherlands abolished the Atlantic slave-trade in 1814. However, localized slavery continued for over half a decade. Slavery was finally abolished in Suriname and the Dutch West Antilles on 1 July 1863 with the Emancipation Act. On that day, about 35,000 slaves in Suriname and 12,000 slaves on the Dutch islands in the Caribbean were given their freedom, or rather a modified version of freedom. Freed men in Suriname come under state supervision for ten years with a mandatory employment contract on the plantations. The slave owners received financial compensation from the government upon releasing their slaves to this system. The Dutch government paid 300 guilders per slave to the owner for the "lost property". (In the Dutch East Indies, payments were far lower, 50 to 350 guilders depending on the age of the slave). The abolition of slavery was referred to as 'emancipation'. Parties were organized in which King William III was presented as a key figure and benefactor of the freed slaves.
Manuscript leaf introducing an early work of translation by a Franciscan Friar of the Third Order, hand painted in full colour and featuring fascinating symbolism. Text is in Latin. Leaf measures approximately 34 x 49 cm. One soft fold, minor age-toning, otherwise in very good condition, a beautifully preserved hand painted document made at the turn of the 18th century. The present document suggests that as membership of the Franciscan Third Order grew rapidly, and no formal papal education was being received by those preaching in the streets, there was a need for some form of instruction or guidance. As such, some of the key and simple canonical documents began being written for the laymen/women to understand the principles. The symbolism features intimation of anti-slavery. Purposed with works of teaching the gospel, providing charity, and social well-being for the public, early members of the Franciscan Third Order were a community focused on truth and humility, striving to emulate Christ and model a pure life. The symbolism in the manuscript illustration of the present document is fascinating and enlightening, in particular the focal image top and center. This is an armorial motif depicting slavery, rather the Catholic church's purported desire to slavery. Unlike the standard Moor's head seen in the papal coat of arms seen since early days, the imagery here features an African tribal warrior chief, all seen but his legs, with a confident stance and holding a spear up high in declaration; this is drawn inside of a gold shield topped with the pope's mitre simplex headdress. As a whole, this could be interpreted as the Franciscan Third Order's support to abolish slavery. Some of the more common instances of symbolism are the red ribbons to signify the Blood which Christ, and the laurel leafs in a circular placement as in the ancient Greek custom of symbolising victory, honor, and peace, in this case being victory over sin, honor to the Holy one, and peace on earth. There are also two large gilt fleur-de-lis, which is often said to from 1244 in the arms of the Kings of France, although clearly used earlier as this document precedes the latter event by 40 years. In early Catholic-based examples such as the present leaf, the fleur-de-lis is believed to represent either the Trinity, or the lancehead of a spear such as which would have pierced the side of Jesus on the Cross. Manuscript
Four manuscript court documents pertaining to an American merchant ship captured in 1801 by a Spanish Privateer while on a voyage to Barcelona and Malaga with valuable cargo, the subsequent recapture by the American crew, and claim for compensation from the salvage of her cargo. Three folio, one octavo, all single-leafs. Two documents are split at folds, one of which has very minor loss to text, otherwise the lot in very good condition, clean and legible, a most interesting record of the event and proceedings in the Admiralty Court. The American Brig Eliza, formerly Schooner Maria, whose homeport was Charleston and master was Captain Joseph Michael, was destined for Barcelona and Malaga in June 1801, with a cargo belonging to an American merchant named John Seamy. Near Tarifa, in Cádiz Province, on 10 July she was seized by Spanish privateers and ordered to the Port of Algeciras. While at anchor there, Captain Michael, with the help of his crew, in particular a Benjamin Hubble, managed to re-take the ship from the Spanish. They immediately proceeded across the Bay to Gibraltar with the intention of selling the ship and cargo for personal gain. Refusal to acquiesce to the Spanish privateers would have resulted in extreme retribution for the American captain and crew if they had not succeeded in their escape, as mentioned in the documents as a reason to disallow the captain of any monetary gains for the recovered vessel. There was also intense fighting around Gibraltar, involving the French, Spanish, and British, therefore the Spanish were well-positioned and well-armed. It was the Battle of Algeciras Bay taking place, having begun only 4 days earlier on 6 July 1801. (It would end on the 12th). Adding to the eminent danger for the Americans, when the United States had declared independence, British diplomats were quick to inform the Barbary States that U.S. ships were open to attack. In May 1801, some 6 weeks before the incident described in the present documents, the First Barbary War had begun, a war between the alliance of the United States and several European countries, against the Northwest African Muslim states known collectively as the Barbary States. Prior to independence, American colonists had enjoyed the protection of the British Navy. The British no longer offered protection. The Mediterranean Sea was now a precarious place for Americans to sail. On 4 December 1801, four members of the crew, Benjamin Huddle, Robert Sherington, Thomas William, William Sesten, engaged a proctor to recover the ship and her cargo. His compensation would be half of the value of the salvage. Following the recovery voyage, accusations flowed freely and, a few months later, in December 1801, a trial in the Admiralty Court ensued. The proctor presented his case for the claimants. The result of the trial is not identified herein, but can be assumed in favour of the claimants, based on the final document, which is a "release of all claims" by the ship's new captain, Nathan Ells, who was a mate under Captain Michael, employed on the ship during the event in question.
8vo. 1 page, printed document completed in manuscript including date, name of recipient/delinquent, amount of the fine, name and signature of the messenger/collector of funds. With a partial manuscript message to inner page of leaf. Double leaf measuring approximately 17 x 21 cm in its folded state, watermarked with the year 1822. Signed in ink in an original hand, "Jno. Rd. Carter," as the messenger. Very good and original condition, an amusing document, seldom seen completed in manuscript. Roughly designed after an authentic court document, the heading bears the abbreviations "G.R. IV" signifying the reign of King George IV and features an engraved representation of the Royal Coat of Arms of the British monarch. Dated 31 January 1826 in manuscript, charges are laid upon a Mr. David Crossby of Gosberton [South Holland district, Lincolnshire], who is guilty of the crime of "the wicked and abominable sin of drunkenness, by frequently swallowing large quantities of Beer, Ale, Porter, and all other Malt Liquors, (Small Beer excepted) Brandy, Rum...", his fine being 50 pounds of good and lawful Money of Great Britain, payable within 24 hours to the deliverer of the said notice. Fifty pounds sterling was a very large sum of money at the time, £50 then being equivalent to approximately £4,450 today, although substantially more impactful when we consider that the average income from 1800 to 1825 was less than £20 a year. As such, the fine here would represent approximately 3 years wages to the poor bloke who was "convicted" of simply consuming alcohol.
Two signed membership documents formally accepting English geographer Monica Mary Cole into two scientific societies for the learned, the Royal Geographical Society and the Geologists' Association, respectively. 8vo. Two separate printed documents, three leafs combined, each document completed, signed and dated by the respective society's secretary. Leafs measure approximately 20,5 x 26 cm. Creasing to one document, otherwise in very good condition. Monica Mary Cole (1922-1994) was an English geographer, lecturer, and author, an intellectual woman and polyglot, whose legacy has been described by her colleagues as "a leader in her chosen field of academic research" who "scaled the heights of a profession that, even today, finds too few women as the incumbents of chairs." She left the Royal Geographical Society £10,000 for it to establish a research travel grant for young female physical geographists. The Archives of the Royal Holloway, University of London holds a collection of papers relating to Cole. They include her personal papers and objects connected to her career as a geographer between 1967 and 1970. During her distinguished career she produced pioneering works in the fields of biogeography and geobotany, remote sensing and terrain analysis, and mineral exploration. Her research spanned Central and Southern Africa, Brazil, Venezuela, Australia, China and Finland. Cole was not the archetypal quiet and contemplative academic. She was a larger-than-life character, and people loved to be around her. She was elected as a Fellow in the Royal geographical Society on 22 June 1942. The following year, on 6 December 1943, she also became an elected member of the Geologists' Association of London. The present documents are her official membership declaration papers from each of these societies. In 1947, Miss Cole was appointed geography lecturer under Bill Talbot at the University of Cape Town. She conducted a detailed land utilisation survey on the soils and crop yield affected by climate anomalies in Elgin, Western Cape, which was called "one of the most thorough and useful land utilization surveys carried out anywhere in South Africa" by Stanley Jackson, in The Geographical Journal.
Burnham Market [in the district of King's Lynn, Norfolk], 1589. Manuscript indenture on vellum, outlining a conveyance of land in the environs of Burnham Market, from Edward Clarke of Stanhoe to John Barrett of Barwick, with a monogram magenta red wax seal. Text is in Latin. Document measures approximately 47 x 9 cm, with wax seal affixed to vellum pendant. Some age-toning, otherwise in very good condition. Latin indenture made in the thirty-first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I [1589] concerning land in the area of Burnham Market, very near to Stanhoe, with which John Barrett of Barwicke acquires land from Edward Clarke of Stanhowe. A William Baxter is also mentioned in this document. The wax seal features imagery of a sword or staff within monogram letters, suggesting a notable status of service to the king. This is an exceptionally scarce and consequently significant concerning property rights in the sixteenth century feudal era of England, dated only thirty years from the earliest parish record held in Norfolk registry archives, and featuring a most interesting wax seal. Stanhoe is a village and civil parish in the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, only 19 miles from the seaside village of King's Lynn which would later be the birthplace of Captain George Vancouver the great navigator of Pacific Northwest America fame. Manuscript
Reading (Berkshire, England), 1901-1923. Manuscript minute book for the Reading Rifle Club, established in 1900, containing all particulars of its growing membership, annual shooting programs and competitions, rules and regulations, financial statements, and the like, recorded in various hands over the years and containing several original signatures. A few of the club's printed documents, some manuscript letters from members, and newspaper clippings are tipped in. Together with a printed pocketsize 9 page handbook of the club's rules. 8vo. 218 pages on watermarked lined paper. Half calf over dark teal cloth boards titled in gilt to spine, original marbled endpapers, bookbinder's label to front pastedown. Endpapers reinforced at seam, otherwise in very good condition, a most interesting volume dealing with shooting as a sanctioned pastime. A fine example of a pre-war shooting club, nineteenth century firearms etiquette, and freedom to enjoy skilled gunnery competition. Gaining popularity and new members every year from its opening season, the Reading Rifle Club appears to have been most diligently managed, every one of its meetings being recorded in this manuscript minute book. Entries are wide-ranging in subject matter, some topics up for discussion being entrance fees and prizes, monthly competitions, an annual challenge cup, subscriptions, nominations and elections for leadership and administrative posts, expenses and receipts, ammunition purchases, firearms kept onsite, new members, annual shooting programs and competitions, rules and protocol, scoring, handicapping, dividing competitors into classes, the daily pay rate for the range warden, special use of the firing range, and so forth. Meetings were very regular from the turn of the century until 1914, then reduced rather abruptly owing to the Great War, during which time most of the members would have been in service, putting their shooting skills to practical use. Many captains are named as members, being of the British Army or the Royal Navy, many surely being attached to the pre-First World War Berkshire Yeomanry. Further research may find some notable persons. Being a legitimate and accredited pastime promoting honest and skilful competition, the member roll also included reverends. [In 2009 the National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom celebrated its 150th Anniversary. Today the association is primarily concerned with civilian full-bore target rifle shooting, although retaining its military heritage and close links with the British Armed Forces. Similarly, the Reading Rifle Club would have attracted Captains and Colonels of the Royal Armed Forces.] Incidences of special interest include experimentation with a patent target machine, a disconcerting matter of irregular entries on a score card, possible embezzlement of subscription money, a shooter having an epileptic seizure, and a proposal for establishing a summer camp at Clacton-on-Sea together with the Colchester Rifle Club. We also find occasional mention of Churn Camp, which was at the time in Berkshire, and another popular place for men of the Berkshire Yeomanry. Indeed a pastime requiring fastidious safety monitoring and honorable sportsmanship, frequent mention is made of the governing body of full bore rifle and pistol shooting sports, the National Rifle Association (NRA), which had been founded only forty years earlier in 1859. The Reading Rifle Club was affiliated to it. [The National Rifle Association was based at Putney Heath & Wimbledon Common, in south-west London, 12 years before its better known American cousin.] Manuscript
Northamptonshire, circa 1827-1828. Manuscript plan of Wadenhoe Wood, Bearshank Wood, showing a single building, perhaps an estate or farmhouse in the making. Drawn on gilt-edged paper watermarked 'Brocklesbey & Iorbey 1827.' Small 8vo. 4+ pages. Original ink drawings on 3 double-leafs, string-tied into paper wrappers inversely titled in manuscript, and placed into marbled paper covers. Item measuring approximately 20 x 33 cm, string-tied to margin, Fold at center, otherwise in Very Good condition. These charming hand drawn maps of Wadenhoe Wood, Bearshank Wood, and the grassy regions in between, show roads, the River Nene and some tributaries, and even foot bridges. Roughly within 5 miles of Little Wadenhoe Wood, on the map which shows the broadest scope of the region, is drawn a square indicative of an estate or farmhouse. The chart of Bearshank Wood draws a country road from Pilton to Benefield (which today connects Pilton Road to Harley Way), near which the home would be situated. A partial road also begins at Pilton and terminates between the forest and field regions. Wadenhoe is a village and civil parish in East Northamptonshire. It is best known for Wadenhoe House, a magnificent Jacobean manor built circa 1617, whose early residents include the Delacy family who were actively involved in the Gunpowder Plot, and George Ward Hunt - Chancellor of the Exchequer in the first Disraeli government later First Lord of the Admiralty (1874). The latter made some renovations to create a classical House of the period. Bearshank Wood was once a famous butterfly site; in the 1920s butterfly collectors would descend from far and wide to capture rarities such as chequered skippers and Duke of Burgundy fritillaries. Closed, dense woodland and conifer plantations are poor habitats for fussy butterflies, thus these and other remarkable butterflies disappeared from here decades ago. Manuscript
.....Compiled from Papers and other Materials of the Right Honourable George Lord Anson, and Published under his Direction, by Richard Walter, M.A. Chaplain of His Majesty's Ship the Centurion. SUBSCRIBERS COPY OWNED BY SUBSCRIBER LISTED IN BOOK AND WITH ADDITIONAL MANUSCRIPT LEAF SIGNED BY ANSON. First Edition. Quarto, measuring approximately 260mm x 210mm. 34, 420 pages, with 42 engraved folding plates and maps. Bound in a contemporary full calf binding. Bound without the directions to binder leaf, otherwise a stunning and very clean copy of this book. WITH THE SIGNATURE OF HENRY PENNYMAN ON THE TOP OF THE TITLE PAGE WHO IS LISTED IN THE LIST OF SUBCRIBERS AND THE BOOKPLATE OF JAMES PENNYMAN. IN ADDITION THERE IS A MANUSCRIPT LEAF - A RECEIPT FOR LOAN IN SALT - SIGNED IN THE ORIGINAL BY ANSON IN MAY 1752. This is the official account of Anson's voyage. England, at war with Spain in 1739, equipped eight ships under the command of George Anson to harass the Spaniards on the western coast of South America, for the purpose of cutting off Spanish supplies of wealth from the Pacific area. The Spanish fleet sent out to oppose the British ran into storms; provisions ran out and many ships were wrecked. Anson continued taking prizes during 1741-42, off the Pacific coast, and in June, 1743, captured the Manila galleon containing a vast treasure in Gold and Silver. Cox I, p. 49. Hill 1817. National Maritime Museum I, 109. Sabin 1625. Manuscript
Two manuscript signed letters, Dated 22 February & 10 May 1799, sent by the Assessor and Quaestor of Bückeburg, addressed to both Princess Juliane Wilhelmine Louise of Schaumburg-Lippe and Johann Ludwig Reichsgraf [Count] von Wallmoden-Gimborn, who were jointly governing the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, concerning a specific incident in delayed transportation of corn to Prussian troops. Text is in German. Quarto. 3 pages in manuscript, combined. Double leafs measuring approximately 20 x 32 cm, each with two watermarks, and armorial paper seal impressed over red wax. Very slight creasing, otherwise in very good and original condition, a most interesting correspondence from the fiefdom rule of beloved Princess Juliane. Manuscript
[England], September 1848. Manuscript notes on the treatment of cholera by R. Baikie, former surgeon in the Madras Medical Service, made during the second cholera pandemic, and transcribed by an unknown nineteenth century hand. 8vo. Double leaf measuring 11 x 18 cm, watermarked with the year 1848. Very good condition. Written during the second cholera pandemic,which erupted in 1839 and persisted until 1856, and at the onset of the outbreak in London, British physician Dr. Baikie's notes examine early hydrotherapy treatments by Vincenz Priessnitz and Heinrich Friedrich Francke, leaders in the study and cure of the disease in the mid-1800s. Most interestingly, the cures prescribed here are partly accurate and partly opposite to what science have since discovered to be effective. For example,while continued eating aids in the speed of recovery of normal intestinal function, herein the experts suggest eating as little as possible. However, continuous hydration with fluid intake was also prescribed, and remains a paramount part of treatment today. [Robert Baikie, MD, was a military surgeon with the Thirty-sixth Native Infantry in Madras, retiring from service in 1844.] Indeed, as Baikie predicts, in 1849, a second major outbreak spread across Europe. In London, it was the worst outbreak in the city's history, claiming 14,137 lives, over twice as many as the 1832 outbreak, and also claiming 5,308 lives in the major port city of Liverpool. Excerpts from the letter: "It will doubtless at this time, when cholera appears to be rapidly approaching, be both interesting & useful to know how the disease was treated by the celebrated Priessnitz of Graefenberg, during the last epidemic of 1832-33, when, as stated from good authority he had from 30-40 cases brought to him , & did not lose one. The subjoined was taken down from his own lips by a German friend who communicated it to me..." "[from Priessnitz]... In light cases it was found sufficient to use sitting baths at 59 degrees continued in some cases so long as two hours, with uninterrupted friction of the abdomen & extremities, plentiful drinking of cold water, & thereafter 1 or 2 clysters... In several cases where cramps... paralysis had already come on, the patient was put into a half bath... rubbed while every part of the body attained natural warmth... several hours... then packed in a wet sheet till gentle perspiration came on... frequent enemata of cold water, & sitting baths... according as severe pain in the belly or cramps in the bowels occurred... The after cure consisted of repeated wet packing, 2 long side baths daily, 2 enemata daily, & compress round the body. The patient to eat as little as possible... light white bread & cold water being the best diet." [end] "... The mode of treatment recommended by his celebrated scholar Francke (Rausse)... used the sitting baths & shallow baths at a temperature of 65 degrees to 68 degrees & not more than 20 minutes... Instead of the wet packing, he put the patient to bed, & covered him up warm... washed in a half bath, or if very weak, gently washed down in bed..." "The case above described, which occurred just after M. Franke's melancholy death, was treated on his principles by his pupil & assistant M. Halin." End Excerpts. Vincenz Priessnitz, also written Prießnitz (1799-1851) was a peasant farmer in Gräfenberg, Austrian Silesia, who is generally considered the founder of modern hydrotherapy, which is used in alternative and orthodox medicine. Priessnitz stressed remedies such as suitable food, air, exercise, rest and water, over conventional medicine. Priessnitz gave water treatments to patients of the Great Cholera Pandemic of 1832. Heinrich Friedrich Francke (1805-1848) (Pseudonym: J. H. Rausse) was an expert in hydrotherapy, and wrote several papers on the subject beginning in 1839. His enthusiasm for the treatment method came after a water cure with Priessnitz in Gräfenberg, 1838. Francke subsequently opened his own cold water treatment facilities. Manuscript
Manuscript Signed Letter, dated 21 January 1897, discussing matters pertaining to the settlement era of Perth, Western Australia. 8vo. Two double-leafs, 5 pages. Very good condition. Fascinating content such as a poverty, drought, general health issues in Perth from the conditions, problems of the homeless, and in contrast the increase in land values, and prospects for youngsters, The writer also talks of the Music Society and of singing the Messiah at Christmas. Written by M. Barigh of Havelock Street, her home located on a hill above the central town, who may have been a relative of Richard Henry Barigh, an immigrant to Australia, possibly originally as a convict. Excerpts from the letter: "Lately we have had a water famine and all day long the water is cut off but we fill a tank and so it does not cause us much inconvenience... We do not like W.A. half so much as N.Z. it is too hot and dry and this town is not healthy." "The place must have grown half since we came and building is going on all the time and the values of property increasing - our land cost about four pounds a foot and a lady has just bought this piece adjoining ours and given over eleven pounds for it and thinks she has got it cheap." "There are scores of people here with nothing who a little while since in Melbourne were living in luxury." End Excerpts. Perth had only been established since 1829. In 1850, Western Australia was opened to convicts at the request of farming and business people looking for cheap labour. Queen Victoria announced the city status of Perth in 1856.
One Original Signed Letter from Sir John Barrow to Davies Gilbert. 8vo. 1 page on a single-leaf, dated 22 August, (content reveals the year is 1831). Leaf measures approximately 18cm x 11,5cm (7 inches x 4.5 inches). Very good condition. In 1831, the Royal Astronomical Society deemed it imperative for advancement in navigation, to form "New Requisite Tables" which would be introduced in the impending publication of the New Nautical Almanack. At the behest of Captain Beaufort, Hydrographer to the Admiralty, RN Lieutenant Henry Raper, a revered authority on navigation, was in charge of constructing the charts. Here Sir John Barrow, Secretary of the Admiralty, is evidently responding to an enquiry by Davies Gilbert, mathematician and President of the Royal Society. Barrow assures Gilbert that he has directed the question to Captain Francis Beaufort, who is an integral member of the committee charged with making the nautical charts. Signed in the original by Sir John Barrow, the letter states: "The subject of the New Requisite Tables is in the hands of the Astronomical Society and has been for some time, but as yet they have not made any report. I have shown your note to Capt Beaufort who is one of the Committee." A report published in the Nautical Magazine, March 1831, corroborates the significance of this work, and the involvement of such leading authorities in navigation. Manuscript
Signed by the author on the front endpaper. Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall eng
17 August 1862. Official certificate of appointment issued by the British Armed Forces to Dr. John Campbell Bow, Esq. as "Surgeon to Our Forces." Document measures approximately 16 x 12 inches, completed in manuscript, signed by an officer of the War Office, witnessed in the hand of a Field Marshall, and bearing the paper seal of Queen Victoria. Filing annotations to verso are dated Bengal, 17 April 1863. Stamped at the War office in London 11.5.1866 together with a ten shilling embossed revenue stamp. Fascinating document, assigning a new surgeon to the Bengal Army subsequent to the Indian Mutiny of 1857, during the British Crown's re-structuring of administration and rule over the Indian subcontinent, and implementation of the British Raj The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of the British Raj within the British Empire. The Sepoy rebellion was a result of various grievances, and ultimately led to the dissolution of the East India Company in 1858. It also led the British to reorganize the army, the financial system and the administration in India. Manuscript
London, 1736. Official Act of Parliament issued by the British Government, to explain and amend a previous act for the repairing and enlarging of county roads in the environs of Rochester in Medway and Maidstone in Kent. Folio. 5 pages, with two woodcuts engravings, one being the national arms of King George II. Printed in 1736 by John Baskett, Printer to the King, on three leafs, laid paper, measuring approximately 19 x 28,5 cm. Minor loss to bottom left margin, unobtrusive to text, otherwise in very good condition, beautifully preserved, clean and bright. The present document suggests the government's plans and support toward the development of the town of Maidstone, exempting road builders, farmers, gardeners and town residents of road tolls and carriage duties previously payable, and presumably, still applicable elsewhere. At the Westminster Parliament 14 January 1734, King George II instituted "An Act for repairing and enlarging the Road" from Rochester to Maidstone, and others in Kent, by charging tolls and cargo taxes. The act was extended on 15 January 1735, and amended in 1736, the details of which are described herein. [During the English Civil War, the Battle of Maidstone took place in 1648, resulting in a victory for the Parliamentarians. Andrew Broughton, who was Mayor of Maidstone in 1649 declared the death sentence on Charles I, and today a plaque in Maidstone Town Centre memorialises Broughton as "Mayor and Regicide". Paper mills, stone quarrying, brewing and the cloth industry have all flourished here. The paper maker James Whatman and his son invented wove paper (Whatman paper) at Turkey Mill from 1740, an important development in the history of printing which took place only four years after the making of this document.] Excerpts from the document: "An act to explain and amend an Act passed in the first year of the Reign of His present Majesty...for repairing and enlarging the road leading from the House called The Sign of the Bells, in the Parish of St. Margaret un Rochester, to Maidstone, and other Roads therein mentioned in the County of Kent." "... several persons, carriages, matters, and things are exempted and discharged from the payment of the several Tolls and Duties to be taken at the several Gates and Turnpikes to be erected by virtue of the said Act..." "... after the twenty fifth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and thirty six, no person or persons shall be charged... any tolls or duties... who shall pass... with any Carriage carrying any stones, gravel, or other materials, for repairing roads or highways, or any dung, sand, grit or mould for manuring of lands or gardens, nor any horses, waggons, wasns, carts or other carriages carrying undried hops from the hop-grounds to the kilns... in or about Maidstone... nor for carriages carrying hay or fodder to be laid up in the houses, hut-houses, barns or stables of the several inhabitants..." "And it be further enacted... so much of the highway or pass-road leading from Rochester to the town of Maidstone, as lies between a place called The Lady Taylor's White Gate... and the way-post now standing at the north end of the said town..." End excerpts.
Primary source account of the Belenzada Affair, by a British marine serving on HMS Cornwallis (1813) and participating in the event at Lisbon, describing daily and hourly actions taking place during the counter-revolution begun by Queen Maria II. Annotated by a contemporary transcriber who seems to be a friend of the diarist and presumably the recipient of the original letter, to front upper margin: "Extract Private letter" and to the end leaf: "Novr. 3d 1836 Revolution at Lisbon Copy of Wms Report of it". 8vo. 7 pages in manuscript. Two double leafs measuring approximately 21 x 26,5 cm. Occasional creasing, very minor loss to first leaf, not affecting legibility of context, otherwise in very good condition. The Belenzada, also known as the Belém Affair, was an attempted coup in November 1836 by Queen Maria II of Portugal and her husband Prince Ferdinand II, to remove the liberal government which had been established by the September Revolution, and to reinstate the Constitutional Charter of 1826. Despite enjoying diplomatic support from the United Kingdom and Belgium, the attempt was frustrated by the determination of the National Guard, the regular army and the general population of Lisbon. This primary source document provides a superbly detailed chronical of events of one counter-revolution in Imperial Portugal, initiated by Queen Maria II herself, as a response to the uprising of the Setembrismo and Cartismo movement to end the political "devorismo" ('devourism') as it was termed at the time. The event is all-but-forgotten by Western historians, albeit said to be one of the three most important of conspiracies or plots executed during this period of unrelenting political conflict. Manuscript
Edinburgh, 1893. Letter Book Archive of draft documents made by the law firm Campbell, Martin & Boswell, for private estates and business agreements, neatly preserved in a custom binding, featuring little known details relating to the Dalquharran Castle and Kennedy estate, Scottish investments and links to Australia, and a fascinating connection to the renowned poet Robert Burns by way of a lease made with his descendent for a mansion estate which he, too, had personally visited. 8vo. Approximately 170 documents, most in manuscript and some in typescript, 1166 pages combined, with a scant few integral blanks, plus unpaginated manuscript index listed alphabetically by document type. Very large volume measuring 23 x 35 x 9 cm (WxHxD) and weighing 10 pounds. Quarter calf over brown cloth boards labelled in gilt to spine, original marbled endpapers. Bookbinder's label to front pastedown (Caldwell Brothers of Edinburgh). Very good condition, an excellent depository volume of legal and historical interest. The firm Campbell, Martin & Boswell, consisted of three solicitors, each with the title and privileges of "Writers to the Signet", John Douglas Boswell, W.S.; Patrick William Campbell, W.S.; and Francis John Martin, W.S., the latter of whom became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1892. Their office was at 1 North Charlotte Street in Edinburgh, which was the same address as the Royal Bank of Scotland, and situated very near to Charlotte Square. Scots law and legal proceedings of the late nineteenth century, much of which differ today, are well illustrated in this archive of original working documents executed by accomplished patrician lawyers representing some discriminating and aristocratic clients. Many of the documents deal with property conveyance and estate matters, and represent traditions no longer observed, including the obsolete " Trust Disposition and Settlement" procedure for claiming an inheritance. Other documents include assignations, land conveyances, bond and disposition in security, deeds of assumption and discharges, estate inventories, a search for deeds with the Register of Sasines, leases, loan proposals for purchasing commercial space in Edinburgh, records of monetary investments in Highland Railway (HR), Jamaican plantations, property to let in Scotland, Australian banks, and so forth. So exclusive and intertwined were the upper class and wealthy, perhaps not large in number, but surely powerful in society, some interesting genealogical and business connections can be made from examining these papers. Many clients are also relations to the solicitors who often acted as trustees. In one case, we find a multi-generational connection between the Campbell and Burns families, beginning with the Jamaica sugar plantation owner Patrick Douglas and Scotland's celebrated national poet Robert Burns (1759-1796). In addition, these documents shed light on the leasing history of the Dalquharran Castle in South Ayrshire, which included hunting rights for at least one resident, as well as the Kennedy family's monetary investments in Australia. Interesting to note, one of the lawyers from this firm, Mr. Campbell, is related through marriage to the castle's then most recent owner, Mr. Francis Thomas Romilly Kennedy (died in 1892). Some items of special interest: • A twenty page lease agreement was issued to a Glasgow coalmaster named Robert Burns (1844-1896), who was the great-great-grandson and namesake of the famous poet and lyricist Robert Burns (1759-1796) - who had visited the very same Mansion House of Garrallan in his day, being a friend of its proprietor at the time, Dr. Patrick Douglas. A fascinating and detailed document, the lessors were concerned with mining royalties, minerals specifically deemed as belonging to the Marquis of Bute, and minerals raised at the mansion house. [Garrallan was owned by the Campbell family until 1676. The Douglas family followed but it became extinct in the male line. Dr. Patrick Douglas, who died 1819, also owned property in Jamaica and in 1786 he offered Robert Burns a position as a bookkeeper in Port Antonio, but the poet declined. Burns was a visitor at Garrallan. Jane Douglas married Hamilton Boswell and this family retained it until 1914 when it was sold to the Stevenson family of Changue, who still own the property.] • Another fascinating document is headed "Notes on Titles of Charlotte Square," now a World Heritage Site situated in Edinburgh. In this we find reference to feudal tenancy and particulars of construction. Excerpts from the document: "Charter by the Magistrates & Town Council of Edinburgh in favour of Alexander Stevens dated 1st June 1803... no buildings are to be erected... on the foresaid back ground... that the area of the square within the line of the street ways was to become a common property for the accommodation pleasure health or other convenience of the several feuars round said square... For the lot of ground in Charlotte Square X the sum of £6. 18/4 3/12 and further paying the sum of £14. 18/4 3/12 upon the entry of each heir and singular successor or disponee to said Lot Houses or Tenements built thereon... For the foresaid piece of ground on Young Street the sum... Disposition of Sir George Hope to Margaret Kyle of Binghill dated 2nd April 1818. Disposition & assignation of the said Rev'd Dr. James Kyle in favour of Alexander Russell dated 8th January 1868. Disposition Settlement by the said George Bruce [Factor and Law Agent, W.S.] dated 10th July 1891 & recorded in the Books of Council Session 27th July 1892." • At least 8-10 documents pertain to Francis Thomas Romilly Kennedy (1842-1892) and the Dalquharran Castle which he inherited in 1879 and immediately expanded. The castle, which was built for his grandfather and featured a round bastion tower with a drawing room, piano nobile, and a library above, and an exquisite top-lit spiral central staircase, was extended from 1880-81 by Francis Thomas Romilly Kennedy, to accommodate his wife and bedrooms for their nine children. The work was completed at great expense, leaving the Kennedy family almost bankrupt. The family is known to have left Dalquharran for alternative lodgings, and by 1890 they had leased the castle and its lands as a hunting and fishing estate, as seen in this volume. Examples of the papers found herein include: An Agreement of Lease of the Dalquharran Castle as a furnished residence, "excepting the Strong Room retained by the proprietor", to James Paterson of Milton Lockhart, and includes surrounding lands with permission for shooting small game in accordance with the Ground Game Act of 1880. On 24 July 1893, the Scottish Union & National Insurance Company confirming notice of an "assignation" which transfers the estate of Francis Thomas Romilly Kennedy, to his second son "John Campbell Kennedy of the Royal Navy." A two page document which itemizes and places monetary value on the "Additional Inventory of the Personal Estate... of the late Mr. Kennedy", including the surrender value of a life insurance of sorts, from which are deducted debts and funeral expenses. A list of debentures, borrowed from institutions in Australia, Canada, and Oregon, also documents relating to his investments with the British and Australasian Trust and Loan Company. Matters concerning his executrix and widow Eliza Barbara Colina (née Campbell) Kennedy. • An agreement permitting a John Ernest Orr to manufacture and sell a certain steam trap which was patented in 1892 by a millwright named John Mackie. As members of the elite society of Scottish solicitors, the Writers to the Signet, and thus holding special signing authorities and privileges, the firm of three attracted some notable clients, some of which were long-standing clients from generations past. A cursory gander through the volume finds these examples: • William Jardine Herries Maxwell (1852-1933), a Liberal Unionist politician in Scotland. Maxwell was elected at the 1892 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dumfriesshire in 1895, but lost it very narrowly when his Liberal Party opponent had a majority of only 13 votes. He regained his seat in 1900, but stood down at the 1906 general election. • William Caven Lockhart-Mure of Livingston in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, Lieutenant in the 4th Bombay Cavalry (Poona Horse), Indian Army, who later rose to the rank of Major, and died in died in 1913. [With a lease herein the lieutenant agreed to a term of five years, letting and maintaining the Livingstone House, gamekeeper's house, garden and orchard in Kirkcudbright. It was owned by Colonel John Stewart (died 1726), a Scottish professional soldier who served in the Scottish Army and, after the Union with England, in the British Army, who also held a seat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1715, and who had inherited the property from his father. • James Oswald (1779-1853), an influential merchant and Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow from 1832 to 1837 , who inherited the estate of his cousin Richard Alexander Oswald (1771-1841), a Scottish Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1832 to 1835. [Again a family connection, his son, also named Richard, married Lady Mary Kennedy.] • Alexander Oswald (1811-1868), a Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayrshire from 1843 to 1852, as well as his father Richard Alexander Oswald, a Glasgow merchant. • Robert Haldane Scott, a Scottish attorney in Jamaica who filed returns for slaves by plantation owners in Trelawny, and his daughter Eliza Scott who married Reverend Edward Holland of New South Wales and died intestate June 1890. [A detailed document assigns a woman named Margaret Jane Wakeford, resident of Falmouth, Jamaica, as Power of Attorney for the estate of the late Eliza Scott.] • William Hume, technical chemist and innovative instrument maker, who was very active in the 1880s and 1890s designing and manufacturing magic lanterns, glass lantern slides, oxy-hydrogen lime-light apparatuses, a cantilever enlarging apparatus, a half-plate camera, rapid rectilinear lenses, and other photographic equipment, from his shop at 1 Lothian Street in Edinburgh. [A loan proposal herein indicates that he also purchased the property of 31 Lothian Street.] • Annabella Alexandrina Campbell Boswell (1826-1914), gentlewoman, born at Yarrows, Bathurst Plains, New South Wales, having a maternal lineage linked to the Campbells. She was a prolific diarist, horsewoman, skilled watercolourist and pianist. In 1849 Annabella met Patrick Charles Douglas Boswell, a free settler from Ayrshire, Scotland, accountant for the Bank of New South Wales (later becoming manager), who was related to James Boswell the biographer, and presumably also Mr. Boswell of this firm. Together Annabella and Patrick returned to Scotland in 1865, where Patrick had inherited the family estate in Ayrshire. • The only actual "will" recorded here is that of Bengal Army Major General Robert Farquhar Webster's widow, Janetta Annan Webster (née Dewar), which bequeaths the estate to her son, and permits the trustee to invest funds and heritable securities into in stocks of Great Britain, any British Colony or Dependency, until such time as he reaches the age of maturity. [Her husband was educated at the Edinburgh Academy before joining the British Army in India in 1843. He retired in 1878 as a Major General in the Bengal Staff Corps.] • Major Archibald Hume of Auchendolly and Spitalside, born 27 Dec 1843, and recognized by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for having presented the museum with a bronze enamelled harness ornament of British Celtic origin. • William Fullarton of Fullarton (1754-1808), a Scottish soldier in the Bengal Staff Corps who participated in the Second Anglo-Mysore War, a statesman, agriculturalist, author, and son of a wealthy Ayrshire gentleman for whom he was named - William Fullarton of Fullarton. • Reverend Samuel Smith, attached to the church and parish of Borgue in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. • Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Maitland (176-1824), a British soldier who served in St. Domingue, and colonial Governor of British Ceylon. Historical Scottish minutiae through and through, with over 170 documents to explore, the opportunity of finding little-known information or unravelling early questions of lineage and heritable rights is indeed great! Dalquharran Castle: In the spring of 1819 Thomas Francis Kennedy (1788-1879) of Dalquharran Castle and Dunure, Ayr, (Whig aristocrat and commissioner of woods, forests, land revenues, works and buildings), succeeded his estranged father to the encumbered Ayrshire estates. The principal properties were the Dalquharran Castle near Dailly, and the coastal estate of Dunure, situated between Dalquharran and Ayr. He died at Dalquharran in 1879 and was succeeded by his only child, Francis Thomas Romilly Kennedy (1842-1892). At great expense Francis Thomas Romilly Kennedy made expansions to the mansion, leaving the Kennedy family almost bankrupt. Recent studies suggest that external construction work was finally finished in the summer of 1890, relating this to a note made by Kennedy on documents bearing this date, and existing records regarding the exterior paving and roofing work being completed. The family is known to have left Dalquharran for alternative lodgings, and by 1890 they had leased the castle and its lands as a hunting and fishing estate. The castle had several tenants over the next 45 years, whilst staying in the hands of the Kennedy family. Eventually, the castle and the estate were put up for auction. It was bought by a Timber Merchant from Troon, who set about stripping the timber from the estate and who leased the castle to the Scottish Youth Hostel Association. Dalquharran remained a youth hostel until the Second World War, when the Langside School for the Deaf, evacuated from Glasgow, moved in. During the war, the Castle and lands were sold to one John Stewart, a produce merchant from Girvan, who later moved into Dalquharran with his family, and farmed the estate. The Stewart family co-habited the house with friends, but still the house proved too large and expensive to maintain, and was abandoned. The castle was inhabited as recently as 1967, but was unroofed to allow the then owners to avoid payment of high tax rates. It is now a ruin, with only the masonry shell remaining intact. The Society of Writers to Her Majesty’s Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of documents which required to be signeted, but these have since disappeared and the Society is now an independent, non-regulatory association of solicitors. The Society maintains the Category A listed Signet Library, part of the Parliament House complex in Edinburgh, and members of the Society are entitled to the postnominal letters, WS. Wills/Testaments and Inheritance (Scotland): Heritable property, also known as immoveable or 'heritage' property and real estate, included land and buildings. Up to 1868 real estate was automatically inherited by the eldest son (the law of primogeniture) or daughter if there was no son unless there had been a specific disposition or bequest. The law of primogeniture applied to heritage until 1964. This meant that an eldest son might not appear named in the will. Likewise, a wife, who would automatically get the widow's part, may not be mentioned. The right to inherit was established by Retours of Services of Heirs or by a Trust Disposition and Settlement ('deed of settlement'). The actual register of the transfer or other change in ownership was recorded in Sasines. Manuscript
Manuscript accounts ledger kept by Scottish farmer Daniel Collyer, Esq., (1776-1824), and subsequently continued by his widow Elizabeth, concerning a sizeable historical farming estate upon which today stands the old Cormiston Farm Cottage, providing a very detailed record of the setup, daily undertakings, and commerce of an early nineteenth century farmstead. Folio. 317 pages in manuscript, watermarked leafs, with a rough manuscript plan of the farm drawn on the front endpaper, and a second more detailed plan drawn on a separate leaf loosely placed within. Green boards representative, simple red label to spine, original marbled endpapers. In a patented account book made by John Williams of London, stationer to the Royal family, with original bookbinder's label to front pastedown, dated 1806. Front board bowing, partial separation at front hinge, otherwise in very good condition, binding remaining firm, interior crisp and clean, a very thorough record of early Scottish farming practices and rural life. This volume is replete with detail, a treasury of information, not only about the Collyer family connection to historic Cormiston, but also about local activities including trade, market fairs, social interests, nineteenth century households and the workings of Scottish farming practices. On the lands described herein, there still stands today an old farmhouse, now operating as a family run bed and breakfast called "Cormiston Farm Cottage" [Biggar ML12 6NS, some 2 miles from the town of Biggar]. The farmhouse was built in the 1790's and is still retains many of the original Georgian and Victorian features. The house and large Georgian steading to the rear are B Listed (Grade II) by Historic Scotland, identified by the Canmore National Record of Historic Environment as "Cormiston Towers Farm" ID number 47484, site number NS93NE 29. Manuscript
Spain, 1512. Manuscript will and testament, in Latin, of Anthonio Colonier from the Catalan village of Arenys de Munt, dated Calella, 8 May 1512. Folio, 27 x 34 cm, written in a neat scribal hand on vellum. Some age-toning, otherwise in very good condition, a rare manuscript document surviving over 500 years. Latin Manuscript Will and Testament of Catalan Farmer from Arenys de Munt, 1512. The will and testament of Anthonio Colonier, a farmer from the Catalan village of Arenys de Munt in the outskirts of Calella (where the will was signed) and north of Barcelona. In it, Colonier names his daughter, Eulalie, as his legitimate heir. Arenys de Munt is a municipality in the comarca of the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated inland from the coast, in the el Corredor range. It retains a textile industry and is also known for the production of strawberries, cherries and liqueurs. (Arenys is Catalan for "sands (of a seasonal creek)" and de Munt for "up hill"). Manuscript
SIGNED BY AUTHOR. 24x17 cm. 432 pages. Gilt hardcover with dust jacket. In good condition.
One Original Signed Letter, written Springfield Newnham, Cambridge, Nov 24 [1879]. 2 pages, 8vo. Bi-folium on headed paper with mourning border, "Down, Beckenham, Kent, Railway Station, Orpington S.E.R." Leaf measures approximately 11,5cm x 18cm (4.5 inches x 7 inches), when folded. Very Good Condition, nicely preserved. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. The Letter reads: My dear Frances, I see in the papers that you have lost your dear mother. I remember when you kindly wrote to me by her wish, that she felt herself that her end could not be very distant. I should be very grateful for a line, and I trust you will be able to tell me that she did not suffer very much; but rather that her placid & happy nature remained with her to the last. Believe me , Very sincerely yours, Emma Darwin" Frances Julia "Snow" Wedgwood (9 July 1833 – 26 November 1913) was an English feminist novelist, biographer, historian and literary critic. She was described as "a young woman of extreme passions and fastidious principles" and "at once a powerful reasoner and an inexorable critic of reason” Manuscript