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1 page folio in French with address on the verso, countersigned by the secretary De Neufville, Paris, 1 January 1599.Henry tells his trusted adviser that the situation with regard to St. Phal is in the state that he wishes, and asks Duplessis-Mornay to come to him the next day if possible, as he very much wishes it.

Philippe Duplessis-Mornay (1549-1623) a Huguenot lawyer and writer, had been a principal adviser to Henri of Navarre since 1573. He had only escaped the Massacre of St. Bartholomew through the aid of a Catholic friend. Although disappointed by Henri's conversion to Catholicism in 1593 his loyalty was undimmed, and the two men maintained a lifelong friendship. Henri had appointed Duplessis-Mornay Governor of Saumur in 1589, a position he retained until his eighties. He founded a Protestant University there, later suppressed by Louis XIV. In 1579 he published A Defence of Liberty against Tyrants, justifying resistance by the people against a tyrannical ruler.

At this period the Bastille was more a fortress than a prison, and Henri IV kept his treasure there. Some important state prisoners were indeed occasionally held there, but it had not yet acquired its sinister reputation

]]> Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4131.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4131.asp
1 page 8vo in French, n.p., 26 November 1792.Trans: "Citizen Petion has sent you a report regarding the request made by Citizen Pauly for a place in the Commissariat. This patriot whom I know, and for whose public-spiritedness I can vouch, has prompted me to commend him to you and I will be very gratified if you were good enough to include him among the commissaries you intend to appoint, I will once again be greatly obliged to you." In a further proof of her patriotism, Josephine signs and dates her letter as "Citizeness Beauharnais, wife of the Maréchal de Camp" "25 9bre (November) 1792 the 1st year of the republic"

Josephine's first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, was at the time Commander of the Army of the Rhine, fighting to secure France's borders against a threatened Austrian invasion. The marriage had produced two children, Eugène and Hortense, but had never been very happy, nor had Alexandre ever been faithful. Left alone in Paris with two small children at a dangerous moment in the Revolution, Josephine astutely used her charm and her friends to try to secure her and their safety.

Jerome Pétion had served as Paris's Mayor in the early days of the Revolution, but in September 1792 he was elected the first President of the National Convention. He was eventually to break with the intransigent Jacobins and join the Girondins.

The French Republican Calendar, with the months re-named as fructidor, thermidor, pluviose, etc., was only adopted in 1793, although back-dated to 22 September 1792. One therefore would not expect to see letters dated "an I de la République". A resolution was, however, passed on 21 September 1792, declaring it "the first year of the Republic", hence Josephine's use of the term to prove her Revolutionary ardour.

In excellent condition.]]> Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3872.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3872.asp MAHLER, Gustav (1860-1911). Austrian Composer.Autograph Letter Signed ("Gustav Mahler") to an unnamed correspondent, discussing a future conducting engagement.

2 pages small oblong 8vo in German, written on both sides of a correspondence card, n.p., n.d.Mahler, a notorious perfectionist, insists on high standards in an orchestra he is to conduct. He requests "information about the orchestra, how it has been put together and how many rehearsals will be available." He stresses "I would have to make it a condition that the orchestra meets the artistic standards that I am used to" and confirms that his concert fee for the performance will be 1000 marks.

Unfortunately, there is no indication where the concert will take place. Mahler became legendary as a conductor for demanding high standards of performance. Conductor and artistic director of the Vienna State Opera 1897-1907 and of the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic Society 1908-11, in both cities his insistence on the primacy of artistic integrity above all else aroused opposition, aggravating his congenital heart condition.

His conducting however, mainly of opera, did win public acclaim, in contrast to the incomprehension with which most of his own works were received.

Top left corner of the recto slightly rubbed.]]> Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3437.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3437.asp
2 pages oblong 8vo, Abingdon, n.d. (annotated "1952")."I must apologize for having left your letter and manuscript for so long a time unacknowledged. As it happened, the last two months have been more than ever busy. I have not been well of late, & have no secretary. I had no chance of hearing the setting you so kindly sent me. I have sent it back to Miss Munro-Kerr, of the Society of Authors, & have asked her to write to you about it. . ."

Pinholes at top left and light waterstaining at each of the bottom corners of the letter, but the text remains perfectly legible.]]> Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4262.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4262.asp The Lord of the Rings.Autograph Card Signed ("J.R.R.T.") to Miss Levinson, sending his greetings and asking if "there is anything that you would like as a token - gift" with four lines from the Crist of Cynewulf in Anglo-Saxon on the recto.

2 pages small oblong 8vo, Merton College, Oxford, 20 December 1956.The poem, written in Anglo-Saxon script, begins:

"Eala Earendel engla beorhtast ofer middan geard monnu sended . . ."

On the verso, Tolkien sends his greetings, continuing, "Also it would be kind of you to let me know if there is anything that you would like as a token - gift - from one who has (in every way) so far received more than given."

In 1913, Tolkien, then a student of English Language at Oxford, first discovered Cynewulf's Crist, an Anglo-Saxon religious poem. Two lines especially stayed with him, translated as "Hail Earendel brightest of angels / above the middle-earth sent unto men". Earendel has been variously associated with the dawn star, Venus, or with John the Baptist. For Tolkien, the discovery was a revelation, and in his biography of Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter quotes a later remark by the writer that "I felt a curious thrill, as if something had stirred in me, half wakened from sleep." A year later, Tolkien wrote a poem which began "Earendel sprang up from the Ocean's cup / In the gloom of the mid-world's rim". Tolkien's still-potent mythology was to grow from those few lines.

The ink on the message has been slightly smudged in two places, but the quotation is in excellent condition in Tolkien's distinctive hand, made even more decorative by the Middle English script.]]> Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4228.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4228.asp
Rackham was most celebrated as the illustrator of such childrens' classics as Grimms' Fairy Tales and Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle. His style, angular and full of stylised Gothic detail, can be deliciously frightening.]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2804.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2804.asp Ismailia: a narrative of the expedition to central Africa for the suppression of the slave trade).

3 3/4 pages large 8vo, Bohr, En route to Baubat, 29 January 1875.Gordon, at the time of writing, was serving as Governor General of the Soudan and in the service of the Khedive of Egypt. He saw his primary task as the suppression of the slave trade and the improvement of the lives of the native population. He was remarkably more sympathetic to people of the Soudan, and also to the Khedive, than his predecessor in the post, Sir Samuel Baker.

"I . . . am much obliged for your kind intention of sending me your book, which however I received a copy of by the mail that brought your letter. You will not be offended I hope if I express my opinion . . . in saying I cannot think it a fair thing for an officer to enter the service of a Foreign Power and afterwards to expose all that Foreign Powers weaknesses & blots. This is the second time I am (in) such a position and never will I expose the troubles and shortcomings of the nation who feed me however badly it may do it. For Abou Saoud's coming up here with me, I am entirely and solely responsible . . . Abou S. did the work I wanted him to do perfectly and was no failure at all to me, by his misconduct afterwards his removal was necessary but his real work was done. I think for myself I will bend to no one to direct my line of action, and I value the opinion of the world at what it is worth. I see by reading the 1 Vol. that I did you wrong in thinking that you entered into the Contract with Azad . . . or that you had brought up Abou Saoud to Gondokoro, I am sorry for the mistake which I was led to by seeing your name & Moura Azads to some agreement about trade up here. . . Wat el Meh went to Kaba Reza after your departure & bought from Kaba your uniform for a gun . . . I took it from him & put it in store with the promise that either he should have it back or you would pay him. . . P.S. You will excuse I hope my remarks about book writing but I cannot help feeling for the Khedive in this matter after all the enormous expense he has gone]]> Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4224.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4224.asp BRAQUE, Georges (1882-1963). French Painter..Autograph Letter Signed ("G Braque") to the Swedish collector Monsieur Olsen, 1 page 4to in French, Varengeville sur Mer, 6 October 1935.A warm letter.

Trans: "I acknowledge receipt of your cheque for 8000F. Your letter has given pleasure and I am very happy to have another picture in Sweden. I hope with you that the future will be favourable for us. I think that this time the exchange rate has worked out well . . ."

Braque's paintings are mainly still lifes, his subjects being transformed into a two-dimensional pattern. He sought to achieve complete harmony between colour and design and his best works are among the outstanding decorative achievements of the century.]]> Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2145.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2145.asp le Marchand de Bestiaux and Bella aux gants blancs for a series of special exhibitions.

1 page 4to in French, Vence, 30 October 1958.Trans: "Forgive me for writing directly to you; if I take this liberty, it is because of the great importance which I attach to the exhibitions currently being prepared. As you no doubt know, they will be shown at the museums of Hamburg, Munich and Paris, at the Louvre, the Pavillon Marsan. I would like to ask you to kindly authorise the Museum to participate in these exhibitions by the loan of paintings which have been requested by the Directors of the said museums. I would very much wish that the "Marchand de Bestiaux" and "Bella aux gants blancs" could be shown . . . If you like, I could lend you, in exchange, a variant of the "Marchand de bestiaux" which I have at home . . ."

In 1959, under the auspices of UNESCO, a major retrospective exhibition of Chagall's work in painting, sculpture, carvings and pottery was shown at Hamburg, Munich and Paris. Chagall often returned to similar themes in his work and the Marchand de bestiaux had been depicted in various versions, the first of which he left behind in Paris when he returned to Russia at the outbreak of the First World War. A pencilled cross by the paragraph referring to the loan of an alternative version of this work leads us to suspect that Chagall's offer was accepted. Bella was Chagall's beautiful first wife who was often his model.]]> Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3936.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3936.asp EDWARD VII, (1841-1910). King of Great Britain and Ireland.Autograph Letter Signed, as King ("Your devoted Brother Bertie") to "Dearest Helen" (his sister-in-law Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont, widow of his younger brother Leopold, Duke of Albany).

3 pages 8vo in Edward's almost illegible script, on paper headed by his monogram of an embossed EVII in red surmounted by a gold crown, Marienbad, 5 September 1907.An affectionate family letter, congratulating his sister-in-law on the birth of a son to her daughter Alice, Countess of Athlone, and sympathising over the illness of Sir Robert Collins, Helen's trusted adviser and Comptroller of her Household. Helen's husband Leopold, Queen Victoria's fourth son, was a haemophiliac who had died in 1884, leaving Helen a widow at 23. She never remarried and came to rely on the (entirely platonic) friendship and devotion of Sir Robert, who had been her husband's tutor.

"Many thanks for your kind letter & I rejoice to learn such good news of dear little Alice's recovering fr. her confinement & that it is a fine & strong boy - I was delighted for them having a son as I know how much they as well as you wished for it - may my little great nephew grow to be a confort & satisfaction to his Parents & Grandmother. I am greatly distresed to hear of poor dear dear excellent Sir R. Colllins deplorable state of health as it is the first I had heard of it - though I thought him greatly aged & altered when I saw him last . . . Tomorrow I finish my "cure" & leave for England - Pray let me find a line on Saturday next at Buck: Palace . . . & let me know how he is. Please tell Lady Collins how deeply I feel for her great anxiety & also for you as he is such a trusted old & devoted friend!"

The baby boy whose birth the King here celebrates was Rupert, Viscount Trematon. Sadly, he was killed in a car accident in 1928 at the age of 20.]]> Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2941.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2941.asp
William Holman Hunt, an original member with Millais of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, was the only member of the group to remain faithful to PRB principles, his works being characterised by hot colour and an accumulation of detail. His best-known work is probably The Scapegoat (1854). In 1905 he published his important Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.]]> Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2718.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2718.asp
Strachey had transformed the art of biography with his ground-breaking Eminent Victoriansin 1918. In this year, 1928, he had published Elizabeth and Essex. He then began work on his Portraits in Miniature, published in 1931. Short-sighted and lanky, he was described by Cecil Beaton as "immensely tall, and could be even twice his height if were not as bent (no pun apparently intended) as slopppy asparagus."]]> Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4338.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4338.asp
1 page 8vo with half of the integral blank leaf, n.p., 14 March n.y. (docketed "1856").In his small, neat upright hand Thackeray informs his correspondent that "My friends strongly advise that I should give a supplementary lecture, and I learn from Mr. Norman that a requisition to that effect is in course of signature at present. As you could come to no conclusion the other day regarding the Lyceum, and my time is very pressing I have determined to lecture on my own account on Monday ev(enin)g."

For six month in 1855/56, Thackeray lectured in the United States on "The Four Georges". The public flocked to hear the popular writer, and in spite of some initial coolness in the newspapers's reactions, they were a great success. The income from these lectures was most welcome, and Thackeray saw the flow of dollars as a means of securing his daughters' financial security.

Slightly browned and some darkening at the bottom, possibly from previous mounting, below the signature.]]> Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3373.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3373.asp
1 page 4to, Whitehall, 26 November 1717.Saying that he is enclosing "the King's Letters to the King and Queen of Portugal, wherein His Majesty is pleased to notify to them the birth of the young Prince, which you will please to take the proper opportunity of delivering . . ."

The Prince referred to is George William, the fifth child of George I's heir the Prince of Wales, later George II. The boy, born on 2 November 1717, did not long survive. Addison, a committed and partisan Whig, was a rather unlikely Secretary of State in 1717/18. Towards the end of the 17th century the Secretariat of State had been divided into two departments, northern and southern, with the northern department generally having responsibility for foreign affairs and the southern department for home affairs. However the division was not rigid; Addison was Secretary for the southern department, yet he is here dealing with what is really a foreign department matter.

A little worn at the edges, but in clear and acceptable condition.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU685.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU685.asp Probably I can let you have the article tomorrow evening (Wednesday) - If not then, Thursday morning, at latest - And of course James Douglas' book will be referred to. Indeed, it will be the starting point, and basis throughout."

James Douglas, journalist, critic and editor of the Star and Sunday Express, had written a study of the poet and critic Theodore Watts-Dunton, Swinburne's minder and house-mate, in 1904. Watts-Dunton died in 1914, and it is very possible that Beerbohm, who had know both him and Swinburne well, had been asked to write an article of appreciation and intended to refer to Douglas' book.

Two small round filing holes at the head of both pages, not affecting the text.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3719.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3719.asp
1 page oblong 8vo, 5 Cheyne Row Chelsea, 3 April 1860.The first two volumes of Carlyle's Frederick the Great had appeared in 1858 to great critical (and financial) success. These royalty payments probably largely derive from immediate reprints of the work.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU1775.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU1775.asp
2 pages 8vo in French on separate leaves, written on the headed paper of the illustrated satirical journal Le Carnet de la Semaine, 5 Impasse de Guelma, Paris, n.d. (c. 1916).Dufy's light-hearted decorative style proved particularly apt for the design of textiles and ceramics. Although best known for his paintings of racecourses and Riviera esplanades and regattas, his textile designs were very much admired.

Trans: ". . . I am sending you two tapestries (étoffes) shown at the arts decoratifs which you wish to reproduce. I am taking the liberty of letting you know that in reducing these designs too much their character changes immensely, but this is a superfluous recommendation. This note is simply to let you know that I have no objection if the design is not reproduced in its entirety. In any case I have every confidence in your judgement . . ."]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2224.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2224.asp
1 page folio with Royal paper seal, printed and completed in manuscript, sigend by the King at the head and countersigned at the foot by the Home Secretary Earl Spencer. St. James's, 25 July 1806.With the resumption of war between England and France in 1803 both countries attempted to restrict each other's trade, in particular any direct trade between their own citizens and the enemy. However, the system on both sides was porous, alleviated by mild corruption and smuggling, and by the granting of licences such as this to import goods considered important. The permission granted here is wide, allowing the import of "Grain according to the Provisions of the Corn Laws, Salted Provisions of all sorts, Salted Beef & Pork, Seeds, Saffron, Rags, Oak Bark, Turpentine, Hides, Skins, Honey, Wax, Fruit . . . Wine, Lace, French Cambrick and Lawns, Vinegar and Brandy."

Four months after the date of this document, in November 1806, Napoleon raised the stakes by issuing his 'Berlin Decree', which sought to ruin England economicallly by declaring a complete blockade. Britain retaliated, and both sides claimed the right to seize and search neutral ships. However, in practice both sides continued to issue licences to import enemy goods. This licence would be carried on the importing neutral ship, and shown to the Captain of any British ship who might wish to search it.

The last few letters of the King's rather loose signatuire are light, where the ink was running out. At the lower left there is the ink offsetting of his signature evidently from another document, which can be made out by using a mirror.

An uncommon form of document. Many such licences must have been issued, but few seem to have survived.

Some wearing along folds, but a pleasing document in sound condition.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4157.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4157.asp
2 1/2 x 3 1/2 ins, 17 June 1847.In the 1840's Landseer was at the height of his fame and success, producing many of his most celebrated animal pictures. The underlying cruelty of many of these pictures cannot be ignored, but it would be wrong to think of Landser as a sadist; he rather regarded the cruelty and tragedy of animal life as a sad reflection of the lot of man.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3543.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3543.asp
After the death of Mill's beloved wife Harriet in 1859 her daughter Helen Taylor became his companion and collaborator. He spoke movingly of his good fortune in "drawing another prize in the lottery of life" after the loss of his wife. Helen co-operated with him particularly on his last book, The Subjection of Women, published in 1869.

Small fragment missing at the left edge, with no loss of text, and mounting traces on the verso, but in good clean condition overall.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4246.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4246.asp
3 pages 4to in French, Headquarters, Nils (?), 28 Brumaire an 8 (19 November 1799).A letter written just ten days after Napoleon's rise to power as First Consul.

The night of 9-10 November saw a coup d'état which toppled the corrupt and incompetent Directory and marked the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Five years later, Napoleon would become Emperor; ten years later, he was to marry Marie Louise, niece of Marie Antoinette. But at the time of the coup he was seen by Mortier as the saviour of republican principles.

Mortier had fought in the two great battles which secured the revolution, Jemappes and Fleurus, and shortly before writing this letter had fought under Massena in Switzerland. France had suffered a series of defeats at the hands of the Russians which saw its Italian conquests dwindle; however, Massena's victory in Switzerland marked a turning point in France's fortunes.

Trans: "We have just learnt with the greatest interest, General, the decision which you have taken in Paris, a decision which has irrevocably saved the Republic: we still tremble at the dangers which threatened Bonaparte and the whole army rejoices to see at the head of the state the true Restorer of Liberty. Too much and for too long have we endured the degrading yoke of a few ... for whom the word country has always been meaningless, beings who only find life in turmoil and in revolutionary measures the means to save the public cause.

Citizen Benoit Mondicourt, my relative . . . was discharged ten months ago, after 44 years of service and three years of captivity in Hungary as a prisoner of war . . . I have just sent him a letter of recommendation addressed to you, as I am certain that it is possible to have him reinstated immediately . . . I told you some time ago of the great need I had to deal with some family matters at home . . . now that the snow renders all military operations in this country impossible, you would oblige me if you could find the means to allow me to spend six weeks at home. . ."

In excellent condition.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4179.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4179.asp
3 pages 8vo in pencil, 10 South Street, 4 June 1897."In answer to your question, I have not the least idea where the "original "photograph" is, or how you "could obtain a copy", or where the "original "negative" is, or if at all it is. I have never seen the photograph you send. I remember that some years ago Sir Harry Verney (my brother-in-law who is dead) made me sit for one on the express condition he made that it should not be sold. I did not see it. It is possible that Lady Verney (Florence's sister Parthenope) Claydon Ho: Winslow Bucks who has the general knowledge of Sir Harry's things might be able to tell you more. I may remark by the way that I never sate (sic) for my photograph between 1857 (by the Queen's command) & this one. All the "portraits" of me are fictitious." In a typical postscript she adds "I am immersed in work FN".

It is remarkable that there are indeed so few genuine portraits - either photographic or sketched - of one of the greatest heroines of the Victorian age. Early sketches by her sister Parthenope and an early photograph show a slender and very attractive young woman, while a late photograph of Florence sitting in the garden with her brother in law Sir Harry Verney presents a plump, puffy-faced but benign old lady.

Theodore Dyke Acland (1851-1931) was a Governor of St. Thomas's Hospital, where the Florence Nightingale School for Nurses had been established in 1860. He served as Medical Officer with the Egyptian Army and his publications included The Future of the Tuberculous Soldier.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3966.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3966.asp
1 page oblong 8vo, Witham, Essex, 15 November 1951.While working on her translation of Dante, Sayers had evidently borrowed from Storrs, who himself lectured on Dante, one of Paget Toynbee's numerous books on the author.

"I am so sorry I was in London the first half of this week, and did not get your card till late Wednesday night. I rang you both a Penmarsh and at the Travellers' Club this morning, but you were not at either address. Yes, indeed you were kind enough to lend me Paget Toynbee again, to help with the Notes to the Purgatory. I am so sorry you have been inconvenienced by its absence. Would you like me to entrust it to the registered post . . . In the meantime . . . the Cimabne(sic)-Giotto reference is Purg: xi.94-96."

Dorothy Sayers evidently sent one copy of this letter to the Travellers Club and the other to Penmarsh (which she consistently mis-types as "Pebmarsh" and then corrects), and signed both copies.

An interesting group of Dantists: Paget Toynbee (1855-1932) wrote a number of books on the poet, including the Concise Dante Dictionary; Sir Ronald Storrs, perhaps best known as an orientalist and as the first Governor of Jerusalem after its capture by Allenby, was also in demand as a lecturer on Dante; and Sayers, of course, spent her later years working on a translation of the Divine Comedy, of which only the Inferno and Purgatorio were published before her death.

A note in pencil at the top of the letter reads "For Tiny if still collectg. R".]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4073.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4073.asp
1 page 8vo in French with integral blank leaf, The Pines, Putney Hill, 21 February 1881.Trans: "I will always be proud and happy at the honour you have done me in associating my name with the celebration of the man who will cause those who come after us to always call our century 'The Century of Victor Hugo'."

Hugo's 80th birthday was on 26 February 1882, a year after this letter was written, so the Committee was giving itself ample time to plan what was in effect a national celebration in honour of France's greatest living writer. One of the ways in which Hugo was honoured was the changing of the name of the street where he had lived for several years from the Avenue d'Eylau to the Avenue Victor Hugo.

Swinburne deeply admired Hugo, and often referred to him as "the Master". A year after Hugo's death in 1885 he published a penetrating study of his life and work.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3900.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3900.asp "best friend" from Ellen Terry with her love July 81"), with the photographer's imprint of Window & Grove, Baker Street.

6 1/2 x 4 1/4 ins, London, 1881.A charming image of Ellen Terry in profile. Her wig, in contrast to what one expects of Ophelias today is shoulder-length, fringed and curled. The dedicatee, Ludwig Barnay, was one of the pre-eminent actors in Germany at the time.

A small damp stain at the top right of the photograph, far removed from the image, but otherwise in excellent condition.]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4286.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU4286.asp La Captive with music composed by the correspondent.

1 page 8vo, 4 March, n.y.Hugo makes a generous gesture, fully in keeping with his principles.

Trans: "I authorise you, Monsieur, to publish with your music La Captive (orientales). If there are sales or profits, set my author's rights at whatever you consider to be a fair amount, and give it, I beg you, to the poor. With all my best wishes for your success."

Hugo's poem La Captive was set to music by another giant of French Romanticism, Hector Berlioz. However, we cannot positively identify whether this letter was written to Berlioz or to another, now forgotten, composer who may also also set the poem to music.

The letter has been neatly laid down on cream card, but is nevertheless in very good condition.]]> Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3938.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3938.asp BROWNING, Robert (1812-1889); and his wife Elizabeth Barrett BROWNING (1806-1861). Poets.Both their signatures ("Elizabeth Barrett Browning" and "Robert Browning"), written on a narrow oblong slip of paper, and dated by Robert "Florence 1859".

c. 5 x 1 1/4 ins, mounted in gilt and pink, glazed, and in a deep gilt and brown wood frame, measuring in all c. 7 x 10 ins.The Brownings, who had married privately in London in September 1846, left a week later for Italy, living at first in Siena. An apartment in the Casa Guidi, Florence, became their main residence from the summer of 1847 until Elizabeth's death in 1861. There they entertained artistic and literary friends from England as well as many members of the continental intelligentsia. The fame of the two poets meant that they were often asked for their joint autograph, and they would usually write their names on narrow slips of paper, as here. This much sought after joint autograph has now become rare.

Paper clip mark at the right edge, above the date. The pink and gilt mount and the deep frame make this an attractive presentation.]]> Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3313.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3313.asp
1 1/2 pages 8vo in French with integral blank leaf, Navarre, 8 April n.y. (probably 1814).When Napoleon married Marie Louise, he granted Josephine the estate of Navarre in Normandy, and the additional title of Countess of Navarre. She retreated to Navarre in April 1810 as the formal wedding ceremony between the Emperor and his second wife was celebrated in Paris. Exactly four years later, in April 1814, she fled to Navarre under circumstances which were, if anything, even more painful for her, the abdication of her former husband. Napoleon's downfall was precipitous. On 31 March Tsar Alexander and Frederick William of Prussia rode down the Champs Elysées in triumph; on 1 April Talleyrand formed a provisional government with the approval of the Allies; on 2 April the Senate declared Napoleon deposed; and on 4 April Napoleon formally abdicated in favour of his son. Two days after this letter, on 11 April, the Treaty of Fontainebleau was to finalise the abdication and pave the way for the return of the Bourbon monarchy.

Trans: "I was very touched, my dear Alexander, by the new signs which you have given me of your attachment to me, which did not surprise me, it is in misfortune that one recognises friendship and I was right to count on yours. I do not know what my fate will be, I suspect it has been decided. I have just written to the Prince de Bénévent (Talleyrand), in order to ask his good offices. I recommend my interests to him and those of my children, I have come to Navarre less because of fear than for propriety. If you think that it would be appropriate for me to return to Malmaison, tell me, and I will follow your advice with as much pleasure as I have in renewing the assurance of my tender friendship."

Although Josephine was understandably anxious about her fate and that of her children, her legendary charm was to prove her salvation. Talleyrand, who resembled Josephine in his talent to please and also to adapt to changing circumstances, became her ally, continuing her annuity and protecting her children. Tsar Al]]> Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3867.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3867.asp
1.25 pages folio with the engraved heading "Imperial Decree to the Chapter of Russian Imperial and Royal Orders." Tsarskoe Selo, 17 November 1914.In all, 27 men are designated to receive the Imperial awards for bravery. At the end of October 1914 Turkey joined the German-Austro-Hungarian alliance and declared war on the Entente powers of Great Britain, France and Russia. The Turkish fleet, accompanied by the German warships Goeben and Breslau, bombarded Odessa, Sebastopol and Theodosia on the Russian Black sea coast, causing great damage. The Turkish and German ships were under the command of the German Admiral von Suchon, who was able to close the Dardanelles to the Allies. The awards conferred here were evidently intended to raise morale at a very difficult time.]]> Wed, 09 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3086.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU3086.asp
1 page 4to on the headed paper of the Ambassador Hotel, New York, with the autograph envelope which Beaton has signed in full above the embossed return address on the verso. n.d. (envelope postmarked 22 March 1956)."I'm not accustomed to being called a genius and it makes me blush. But yr. letter, nevertheless, was a great joy to me & I'm thrilled to know you liked my work - its been a heavy winter but on the whole things have turned out very well for me & I've loved being here - . . ."

Beaton decorated his rooms in the Ambassasador Hotel himself. He was in New York to do some fashion photography for Harper's Bazaar, but mainly to photograph personalities for a book for Geroge Weidenfield, The Face of the World. According to his diary entry for 16 March 1956 "To my strangely decorated rooms came a succession of personalities", including Joan Crawford and Maria Callas.]]> Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT Autographs and Manuscripts http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2876.asp http://www.maggs.com/title/AU2876.asp