Manuscripts
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# 46795
SHMITH, Athol
Harold Holt, 17th Prime Minister of Australia : signed and inscribed portrait photograph
Gelatin silver print photograph, 155 x 110 mm, mounted in the original portfolio of the Athol Shmith studio, Collins Street, Melbourne (label to verso), boldly inscribed in black felt-tip pen below the photograph ‘Greetings from Harold Holt’; very fine. Harold Edward Holt (1908-1967) served as 17th Prime Minister of Australia from 26 January 1966 to …
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# 46784
MACKENNAL, Bertram (1863-1931)
Bertram Mackennal, Australian sculptor : autograph letter signed, dated 27 November 1922, thanking a well-wisher for congratulating him on his election to the Royal Academy.
1 page, octavo, on embossed letterhead with the artist’s St. John’s Wood address; written in fountain pen entirely in Mackennal’s hand, the letter is dated 27 November 1922, addressed to ‘Dear Mr Bowles’, and signed at the foot ‘Yours sincerely, Bertram Mackennal’; Mackennal had just become a Royal Academician, and although it is not mentioned …
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# 45888
HUC, Évariste Régis, Abbé (1813-1860)
Manuscript letter written by Abbé Huc, sent from Macau in November 1846, addressed to his parents in Toulouse and reporting on his just-completed epic journey through Tartary and Tibet.
Macao, 1er. Novembre 1846. Entire letter, manuscript in ink on a single folio sheet of Chinese paper, folded to form 4 pages, written on 3½ pages; the panel on the outer side addressed to ‘Monsieur Huc, Rue Pargaminières 73, Toulouse, Haute-Garonne’, circular postal markings in black ‘Paris 8 Janv. 47’ and ‘Toulouse 11 Janv. 47’; …
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# 46689
MANION, Margaret (1935 - 2024)
The Felton Illuminated Manuscripts in the National Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne, National Gallery Victoria / Macmillan, 2005. Quarto, boards in dustjacket, pp. 440, extensively illustrated. Fine copy of the hardback edition, as new. “This scholarly publication ‘The Felton illuminated manuscripts in the National Gallery of Victoria’ celebrates the Gallery’s small but distinguished collection of illuminated manuscripts and eloquently comments on the development of the handwritten …
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# 28360
CONSULATE OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, FOR HONOLULU, H.I.
[WHALING] Certificate of Shipment of Seamen issued at Honolulu for the whaling vessel “Montpelier” out of New Bedford (Job Macomber, Master). Dated 7 February 1857.
Honolulu, Hawaii : U.S. Consulate, 1857. Lithograph printed document with manuscript entries, 310 x 400 mm, headed ‘Cirtificate [sic] of Shipment of Seamen’ above the American eagle and ‘Consulate of United States of America, for Honolulu, H. I.’; immediately below is the printed declaration with relevant entries supplied in ms.: ‘I, the undersigned, Consul of …
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# 32327
ROUGEMONT, Louis de (Henri Louis GRIN) (1847-1921)
Louis de Rougement, colonial adventurer and hoaxer: autograph letter, signed, offering stories to an editor for publication. Ampthill, Bedfordshire, 1903.
Manuscript in ink on ruled paper, 160 x 200 mm; headed ‘Flitwick, Ampthill, 1.7.03’, the letter is addressed to The Author Syndicate, Lincoln Inn Field, London, and is signed at the foot ‘Yours, Louis de Rougemont’; wet stamped ‘Received 2 Jul 03’, and with a correspondence number in red crayon; original vertical fold, clean and …
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# 41187
WOLF, Josef (1820-1899)
[NATURAL HISTORY] Josef Wolf, animal painter : autograph letter signed, discussing the overpainting of an ornithological photograph. London, June 1870.
Manuscript in ink, 4 pp., octavo bifolium (175 x 110 mm); headed ’59 Berners Street, London, 17 June 1870′, and signed ‘J. Wolf’, the letter is addressed to an anonymous recipient (‘Dear Sir’), informing him that ‘The Photograph of the Great Bustard is in the hands of Mr. Smit’, and promising to let him know …
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# 22017
BESWICKE, Mabella (née Mayall) (attributed)
Writing case belonging to Mabella Beswicke (Mayall), wife of Port Phillip pioneer Charles Beswicke of Moodie Yallo Station.
[Between 1835 and 1840]. Portable case for writing accessories and paper, of thick card covered with hand-sewn floral-patterned purple velvet trimmed with corduroy, the underside covered in black silk, 220 x 285 x 30 mm (slightly irregular), with four flaps opening to 460 x 460 mm; the exposed card of the interior floor and flaps …
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# 44961
BROWNE, Martha Sweet (Cummins) (1816-1893)
[MELBOURNE; LA TROBE FAMILY] Martha Browne, wife of colonial merchant Octavius Browne : entire letter to Henrietta Macartney, daughter of the Dean of Melbourne. Isle of Wight, September 1855.
Manuscript in ink, [6] pp. duodecimo (130 x 90 mm); headed ‘Orchard Leigh, Bonchurch, Sept. 29’, the letter is addressed ‘My dear Henrietta’, and is signed at the foot ‘your very affectionate friend, Mrs Browne’; original folds, clean and crisp; accompanied by its original mailing envelope, addressed to ‘Miss Macartney, care of Revd. John Brougham, …
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# 40913
SIBLEY, Irena (1943-2009)
Rainbow
Albert Park, Vic. : Lilly Pilly Books, 1988. Second edition. Folio, bound by Richard Griffin in contrasting red and yellow embossed morocco, with inset linoleum block print to upper board, red endpapers; [42] pp of linoleum block-print plates and calligraphic text (calligraphy by Irene Sibley); all edges uncut, in fine condition. “67 copies of ‘Rainbow’ …
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# 41374
BOYES, Ann
[MELBOURNE] Note addressed to a young Dorothy Boyes (who would later marry the writer Edward Dyson) from her grandmother, displaying signs of semantic dementia. St. Kilda, circa 1900.
1 page, quarto (225 x 170 mm), manuscript in ink; headed ’94 Tennson Yon [i.e. Tennyson] St. St. Kilda Melbourne 90 19 I forget yere’, addressed to ‘My dear little Dot’ and signed ‘Ann’; the verso has a later inscription in biro by a family member that explains the note was written by ‘Grandma Boyes …
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# 41670
WATSON, Kathleen
[QUEENSLAND] Autograph signature of Anglo-Australian novelist, short-story writer and poet Kathleen Watson.
Cut signature, manuscript in ink on paper, 60 x 100 mm; identified in another hand below as ‘Writer’; light toning, otherwise fine. Bold autograph signature of Kathleen Watson Dearden, a significant figure on the Australian literary scene – particularly in Melbourne and Brisbane – in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Provenance: Autograph album …
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# 45932
[BAKER, Henry George]
[FREEMASONRY; HONG KONG] Small archive of Masonic documents associated with Lodges in Hong Kong, 1890s-1930s.
A group of five original documents that chart the history of Henry George Baker as a Freemason in Hong Kong. Baker arrived in Hong Kong from Bristol in 1882 and worked in the Hong Kong Police Force until 1913, when he retired at the age of 52 with the rank of Chief Inspector. I. Grand …
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# 45908
MACPHERSON GRANT, James (1811-1847)
Letter from an aristocratic Scottish squatter to his father, written on “Bendinine”, near Yass, New South Wales, December 1843.
Manuscript in ink, 2 pp, quarto (lacking the first sheet), signed at the foot ‘Your affectionate son, J. Macpherson Grant’; outer wrapper addressed to Sir George Macpherson Grant, Baronet, Edinburgh (but redirected to Ballindalloch), with framed ‘YASS / POST PAID’ in red, and oval ‘PAID SHIP LETTER / SYDNEY’ dated ‘DE 23 1843’ in red; …
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# 46172
LANDON, Letitia Elizabeth (1802-1838)
Letitia Elizabeth Landon, poet and novelist: autograph note, signed, to Miss Dutton, who is known to have painted a portrait miniature of the writer. London, [1837?].
Manuscript in ink on white notepaper, 105 x 115 mm; written entirely in the hand of Letitia Elizabeth Landon and signed by her at the foot ‘Yours in great haste but most truly, L. E. Landon’, the note is addressed to ‘My dear Miss Dutton’, and is simply headed ‘Friday’, without any further date; laid down on …
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# 46223
MANION, Margaret; VINES, Vera F.
Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts in Australian Collections (signed copy)
Melbourne : Thames and Hudson, 1984. Quarto, boards in dustjacket, pp. 240; addendum, a fine copy, signed by Margaret Manion on the endpaper.