‎Europe‎

‎GEDGE, Ernest.‎

‎A Recent Exploration, Under Captain F. G. Dundas, Up the River Tana to Mount Kenia.‎

‎20 pages. Plus a large fold-out colour map measuring approximately 15 x 17.75 inches (38 x 45cm). Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. An outstanding and very descriptive East Africa report detailing the adventurous journey of Captain Dundas and his expedition party which included Mr. C. W. Hobley, geologist; Mr. Bird Thomson, assistant leader and interpreter; Mr. T, Hunter, chief engineer, and a caravan of two head-men, ten Askaris, and seventy-one porters. Accompanied by a stunning early fold-out colour map illustrating the exploration routes of Captain Dundas, Mr. Hobley, Captain Lugard, Mr. Pigott, Mr. Bateman, and Ludwig Krapf as well as Masai paths and Thompson's camp. In spite of the low state of the river Tana, Captain Dundas managed, after much difficulty, and with many narrow escapes, to reach the coast in the Kenya. He surveyed the river entrance, navigated through some areas swarmed with hippopotami, crocodile, and large black-faced baboons, described the physical features of the river, and provided an engaging portrayal of the inhabitants as well as the villages and cultivations - such as sugar-cane and tobacco plantations - situated on the river banks. A highly captivating account, replete with geographical information and vivid descriptions of encounters with East African tribes including hostile Swahilis, Wakamba and Gallas; Somali and Masai raiders; kind and honest Wa-Pokomo; nomadic tribe of Waboni - the great elephant hunters of the upper Tana; Wathaka - great smokers and snuff-takers; Wasania; Wakambua; and Wa-koro Koro. With some interesting remarkes on the inter-tribal conflicts, slavery, superstitions, tobacco chewers, ivory trade, and hunting excursions as well as shocking comments on purchasing wife and killing the first-born female child.‎

‎HOWELL, Frederick W. W.‎

‎The Öræfa Jökull, and its First Ascent.‎

‎9 pages, including 2 in-text sketch drawing and an in-text sketch map. Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. Howell, an adventurous mountaineer and photographer, was the first to climb Iceland's highest elevation of Hvannadalshnúkur in 1891 and the first to lead a walking-party across the glacier of Langjökull in 1899. Later in 1901, he would lose his life in fording the Heraðsvötn, District Waters, a broad, swift and deep river which flows through the valley of the Skagafjörður. This is a captivating and detailed account of his adventurous mountaineering expedition and the first successful ascent of Öræfajökull, 6400 feet in height, the highest peak in Iceland, also with references to his previous attempt to unravel the secret of the mountain in the summer 1890 and the accounts of two other unsuccesful attmeps in 1794 by Mr. Paulson and in 1861 by Mr. E. T. Holan and Mr. Shepherd. Frederick W.W. Howell, would record Icelandic and Faroese landscapes, farmlands, towns and its inhabitants in a remarkable series of photographs, depicting the beginnings of change taking place to a long traditional way-of-life now virtually extinct. He was also the author of "The Pen Pictures of Iceland."‎

‎RAMSAY, Prof. W. M.‎

‎The Geographical Conditions Determining History and Religion in Asia Minor - 09‎

‎26 pages. Plus a large fold-out color map, measuring approximately 13 x 19 inches (33 x 48.5cm). Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. Ramsay was highly respected for his expertise in the historic geography and topography of Asia Minor and of its political, social, cultural and religious history. He travelled widely in Asia Minor and rapidly became the recognized authority on all matters relating to the districts associated with St Paul's missionary journeys and on Christianity in the early Roman Empire. This is Professor Ramsay's remarkable and extensive report on the geographical conditions determining the ancient almost primal history and religion in Asia Minor, primarily featuring the importance of the great mountain wall of Taurus, influences of Roman Empire on the prosperity of the cities, and the outcomes of Arab raids and Seljuk conquest, he further more illustrates the social customs of Anatolia. This is a fascinating report, astounding for its scope and consequential detail, contributing immensely to the history and geography of Asia Minor, accompanied by a spectacular large fold-out color map.‎

‎WOLLASTON, A. F. R.‎

‎The Natural History of South-Western Tibet.‎

‎16 pages. Plus black and white plates. Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. Richly detailed account of Wollaston's findings collected whilst a member (in several roles - as doctor, ornithologist and botanist) of the first British Everest Reconnaissance Expedition in 1921. Wollaston introduces his newly discovered Primula, a flower which was subsequently named after him - Primula Wollastonii; introduces the reader to the birds of the Tinki Dzong region - a 'veritable bird sanctuary' and home to ravens, magpies, red-billed choughs, sparrows, hoopoes, restarts, wagtails and rock doves; describes the village, monastery and people of Langkor, an important place of pilgrimage among Tibetan Buddhists; the temple of Lapchi, formerly the abode of Mila Respa; investigations of the Kharta valley, of the rumoured Snow Frogs, Himalayan bears, dwarf blue hairy desphinium, rhododendrons and gentians.‎

‎CREE, Lieut. Col. D.‎

‎Yugoslav-Hungarian Boundary Commission.‎

‎24 pages, including 2 full-page sketch maps. Plus photographic plates. Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. This is a most fascinating and comprehensive report on the then new and somewhat politically controversial boundaries of Hungary, as outlined in the Treaty of Trianon, with sections on the Treaty and the covering letter, the preliminary meetings which took place, maps, method of work, technical work, and several pages on the Frontier by Sections. The author provides a brief summary of the history of the two countries, as far as their mutual relations are concerned, in order to provide insight into the thinking of the two interested Commissioners, including the very sensitive points of view of Magyar and Croat historians on the relationship between Hungary and Croatia.‎

‎KING, L.N.‎

‎The Work of the Jubaland Boundary Commission.‎

‎22 pages, plus black and white photographic illustration. Includes 2 sketch maps. Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. A contemporary description of southwestern Somalia under Italian rule, shortly after the Anglo-Italian Juba River Treaty was signed. The author recounts details in the demaraction of new boundaries in the old Province of Jubaland, including the 'International Boundary' and the 'Western Boundary of Italian Somaliland'. With details on transport, labour, demarcation and survey instruments used. Also included is a report by Assistant Commissioner of the expedition, E. H. M. Clifford, entitled 'Notes on Jubaland', which focuses on the topography.‎

‎K. S. Sandford‎

‎The Glacial Conditions and Quarternary History of North-East Land.‎

‎30 pages (in two consecutive complete issues), including sketch maps, plus numerous black and white photographic plates. Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. Two complete issues, seldom found in such good and original condition. A substantial analysis which discusses at length the glacial condition and historic explorations on Nordaustlandet (North East Land), in which Sandford specifically examines and corrects Nordenskiöld's earlier conclusions. Includes notes on geology, the contour of the ice-sheet, movement of the ice, the highland ice and domes, the removal of material from the surface including evaporation and blizzards, minor structures of snow and ice, the coastal ice-free belt, the shoreline and the source of icebergs, and some most interesting conclusions. With several photographic plates for illustration, some of whch are aerial views.‎

‎THIERRY, J.W.‎

‎The Enclosure and Partial Reclamation of the Zuider Zee.‎

‎14 pages, plus black and white photographic plates. Also with a sketch map, and a plan of the Wieringermeer polar drainage system. Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. This is a most enlightening summary on contemporary developments in the reclamation project of the Zuider Zee, including a historical summary and the economic position of the Netherlands at the time in relation to the significanc of the project. Profusely illustrated with black and white photographic plates, a sketch-map and diagrams, this report demonstrates the grandeur of the task and the remarkable engineering that was required.‎

‎Manuscript, California‎

‎German Manuscript, a Poetic or Theatrical Composition Dealing with California and Dedicated to Queen Marie.‎

‎8vo. 32 page German manuscript, a poetic or theatrical composition dealing with California and dedicated to Queen Marie, Consort of King George V of Hanover, during the California Gold Rush. Dedication page, written in French, signed and dated by 'Gontard' who was an affluent art collector and chairman of an elite German art museum, and whom had evidently just met the Queen in person at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Exquisite red morocco binding by Hof-buchbinders Wilhelm Ermold (binder to the Royal Hanover Court), beautifully finished in gilt with a crowned monogram 'M' for Marie, royal blue cloth endpapers, satin bow dividers. Evidence of an imbedded gift-wrapping ribbon to boards, slight foxing to first few leafs, otherwise very good condition, internally clean and bright, a pleasing work in an elegant binding fit for royalty. Title: Die Reise nach Californien. Nach dem französischen bearbeitet von Eduard Suhren. [A Voyage to California. From the French, edited by Edward Suhren.] The ambiguously titled manuscript may be a German rendition of the French theatrical opera by Dondey Dupré titled "Le voyage en Californie ou notice explicative du panorama" which concerned travels across the United States and explorations in the West - by John Charles Fremont, first explorer to cross the Sierra Nevada in winter, foremost US Senator, abolitionist, who prospered during the California Gold Rush. Content includes the explorer's sighting of pines in the Sierra Nevada oak forest at 3500 feet, melting gold, and so forth. Frémont's father was a native of France, who died only eight years after the French Revolution. As such, his gallant endeavours and accomplishments in the New World would certainly garner much attention in France, as with other European nations with colonies abroad. The French opera was first publicly performed 8 August 1850 in Paris, at the Théâtre des Variétés. Gontard, who met the queen, and dedicates this manuscript to her, may have been involved in a German production, performed for the House of Hanover. A full page dedication inscription, in French, is addressed to the Queen of Hanover, by Huguenot descendant Jakob Friedrich Moritz Gontard (1826-1886), chairman and administrator of the Städel art museum in Frankfurt, officially the Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie. Queen consort of Hanover from 1851 to 1878, née Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, recipient of this dedicated manuscript, was the wife of King George V of Hanover, the last monarch of the short-lived Kingdom of Hanover. In his dedication, dated Hanover, 12 July 1855, Gontard thanks the monarch for having come to see his panorama at the International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées, stating that her visit inspired the work which forms the volume, and which he humbly offers to her. He references materials which were given to her onsite, which would elucidate the obscure details of the creative piece. The date indicates that King George V and Queen Marie of the short-lived Kingdom of Hanover attended the event in its first eight weeks. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom paid a visit to the Parisian Exhibition in August. Unique manuscript volume, bound in the Royal Court of Hanover, written at the height of the California Gold Rush and featuring historic Americana content. Manuscript‎

‎LEWIS, R. G.‎

‎The Orography of the North Sea Bed.‎

‎8 pages. Plus a fold-out colour map measuring approximately 13 x 9 inches (33 x 23cm). Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. Having accepted the fact that much, and possibly all, of the North Sea Bed stood above present sea-level, in this report the author examines its orography with the idea of discovering in what channels the great rivers which now flow into this sea flowed then, what were the features of that drowned country, and what evidence of tetonic movements could be discovered. The beautifully colourful accompanying map illustrates the soundings gathered.‎

‎GABEL-JORGENSEN, Captain.‎

‎Dr. Knud Rasmussen's Contribution to the Exploration of the South-East Coast of Greenland, 1931-1933.‎

‎22 pages. Plus a full-page sketch map and photographic plates. Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. Enthusiastic overview of Dr. Knud Rasmussen't achievements in Greenland from Captain Gabel-Jorgensen, second-in-command and surveyor on the sixth and seventh Thule Expeditions. Compelling details of the Sixth Thule Expedition begun in Julianehaab in 1931, of the Seventh Thule Expedition of 1932 and that of 1933. Jorgensen provides a breakdown of the Greenland coastline from Umivik to Sermilik Fjord; of the Angmagssalik District, Kangerdlugusatsiak to Kangerdlugsuak and Kangerdlugsuak to Scoresby Sound. Includes a section on local folklore and a summary of the surveys undertaken. Knud Rasmussen was a Danish arctic explorer and ethnologist. Born in Greenland of Eskimo ancestry on his mother's side, he began in 1902, 30 years of exploration and study of the Eskimo. He sought confirmation of his theory that Eskimos are derived from the same stock as the native North Americans, having originally migrated from Asia. In 1910 he established his Thule station at Cape York, Greenland, the base for seven expeditions, five led by Rasmussen himself. He explored some 29,000 miles of Arctic North America and was the first to traverse the Northwest Passage by dog sled when he crossed the ice of Viscount Melville Sound. Rasmussen also disproved the existence of Peary Channel and Independence Bay. In 1932 he went on his last expedition, from Thule to SE Greenland for ethnological and archaeological data.‎

‎Tobacco Archive‎

‎Archive of Scarce and Significant Broadsides on Tobacco, from Berlin, Concerned Primarily with Despotism over Manufacturing, Selling, Exporting, and Using Tobacco at a Personal Level.‎

‎Seven official decrees issued by the Royal Prussian Court, dealing solely with tobacco usage and trade. The earliest are printed by Christian Albrecht Gäbert, the others by Georg Jacob Decker. Folio. Double leafs, early handmade laid paper, untrimmed edges, several featuring woodcut engravings. Text is in German, ranging from 2-6pages of text, each document concluding with the woodcut initials 'LS' in cameo. Very good original condition, beautifully preserved. Seven separate edicts, from Berlin mid-1700s, are concerned primarily with despotism over manufacturing, selling, exporting, and even using tobacco at a personal level. Topics specifically address matters of potential fire induced by tobacco smoke, quality improvement, regulations and privileges for cigar makers, collection of duties on tobacco and transport, taxation of imported tobaccos, proper procedures for purchasing and selling which most often bereaves any small grower or entrpreneur from profit, and, finally, penalties for disobeying the laws. The collection includes the following: 22 June 1726. 3 pages, issued by the March (Margraviate) of Brandenburg, a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire, prohibits tobacco smoking in the any wooded terrain, forests, and the like. 20 October 1742. 2 pages with a cherub and crown woodcut engraving, prohibits civilians from smoking on hay wagons, and from bringing cigars into a barn. 8 July 1744. 6 pages on 2 double leafs, with a cherub and crown woodcut engraving, issued by the March (Margraviate) of Brandenburg,concerning careless and dangerous tobacco smoking practices. The substantial edict reinstates or re-proclaims an edict of 28 April 1723, appears to present consequences for contravening the law, and mentions in the first paragraph Valangin in Neufchatel-en-Bray, Haute-Normandie, France. Annotations from 1746 to front. 3 May 1745. 3 pages with a cherub and crown woodcut engraving, issued by the March (Margraviate) of Brandenburg, being a declaration of general privileges for the tobacco spinner, also known as a cigar maker, which regulates the market, specifically preventing the sale of any tobacco which does not bear the official "duties paid" sticker, and also preventing the purchase of tobacco from directly from farmers. 4 September 1766. 2 pages with a lovely regal woodcut engraving, a declaration of the 15th article, which controls the rights for trade, preventing civilians to sell tobacco to anyone other the Prussian state government. 20 February 1768. 3 pages, outlines eight separate points, this edict addresses foreign shipment and trade, specifically naming Chur, Prussia, Pomerania, Magdeburg, Halberstadt, and Silesia, stating that all shipments must be appropriately recorded and also reported to the authorities. 1 August 1770. 6 pages on 2 double leafs, with three woodcut engravings, comprises nineteen matters on the subject of tobacco contravention, outlining penalties for the illegal possession or transgressional usage of tobacco on which duties have not been paid.‎

‎BEAVER, S.S.‎

‎Railways in the Balkan Peninsula.‎

‎8vo. 18 pages, plus a colour fold-out map, a full page map and photographic plates for illustration. Original condition with blue wrappers, titles to front, and containing all the ads. This is a complete issue, seldom found in such good and original condition. Outlining the ongoing development of the complex Balkan railway network from its earliest stages, the author, who had travelled extensively throughout the Balkans and possessed special knowledge of Bulgaria, and who was a staff of the London School of Economics, presents a thorough assessment replete with historical data encompassing numerous nations, of the economic necessity throughout history, for a central Europe outlet to the Mediterranean. He makes direct comparisons to the British rail industry and includes statistics of freight and passengers. Historical events relative to development include the orient Express Routes from 1869 to 1888; the death of Ali Pasha resulting in an alteration of plans; the completion of the international line originally scheduled for 1886; Austrian commercial influence in the Balkan Peninsula; expansion into Bulgaria; development of the North-South trunk line through Eastern Greece; renewed planning activity in Serbia with the rise of Petar Karadjordjevic (the last King of Serbia) to the throne in 1903; and the effects of the First and Second Balkan Wars, as well as the Great War. In 1918, he evaluates, Yugoslavia was faced with problems of communication greater than any other European country, with Czechoslovakia not in a much better state. More contemporary to the author's expedition, and featuring Bulgarian state railways, the development challenges, specific regional applications, aspects of administration, technical and political considerations in the years just preceding his visit are further presented. The thorough railway survey, focused on economy, is well illustrated with photographs of locomotives and trans-Balkan railways as well as sketch route maps.‎

‎British Bengal Army‎

‎Signed Certificate of Appointment - Dr. John Campbell Bow, Surgeon to Our Forces.‎

‎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

‎FARRER, Reginald‎

‎Among the Hills‎

‎Among the Hills: A Book of Joy in the High Places. - First Edition. Dedication Copy With Beautiful Original Ink Drawing. Headley Brothers, London, [nd] 1911. 8vo., [vi], 326 pages, and 1 page of publisher's ads. Illustrated with photographic plates as well as 14 colour plates of paintings by two artists, the latter mounted to teal-grey linen leafs with tissue guard. Publisher's original teal cloth, gilt title to front and spine. [Later editions were printed on ordinary paper rather than the finer production mounted in this first edition; tissue guards were also omitted.] Slight shelf wear to spine, otherwise in very good and original condition, a pleasing volume with a splendid drawing. The front end paper features a charming ink drawing of two birds fluttering over a river, by a skilled artist. The artist is identified only as A.J., who dedicates the volume to E. Horace Walpole, 1-10-1912. The recipient is perhaps the illegitimate son of Horatio Walpole (1813-1894) 4th Earl of Oxford (second creation) and Lady Susan Hamilton Douglas (1814-1889) wife of the 5th Duke of Newcastle. Research to this effect is warranted to substantiate. Farrer's narrative recounts a six week exploration in the Gratian, Cottian and Maritime Alps looking for particularly rare and precious plants, so stated in his first chapter. Written for the cultivator and lover of plants who share his passion, as opposed to the collector of samples, his work is a beautifully written and highly detailed account of the plants' features, habitat, preferred conditions for growth, and so forth. At the end of the work he evidently felt it necessary to dispel an accusation of having devastated regions in the valleys of the Alps, a charge which contradicted the very essence of his work.‎

‎MARKHAM, Admiral A.H.‎

‎ALS By Admiral Markham, naval officer and pioneering arctic explorer, addressed to S. C. J. Freeman-Mathews in Cape Town, South Africa.‎

‎London, 26 February 1900. Signed Manuscript Letter by Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham, naval officer and pioneering arctic explorer, addressed to S. C. J. Freeman-Mathews in Cape Town, South Africa. Small 8vo. Double-leaf measuring approximately 15 x 15cm. Together with original cover, opened on three sides, bearing three postal marks and one stamp, and measuring 11 x 8 cm. Both in very good condition, from the autograph collection of Seymour C.J. Freeman-Matthews. The addressee, Seymour C.J. Freeman-Matthews was a collector of autographs and amassed a sizeable treasure of signatures with solicitations such as which led to this letter and autograph being penned by a great Arctic navigator. The letter reads as follows: "Dear Sir, I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th inst. and, in reply, have much pleasure in complying with your request, Believe me. Yrs. faithfully, A. Markham [signature] Vice Admiral." Manuscript‎

‎SPOTORNO, Giovanni Battista‎

‎Codice diplomatico colombo-americano ossia raccolta di documenti originali e inediti, spettanti a Cristoforo Colombo alla scoperta ed la Governo dell’America‎

‎Rare First Edition Christopher Columbus' America Codice Diplomatico Colombo-Americano 1823 SPOTORNO, Giovanni Battista Codice diplomatico colombo-americano ossia raccolta di documenti originali e inediti, spettanti a Cristoforo Colombo alla scoperta ed la Governo dell’America. Pubblicato per ordine degl’Ill.mi Decurioni della Città di Genova. [Colombus-America Diplomatic Codex: Collection of Original Unpublished Documents Relating to Christopher Columbus, the Discovery of America, and the Government. Published by order of the Decurions of the City of Genova.] THE RARE FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS Ponthenier, Genova, 1823. Rare First Edition. 4to. lxxx, 348 pages, engraved frontispiece, 4 lithograph plates. Text is in both Italian and Spanish. Publisher's original illustrated blue wrappers, uncut pages. Volume measures 28 x 21.5 x 3 cm. Very minor foxing, spine ends chipped, otherwise in very good, original condition, internally bright. An exceedingly scarce and important work. "Cartas, previleg's, çedulas y otras escrituras de Don Christoval Colon Almirante Major del mar oceano visorey y governador de las islas y tierra firme." [Letters, charters, certificates and other writings of Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Viceroy and Governor of the Islands and the Mainland.] A monumental work recording previously unpublished details of the great navigator's voyages of exploration and discovery, in the form of critical communication and official documents which ultimately led to the colonization of America. "This most important and valuable collection was edited by Prof. Spotorno, and consists of an historical memoir of Columbus, by the editor, followed by the letters, notes, privileges, and other writings of the great navigator, comprising every authentic document, with portrait, facsimile, autographs, etc." Sabin 14644.‎

‎WEGE, Sergent Major René Jules Charles‎

‎Military Archive - Service Papers & Identification Cards of Belgium POW Held Captive By the Germans.‎

‎Kingdom of Belgium, 1922-1957. Archive of military service papers and identification cards of Sergent Major René Jules Charles Wege of Liège, a Walloon Belgian who was held captive by the Germans as a political prisoner of war for 53 days in 1941. Comprises 7 printed military documents completed in manuscript, bearing stamps and signatures, and including 4 small portrait identification photographs. All documents are in French, a single exception being the POW recognition card which is in both French and Dutch. Documents range in size, the smallest card being a single leaf measuring approximately 8 x 10,5cm, and his personal army booklet being 21 pages and measuring approximately 10 x 14,5cm. Together with a manuscript copy of a sympathetic letter received from the wife of a deceased German soldier, written in English, during or following the Second World War. Attached to the Belgian Army from the age of twenty-one, volunteering later in the Liberation Army to fight against the German occupation, then the Armed Resistance Forces, and being active in the clandestine sabotage efforts of the 'Union Nationale de la résistance', this gallant Sergeant was awarded the Resistance Army medal, and the Commemorative Medal of the 1940-1945 War (Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1940-1945). This fascinating and informative lot of military documents belonging to a surviving World War II Political POW taken by the German Gestapo outlines his valorous service in the fight for his nation's liberation. Further biographic research is warranted in terms of the Belgian Sergeant's captivity, release, and unexpected benevolence towards a German officer. Sergent Major René Jules Charles Wege, born 1901 in Liège, entered the Belgian Army 30 November 1922, serving for one year. He joined the volunteer forces 1 February 1936, serving until 26 December 1945, during which time, in April and May he was taken prisoner by the German Army. On 13 June, after a recovery period, he returned, and served until 31 March 1957. He received veteran's military pension from April 1957. In 1941 The German secret state police was targeting resistance groups in Belgium, infiltrating the resistance network with informants to betray participants and to examine resistance publications for intelligence. They took over the former Belgian army Fort Breendonk, near Mechelen, which was used for torture and interrogation of political prisoners and members of the resistance. Around 3,500 inmates passed through the camp at Breendonk where they were kept in extremely degrading conditions. Around 300 people were killed in the camp itself, with at least 98 of them dying from deprivation or torture. It is probably that Sergeant Wege was a victim of this prison camp, as it was situated only one hour from Liège. The archive includes the following: A Political Prisoner of War identification card [No. 162.052] issued to Wege by the 'Ministère de la reconstruction' in recognition of 53 days in captivity from 2 April to 29 May 1941. Complete with his photograph. Excerpts: "Carte de Prisonnier Politique 1940-1945: Wege, René J.C.... a été prisionnier politique ayant subi un captivité de 2 avril 41 au 29 mai 41, 53 jours..." Three cards stamped and signed, issued to Wege pertaining to his membership in the clandestine Armée de la Libération [Belgian Liberation Army]. The Sergeant's personal military book and his statement of services card detailing his assignments with the Belgian Army during the Second World War, each with an identification photograph. With the Resistance Army, from 10 May to 11 June 1940 Wege was with the 12 ième régiment de ligne (an infantry unit of the Belgian armed forces). In the spring of 1941 he was a captive in German hands. From 10 February 1943 to 14 October 1944 he was attached to the Résistant armé (Armed Resistance Forces). From 24 September 1944 to 17 December 1944 he was assigned to the Auditorat Militaire de Liège (Military auditors of Liege), and from 18 December 1944 to 8 May 1945 to the 1006 ième Compagnie des transports automobiles (a battalion designed to sabotage German transport lines). A summary of his military service , dated 31 May 1966, issued at his request by the Ministry of Defence, signed and stamped An uplifting note from a German widow, which reveals that in spite of his captivity and any ill-treatment at the hands of the Germans, Wege held no prejudice against the common folk. The note reads as follows, "It is my heartfelt desire to thank you for your sympathy with my sorrow at the loss of my husband, The honour you did to him a German is proof to me that it only needs personal contact to establish relations of mutual esteem. This will be a ray of light in my dark hour. [signed] Mrs. Sophie Hahn" The Belgian Resistance (Résistance belge, Belgisch verzet) refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Aside from sabotage of military infrastructure in the country and assassinations of collaborators, these groups also published large numbers of underground newspapers, gathered intelligence and maintained various escape networks that helped Allied airmen trapped behind enemy lines escape German-occupied Europe. The resistance included both men and women from both Walloon and Flemish parts of the country. German forces invaded Belgium, which had been following a policy of neutrality, on 10 May 1940. After 18 days of fighting, Belgium surrendered on 28 May and was placed under German occupation. During the fighting, some 600,000 or more Belgian men (nearly 20% of the country's entire male population) served in the military, many of whom were made prisoners of war and detained in camps in Germany, although some were released before the end of the war. Many of the first members of the Belgian resistance were former soldiers, and in particular officers, who, on their return from prisoner of war camps, wished to continue the fight against the Germans out of patriotism. Most of the resistance was focused in the French-speaking areas of Belgium (Wallonia and the city of Brussels), although Flemish involvement in the resistance was also significant. Around 70% of underground newspapers were in French, and 60% of political prisoners were Walloons, as was Sergeant Wege. In 1941 the Germans requisitioned the former Belgian army Fort Breendonk, near Mechelen, which was used for torture and interrogation of political prisoners and members of the resistance. Around 3,500 inmates passed through the camp at Breendonk where they were kept in extremely degrading conditions. Around 300 people were killed in the camp itself, with at least 98 of them dying from deprivation or torture. L'Armée de la Libération était un mouvement de la résistance intérieure belge durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale né à la fin de l'année 1940 dans la mouvance des démocrates-chrétiens. L'armée belge de la Libération est fondée à Liège, par des militants qui en recrutèrent les membres au sein des mouvements de jeunesse et des syndicats démocrates-chrétiens. L'A.L. s'appuiera également sur un important contingent issu des forces de police ou de la gendarmerie. Ses membres s'occupent avec la presse clandestine: édition du journal La Vérité, le renseignement, rendre le secours aux réfractaires, aux clandestins, et aux populations juives, ainsi que le sabotage. Liège is a major city and a municipality in of Belgium, located in the province of the same name, and is part of the Walloon region (mostly French-speaking). Walloons are a distinctive ethnic community of French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Important historical and anthropological criteria (religion, language, traditions, folklore) bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon Region. They speak regional languages such as Walloon (with Picard in the West and Lorrain in the South).‎

‎URE, Dr. Andrew‎

‎Manuscript Note Certifying a Shipment of "Perfectly Pure Cocoa" for the Royal Navy Together with a Printed Biography of Ure and an Orginal Photograph‎

‎London, 28 November 1849. Manuscript Signed Letter to approbate the cocoa served by the Royal Navy to its nearly 200,000 mariners, written by important Scottish chemist Andrew Ure. 8vo. Double-leaf measuring approximately 18.5 x 17 cm. Very good, original condition. A most unusual document of unexpected consequence. Together with a privately printed biography published in London 1874, featuring an original albumen portrait photograph frontis of Dr. Ure. Small 8vo. measuring 10.5 x 14.5 cm. 18, [3] pages, giltedged leafs, gilt tooled and titled green leather boards, minor wear to corners, otherwise in Very Good condition. The favourable result from a formal investigation of a specific company's cocoa purchased and consumed by the British Navy at 400 tonnes per year, Dr. Ure suggests that many English producers were at the time compromising quality during production, however, he confirms the purity of Graham & Hedley's Genuine Roll Cocoa which was manufactured in Liverpool. A new product, the cacao was moulded into rolls and stamped. For a fee of £10.10 and commissioned by the Lords of the Admiralty [Sir James Whitley Deans Dundas, &c.], this analysis may very well have secured enormous profitability and longevity for the chocolate company. Competitors immediately denounced the assessment, such as Taylor Brothers for example, whom stated that public preference or 'taste test' was all that truly mattered. Evidently significant not only to the Navy, but also to the public as a whole, Ure's letter was published in the "Law Times" volume 15, 1850. Subsequently, numerous publications touted Graham & Hedley's product as "the best preparation of cocoa for morning and evening meals.... advantageous for invalids to whom it is essential to have the article genuine... the most economical substance offered to the public... superior homeopathic cocoa..." and so on. Excerpt from the letter: "Having been employed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to analyze and improve the Cocoa and Chocolate of which 400 tonnes are annually manufactured for Navy at the Deptford Victualling Yard... " "I take pleasure in testifying that the Roll Cocoa of Messrs Graham & Hedley of Liverpool is perfectly pure, and so well prepared as to afford with hot water or milk, a bland, aromatic, salubrious, and highly nutritious an article of diet." End Excerpts. The letter is accompanied by a rare biographical sketch which commemorates Dr. Ure's important works, a lovely volume printed for private distribution only. Excerpts from the book: "... To Dr. Ure belongs the honour of having taken the lead in a movement which has had incalculable power in developing national wealth... In 1809, when the Glasgow Observatory was about to be established, Dr. Ure came to London, commissioned to make the scientific arrangements. Here he met, and acquired the friendship of Maskelyne, Pond, Groombridge, and other Astronomers, and also of Davy, Wollaston, Henry, and other distinguished chemists of that day... in London... appointed in 1834, Chemist to the Board of Customs... important researches on sugar refining... his skill and accuracy as an analytic chemist were well known, as well as the ingenuity of the means employed in his researches..." Dr. Andrew Ure (1778-1857) was a Scottish physician, analytical chemist, and a highly respected professor of chemistry. A foremost (possibly the first) consulting chemist in Britain, doing much work in London where he settled in 1830, his work entailed investigative tours of several industries in England, Belgium and France, various government commissions such as the one outlined above, and speaking as an expert witness. His visits to English textile mills led to his famous publications of "The Philosophy of Manufactures" (1835) and "The Cotton Manufactures of Great Britain" (1836). His exposure to factory conditions led him to consider methods of heating and ventilation, and he is credited with being the first to describe a bi-metallic thermostat. "The Great Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines" (1837), was Ure's chief and most encyclopaedic work. In 1840 he helped found the Pharmaceutical Society. The Board of Commissioners for the Victualling of the Navy, often called the Victualling Commissioners or Victualling Board, was for 150 years the body responsible under the Navy Board for victualling ships of the British Royal Navy. It oversaw the vast operation of providing serving naval personnel (140,000 men in 1810) with enough food, drink and supplies to keep them fighting fit, sometimes for months at a time, in whatever part of the globe they might be stationed. It was in 1795 that Dr. Joseph Fry of Bristol employed a steam engine to grind cocoa beans, which led to the manufacture of chocolate on a large scale. By 1825 the Royal Navy purchased more cocoa than for the rest of Britain. It was considered perfectly nutritious beverage for sailors on watch duty, being hot and non-alcoholic was of further benefit. Sailors in the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea coined the term "chocolate gale" in reference to the cold wind from the northwest, which ultimately granted them the comforting treat. By the nineteenth century chocolate was being tested for commercial distribution as a "homeopathic" and "dietetic" product. According to Hassall's survey of British made chocolate, producers of homeopathic chocolates included Graham & Hedley, Taylor Brothers, Leaths, J.S. Fry & Sons, Cadbury, Barry and Company, Epps' and others. Manuscript‎

‎AMIES, Hardy‎

‎SIGNED - Three Volumes From His Personal Library - Text in German‎

‎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

‎NORDENSKIOLD, A. E.‎

‎Postcards - Argentine Rescue of Otto Nordenskjold's Swedish Antarctic Expedition‎

‎Antarctica, South America, 1903-1904. Three (3) photographic postcards made in Buenos Aires illustrate the successful rescue of Otto Nordenskjold's Swedish Antarctic Expedition by the Argentine relief expedition led by Captain Irizar with the Uruguay (1903-1904), as well as a little-known simultaneous expedition which had set out to Antarctica with the same purpose. Postcards measure approximately 14 x 9.5 cm, each printed with Spanish captions, and individually mounted with clear corners onto a cardstock leaf. Postally not used; two are in original condition as published; one bears the stamp of the Lloyd Sabaudo shipping line. Very Good Condition. These rare picture postcards relate to the Antarctic rescue efforts by both Sweden and Argentina to locate and safely bring home members of Otto Nordenskjold's Swedish South Polar Expedition (1901-1904). One of these is the successful rescue made by the Argentine Relief Expedition in December 1903, led by Captain Irizar aboard the corvette ARA 'Uruguay'. The other is a far lesser known but valiant attempt made by the Swedish Navy; it too would have saved the men if not for Uruguay having arrived but a few weeks earlier. The postcards illustrate the following: • The deck of Norwegian whaling ship 'Frithjof' at Buenos Aires with Captain K.H. Olof F. Glydén and crew onboard, laden with supplies, and preparing for the departure of the little-known Swedish Relief Expedition (1903-1904). Perhaps of special interest for being generally forgotten, the Swedish navy also undertook their own Relief Expedition, departing from Sweden 18 August 1903. The vessel was almost shipwrecked on its voyage, and upon arriving at Snow Hill on December 4th, Captain Glydén found that 'Uruguay' had already made the rescue. Postcard No. 53 from 'La Nación' series. • The Argentine Navy's corvette 'Uruguay' and her crew, commanded by Captain Irizar, departing from Buenos Aires in November 1903 with civilians crowding the shore to bid farewell. [At the same time, rescue expeditions were made by the Swedish and the French, but this Argentinean expedition was the one to successfully rescue Nordenskjöld's two surviving Antarctic parties.] Postcard No. 16 from 'La Nación' series. • A cameo portrait of Argentinean Lieutenant Commander Julián Irizar (1869-1935), in the background his ship is navigating Antarctic waters to make the resuce. Leading the Argentine Relief Expedition, Irizar aboard the corvette ARA Uruguay sailed from Buenos Aires in November 1903 and within one month had most fortuitously met with the stranded Swedish explorers, all but one person having survived two long Antarctic winters. The Swedish Antarctic expeditionary party, led by Swedish geologist Nils Otto Nordenskjöld (1869-1928), left Gothenburg aboard the aptly named 'Antarctic' on October 16th, 1901, with Norwegian Captain Carl Anton Larsen (1860-1924) at the helm. The ship went on to Buenos Aires, arriving on the 15th of December 1901, where Nordenskjöld received an offer of food, fuel and help from the Argentinean government if the ship took an Argentinean naval officer José Sobral with them; he was also to be a part of the wintering party. They went on via the Falkland Islands sighting King George Island in the South Shetlands on the 10th of January 1902. [Alferez Sobral became the first Argentinean to step on Antarctic territories.] Enduring two long winters on the Antarctic Peninsula, this is a story of resilience and survival, scientific discovery in hostile conditions, as well as international cooperation. Despite the hardships, the expedition was considered a scientific success, having explored much of the eastern coast of Graham Land. Only one man perished. The successful rescue of Otto Nordenskjold's Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904 was made by the Argentine Relief Expedition led by Captain Irizar aboard the corvette ARA Uruguay, in November 1903.‎

‎Heyerdahl, Thor‎

‎The RA Expeditions‎

‎First American edition. Hardcover. 341 pages. Inscribed, "To Casper Citron with Best Wishes"... Heyerdahl 9.14.1971 on half-title page. B&W illustrations and 111 colour photographs of his expeditions. Dark green cloth with dustjacket slightly chipped at extremities, otherwise, in very good condition. Heyerdahl, the Kon-Tiki explorer, describes his two trips from Africa to South America aboard papyrus reed boats, proving it is possible.‎

‎Anonymous‎

‎Manuscript Book - Reading Rifle Club‎

‎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

‎CAMPBELL, MARTIN & BOSWELL‎

‎Manuscript - Solicitors' Letter Book - 170 Draft Documents Pertaining to Dalquharran Castle and Kennedy Estate, Foreign Investments in Australia and a Fascinating Link to Poet Robert Burns‎

‎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

‎British Government Official Act of Parliament‎

‎Manuscript Edict - Tolls for Road Building‎

‎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.‎