London: Office of the Admiralty, 1762.
Original manuscript letter signed by Admiral Anson
Original manuscript, laid paper sheet measuring 235 x 185 mm., annotated to both faces; folded to letter size. Original manuscript letter written and signed by Admiral George Anson three months before his death. The letter is dated... More
London: Office of Admiralty, 10 December 1745.
With a particularly good example of Anson's signature
Printed sheet completed in manuscript, 395 x 235 mm. A rare example of one of the Admiralty-printed orders relating to impressment as promulgated in 1745. This particular example was made out to Captain Windham commanding... More
September [1841].
Arago's failing eyesight: "Ma plume est ma seule fortune…"
Single page letter, 225 x 160 mm., very good. A beautiful letter dictated by Arago and signed by him in pencil.In the letter he tells his correspondent that he has been blind for some four years, but that although... More
Government House, Sydney: 12 May, 1851.
"Busy preparing for the Homebush meeting"
Manuscript letter, 230 x 180 mm., laid paper folded to form four pages. Original letter concerning a race meeting at Homebush in 1851. Fitzroy thanks James Gibson, head agent for the Van Diemen's Land company, for sending four... More
1836.
Early Glebe History
Single sheet of laid paper, 318 x 340 mm., folded to letter size, written in cross hatch, old folds with postal stamps for Sydney, Liverpool and London. Long manuscript letter from Mrs Harriet Betts to her sister in London, containing good detail of colonial social activities... More
London: Downing Street, 30 October, 1810.
Robert Peel and William Bligh
Small folio, 2 pp., legibly written in brown ink; original folds,, tipped into a quarter morocco binding. An important letter relating to the trial of George Johnston and his fellow rebels in London. The letter, written only days after... More
[Paris]: 28 October, 1825.
Cashmere fantasies: Bory de Saint-Vincent still scheming
Five-page autograph letter, folded to letter-size 224 x 171 mm., the sixth page blank; neatly written with some original scratching-out and corrections; secured together at the left margin;. A long letter from Bory de Saint-Vincent to an unknown correspondent... More
London: 10 February 1791.
Tench's cousin needs books on Botany Bay to argue for abandoning the colony
Manuscript in ink on a single piece of paper, originally folded, 140 x 233 mm. A fascinating early expression of interest in Botany Bay, by an eighteenth-century figure of renown, and a close... More
Cumberland: (Workington Hall?), 1780.
The Christian family's reading
Tall folio; 405 x 160 mm., 20 pp. (eight of which are blank), manuscript in ink; sewn in old wrappers entitled "Catalogue Books Aug 1780 Many added since" A remarkable insight on the Bounty mutineer's family and intellectual background: the original manuscript... More
Sydney: 19 March 1795.
Not Rum currency: rare Bill of Exchange signed by David Collins
Quarto, single leaf, 2pp., manuscript in ink on paper. An ephemeral example of the emerging New South Wales economy with a rare association. David Collins' (1756-1810) foundation account of Australia as an English colony, described... More
London, Victualling Office, 18 June 1777.
Rare document from Cook's third and last voyage
Manuscript in ink on official paper (watermark "GR" with a crown), written in ink on one side of a single sheet, 239 x 201 mm, small folio. Rare document relating to the provisioning of Cook's third... More
Sydney: 24 May, 1830.
Over-supply in the colonial market
ALs single sheet of laid paper, 250 x 440 mm., stamped "India Letter Deal" A colonial mercantile correspondence: Crombie Maclaren & Co write to advise Andrew Scott in Edinburgh of an over supply in the colony due to the previous large... More
Paris: 25 August 1814.
Senior officer of the d'Entrecasteaux voyage presents the official account
Manuscript letter, 227 x 183 mm., on a bifolium sheet, letter comprising first page with three blank pages, dated and signed by Rossel; folded to letter size, addressed with remnants of seal. A friendly letter from... More
London: 12 January 1801.
"Last night at Sir Joseph Banks's house…"
Single sheet of wove paper, 265 x 445 mm., watermarked "JW", folded to letter-size with holograph manuscript to three pages; traces of original folds, later refolded to docket-size and with manuscript description in another hand. A very significant letter... More
Sydney: date missing, but April, 1857.
The first Premier of New South Wales
Single leaf of wove paper, 268 x 208 mm. comprising the last page of a letter and address panel verso; blue NSW sixpence stamp and other postmarks. Sadly missing the first sheet, this is nonetheless a substantial... More
circa, 1863.
Dumas on convicts, New Caledonia and Botany Bay
Six sheets of neatly written autograph manuscript on light blue paper, headed "Les Bagnes", each sheet measuring 276 x 215 mm., preserved in a neat modern slipcase. An important and revealing manuscript essay on prisons and convict transportation by the... More
no place: no date but circa 1832.
Dumont d'Urville presents his new work to a scientific opinion-maker
Single sheet of laid paper, 207 x 260 mm., folded vertically to form a letter, written in a small and neat hand to first page and addressed – but not stamped – to... More
Paris: 25 March 1830.
A Baudin voyage veteran studies Dumont D'Urville
Letter signed on official letterhead of the "Ministère de la Marine", 310 x 200 mm. Intriguing letter which shows the workings of the inner circle of French grands voyages experts and veterans, explicitly thanking Bory de Saint-Vincent for the... More
Melbourne: 1 December 1854.
"...a Hanoverian, speaks English fluently but with a foreign accent."
Folio, 2 pp. on a single leaf printed form completed in manuscript. The arrest warrant for Frederick "Colonel" Vern of Ballarat, dated two days before the Eureka Stockade riot. The warrant cites the charge that Vern... More
Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire: 1879.
Eyre reminiscing in old age
4 pp., black bordered notepaper with crest. An attractive autograph letter from the explorer and governor of South Australia, Edward John Eyre, to 'Campbell' - evidently the pastoralist George Campbell.Eyre had first met George's father Robert Campbell as early as 1834... More
London: 1931.
A symbol of common fellowship
Manuscript album measuring 188 x 138 mm., bound in full polished calf, spine gilt with raised bands, boards embossed and decorated in gilt, dentelles, edges gilt; silk endpapers. In 1915 a soldier's rest centre was opened at Poperinghe, Belgium. It was named Talbot... More
Kronstadt: 26 November 1787 (old calendar; 7 December 1787 in the modern calendar).
Cancellation of the Russian voyage to New Holland
Single sheet of laid paper, 232 x 382 mm., folded to letter size, watermark "J. Honig & Zoonen", written in French in a neat and legible hand, signed "G... More
Paris, Rue St Roch, 5: 2 March, 1827.
Louis to Bory de Saint-Vincent in debtor's prison
Two-page autograph letter, on a single sheet of laid paper, folded to letter size 200 x 162 mm., neat autograph manuscript on two pages, the third blank and the fourth an address panel; remnants... More
Paris: 6 August, 1814.
Vielch of the Lys
One-page autograph letter, written on a single sheet, folded to letter-size 230 x 185 mm., written and signed to the first page, the fourth page an address panel, others blank. An interesting letter from Louis de Freycinet to Lieutenant de Vielch of... More
Paris: 26 July, 1839.
Louis on printing the narrative of the Uranie voyage
Two-page letter with address panel on the last page, folded to letter size 215 x 148 mm., postmarks for Paris and Rochefort; archive stamp, Louis de Freycinet completes his account of the Uranie voyage to Australia and... More