Search Results: Titles starting with M from Julian Browning Rare Books & Manuscripts

Paris, 15 December 1736. In French. 2 pp. 8 x 7 inches, in good condition. Louis Antoine de Gontaut-Biron, comte, then duc de Biron (1700–1788) served with distinction under Louis XV, and was made a Marshal of France in 1757.

[Mediterranean station, 1812]. 6 x 8 inches, a few tears and blemishes. Captain George Gosling (1790-1841) saw service as midshipman in HMS Ganges in Nelson’s division at Copenhagen in 1801, and much subsequent action in the Napoleonic Wars. By the time of this document, Gosling had become flag-lieutenant to Rear-Admiral Fremantle, on the Mediterranean station.

HM Store Ship Cormorant [Mediterranean], September 1812. 1 page 12 x 8 inches, in good condition. Captain Josiah Oake entered the Navy in 1806, witnessed the capture of Monte Video, and served in a number of ships on the Baltic, Lisbon, Mediterranean, and West India stations during the Napoleonic Wars. Later in his career he commanded the Ferret (6 guns) on the coast of Africa (1841-45), with the task of capturing slaver vessels.

23 November 1797. 1 page 9 x 8 inches, very fine, impressed Treasury Stamp. Abraham Newland (1730–1807), banking official. He became chief cashier of the Bank of England in 1782. His signature on Bank of England notes became so familiar that they were known as Abraham Newlands.

28 January 1766. In French. 1 page 12 x 8 inches, in good condition, with the integral blank leaf. Gaspard de Clermont-Tonnerre (1688-1781), Marshal of France. He had a successful military career in the armies of Louis XV, notably at defeat of Cumberland's Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian forces at Battle of Fontenoy in 1745 alongside Marshal de Saxe. Clermont-Tonnerre led the decisive cavalry charge which defeated the tenacious but ill-led allied forces. After the Battle of Lauffeld in 1747 he was named Marshal of France.

5 August 1839. 4 x 5½ inches, fine. John O'Connell (1810 – 1858) was one of seven children (the third of four sons) of the Irish Nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell and his wife Mary. He followed his father as a member of parliament and leader of the Repeal Association.

St. John’s College, Cambride, 29 May 1820. 9 x 7 inches, in good condition, with the integral address leaf (postal markings). James Wood (1760-1839), mathematician, Master of St. John’s and Dean of Ely, author of standard text books: The Elements of Algebra (1795), The Principles of Mechanics (1796) and The Elements of Optics (1798).

15 May 1731. 2 pp. 11½ x 7 inches, in good condition. Sir Thomas Reeve (1673-1737), Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.

13 November 1684, later annotation 24 December 1686. In French. 3 pp. 13 x 8 inches, with various initialled amendments, in good condition, lightly tipped on to an old album page. The autograph of one of the great commanders in the Thirty Years War. François de Bonne Blanchefort de Créquy (1629-1687), Marquis of Marines, Marshal of France, known as the Maréchal de Créquy, distinguished himself during the reign of Louis XIV, fighting in Flanders and Catalonia and several campaigns during the Thirty Years War. He died in his house in the Rue Saint-Nicaise in Paris on 3 February 1687.

Watisfield, 11 December 1750. 4 x 6½ inches, laid down, some staining. Thomas Harmer (1714-1788), Independent minister and church historian. Harmer’s reputation as a scholar and useful writer rested originally upon his Observations on Divers Passages of Scripture, Illustrated by Accounts of Travellers in the East, which was published initially in a single volume in 1764, but by 1787 had been extended to four volumes. A fourth edition, edited and revised by Dr Adam Clarke, appeared in 1808. However, Harmer is probably better remembered for his histories of the dissenting churches of East Anglia. Harmer remained minister at Wattisfield for fifty-four years, during which time he missed only one Sunday service through illness. [DNB]

9 July 1707. 1 page 12 x 7½ inches, folds, minor marginal tears, in clean condition, Moore’s personal seal in red wax affixed. John Moore (1646–1714) was an English cleric, scholar, and book collector. He was Bishop of Norwich (1691–1707) and Bishop of Ely (1707–1714). At the time of his death in 1714, Moore's collection of books and papers contained over 30,000 items, and may have been the largest in England. To celebrate his coronation, King George I caused it to be purchased intact, at a cost of 6,000 guineas, and donated to Cambridge University. Moore's library alone contained nearly twice the material in the existing University library. While some material has been removed over the years, the gift is still largely intact, and is called The Royal Library in honour of its patron.

HMS Orlando, in Ausa Bay [the bay of Naoussa (Naussa) or Agoussa], the Island of Paros [Aegean Sea], 29 October 1812. 6 x 8 inches, in good condition. The uncommon signature of Captain Edward Hinton Scott (born c.1789), who received the thanks of the Royal Humane Society for jumping from the Orlando to save the lives of four persons. Scott had an adventurous career throughout the Napoleonic Wars, particularly under Captain John Clavell on the Home, Mediterranean and East India stations. While in the Orlando he saw action in the Adriatic and the Chesapeake. He commanded her boats in skirmishes with the Malay proas in the Straits of Sunda and Malacca.

St. John’s College, Cambridge, 22 May 1824. 1 page 8 x 6 inches, in good condition, with the address leaf and red wax seal. The uncommon signature of Thomas Catton (1760-1838), astronomer. The data he collected from the College observatory (on one of the towers) was collected and printed by Sir George Airy with the title Astronomical Observations made by the Rev. Thomas Catton, B.D. Catton was one of the earliest members of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Undated. 1½ pages, 8 x 5 inches, minor blemishes. With a separate printed advertisement for Rennie’s Insect and Bird Architecture. James Rennie (1787-1867), Scottish naturalist. From 1830 to 1834 he was professor of natural history and zoology at King's College. From then on he made his living as a natural history author. In 1840 Rennie emigrated to Australia, where he ran the College High School in Elizabeth Street, Sydney, with an emphasis on the arts and natural history.

His Majesty’s Ship Alceste, Malta Harbour, 25 June 1812. 8 x 8 inches, minor blemishes. Lieutenant Andrew Wilson took part in the daring action of 22 May 1810, pursuing French vessels in the Bay of Agay, Under cover of darkness, two boats from Alceste, one under Lieutenant Andrew Wilson, the other led by the ship's master, Henry Bell, attacked the shore batteries.

Paris, 19 September 1743. In French. 2 pp. 12½ x 8 inches, in good condition, integral bank leaf. Charles Armand Domenica de Gontaut (1663-1756), Marquis de Biron, then Duc de Biron, Marshal of France. Saint-Simon relates a number of anecdotes featuring the Duc de Biron in his Memoirs. He commanded the French vanguard at the Battle of Oudenaarde (1708).

Manila, 3 August 1848. 3 pp. 11 x 9 inches, some light waterstaining, otherwise good. Marked ‘per Overland Mail’, no address leaf. Very detailed specifications for a large order (£665) of axles and axle parts of various dimensions.

Westminster, 25 August 1646. 1 page 11 x 8 inches, very fine, with the integral blank leaf, docketed. Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles PC (1599-1680), statesman and writer, best known as one of the five members of parliament whom King Charles I of England attempted to arrest in 1642. Denis Bond (1588–1658), merchant and politician. John Rolle (1598-1648), Parliamentarian, Cornish M.P. Alexander Bence (born c.1590), merchant and politician; in 1642 he was appointed by parliament as one of the Commissioners for the Affairs of the Navy.

18 March 1704. 3 pp. 7 x 6 inches, upper edge trimmed away, the paper foxed but sound. A rare autograph. Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), the famous English sculptor and woodcarver, served as one of the four wardens of the Drapers Company in 1704-5. The bill records the daily payments to named bricklayers, and payments for tiles and slates.

HMS Crocodile at Cork, [Ireland] 4 June 1849. 6 x 8 inches, remains of guard. Donald Hugh Mackay (1780-1850) entered the Royal Naval Academy in January 1792, and embarked in 1794 as midshipman on the Daedalus. He was made Lieutenant in 1798 into the Ariadne, and accompanied Sir Home Popham on his mission to destroy the Bruges locks. After various appointments and actions, including the fall of the Helder fortress, Mackay served in various ships in the Channel fleet as Commander. From 1811 to 1816 he served on the East India station, in the Volage, the Malacca and the Minden. Part of the time he was under the command of Sir Samuel Hood, seeing arduous service in the Eastern Archipelago and the China seas. In HMS Malacca he co-operated with a squadron under Sir George Sayer in a serious attack made in June 1813 on the pirate settlement of Sambas in the island of Borneo. HMS Crocodile was a 28-gun sixth rate launched in 1825. She was on harbour service from 1850 and was sold in 1861.