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An archive of lively and beautifully descriptive letters written by young Sylvia Duckworth (b. 1899, daughter of Major Arthur Campbell Duckworth and Viola Davies-Evans of Orchardleigh, Frome - a relative of Julia Jackson, Duckworth - Stephen - Virginia Woolf’s mother) who navigates the changing world of 1920s England as she embraces the opportuniti… Read more…

Three posters advertising Beverley, Hull and East Riding Races in 1882 and 1883 which offer a glimpse into the world of Victorian era horse racing including the names of owners, officials and stewards. Lord Durham and Mr I’Anson’s mounts feature heavily throughout the race card. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 2 x race posters dated June 14th and 15th 1882.… Read more…

An archive of career spanning and revealing letters written by Lieutenant, later Commander in Chief, Ralph Campbell Musbury Duckworth (1907–1983), the majority addressed to his ‘darling sister’ Sylvia who married into the Fawkes family of Farnley in Yorkshire. A lively correspondent with an eye for detail his earliest letters are written to his ‘da… Read more…

Illuminated manuscript on vellum presented as a retirement gift to William Eller Esq in recognition of unstinting work as Musical Director of the Manchester Midday Concerts Society - an association that survives to this day. Beautifully written in a calligraphic hand with gold leaf illuminated initials; vibrantly and colourfully illustrated featuri… Read more…

Salford Mayoral Visitors’ Book from the 1930s including the signatures of visiting industrialists, foreign officials including the Consuls for Norway, China (the Chinese Kuomintang government officially appointed its first consular representative to Manchester in February 1933), Finland etc and numerous Mancunian dignitaries and power-brokers. Serv… Read more…

Rare, short-lived high quality satirical journal written and printed in Bradford, with all 52 issues bound into a single volume. The Jackdaw was published in Bradford during 1904-1905 with the intention of poking fun at the local establishment, municipal spending, and the eccentricities of Victorian/Edwardian Bradford society - the very era that J… Read more…

In good plus condition, original sheet music book containing 36 arrangements for historic English pieces including Widdicombe Fair, Sellenger’s Round, The Cuckoo’s Nest and Oranges and Lemons. Card covers age toned; just a little bumped to corners; nicked to top and tail; cracking over spine; tape repair to lower spine. Red tinted cover illustratio… Read more…

A collection of 6 First Editions in very good plus condition, variously signed and/or inscribed by the author to their previous owner, a retired academic of English at the University of Leeds. Laid in are paper cuttings and 3 printed emails between the two. 1. Clarity or Death. Carcanet Press Ltd: Manchester, 2008. Soft backed First Edition. Inscri… Read more…

In very good condition, two rare copies of the monthly UK music publication ‘Styx Incorporating The Modern Drummer’ which capture the post WW2 drumming landscape. The volumes are dated February 1947 and Issue No.9, 1948. Iconic covers in good plus condition feature stylised mid century graphic design over black and red paper wrappers; the 1947 copy… Read more…

Siobhán McKenna’s 1959 recording of Finnegans Wake, specifically the ‘Anna Livia Plurabelle’ section is a renowned spoken-word LP released by Caedmon Records (TC 1086). McKenna performs alongside Cyril Cusack who reads ‘Shem the Penman’, delivering a celebrated, passionate rendition of Joyce's complex prose. LP in very good condition. Sleeve in goo… Read more…

A signed and dated limited first edition of Tony Harrison’s play ‘Poetry or Bust’ produced for the play’s premiere event at Salts Mill on September 5th 1993. Features a cover design by David Hockney and tells the story of Airedale poet John Nicholson. From the collection of a retired University of Leeds academic who has tipped in his opening night… Read more…

Lacking half of front board, otherwise in very good condition. A special commemorative program and literary album published to support the Chelsea Hospital for Women and sold at a huge 1884 fundraiser held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Binding square and sound in spite of loss to right hand half of upper, lower corners and spine panel. Light… Read more…

Pen and ink drawing by the Irish artist Hugh Thomson depicting a dramatic confrontation with the heroine Evelina, and used in the 1903 Macmillan illustrated edition of Fanny Burney’s 1778 epistolary novel. Executed on paper and backed onto card (22.5x30.5cm) the image is signed ‘H. Thomson 1903’ and depicts the hot-tempered grandmother Madame Duval… Read more…

An original engraved plate in very good condition produced c. mid 16th century, most probably in Antwerp by Philips or Johannes Galle. This print originates from the celebrated 104-print series titled ‘Venationes Ferarum, Avium, Piscium’ designed by Johannes Stradanus. Measures 20.7 cm x 28.4 cm. Pasted neatly onto a piece of cream card. Printed si… Read more…

A - surely - unique miniature bas-relief bust of Jonathan Swift mounted permanently to a backing card. More usually an 18th century literary figure like Swift would be commemorated with the more traditional marble or bronze bust but this item does not appear to be mass manufactured and possibly an extremely characterful one off studio piece. PHYSIC… Read more…

One of a kind, hard backed volume containing a 64 page collection of wonderfully illustrated campfire songs, hymns and blessings. The songs, penmanship and accompanying illustrations point heavily to the scouting or girl guiding aesthetics and traditions of the mid 20th century. Rounds meant for group singing include contemporary classics like Kook… Read more…

Maritime broadside posted by the Newhaven Harbour Master, Thomas Tasker in 1825. A single sheet intended for public display in very good condition. Provides essential safety and navigational information for sailors and mariners ‘by order of the Commissioners and Trustees, with Trinity House approval’. The notice captures Newhaven at a pivotal momen… Read more…

18th century paper insurance policy for a property on Chapel St, Tottenham, in London issued by the Sun Fire Office on March 20 1772 providing a detailed snapshot of Georgian era property and commerce. Policy number 308766. Insured party Thomas Downing, a cabinetmaker living in a brick dwelling house which is insured alongside household goods, wear… Read more…

A Weymouth Log Book absolutely bursting with meticulous detail which charts ‘Bonito’s’ journey to Wales and its daily runs from its moorings in Moel y Don on Anglesey throughout the years 1957 - 1962. The vessel, a Vedette Mk II is owned by Dr K. K. Wood of Bury who has paid scrupulous attention to charting every twist and turn, adding many items o… Read more…

Small archive, extraordinarily offensive to modern eyes, which reveals the avid consumption of racialised performances in 20th century Britain and America. Created by a committed fan of the blackface minstrel, George Henry Elliott and an American blackface performer from an earlier generation, Eugene Stratton, this collection contains a Bertram Abb… Read more…

‘A Trip to America’, recorded by a young, bumptious traveller from a successful English military family (his father was Commander of British Forces in China at the time), determined not to be overawed by New York City, and then completely overawed by people, elevated railways and high-rise architecture: ‘The structures at first sight, strike one as… Read more…

Gifted by one American serviceman to another, a collection of risque Belle Epoque French postcards with provenance linking the collection to US combatants in Europe during the First World War. Just off the boat from convoy ‘Henry Mercier U.S.S. Albany’ has recorded his ownership first, before giving it to a member of the Marine Corps: ‘to James J B… Read more…

Pictou-imprint map of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island from the estate of the British Commander in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the late 1850s, General Sir Charles Trollope. A map produced by James Dawson as the third edition in 1854 and lithographed in Edinburgh. Cloth-backed coloured map, dated 1854 (73x56cm) folded to 14x18cm; a little spotting.… Read more…

Sampson the cat and the Church Mice pursued - as depicted by Graham Oakley in this witty, quintessentially English story. The original artwork was executed for the illustration found in the published volume that accompanies it; the pen and water colour image is evocative of the 1970s with its chaotic high energy and visual humour as chaos descends… Read more…

A bound collection of circulars - 81 documents dated 1948/49 - which comprise the new guidance and policies which drove the transition towards and practical implementation NHS, setting out how the UK managed one of the most radical social reforms in its history. The collection appears to have been compiled by Brockhall Hospital in Langho, Blackburn… Read more…