Add MS 39757

AUTOGRAPH LETTERS from the Alfred Morrison collection. Vol. III. (From the second portion, sold at Sotheby's, 15-19 Apr. 1918.) As in the case of the preceding volumes, Add. MSS. 39672, 39673, most of the letters are fully described in the folio catalogue of the collection, 1883-1892, or in the octavo supplement (A-D) 1893-1896. See also below, 39779-39793, 39839-39842. The contents are :-

1. Letters of Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the Italian statesman:-

-(a) To Mélanie Waldor, French woman of letters, on the political situation in Italy after the defeat of Novara, [1849]. The envelope is stamped Turin, 26 Apr. Printed by F. Ruffini in Camillo di Cavour e Mélanie Waldor, 1914, p. 158. The recipient is wrongly given as Countess Anastasie di Circourt in vol. i, p. 146, of L. Chiala, Lettere edite ed inedite di Camillo Cavour (1883-1887, 6 vols.), and also in the catalogue of the Morrison Collection (2nd Ser., ii, p. 128). f. 3 ;-

-(b) To -, declaring his ignorance of the reasons for the transference of Mr. Cordier to Nice and complaining of the violence of the ultra-Conservatives at Chambéry, [185-]. f. 6. These two letters formed no. 265 of the Alfred Bovet collection. Facs. of f. 3 in Catalogue, 1884;-

-(c) Seven letters to Sir Anthony Panizzi of the British Museum, 9 June 1854-[Dec. 1860] with one of 7 Dec. 1860 (f. 25) from Panizzi to Cavour. All save three are published in Chiala, op. cit. ff. 9-29. Morrison sale, lot 1377.

2. (a) Letter in Fr. from the Empress Maria Theresa to one of her young daughters, commending her diligence in writing and the beauty of her script. Written, as the word " parents " suggests, in the lifetime of her husband, who died 18 Aug. 1765. The mention of the Countess Brandeis as governess points to Maria Carolina or Marie Antoinette as the recipient. Cf. a similar letter to another daughter, Maria Christina, 1754, in A. von Anneth, Briefe der Kaiserin Maria Theresia an ihre Kinder und Freunde, 1881, ii, p. 353. From the John Young collection (sale-cat., Sotheby's, 26 Apr. 1869, lot 676). f. 31 ;-

-(b) Reply by Graf Rudolph von Chotek, Obersthofkanzler of Austria, to a request from Maria Theresa for raising a 6 per cent. loan of 150 thousand florins, with a marginal note in Maria Theresa's hand, 10 Jan. 1761. German. f. 33. Morrison sale, lot 772.

3. Letter from [Clemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince von] Metternich [-Winneburg], Austrian statesman, to Prince [Talleyrand], with advice on the conduct proper for the French king; Mannheim, 26 June 1815. Fr. Facs. of subscription in the folio cat. From the B. Fillon collection, no. 449. Morrison sale, lot 800. f. 37.

4. Twenty-eight letters from R[alph] Montagu, British ambassador to France, afterwards lst Duke of Montagu, chiefly to the Lord Treasurer Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby and afterwards Duke of Leeds, 4 Apr. 1677-11 Apr. 1678, relating largely to the French subsidy and the intrigues of Charles II with France. The letters on ff. 69, 79, 88-95 are addressed to the King and those on ff. 74, 102, 105 to the Hon. Charles Bertie. Facs. of subscription (f. 100 b) in folio cat. Many of the letters are printed by Danby himself with omissions and alterations in Copies and Extracts of Letters to and from the Earl of Danby, 1710. Other letters of the same correspondence are in Add. MSS. 28054 and 38849. ff. 40-105. From the Duke of Leeds' sale, Sotheby's, 5 Apr. 1869, lots 737-757 passim. Morrison sale, lot 814.

5. (a) Seven letters from Charles Mordaunt, Viscount Mordaunt, from 1697 3rd Earl of Peterborough, Commander-in-Chief of the English forces in Spain during the war of the Spanish Succession, to:-

--(1) Arthur Herbert, afterwards 1st Earl of Torrington, Admiral in the Mediterranean, 31 Mar. [1681], with signet impression, f. 108;-

--(2) Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, Lord High Treasurer, including one of 13 May, 1706 (f. 128) to Queen Anne, with accounts of his actions in Spain, 1 Aug. 1705-29 [May] 1706. Facs. of part of f. 129 in folio cat. ff. 111-131. Some of these are from the Leeds sale, lots 767, 868, 869, 872 ; the last from Joseph Ridgway's sale, 1879, lot 380. Other letters of this correspondence are in Add. MSS. 28056, 28057;-

--(3) [Giuseppe Gaetano Corrone, Marchese di San Tomaso ?] on the diplomatic situation between France and the Empire, Paris, 27 Nov. 1713. Belonged to [Baron Félix Sebastien Feuillet de Conches], Sotheby's sale-cat., 17 Mar. 1875, lot 134. f. 134;-- (b) Deed of attorney signed by Cary, Viscountess Mordaunt, wife of the above, appointing Mrs. Agnes Harald to receive her arrears of pension as maid of honour to the Queen, 14 Apr. 1683, f. 136. Morrison sale, lot 927.

6. Twelve letters from [René Antoine Ferchault] de Réaumur, French physicist and naturalist, to another savant, Jean Baptiste Ludot, avocat au parlement at Troyes, mainly on caterpillars and other scientific subjects, 30 June 1750-2 Feb. 1756. Facs. of f. 149 in folio cat. At f.147 is a receipt to Monsieur Dupont for 157 livres, dated Paris, 12 Nov. 1751. Partly (?) from the Charavay sale, 1881, lot 201. Morrison sale, lot 982. ff. 139-162.

7. Letter from Jean François Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz, to Cardinal -, announcing his departure from Italy, [circ. 23 July 1656]. Printed in Oeuvres du Card. de Retz, ed. J. A. A. Regnier (Grands Écrivains), 1887, vi, p. 237, where Card. Decio Azzolini is suggested as the recipient. No. 975 from the B. Fillon collection. Morrison sale, lot 988. f. 165.

8. Letters of "George Sand " (i.e., Amandine Aurore Lucie Dudevant), viz. -(a) Seventeen (generally undated) to Ferdinand Bascans and his wife relating to her daughter Solange during her residence (1841-1844) at the institution Bascans-Lagut. For publications of these letters see the Étude Bibliographique on George Sand by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, 1914, no. 615. f. 167 ;-

-(b) to Madame de Curton in favour of one of her protégés, Camille d'Archy, La Châtre, 6 Dec. 1857 (post-mark). f. 202 ;-

-(c) to her cousin, thanking her for presents, Nohant, 21 Nov. 1861. From Étienne Charavay sale, Paris, 17 Mar. 1881, lot 189. f. 206.- Followed by a cutting from Le Figaro of 11 June 1879 with a funeral oration of Alexandre Dumas fils intended for George Sand's obsequies but undelivered, f. 208. Morrison sale, lot 1052.

9. (a) Letter of G[eorge] Stephenson, engineer and pioneer of railways, to John Dixon, railway servant, Darlington, relating to delivery of chairs and other business matters, Killingworth Colliery, 3 July 1822. f.210;-

-(b) the same to the Committee of the Darlington and Stockton Railway relating to work on the railway, Newcastleon-Tyne, 28 Oct. 1823. Facs. of subscription in folio cat. f. 213. Sotheby's sale-cat., 2 June 1881 from lot 17. Morrison sale,lot 1109. Folio. Ff. 214.