Box 60

Scope and Contents

A note addressed to British critic and journalist Alan Pryce-Jones from an unidentified sender, most likely late 20th-century. Written in blue ballpoint pen on a cream-colored notecard, monogrammed AFE, with an envelope embossed with an address in Newport, Rhode Island. The contents refer to the sharing of various books and video tapes.

Scope and Contents A collection of materials related to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), a British society dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage. Four items: two letters, and two tickets, one with an included envelope. The earlier letter, dated November 3rd, 1958 is signed by Society secretary Monica Dance, and provides information about the General Meeting to be held on the 13th of the same month. An envelope and ticket to the meeting accompanies it, signed by a number...

Scope and Contents A typed letter on stationary from the State of New York Executive Chambers addressed to J. Bond Smith (1890-1961) and signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dated November 21st, 1932. Smith was part of the Washington DC-area Franklin-Garner club, and the contents consist of thanks for an “enthusiastic message of good will” sent from the club to then-President-elect Roosevelt. The letter has been pasted onto a piece of board, and there is some adhesive residue. Two pieces of paper with notes are...

Scope and Contents Two letters in French addressed to American diplomat and politician Thomas H. Seymour from members of the Ministry of the Imperial Court in Russia. One from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is dated 1853 and invites Seymour to a Ball held that July, and one from the War Ministry is dated 1854 and thanks Seymour for his help with State affairs. Also included is a 1982 letter to Scheetz from political officer Thompson R. Buchanan (1924-2020) responding to a request for information on the...

Scope and Contents

A Russian Imperial decree certifying the deed to the estate of Michael Benedict Snitka in Ashmyany (Ашмяны), in modern-day Belarus. Stamped and dated 1844, though events in the years 1841 and 1837 are also mentioned. A sheet of 20th-century paper with a transcription in Russian and note on the contents in English is also included.

Scope and Contents A letter from Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, known collectively as the “Ladies of Llangollen”, dated February 24th 1817. Addressed to a “Mrs Parker” – Sarah Browne Parker (1779-1854), the wife of amateur engineer and agriculturist Thomas Netherton Parker (1772-1848) of Sweeney Hall in Owestry. The contents are an invitation to a social gathering, and the Ladies comment that they “rely on Mr. Parker’s infallible Barometer to promise us fine weather” – this being one of Parker’s many...

Scope and Contents Two documents in Farsi apparently from early 20th-century India, likely c. 1903. The document with the stamp allows the bearer to carry items on a train journey, and has an English inscription reading “Written in my presence.” The second item may be a copy of an earlier document: according to an English note on the verso, it relates in some capacity to Maharaja Duleep Singh, who was the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, King of Punjab, and Maharaja of Lahore between 1843 and 1849. The English...

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A small pamphlet of four leaves printed by the London publisher John Murray in 1927. The pamphlet advertises their catalog of the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) and boasts “There is a Conan Doyle book for every taste.”

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A small envelope of the late 19th or early 20th century with the inscription “The right honorable The Lord John Manners” (1818-1906) containing four signatures cut from letters: two are not wholly legible, and the other two belong to British writer and scientific educator Arabella Buckley (1840-1925) and British mathematician W.K. Clifford (1845-1879). It is not immediately clear whether the signatures were collected by Manners, or if the envelope itself was collected as a signature.

Scope and Contents Materials related to Washington DC-based soprano Gertrude Lyons and the production of her program “Musical Memories of Adelina Patti” in the early 1920s. The collection is in two parts: first, two programs from performances of the Patti program, which apparently consisted of Lyons singing the Italian soprano’s most famous songs while dressed in a replica of the gown worn by Patti in a famous portrait by Franz Winterhalter. Second, two undated letters in Lyons’ hand addressed to a “Miss...

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A carte de visite featuring a portrait of Scottish writer and minister George MacDonald. The reverse bears the marks of H.J. Whitlock, photographer to the royal family, Birmingham. Undated.

Scope and Contents A 19th-century manuscript document on a single piece of folded paper, containing letters patent for creating members of the Baronetage of England. This appears to be a draft or boilerplate text with no names, only blanks where those of honorees would be inserted. A watermark on the paper reads “1837” providing a terminus post quem for the document’s creation, and indeed the repeated references to “our King” suggests that it must have been written between January and June of that very year:...

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A black and white photograph showing the destruction of Le Havre, France following bombing by the English in September of 1944 during Operation Astonia. The image appears to have been taken by photographer Gilbert Fernez, and is labeled on the back in blue ink.

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Five pieces of correspondence related to the Landseer brothers, Thomas, Charles, and Edwin – all British artists. 1 in the hand of eldest brother Thomas addressed to a Mr. Hawlett (?), 3 in the hand of Charles – two to London businessman Elhanan Bicknell (1788-1861), and one to portrait painter Bryan Edward Duppa (1804-1866), and a note related to Edwin, apparently in the hand of fellow artist and lithographer W. Robertson. 1850s. Contents are personal.

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A single letter addressed to American writer Walter Lippmann from a friend on board the R.M.S. Mauretania, dated May 1914. Contents are personal.

Scope and Contents Four letters written to noted Shakespearean actor Otho Stuart (1863-1930) by three members of the theatrical Irving family, plus Ethel Irving who, though sharing their name and occupation, was of no relation. Only one letter is dated (1911), but it is likely they were all composed during the early years of the 20th century. Contents are largely personal and relate to a performance of Hamlet. Also present is a second letter in the hand of Laurence Irving to an unknown recipient. Curatorial...