| £ | s. | d. | ||
| Dr. Arne A.L.S. | (n.d.) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Brahms A.L.S. | 4 | 16 | 0 | |
| Donizetti MS. | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| Handel Autograph on MS. | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| Haydn A.L.S. | 10 | 10 | 0 | |
| Paganini A.L.S. | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Schumann A.L.S. | 7 | 5 | 0 | |
| Scarlati MS. signed | 14 | 5 | 0 | |
| Schubert MS. signed | 12 | 15 | 0 | |
The one-day sale of April 13, 1905, was almost entirely devoted to Civil War and Royal autographs, 205 lots (in striking contrast to the Upcott Sale) making a total of £2,009—or nearly £10 each lot! Some of the rarest items fetched the following prices:—
| £ | s. | d. | ||
| Henry Jermyn A.L.S. | (Feb. 22, 1649) | 41 | 0 | 0 |
| Charles II. L.S. | (May 10, 1649) | 15 | 10 | 0 |
| James Graham, Duke of Montrose, A.L.S. | (Sept. 4, 1649) | 48 | 0 | 0 |
| William, Prince of Orange, A.L.S. | (Nov. 4, 1649) | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Abraham Cowley A.L.S. | (Jan. 8, 1650) | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| Queen Henrietta Maria A.L.S. | (Jan. 8, 1650) | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| Queen Henrietta Maria A.L.S. (addressed to Charles II.) | (Jan. 25, 1650) | 151 | 0 | 0 |
| Queen Henrietta Maria (addressed to Charles II.) | (May 20, 1650) | 51 | 0 | 0 |
The late Mr. Frederick Barker showed me the whole of this collection bound up in a shabby looking volume, with small rope and thick glue! The separating them without injury was a matter of the greatest difficulty, and the necessary operation was performed at Oxford.
This was the centenary year of Trafalgar, and its influence was soon felt in the autograph market. The one-day sale at "Sotheby's" on May 17th offered abundant attractions to Nelson buyers; but the 226 lots only fetched £397 10s. The Nelson items were somewhat over-catalogued, and the results were probably disappointing. The highest price paid for a Nelson letter was £25. Some went as low as £3 3s. Nelson's captains fared badly. Letters of Berry, Bickerton, Brereton, and so forth went for two or three shillings each, and Ganteaume, Decrès, and Gravina were equally unfortunate. An order signed by Hardy, informing Admiral Berkeley that three men had been lashed with the "cat-o'-nine-tails," was disposed of for 7s.
Far more important, however, was the sale of the previous week (May 11th, 12th, and 13th), which included the Bunbury MSS. In this sale 842 lots fetched £2,108. The Bunbury correspondence was quite as important to the story of the days of George III. as the documents sold during the previous month were to that of the Civil War. The dispersal of both collections must ever be a matter of regret. I do not think the Bunbury letters would have been sold at all in 1910.
Before the Bunbury portion of the sale was reached a series of twenty-four letters addressed by Mrs. Siddons to Mrs. Pennington, chiefly relating to the troubles occasioned by Thomas Lawrence's courtship of her daughters,[78] was disposed of. They belonged to Mr. Oswald G. Knapp and realised £100. As no letter of Sarah M. Siddons was included in the lot, I do not regret having acquired the letter catalogued in error as that of her mother. The letters of Mrs. Piozzi to Dr. Whalley (twenty-five in all) published in the Rev. Hill Wickham's book on his ancestor[79] were sold for £16. Mrs. Wickham parted with them for £6, and got little more fifty years ago for Dr. Whalley's correspondence with Mrs. Siddons. Two letters of Burns brought £25 and £14 10s. respectively, and the buyer of the letters written by Sir Thomas Noël Hill, K.C.B., during the campaign in the Peninsula and in Flanders, possibly got a bargain. One Nelson letter only was sold on May 11th. It was addressed to Lady Hamilton from the Victory, on May 4, 1805, and realised £71. In my opinion it was far finer than that for which £1,030 was paid. It ran thus:—
Your poor dear Nelson is my dearest beloved Emma very very unwell, after a two years hard fag it has been mortifying the not being able to get at the Enemy, as yet I can get no information about them, at Lisbon this day week they knew nothing about them but it is now generally believed that they are gone to the West Indies. My movements must be guided by the best Judgment I am able to form. John Bull may be angry, but he never had any officer, who has served him more faithfully, but Providence I rely will yet crown my never failing exertions with success, and that it has only been a hard trial of my fortitude in bearing up against untoward events. You my own Emma are my first and last thoughts and to the last moment of my breath, they will be occupied in leaving you independent of the world, and all I long in the world that you will be a kind and affectionate Father to my dear comfort with you, only think of all you wish me to say and you may be assured it exceeds if possible your wishes. May God protect you and my dear Horatia, prays ever your most faithful and affectionate
Nelson.
The Bunbury MSS. were included in the lots from 607 to 842. Considering their great historical importance the total price paid for them—£896 19s.—can hardly be considered adequate. The Crabbe A.L.S. to Burke (6 pp. 4to), for which I subsequently gave £20, went for £14. Some very important letters of General Dumouriez were sold for £6 10s. and £6 5s., and C. J. Fox's confidential letters to his brother, General Fox, averaged less than £3.