Stuart de Rothesay, Charles Stuart, Baron (1779-1845) / Hay, Robert William (1786-1861) / Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (1780 – 1831) [Baron de Rousseau – French Orientalist and French Consul at Tripoli] / Alexander Gordon Laing (1794 – 1826) [Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu] / Hanmer Warrington / Foreign Secretary for Prime Minister Wellington, George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen [Lord Aberdeen].

Original, unpublished and meaningful letter by British official and Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, Sir Robert William Hay, addressed with urgency to former secret agent in Spain and Portugal, Sir Charles Stuart de Rothesay, Scottish nobleman, and English ambassador to France (1815-1830); alerting Ambassador Charles Stuart of Hay’s arrival in Paris and his wish to ask him if he has “anything to communicate to me in regard to that Royal [Baron] Rousseau, The Barbary Consul”. Hay is in this letter preparing Stuart in order to investigate the situation around the death of explorer Alexander Gordon Laing in Africa. Under-Secretary for the Colonies, Sir R[obert] W.Hay, who had been informed about the situation around Laing’s missing Journals per private letter from the British Consul in Tripoli, Hanmer Warrington, announces his arrival in Paris to protest to the French government and advices ambassador Stuart:″I conclude that he [Baron Jean-Baptiste Rousseau] is by this time out of guarantiae, but I hope that by ensuing at Paris he will only get out of the frying Pan with the fire”. Hay continues: “I hope you will go with me (in case it be necessary) to the Minister, whoever he may be, in [?] Departement this ….were incredibly false for it. The French Govt. are really disposed & prosecute the Enquiry bon a fide. I think that same may acq…[….]…..on the other hand, if the French Govt. do not enter into y. enquiry with a good spirit, it will be in Rousseau’s …..to baffle me with the utmost facility in all our attempts to get at the truth. I spoke to Lord Aberdeen [George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Foreign Secretary for Prime Minister Wellington] on the day I left London, & he gave me full permission to conduct measures with you for the …of this affair. Yours very truly R.W.Hay”.

[London], [1829]. 5 octavo – pages on 2 sheets, folded. Excellent condition. Signed by Hay and dated probably “Monday, 19 Oct. [1829]”.

Stuart de Rothesay, Charles Stuart, Baron (1779-1845) / Strangford, Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount (1780 – 1855).

Original, unpublished letter by Anglo-Irish diplomat, Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford, to Sir Charles Stuart [Charles Stuart, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay], asking him for a favour to send a Lantern to an address in Paris [?]. Strangford writes from his post as British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Stockholm, where he was posted between 1817 and 1820.

Stockholm, 1819. 2 octavo – pages on 1 sheet, folded. Excellent condition. Signed by Strangford.

Rayne, H.

Sun, Sand and Somals, Leaves from the Note-book of a District Commissioner in British Somaliland. With 12 Plates From Photographs.

London, H.F.& G. Witherby, 1921. 15 cm x 23 cm. Frontispiece, 223 pages. Four of the twelve illustrations (including frontispiece) are missing. Recent Hardcover with gilt lettering on spine. Binding in excellent condition. Interior book-block in good+ condition with signs of staining.

Griffith, Sir William Brandforth.

Ordinances of the Gold Coast Colony, and the Rules and Orders Thereunder in Force 31st March, 1903; An Appendix Containg the Letters Patent; The Imperial Orders in Council, And Various Acts of Parliament in Force in the Colony, And an Index. Also The Ordinances, & c., In Force in Ashanti and the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast. Prepared under the Authority of “The Reprint of the Statutes Ordinance, 1903” by Sir William Brandford Griffith, Chief Justice of the Gold Coast Colony.

Original / First Edition. 2 Volumes (complete set). London, Stevens & Sons, Limited, 1903. 15.5 cm x 24.5 cm Volume 1: XLVI, 878 pages. Volume 2: 907 pages. Interleaved with blank pages throughout for later annotations / notes. Hardcover/ Original, brown half-leather with gilt lettering on spine with raised bands. Massive, stunning set in overall very good condition with only minor signs of external wear (Leather-corner missing from front board bottom corner of Volume I). Minor gutter-split between front endpaper and half title of Volume I but binding still firm and strong. Binding of Volume II is very firm and strong. Boards are faded and carry minor stains. Board of Volume II has minor worming. Volume I carries occasional annotations. Some staining to edges of Volume I. Occasional inkstains and spotting to interiors but both volumes are sharp cornered, bright and for the most part clean. Very Rare, rather scarce original edition !

Ross, William McGregor.

Kenya From Within – A Short Political History. With Eight Illustrations from Photographs, And Eighteen Maps and Diagrams.

London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1927. 14 cm x 22 cm. Frontispiece, 486 pages. 8 photographic plates including frontispiece. 11 maps, including those of Mombasa Island, Kenya Colony, Localities of Tribes in Kenya, The Insurrectionary Area (1922-1923), within the text. Hardcover [publisher’s original brown cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Blind stamp on lower front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Minor signs of foxing. Board corners slightly rubbed and bumped. Binding good and firm. Interior bright and clean and sharp cornered. Errata leaf inserted between p.96-97. Private gift-inscription dated “Christmas 1943” on endpaper by one William Wallace to [Captain] H.G. Gregory Smith [District Officer in Colonial Kenya].

[Robinson, Sir Joseph B.] Weinthal, Leo [Editor].

Memories, Mines and Millions. Being the Life of Sir Joseph B. Robinson, Bart. Compiled and edited by Leo Weinthal.

London, Simpkin Marshall, 1929. 19 cm x 25 cm. Frontispiece, 247 pages. Five high-quality, tipped-in, vintage monochrome photographs, including frontispiece on 4 plates. Besides the vintage photographs numerous illustrations throughout. Illustrations show for example action on the Pniel Diamond Diggings in 1875, Ferreira’s Camp in Johannesburg, 1886, Pretoria in 1875 / Caricatures of Robinson in “The Moon”, “Pretoria Press” “Truth” etc. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth] with gilt lettering on spine and front board. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Lower corners slightly rubbed. Illegible name of preowner on titlepage. Interior is bright and clean. Pencilled underlining to page 35.

[Select Committee on Kafir Tribes / Henry Labouchere] [Freeman, Joseph John (J.J.) and others].

Report from the Select Committee on the ‘Kafir Tribes’ – Together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, Appendix, and Index.

London, House of Commons, 1851. 15.5 cm25.5 cm. X, 607 pages with two manuscript pages preceding the printed report. The manuscript pages title and detail the content and are bearing in pencil the name “J.J.Freeman” [Reverend Joseph John Freeman was one of the people who were called in to give evidence]. Hardcover / Late 20th – century navy half-leather with gilt lettering on maroon spinelabel with raised bands. Marbled paper-covered boards. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Interior very clean and bright. Bookstamp of the ‘Incorporated Law Society of the United Kingdom’ on endpapers, titlepage and preliminary pages. Inked titling to endpapers.

Sawyer, A.R. / [G.F.Gresley / W.S.Gresley].

Coal-Mining in South Africa.

Newcastle, G.T. Bagguley, no year (c.1890). 15.5 cm x 24.5 cm. 44 pages. Excellent, larger fold-out-map (coloured) at rear of the publication, showing the South African coalfields. Several fold-out tables and diagrams at rear related to the coalfields. Softcover / Publisher’s original, printed wrappers. Poor condition of this very scarce pamphlet with strong signs of external wear and chipping to boards. Occasional annotations within the publication. Interior bright and clean. Private gift-inscription in ink on the frontcover: “To W.S.Gresley from his brother G.F.G. [G.F.Gresley]– Capetwon – May – 1890”. [G.F.Gresley was author of e.g.: “The Early History of Robben Island”].

Shelford, Frederic.

Pioneering. A Series of Four Articles contributed to “The Engineer.”

London / New York, E. & F. N. Spon / Spon & Chamberlain, 1909. 12.5 cm x 19 cm. 82 82 pages. With numerous illustrations throughout the text, showing examples of basic equipment, medicines etc. for the pioneer and surveyor [photographs of “A Hammock as commonly used in West Africa” / “Miner’s Dial” / “Instrument Umbrella” (Mosquito Net) / “Edgington’s Aluminium Demi-Johns” / “Doulton’s Traveller Pump Filter” etc.]. Hardcover [publisher’s original brown cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Minor bumps to lower corner boards. Some minor signs of staining to pages 46 and 47, otherwise interior very good. Extremely Rare publication for the Settler and Pioneer in Colonial Africa !

Hill, M.F.

The Dual Policy in Kenya. Being a collection of articles, published in the Kenya Weekly News, between July, 1943, and March, 1944, on the past, the present, and the future of Kenya Colony.

Nakuru, The Kenya Weekly News, no year (c.1944). 14.5 cm x 19.5 cm. 276 pages. Hardcover [publisher’s original blue cloth]. Poor condition with stronger signs of external wear. Boards are faded. Corners bumped. Boards show smudges and fading. Tears to gutter between pastedowns and endpapers. Binding somewhat shaky but book block intact. Internally clean and bright with sharp corners.