1. Marryat, Frederick [Admiral Sir Arthur Cavenagh Leveson].

Poor Jack. Illustrated by Clarkson Stanfield.

London, Henry G. Bohn, 1859. 18 cm. VIII, 500 pages. Illustrations, including frontispiece, in black and white. Original illustrated hardcover. Good condition with only very minor signs of external wear. There is noticeable rubbing to the spine and it has become slightly frayed at its top and bottom; also, an inside page has been cut/torn. Inscribed and signed by Admiral Sir Arthur Cavenagh Leveson to Charles E. Hoyle in 1928.

2. [Buckingham Palace] Wardrop, Colonel F.M. [C.B. abd Military Attache to the British Embassy in Vienna (1900-1909) as well as Aide de Camp during the Egyptian War].

Original Luncheon-Invitation-Ticket-List, published in Book-Form with original Ivory-Head-Pencil by Johann Faber (Bavaria), attached on the occasion of King Edward VII’s Coronation Dinner at : “Hotel Belgravia / Buckingham Palace” – Original Ticket-Book: “List of Guests for Luncheon and Dinner – 1902 for King Edward VII’s Guests Colonel F.M.Wardrop, C.B., Colonel Commandant Johann von Belnay, Lieutenant-Colonel Ludwig Koch and Captain Adalbert Guilleaume”.

[London], Buckingham Palace / Hotel Belgravia, 1902. Oblong Octavo (14.6 cm wide x 11.8 cm high). 40 pages with partial perforation for detaching of Luncheon- and Dinner-Tickets. Hardcover / Original Royal Blue Publisher’s cloth with gilt lettering on cover and pencil-satchet attached to the binding. Some minor staining to the binding only. Overall in very good condition with only minor signs of wear. With the pencil included and the original elastic ribbon which allows the booklet to be closed. Wonderful example of the wealth of the Coronation-Event at the end of the Victorian and the beginning of the Edwardian Age (printed ticket-books for 4 attendees seem very luxurious indeed). Five tickets were used for Dinner at the Belgravia and each remaining stub was signed / monogrammed by Colonel F.M.Wardrop.

3. [Earl of Southesk, Charles Noel Carnegie, 10th] [Provenance: Adam Smith, Lady [Janet] and subsequently the Alpine Club London] / Carnegie, V.M.

A Kenyan Farm Diary – With Illustrations. [From the library of eminent scottish Writer, Mountaineer and Literary Critic, Janet Adam Smith and subsequently the Alpine Club in London for which Janet Adam Smith was Vice-President during the years 1978-1980 and to which she possibly had donated this book (our company has purchased a large stock of fantastic books and periodicals from the famous Alpine Club through Forum Auctions several years ago)].

Second Impression. Edinburgh and London, William Blackwood & Sons Ltd., 1931. Octavo. Frontispiece, XII, 271 pages. With seven photographic illustrations on four plates. Original Hardcover with the very rare original dustjacket in protective collector’s mylar. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear and foxing to the edges and several pages. This book is very rare in its original dustjacket. Inscribed and signed by Charles Noel Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk (1854-1941): “To Lady Adam Smith from the Earl of Southesk – Jan 1934”. With a newspaper-clipping on an event of Inverness Central School loosely inserted and with a newspaper-clipping shopwing the elderly “Earl of Southesk and Mr. Donald Steuart-Fothringham going out to shoot over Petterden Moor, Angus”. A wonderful association copy !

4. Congo / Kongo – Leopold II of Belgium (1835-1909) – King of the Belgians and Owner / Absolute Ruler of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.

Collection of four very important and meaningful manuscript letters by Leopold II to his administrator and Foreign Minister of the Congo – Free-State, Baron Adolphe de Cuvelier (1860-1931) with a total of 16 pages filled with Leopold’s instructions on pressing issues regarding a warning about an imminent visit by the Rector of the Mill-Hill Missionaries [probably Herbert Alfred Henry Vaughan (1832 – 1903)] and Leopold’s qualification of the visit of being detrimental to the Congo Free State (″ne travaillent pas pour l’État”). Leopold continues in another letter to talk about the hostile positions of english officials (consuls) and missionaries (″que les consuls anglais et les missionnaires anglais se conduisent bien mal envers l’État”). Interestingly, Leopold also touches on the nuisance of the german press criticizing Belgian Railway Lines and he is of the opinion that this is all happening in order to force the german parliament [″Reichstag”] to finance the building of the Tanganyika Railway [between Dar es Salaam and Kigoma]: (″cherche à effrayer l’opinion [en] Allemagne à propos de mes chemins de fer afin d’obtenir du Reichstag des fonds pour la ligne allemande vers le Tanganika”.

16 pages of MLS, Manuscript Letters (signed) on 10 leaves of Leopold’s official stationery “Château de Laeken” and “Palais de Bruxelles”. Laeken / Brussels, Château de Laeken [Palace of Laeken], 1901 – 1906. The leaves with different sizes (13,5 cm x 9 cm) and (18 cm x 11,5 cm). Excellent condition. Unsigned. Tremendously rare to find original letters by Leopold II on the open market in which the Colonial Free State and the protection against inquisitive visitors is discussed in such clear and instructive fashion. Leopold’s correspondence with Adolphe de Cuvelier shows how he is very much trying to still protect and influence the narrative of his Colonial Slavery Outpost even in the final years of his life.