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ORIGINAL VICTORIAN LETTER ARCHIVE - 15 x Handwritten letters to S.W. Silver, founder of the York Gate Library (1860s to 1890s)
Offered here is a genuine archive of 19th-century handwritten letters, almost all addressed to Stephen William Silver (1819 to 1905) of 3 York Gate, Regent\'s Park. Silver was a wealthy London merchant and outfitter (S.W. Silver & Co.) and the collector who assembled the celebrated York Gate Library of geography, exploration and colonial history, now held by the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia in Adelaide.
This is real Victorian correspondence from his circle of scientists, explorers, colonial officials, industrialists and society figures, much of it on crested or printed letterhead, in the writers\' own hand.
NOTABLE ITEMS INCLUDE:
🔹 Sir Roderick Murchison - co-founder and long-serving President of the Royal Geographical Society and Director-General of the Geological Survey. Signed note thanking Silver for a gift he values \"not only for its own sake, but for that of the donor.\"🔹 Archibald Forbes, the famous war correspondent (Franco-Prussian War, Anglo-Zulu War) - ALS dated 14 Sept 1883, Chapel Place, Henrietta Street, thanking Silver and discussing the York Gate Library catalogue and his deep interest in Australia.🔹 Sir Henry Doulton (Royal Doulton / Lambeth Pottery) - letter dated 23 Nov 1883 thanking Silver for \"the beautiful volume\" (the York Gate catalogue) and hoping the day will be \"far far distant when it will be dispersed.\"🔹 John Edward Gray, Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum, to the naturalist Osbert Salvin - letter dated 25 Nov 1867 on British Museum paper, discussing specimen-mounting paper and dry arsenical preparation.🔹 William Foster, of the Hakluyt Society - letter on Hakluyt Society / India Office paper dated 14 Nov 1894, regarding Silver\'s retirement from and possible re-nomination to the Society\'s Council.🔹 Home Office letter on crested \"Secretary of State / Home Department\" paper, dated 6 Sept 1884, regarding the Meteorological Conference.🔹 The Countess of Lisburne (\"Alice\"), from Crosswood (Trawsgoed), Aberystwyth, 18 Aug 1884 - a heartfelt appeal for funds to build the new Aberystwyth Infirmary in one of \"the poorest parts of Wales.\"🔹 New Zealand interest - letter dated 31 May 1886 (Cornwall Gardens, Queen\'s Gate) concerning Sir Francis Dillon Bell reading a paper at the Statistical Society on the progress of New Zealand, prepared by Premier Sir Robert Stout, with a dinner at Willis\'s Rooms.🔹 Leo (Edgar Leopold) Layard, naturalist and consul - letter dated 2 Dec 1888 declining an invitation as he sets off \"en route for Nouméa\" (New Caledonia).🔹 Plus further letters incl. the Office of the Agent-General for South Australia (17 May 1884, re Royal Geographical Society meeting tickets); an 1871 letter from 7 Mincing Lane about a son\'s outfit for Jamaica (a window into Silver & Co.\'s outfitting trade); a Royal Geographical Society nomination request from Blackheath (1887); and family/condolence letters from Park Lane and Clapham Common.
IMPORTANT NOTE ON AUTHENTICITY:
The writers have been identified from the letters themselves and from the recipient\'s known circle. A few signatures are not independently certified, and the lot is sold as found, unauthenticated. Buyers are encouraged to view all photographs and satisfy themselves before offerding. Sold as a single collection.
A wonderful lot for collectors of autographs, Royal Geographical Society and exploration history, colonial and Australian history, Welsh history, Royal Doulton, or Victorian social history.
You can see all 15 letters on this pictures.
