Fonsie Mealy's THE LIBRARY HOWTH CASTLE September 22nd & 23rd, 2021

135 fonsiemealy.ie Fonsie Mealy’s Est. 1934 Samuel Wilberforce 14-16 Nov 1854. 3 brief letters from Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford and a leading churchman of the day (now remembered chiefly for his contribution to the 1860 debate on evolution), with drafts of Gaisford’s replies. The Bishop informs Gaisford that he intends to hold a Confirmation service in the Cathedral for members of the university, and requests him to have the Cathedral prepared. Gaisford replies that confirmation services for the university have always been held in St Mary’s (University) Church DEAN GAISFORD: OTHER ITEMS Declaration Declaration of Thomas Gaisford, clerk, Prebendary of Fairwater in the diocese of Llandaff, that he will abide by the liturgy of the United Church of England and Ireland, 29 June 1823. With copies of signed statements by Gaisford and by W. (William Van Mildert), Bishop of Llandaff. Reference for a servant 2 Oct 1824. “J. Lock” sends Gaisford a somewhat devastating reference for a servant. “… Cleanly? Pretty well, except in his own feet, which in hot weather are abominable” et cetera. A right of way at Iford n.d., 1830s? Mrs Symonds and Miss Humphreys of Hinton Abbey (Somerset) to Gaisford at Iford House, politely informing him that his tenant Mrs Perkins has refused them the customary right of bringing their wood through her field. Draft of Gaisford’s snooty reply stating that no such right existed. Re medal [] Hamilton to “Bayly”with description of the “Blatter Medal”. An unforgeable bank note? Specimen bank note devised by the Rev. Edward Tatham (1749-1834), Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, and sent to the Rev. Thomas Gaisford, Dean of Christ Church. Tatham was a controversial figure, one of whose obsessions was the importance of paper currency as against specie. Endorsed “This plan of a bank note from the Clarendon Press is formed of twenty different sorts of types, in different languages, mostly old and obsolete …” the purpose being to make it extremely difficult to forge. With accompanying note by Gaisford stating: “He sent it to the Bank of England and in the course of a couple of days an imitation of it was returned from the Bank wch Dr T could not distinguish from his own note.” A young lady’s “letter” “A young lady, being obliged to show her husband all the letters she wrote, sent the following to an intimate friend ……. NB. The key to the above letter is to read the first and then every alternate line.” Folder: prints of Christ Church Print of “Christchurch College” (sic!), Oxford, J&F Harwood, London Print of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, by Elizabeth Byrne from a drawing by AW Elson Stamped envelopes (11) Empty envelopes (approx. 20) [3 Oct 1859]. Letter from Lady Emily St Lawrence at Howth Castle to Gaisford at Offington, postmarked 3 Oct 1859 (three weeks before their wedding). She expresses her indignation that Gaisford should even have considered a suggestion that Horace – his eight-year-old son by his previous marriage to Horatia Feilding – should be “expulsed” after their marriage. She asks him to send her his photograph “as an Arab … I call you my Sheik when talking of you”, and at his request encloses a lock of her hair. 1873-76. 8 letters to “my dear Walsh” re Lord Howth’s farm , 3 written 1873-76, the rest undated. Most are written by Lord Howth, one by William Goater. With news of horses, hunting, racing, procuring hay and manure, the cost of tillage, and the need to supervise the labourers (“I entertain strong ideas the men do nothing”). 29 May 1876. Note to Gaisford signed “Powis” (3rd Earl Powis, 1818-1891) 6 Oct 1891: William Edward Buckley to Thomas Gaisford re the proposed publication of a set of photographs of members of the Roxburghe Club (an exclusive club of bibliophiles, founded on the sale of the Duke of Roxburghe’s huge library in 1812). Buckley, Oxford academic and rector of Middleton Cheney, was a noted bibliophile; after his death in 1892 his library of 25,000 books was sold by Sothebys’. 6 May 1892. WilfridWard to Thomas Gaisford, enclosing a letter from Lord Lytton (written from Paris 15 Sept 1889) which he asks him to return. “You will see that it shows a strong interest in the Catholic Church, and is altogether an interesting revelation of his mind …” Concludes by saying that his wife has taken up golf. With extracts Lytton’s letter in Gaisford’s hand, expressing how profoundly he is moved by the Catholic liturgy and by the “catholicity” of the Church. WilfridWard (1856-1916), son of the former Tractarian and Catholic convert William George Ward, has been described as one of “the two leading lay English Catholic thinkers of their generation”. He wrote biographies of his father and of Cardinals Wiseman and Newman. Lytton (1831-1891) was an administrator (with a ruthless record as Viceroy of India 1876-1880), politician (opposing Gladstone’s home rule policy) and diplomat (Ambassador to France 1887- 1891); he was also the author of some sensitive poetry. 2 May 1901. Letter (very fragile) from C. Essenhigh Corke at Sevenoaks to Julian Gaisford, stating that he has sent a framed autotype of “Miss Linley & her brother by Gainsborough” and requesting that he will return the label and case. (Elizabeth Anne Linley, later the wife of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, was a famous soprano; her brother Thomas was a composer and nicknamed “the English Mozart”.) 29 July 1909. Letter to Julian Gaisford from a Redemptorist priest of Kinnoull in Perthshire, returning letters from J.H. Newman that he had borrowed. As an Archive, sold with all faults. The Auctioneers would like to gratefully acknowledge the help of Julian C. Walton, particularly with this lot, but with other lots also in this Catalogue. €15,000 - €25,000