Sophie Cat 56 - Sophie Dupre

49 AUTOGRAPH LETTERS,MANUSCRIPTS &SIGNED PHOTOS
361. REWAH (REWÁ) (Majhlee, wife of Maharaja
Raghuraj Singh, ruler 1834-1880, Maharani)
ALS in English, signed also in Hindi, to Mrs Robertson,
saying she has had “no pleasure to learn anything of you - I
hope you reached England safely”, and requesting her “to
let me know soon of your Major Robertson and other
family members’ welfare. Everything is all right here”,
Sutna (Satna), Bagelkhand, Central India, 19th March
1891, several marginal tears (repaired) without loss
[SD20145]£70
The Maharani’s husband abolished suttee in 1847 and, for his
services during the Mutiny, received again much territory
previously lost in war. Her son, Sir Venkat Raman Singh, was
born in 1876, succeeded in 1880, and was made GCSI 1897 for
work in famine relief. During his minority the administration was
reformed under the British Political Agent, assisted by a Council
of Sirdars, members of theMaharaja’s family.
362. ROACH SMITH (Charles, 1804-1890, F.S.A.,
Archaeologist and Numismatist)
ALS to‘Dear Sir’ [W. Self Weeks, Conservative agent at
Clitheroe], saying he needs “no apology for writing”, he
cannot find the “Glossary ... I must hunt for the
Gentleman’s Magazine & copy the Poem, with its Notes”,
he is “just now overworked” supplying his printers “to
allow me to go with the Brit. Arch. Assocn. to the North in
July”, and saying he knows his correspondent’s names from
“early memories” of the Isle of Wight, 3 sides 8vo., Temple
Place, Strood, Kent, 11th June 1886 [SD18783]£40
In 1856 Roach Smith sold his fine collection of Roman
Antiquities to the British Museum for £2000. He was an authority
on Richborough and Reculver, and received the first medal of the
London Numismatic Society.
Enclosed is a printed obituary notice and portrait.
363. ROBERTSON (Revd. James, Minister of
Whittinghame, E. Lothian),
ALS tothe Revd. Mr Morris, glad that the writer’s article in
‘Good Words’ about Lady Blanche Balfour (A.J.’s mother,
sister of the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury) had stimulated
further reminiscences about her sons’ Tutors, he recalls the
Marquess saying, when the writer was unexpectedly called
upon to propose Lady Blanche’s health at A.J.’s coming of
age, “it is always difficult to speak about a woman ”, he
hopes Mr. Morris may come and stay, and wonders if
Morris might reproduce ‘Folk-Talk’ “as everbody does now
who can, in the form of Stories”, 8 sides 8vo.,
Whittinghame Manse, Prestonkirk, E. Lothian, 13th April
1896 [SD18791]£40
364. ROCHFORD (Frederick Nassau van Zuylestein,
1683-1738, from 1710 3rd Earl of Rochford)
Receipt signed ‘Rochford’ to the Duke of Shrewsbury and
Robert Earl of Oxford, “by the hands of Mr. Velley & Mr.
Dixin” for £250 “for halfe a years Interest of tenne
thousand pounds Legacy given my wife by the will of the
late Earle Rivers”, 1 side oblong 8vo., n.p., 31st August
1717, lower blank margin a little jagged [SD14617]£65
Rochford married in 1714, with the consent of her mother Mrs.
Elizabeth Colleton, Bessie Savage (d.1746), the illegitimate
daughter of Richard Savage, (c.1654-1712), from 1694 4th Earl
Rivers.
365. RHODES (Cecil John, 1853-1902, Prime Minister of
Cape Colony, Founder of Rhodesia)
ALS to an unnamed correspondent telling him that the
“Governor was good enough to give me the enclosed letter
of introduction ...” and asking to visit him, 1 side 8vo., 16
Cork Street, London, n.d. [SD26591]£325
ILLUSTRATED LETTERS
366. ROYCE (William, Portrait Painter)
2charming ALS, the first signed with initials, to “C.J.H.”
(probably Charles John Hare, 1818-1898, M.D. 1847,
F.R.C.P. 1859), saying he had sent C.J.H.’s portrait to
Leeds with J.D. Heaton, who had called on hearing of his
mother’s illness, and sharing his feelings with C.J.H. on her
loss, “I received a very kind note from your father ... ‘the
likeness truly admirable’ ”, he turns whimsically to the
forthcoming wedding of their friend M.B. Beverley at
Headingley to “the fair Maria”, hoping the groom is not
reduced to a skeleton by the hot weather, like a horse “she
ought to see him in good condition before she takes
possession ... I dare say you are marking the days ... to see
whether you will pass the Rubicon [his exams] ere you go
into Yorkshire”, with much cheerful speculation on
Beverley’s feelings, and a fine pen sketch of the carriages
approaching the church, crowds cheering, the writer looking
through a telescope from London, and the ceremony at the
altar (18th May 1841), in the second Royce has stuck
Beverley’s envelope wafer to the page, showing Cupid
taking aim, marked ‘Prenez Garde’, Royce draws a young
man losing his hat as the arrow pierces him, and gives a
mock-Shakespearean discourse on “taking care”, as to
whether it is of the wife, by the wife, or self-preservation,
and on “the bliss of being mistaken for your shadow ... the
felicity of being unable to eat - drink - sleep ... to stop at
home or live on a rail-road ... ‘We come Beverley; we
come: as fast as our inferior opportunities ... will permit’ ”,
he repeats an anecdote of Cobbett, then returns to C.J.H.’s
portrait whose reception was all he could desire, he gives
his philosophy in fascinating detail, and though he can only
catch one moment, “there is in almost every countenance ...
such intense personality, that ... to abate one characteristic,
is to dilute the decided flavour of a particular wine; is to
throw away a spark of divinity ... I look with suspicion at
the mender of nature’s ... work” (7th June 1841), together 8
sides 4to., 31 Harrison Street, Gray’s Inn Road, London,
18th May - 7th June 1841 [SD50018]£275
With two further sketches in the second letter - the writer in his
study, apparently overcome by emotion, and the postman, about to
call atafine town house.
William Royce is not in the usual reference books, but his portrait
of Samuel Hare (1784-1867, FRCS, of Leeds, later London),
painted about 1843-1844, was sold at Christies South Kensington,
11th November 1999, lot 70. Samuel’s son Charles John had a
distinguished medical career as Professor and consultant at U.C.H.
(see Boase). John Deacon Heaton (1817-1880, of Leeds) took his
M.B. in London, 1841, F.R.C.P. 1848, and was appointed senior
physician in Leeds General Infirmary in 1843 (also in Boase).