At a court of emergency of the Hon. Artillery-Company…

At a court of emergency of the Hon. Artillery-Company...

  • Author: Great Britain. Army. Honourable Artillery Company of London. Court of Emergency.
  • Uniform Title: [Regulations. 1794-08-21]
  • Title: At a court of emergency of the Hon. Artillery-Company, held at the Mansion-House, on Thursday, August 21, 1794, at three o’clock in the morning: on a requisition from the Right Hon. the Lord-Mayor, for the purpose of assisting the civil power, resolved, that the Company do appear completely armed and accoutred, with two spare flints, in the artillery-ground this evening, at five o’clock precisely, and that every member be required to assign substantial reason for absence. By order of the said Court of Assistants, William White, clerk.
  • Publication: [London] : [publisher not identified] [1794]

Catalog Record 

File 63 794 At861

Acquired April 2019

Letters relaying observations of Jamaica to Lord Cornbury

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Two letters signed pseudonymously ‘Salamander’ and ‘Montezuma’. The first, addressed to the Right Honourable Lord Cornbury, was sent with the second, a duplicate of a ‘love’ letter sent to Catherine Douglas, the Duchess of Queensberry.

  • Title: Letters relaying observations of Jamaica to Lord Cornbury and the Duchess of Queensbury, 1738 : manuscript.
  • Production: Jamaica, 1738.

Catalog Record 

LWL Mss File 150

Acquired November 2018

The caricaturists̓ scrap book

The caricaturists̓ scrap book. Title page

Omnium gatherum, no. 1-7–Omnium gatherum, 2nd series, no. 1-6–The art of tormenting–Old ways and new ways, no. 1-6–Nautical dictionary, no. 1-6–Sayings and doings, no. 1-6–Demonology & witchcraft, no. 1-6–London characters.

  • Author: Heath, H. (Henry)
  • Title: The caricaturists̓ scrap book / drawn & etched by H. Heath.
  • Published: [London] : Published by Charles Tilt, 1834.

Catalog Record 

Folio 724 834H

Acquired June 2018

The green bag, it’s contents & all it’s appendages

The green bag. Detailed description below.

“A hand, ‘Manus Populi’, extends into the design from the upper margin, holding a chain from which hangs a pair of scales. On one (right), close to the ground, sits the Queen, hands crossed on her breast, saying: “My innocence will support me & my Country will protect me– 10 Great Men against one unprotected Woman are fearful odds.” The other scale, high in the air, is completely filled by a green bag, see British Museum Satires No. 13735, from the mouth of which emerges the head of George IV, crowned. Attached to the beam, by a rope round his neck, hangs a military officer, holding a huge key; as a makeweight he dangles vainly against the left side of the King’s bag. Three men standing below pull at the scale, trying to drag it down: they are Sidmouth (left), a judge in back view (? Leach), and Castlereagh (right), who says: “We cannot do it, and I told you so at first, & if she opens her bagwe shall be stifled all of us.” The King looks down at them with a distressed expression, saying: “Pull you lubbers.””–British Museum online catalogue.

  • Printmaker: Heeston, active 1820, printmaker.
  • Title: The green bag, it’s contents & all it’s appendages are insufficient to turn the scale of public opinion [graphic] / Heeston fect.
  • Publication: London : Pubd. by S.W. Fores, 41 Piccadilly, July 11, 1820.

Catalog Record 

820.07.11.01+

Acquired April 2019

The Impenetrable Secret: a game

A set of cards with moral maxims printed on fronts and backs in black and red ink: e.g., “Poverty is the fruit of idleness, Small griefs are loud, great ones still …”

  • Title:[The Impenetrable Secret: a game, played with ten cards, each bearing a series of proverbs printed on both sides: invented by Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford.].
  • Published/Created:[Strawberry Hill], [1780?]

Catalog Record

496 2401

Acquired April 2019

Joe Miller’s jests, or, The wits vade-mecum

Joe Miller's jests title page

  • Title: Joe Miller’s jests, or, The wits vade-mecum : being a collection of the most brilliant jests, the most excellent Bons Mots, and most pleasant short stories in the English language; many of them transcribed from the mouth of the facetious gentleman whose name they bear. To which are added, choice collections of moral sentences, and of the most pointed and truly valuable epigrams in the British tongue; with the names of the authors to such as are known. Most humbly inscribed to those choice spirits of the age, His Majesty’s poet-laureat, Mr. David Garrick, Mr. The. Cibber, Mr. Justice Bodens’s horse, Tom Jones, the most impudent man living, the Rev. Mr. Henley, and Job Baker the Kettle-Drummer.
  • Published: London : Printed for John Lever, Little Moorgate, London Wall, Moorfields, [1750?]

Catalog Record 

761 750 J64

Acquired May 2019

John Jackson ledgers relating to the naval administration

3 manuscript volumes

Three manuscript volumes comprising the correspondence and bills of John Jackson. His meticulously detailed correspondence and accounts reveal vast amounts about Maltese trade, the mechanics of privateering, and the opportunities for profiteering.

  • Author: Jackson, John.
  • Title: John Jackson ledgers relating to the naval administration, export, and privateering activities in Malta, 1807-1813.

Catalog Record 

LWL Mss Vol. 240

Acquired June 2018

Frances Brooke journal of a trip to Paris

Frances Brooke journal. Detailed description below

Firsthand account of the journey of Frances, the Parkers, and “Emily” (possibly a sister) as they set out from somewhere in Derbyshire (their post halts are Hilton, Buxton and Bakewell on the early part of the journey) on their way to Paris, via Dieppe and Rouen. Frances is clearly a wealthy and educated young woman, and the account is lively and observant, taking place as it does in a France that only a few years before was a land of war, enemies and an occupying army under Wellington: “The Bois [du Boulogne] consists now of low shrubs, as the Allies cut down all the trees, when they were in Paris, for fire wood … Dined at Very’s and went to the Tivoli – A fete. A man ascended in a Balloon, and tho’ he seemed to engage every one’s attention and interest, he was not thought of, two minutes after he was out of sight. – The Gardens were beautifully illuminated with colossal lamps. Walked home through some streets we had not been in before and were much stared at … I believe it was Harriet’s pretty figure & our Silk Gowns that attracted attention…” The valiant though ignored aeronaut in question, a quick glance at Galignani’s Messenger will show, was none other than M. Margat (who seems to have stepped into the gap caused by the death of Madame Blanchard a year earlier … and who bears the distinction of being one of the few aeronaut’s of the period who was expressly requested to take part in a war as a balloonist, ending up in Algiers in 1830 having nearly set a French navy ship on fire, and earning a medal for making a balloon ascent under heavy fire). Paris seems to have been replete with aeronauts at the time, there is another balloon ascent a day or so later in the Tuilleries. There are encounters with Royalty, visits to the Louvre and Notre Dame, numerous observations on the general superiority of England in all things (“All the prettiest women were English”), a keen eye is leveled at the dress, behaviour and conduct of the ladies of Paris, both for good and ill, plays, tableaux vivant and sundry entertainments are sampled and all is chronicled with agility and attention to detail. A two month excursion into a Georgette Heyer novel.

  • Author: Brooke, Frances.
  • Title: Frances Brooke journal of a trip to Paris, June and July 1821 : manuscript.
  • Production: France, 1821 June-July.

Catalog Record 

LWL Mss Vol. 246

Acquired April 2019

The tunnel!!!, or, Another bubble burst!

The tunnel!!!. Detailed description below

A satire: The breech of the Thames Tunnel and its subsequent flooding in May 1827. The visitors to this popular site are shown fleeing in panic as disaster strikes. Water pours into the tunnel from the top left while workers watch in horror and shout warnings. Engineer Marc Brunel, whose tunnelling shield technology was used in the construction of the tunnel, stands on a ladder next to the cascade and exclaims “My hypothesis is gone to the devil”. Well-dressed ladies and gentlemen trip over themselves while racing towards the right, with one visitor remarking “If I can get home before this transpires I’ll sell my shares immediately”, a reference to the South Sea Bubble that is also referenced in the title. Above the speech bubbles of the frantic crowd is a sign on the wall of the tunnel proclaiming “The tunnel being perfectly dry and safe the public are invited to visit it every day Sunday excepted.

  • Printmaker: Williams, Charles, active 1797-1830, printmaker.
  • Title: The tunnel!!!, or, Another bubble burst! [graphic].
  • Publication: [London] : Pubd. May 1827 by S. Knights, Sweetings Alley, Royal Exchange, [May 1827]

Catalog Record 

827.05.00.03+

Acquired March 2019

Chosen candidate

Chosen candidate. Detailed description below.

A caricature on the prevalence of bribery during elections, most probably that of 1826. The successful liberal candidate stands on a platform before a cheering crowd and people waving from the windows of adjoining building. In the ‘Committee Room’ behind him, an official pays a man holding a sign inscribed ‘No bribery or corruption’ with the word ‘and’ between bribery and corruption scored through. On the right is an armchair and behind it stand two large flags; two flowers on the chair match the flower on the lapel of the candidate.

  • Artist: Lane, Theodore, 1800-1828, artist.
  • Title: Chosen candidate [art original] / by Theodore Lane.
  • Production: [London], [ca. 1826]

Catalog Record 

Drawings L265 no. 2 Box D205

Acquired March 2019