Hallam, Arthur Henry.

8vo, first edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the editor henry hallam (a.h.'s father) on the front endpaper ("From the Editor"), the william wordsworth copy,  inscribed in the poet's hand beneath "Wm Wordsworth | Rydal Mount", with a further signature on the same page "W Wordsworth" (? possibly in the hand of the poet's son), nineteenth-century half brown roan by Charles Charles Thurnham & Sons of Carlisle (with his ticket), marbled boards, endpapers and edges, edges of binding slightly worn, endpapers foxed

William Wordsworth (inscription on endpaper); his great-granddaughter Mrs Dickson of Ambleside, who consigned it to an auction in aid of All Saints' Church Cockermouth in 1959;  purchased by Mrs Wingate; subsequently sold by her in aid of Somerville College, c.1984; purchased by the book collector SImon Nowell-Smith (all information contained in a letter by the Appeal Secretary at Somerville to Simon Nowell-Smith, 27 July 1984); his wife Judith Adams Nowell-Smith (bookplates of both); the sale of the Nowell-Smith collection by Bertram Rota, catalogue 300, 2002, item 375 

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

henry hallam's touching memoir of his son, presented to william wordsworth.

Although Simon Nowell-Smith described it as in a "doubtful hand" it seems clear that the main inscription linked to Rydal Mount here is, indeed, Wordsworth's (the poet's). It is, in any case, without doubt the Wordsworth copy, given the provenance (see below).

This memoir of Arthur Henry Hallam came about at the instigation of Arthur's friends, who felt that his writings deserved a wider audience after his premature death in Switzerland in September 1834. This is a particularly resonant presentation copy, since Arthur Hallam had been a very keen disciple of Wordsworth's, and might even have aspired to his stature as a philosophic poet had he lived. The memoir is better as a demonstration of Arthur Henry Hallam's thinking than as an account of his life, however. His father expunged from the record his "infatuation with Anna Wintour, his engagement to Emily Tennyson, and his adventures in Spain" (Oxford DNB).