- 25
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of
Estimate
1,500 - 2,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of
- A group of five autograph letters, comprising:
- Paper
i) two autograph letters signed to the diplomat Charles Stuart, Baron Stuart de Rothesay, the first written as Commander in Chief of the Allied Occupation forces in France soon after Stuart's appointment as Ambassador to Paris and discussing improvements to lines of communication with England, the second written as Leader of the Opposition in the weeks after the collapse of the Second Reform Bill, thanking Stuart for information claiming that the radical Birmingham Political Union was arming itself, noting with satisfaction that since he made this claim public "there has been ... a remarkable change in the Language of the Newspapers as well respecting the Associations and their Assumption of Arms, as respecting the Ministers", 6 pages, 8vo, 15 April 1816 and 15 November 1831
ii) three autograph letters written in the third person, one to Captain Sherer, presumably regarding Sherer's contribution to Lardner's Cabinet Library on the Duke's achievements, one to Major Light, firmly instructing him to take his complaints elsewhere, and one to Mr [?John] Lucas, agreeing to a sit for a portrait in a Lord Lieutenant's uniform, 6 pages, 8vo, 16 January 1831 to 24 July 1839, some light spotting, adhesive residue on the verso of one letter
ii) three autograph letters written in the third person, one to Captain Sherer, presumably regarding Sherer's contribution to Lardner's Cabinet Library on the Duke's achievements, one to Major Light, firmly instructing him to take his complaints elsewhere, and one to Mr [?John] Lucas, agreeing to a sit for a portrait in a Lord Lieutenant's uniform, 6 pages, 8vo, 16 January 1831 to 24 July 1839, some light spotting, adhesive residue on the verso of one letter
Catalogue Note
The Birmingham Political Union, founded in 1830 by the Radical Thomas Attwood, was the first of the great popular associations formed in the new industrial cities to press for Parliamentary reform. They were characterised by mass meetings of 50,000 to 100,000 people.