Autograph letters

Politicians: Sir Thomas Sherley the elder (1542-1612) (document signed), Massanes (to John Robethon, secretary to George I, on Anglo-French diplomatic relations during the minority of Louis XV, 1716), William Cobbett (“...Life is too short to suffer me to waste any part of mine merely in giving specimens of my hand-writing...”) (2) , Lord Eldon (series), Lord Ellenborough, Francis Horner, the Third Duke of Grafton, J.W. Croker, Henry Boyle, the First Earl of Charlemont, William Huskisson, Lord Palmerston, Lord Shelbourne, 2^nd Viscount Townshend; Writers and artists: Thomas Hearne, Elkanah Settle (autograph manuscript poem, 1 page), Henry Ellis (librarian), James Ralph, Hermann Massius, Alexander Chalmers, George Ormerod, James Anderson (agriculturalist and political economist), Lorenzo Bartolini; Royalty and courtiers: Queen Victoria (cut signature), the Duc D’Orleans (signature), Crown Princess Victoria, future Empress of Germany (letter dated 1867), Henry Radcliffe, Earl of Sussex (document signed, 1555), Robert Carey, Earl of Monmouth (document signed, 1620), Henry Grey, Duke of Kent (letter signed, purchasing shares in the South Sea Company, 1714); Religious figures: Robert Hall, Thomas Chalmers (first leader of the Free Church of Scotland), Charles Simeon, William Fox (1823), Joseph Wolff, E.B. Pusey, Edward Bentham, Richard Terrick; Military figures: Major-General Henry Clinton (1810), Admiral Sir George Rooke, 8^th Earl of Home; Other, including scientists and engineers: Robert Stephenson, Charles Lyell, William Crookes, Andrew MacKay, Rowland Hill, the fortune-teller Marie Anne Lenoramand, also a small number of printed broadsides; damp staining, some items with more extensive damp damage leaving them fragile or with loss

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where 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."

This wide-ranging collection includes a substantial number of letters, mostly from legal figures, to John Leycester Adolphus (1794-1862), a barrister and writer whose varied works included the first detailed stylistic analysis that suggested the Waverley novels were the work of Sir Walter Scott. Most of the letters from religious non-conformists were written to the Congregational Minister Henry Forster Burder (1783-1864).