figure, and a prominent member of the Privy Council of Ireland who later held a seat for Dublin County in the Irish House of Commons. In 1716 he was created Viscount Molesworth of Swords, in the Peerage of Ireland. The later ownership inscription of Samuel Crompton (1753–1827) is on a preliminary blank. Crompton was a pioneer of the spinning industry and married to Harriet Molesworth, the great-great- granddaughter of Robert Molesworth. There are annotations in black ink to the margin and text, possibly in Samuel Crompton’s hand. Also present is a manuscript bankers’ draft dated 1796 signed by Robert, 5th Viscount Molesworth, requesting a payment to his son-in-law John Forster Hill, with a 20th-century bookplate of Viscount Molesworth to the front pastedown, pasted over white envelope which held the subsistence receipt. Document (147 × 187mm). Single leaf, hand-written on both sides in black ink. The book: octavo (186 × 117 mm), contemporary black crushed morocco, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments, covers ornamentally gilt, marbled endpapers. Rubbed, minor loss at spine ends, a few marks to covers, binding open to the cords after free endpapers but sound, occasional minor staining. ¶ ESTC R8752; Goldsmiths’ 3380. Report on the American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain , vol. 9, no. 180, p. 230, available online. £6,500 [155748] 114 MONTGOMERY OF ALAMEIN, Bernard Law Montgomery, Viscount. A History of Warfare. London: The Arcadia Press, 1969 a classic commentary on the history of warfare Deluxe limited edition, number 138 of 265 specially bound copies, signed by Montgomery on the title page and bound by Zaehnsdorf from the first printing sheets of the first US edition. “Lord Montgomery’s stimulating book must surely take its place as a classic commentary on the history of warfare . . . It is the fruit of a lifetime spent in the study and practice of war and it bears the authority of one who will without doubt be numbered among the great commanders” (Howarth, p. 166). Quarto (241 × 172 mm). Publisher’s black morocco by Zaehnsdorf, spine lettered in gilt, gilt motif of a cannon in red and orange morocco onlays to front cover, turn-ins richly gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt. Housed in the original plush-lined linen solander box. With numerous
October 1777) represented a key American victory marking the turning point of the Revolutionary War, proving that an independent United States was viable. The receipt is signed off by Richard Molesworth (1737–1799), a longstanding deputy paymaster in the War Office. Molesworth is briefly mentioned in a letter from Major-General Robert Pigot to Howe on 10 April 1778. The need for money to support General Burgoyne and his army in Boston is discussed. Richard was the brother of Robert, 5th Viscount Molesworth; he inherited the title from his cousin Richard Nassau Molesworth, 4th Viscount Molesworth, who died heirless, intestate, and insane. This document was previously folded and kept in an envelope mounted on the front pastedown of a book from the Molesworth family library: a first edition of The Desolation of France Demonstrated, a presentation copy from the author to Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth (1656–1725), with Molesworth’s inscription on the front blank – “Donum Authoris” (“Gift from the Author”) – additionally signed by him on the title page and with a brief comment on the author: “Mons. De Souligny [ sic ], Grandson to the famous Du Plessis Mornay”. In this work, Souligné, a Huguenot refugee, criticizes Louis XIV and his economic policies. He argues against the many wars undertaken and their subsequent effects on the population through elevated taxes. Robert Molesworth was an experienced political
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own account of his commands during the Second World War, from the key campaign in the Western Desert that secured his reputation – of which Churchill remarked, “Before Alamein we never had a victory, after Alamein we never had a defeat” – to his acceptance of the surrender of the German generals at Luneberg Heath (Majdalany, p. 153). Tall octavo. Publisher’s deluxe black morocco, spine lettered in gilt, raised bands, badges of the Eighth Army and 21st Army Group, and facsimile signature in gilt to front cover, marbled endpapers, turn-ins and edges gilt. In the publisher’s black paper-covered slipcase. With colour frontispiece of Montgomery, 63 maps in black and red, 13 pages of plates from photographs, 3 diagrams. A fine copy. ¶ Fred Majdalany, The Battle of El Alamein: Fortress in the Sand , 2003; The Evening Standard , 3 March 1947. £1,500 [159614]
to an Order, from His Excellency General Sir William Howe dated at Philadelphia the 2nd Feb of 1778 for which I have given two more Receipts of this Tenor and Date. £56,000. R. Molesworth”. It is docketed on the verso as “Subsistence Extraordinary’s [ sic ] Receipt”. The receipt was signed at a delicate point for the British Army. In the summer of 1777, General William Howe succeeded in taking Philadelphia, but in October a separate force under John Burgoyne was forced to surrender to Horatio Gates following the two Battles of Saratoga. Subsequently, the Convention Army, named for the treaty of surrender, was marched to Boston where they were held prisoner. Burgoyne was permitted to leave for England in April 1778, but his army remained in captivity until the end of the war. This immense sum of £56,000, perhaps equivalent to £9.5m today, was sent to Burgoyne during imprisonment to feed his starving army. The Battles of Saratoga (19 September and 7
illustrations, some colour-printed. A few marks to box. A fine copy. ¶ T. E. B. Howarth, comp., Monty at Close Quarters: Recollections of the Man , 1985. £1,250 [159615] 115 MONTGOMERY OF ALAMEIN, Bernard Law Montgomery, Viscount. El Alamein to the River Sangro. Normandy to the Baltic. London: The Arcadia Press, 1971 published on the 30th anniversary of the battle of el alamein Deluxe limited edition, number 138 of 265 copies signed by Montgomery on the title page and specially bound; with the original 2-page subscribers’ letter loosely laid in. First published in 1946, this is Montgomery’s
Richard. Manuscript subsistence receipt signed. Rhode Island: 24 March 1778 , found in the Molesworth family copy of SOULIGNÉ, Monsieur de. The Desolation of France Demonstrated . London: John Salusbury, 1697 sustaining burgoyne’s wandering army during the american revolutionary war A revealing document from a pivotal period of the American Revolutionary War, noting the receipt “from Thomas Barrow Esq. Deputy Paymaster to His Majesty’s Forces at New York, the Sum of Two hundred and Forty Thousand Dollars, which the Rate of Four shillings and eight pence each Dollar amount to the Sum of Fifty Six Thousand pounds Sterling for the use of the Army under the Command of His Excellency Lieutenant General Burgoyne, pursuant
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All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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