1. Stuart de Rothesay, Charles Stuart, Baron (1779-1845) / Hay, Robert William (1786-1861) / Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (1780 – 1831) [Baron de Rousseau – French Orientalist and French Consul at Tripoli] / Alexander Gordon Laing (1794 – 1826) [Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu] / Hanmer Warrington / Foreign Secretary for Prime Minister Wellington, George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen [Lord Aberdeen].

Original, unpublished and meaningful letter by British official and Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, Sir Robert William Hay, addressed with urgency to former secret agent in Spain and Portugal, Sir Charles Stuart de Rothesay, Scottish nobleman, and English ambassador to France (1815-1830); alerting Ambassador Charles Stuart of Hay’s arrival in Paris and his wish to ask him if he has “anything to communicate to me in regard to that Royal [Baron] Rousseau, The Barbary Consul”. Hay is in this letter preparing Stuart in order to investigate the situation around the death of explorer Alexander Gordon Laing in Africa. Under-Secretary for the Colonies, Sir R[obert] W.Hay, who had been informed about the situation around Laing’s missing Journals per private letter from the British Consul in Tripoli, Hanmer Warrington, announces his arrival in Paris to protest to the French government and advices ambassador Stuart:″I conclude that he [Baron Jean-Baptiste Rousseau] is by this time out of guarantiae, but I hope that by ensuing at Paris he will only get out of the frying Pan with the fire”. Hay continues: “I hope you will go with me (in case it be necessary) to the Minister, whoever he may be, in [?] Departement this ….were incredibly false for it. The French Govt. are really disposed & prosecute the Enquiry bon a fide. I think that same may acq…[….]…..on the other hand, if the French Govt. do not enter into y. enquiry with a good spirit, it will be in Rousseau’s …..to baffle me with the utmost facility in all our attempts to get at the truth. I spoke to Lord Aberdeen [George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Foreign Secretary for Prime Minister Wellington] on the day I left London, & he gave me full permission to conduct measures with you for the …of this affair. Yours very truly R.W.Hay”.

[London], [1829]. 5 octavo – pages on 2 sheets, folded. Excellent condition. Signed by Hay and dated probably “Monday, 19 Oct. [1829]”.

2. Stuart de Rothesay, Charles Stuart, Baron (1779-1845) / Strangford, Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount (1780 – 1855).

Original, unpublished letter by Anglo-Irish diplomat, Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford, to Sir Charles Stuart [Charles Stuart, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay], asking him for a favour to send a Lantern to an address in Paris [?]. Strangford writes from his post as British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Stockholm, where he was posted between 1817 and 1820.

Stockholm, 1819. 2 octavo – pages on 1 sheet, folded. Excellent condition. Signed by Strangford.

3. [Tallents House].

First Day Cover for “The Opening of Tallents House, Edinburgh”.

Edinburgh, Tallents House, 2001. 22 cm x 11.6 cm. 1 page. Original Softcover. Excellent condition.

4. Northfield, The Rt. Hon. Lord.

Acquisition and Occupancy of Agricultural Land: Committee of Inquiry Report.

London, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1979. Octavo. 378 pages. Original Softcover. Good condition with some stronger signs of external wear (some pages dogeared). Otherwise very good ! Rare ! Name of preowner on endpaper.

5. Porter, Jane.

Flatha na h-Alban. – [Gaelic translation of “The Scottish Chiefs” [William Wallace]]. Domhnall Ó Grianna, translator.

Baile Átha Cliath, Oifig Diolta Foillseacháin Rialtais, [1937]. Octavo. 546 pages. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective collector’s mylar. Dustjacket design by VP (Victor Penney). The Volume itself in excellent condition. The dustjacket with some minor fraying but in very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Very Rare !

6. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.

Argyll – An Inventory of the Monuments – Volume 4: IONA.

Edinburgh, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, 1982. Folio. XVI, 296 pages with illustrations and VII plans showing the elevations and sections of Iona Abbey. Original Hardcover. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Two pages with a verty minor paper-defect due to the pages being stuck together at one corner when the book came fresh from the printer.

7. [Bell, Charles] Simons, Phillida Brooke.

The Life and Work of Charles Bell. Including The Art of Charles Bell: An Appraisal by Michael Godby.

Vlaeberg South Africa, Fernwood Press, no year (c.1998). 28 cm x 24.5 cm. Frontispiece, 176 pages. Numerous coloured and monchrome illustrations. Hardcover / publisher’s original half leather with slate gray boards. Gilt lettering on spine with raised bands. Gilt pictoral on front board. Housed in grey cloth-covered book case with coloured vignette on front board. Fine, absolutely excellent condition throughout. Interior in excellent condition. Hand-numbered 21 of a collectors’ special edition of only 100 copies. Signed by author on the certification page. Presentation inscription in calligraphy to Christopher Robin White. Front endpaper beautifully embossed. Superbly produced work.

8. Scotland – Tallis, John / Rapkin, John. (1817 – 1876).

Scotland – with Inset Map of the Shetland Islands, the Western Isles (Harris & Lewis), the Hebrides (The Barra Isles, Vatersay, Mingulay, Uist, Benbeculal), The Isle of Skye, Orkney Isles / The Map is surrounded by Vignettes of Edinburgh, Brig of Doon & Robert Burn’s Monument, Scott’s Monument, Holyrood House, and Depictions of Shinty and Deer Stalking.

Original steel engraving / Vintage map. Drawn and engraved by John Rapkin. Partly hand-coloured. Vignettes by N. Whitlock and Engraved by J. Rogers. London, Edinburgh & Dublin, J & F. Tallis, 1851. Plate Size: 25 cm x 35.5 cm. Sheet Size : 27.1 cm x 37.4 cm. Vintage 19th century map in very good condition.

9. Graham, Henry Grey.

Scottish Men of Letters in the Eighteenth Century.

London, Adam and Charles Black, 1901. 15.5 cm x 23.5 cm. XII, 441 pages. Includes an illustrated Frontispiece with a reproduction of a mezzotint after Allan Ramsay (protected with a tissue guard). With a further 31 black-and-white illustrations (portraits). Original Hardcover (blue cloth with gilt lettering). Very good condition with some signs of external wear. Some foxing evident with one illustration plate detached. An interesting Exlibris / bookplate with the engraved Motto: ‘Semper Paratus’ from the library of Albert A. Smith on front pastedown.

10. Scotland – Tallis, John / Rapkin, John. (1817 – 1876).

Perth – With Four Vignettes of Kinfaun’s Castle, Perth, and the Bank of Scotland.

Original steel engraving / Vintage map. Drawn and engraved by John Rapkin. Illustrated and Engraved by H. Winkles. London & New York, John Tallis & Company, 1851. Plate Size: 33 cm x 25 cm. Sheet Size: 37.5 cm x 27 cm. Vintage 19th century map in very good condition.