11. [Malta Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] / [General Sir John Philip Du Cane].

Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS) / Autographed Letter Signed (ALS) from a friend of Sir Harry Luke, informing Luke about making contact for him with “Johnny du Cane”, clearly because of Luke’s imminet posting as Lieutenant-Governor of Malta, which had been announced the very same day. Du Cane had at this moment been Governor of Malta since 1927: “My dear Harry, I have written to Johnny du Cane for you. He is a real good [?], very intelligent and gloriously indolent – Which a men thinks me in everywhere ! – Ever yours – Archie Weyall [?]”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Petwood / Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, 30th of June, 1930. Octavo. One page letter with envelope. From the personal collection of Sir Harry Luke.

12. [Palestine Content / Malta Content / Ecclesiastical] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] Valeri, Valerio [Cardinal / Bishop / Apostolic Delegate to Egypt].

Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS) by Valerio Valeri to Sir Harry Luke upon his departure as deputy High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine to Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Robert Chancellor. [Luke attempted to mediate an agreement between Jewish and Arab leaders, without success’]. The letter by Bishop Valeri reads: ‘Dear Mr.Luke, this is a very confidential letter to express you both my sincere regrets at your departure from Jerusalem and my felicitations for your appointment as Governor of Malta under the present circumstances. Your high qualities are, no doubt, well known at the Colonial and the Foreign Office, a thing at which all the friends and acquaintances you left in Palestine have rejoiced. Wishing you every success in carrying out your work and with my kindest regards I am Sincerely Yours + Valerio Valeri’.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Cairo, Delegatio Apostolica Aegypti, July 22nd 1930. Octavo. 1 letter with original envelope. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

13. [Palestine Content / Malta Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] Vilmos, William de.

Important Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS / Autographed Letter Signed (ALS) on the Palestine and Malta-Postings from Sir Harry Luke’s Great Uncle William de Vilmos. The letter, written in german, was addressed to Luke just after he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Malta in the year 1931. Remarkably, the letter touches on William de Vilmos being happy that in this year 1931 his nephew Harry Luke, has now escaped Palestine “this impossible place, where the bloody disputes will be neverending…” / “…such life-endangering scenes you had to endure [in Palestine] will hardly occur during your posting in Malta” [free translation]”. The letter reads: ‘Budapest, 20. Jaenner 1931 – Mein geliebter Harry. Du hast mir mit Deinem lieben Brief vom 9. dieses eine grosse Stueck Freude bereitet & ich danke Dir dafuer herzlichst. Deine Neujahrswuensche erwidere ich aufs Herzlichste fuer Dich, wie fuer die liebe Joyce, Peter & Michael. Sehr freut es mich, dass der Aufenthalt in Malta, sowohl was Klima als Behausung, Garten etc. betrifft, jeden Einzelnen von Euch sehr conveniert & Euch viel Vergnuegen bereitet. In der schwierigen Weltlage in der wir jetzt leben, gibt es jetzt ueberall Schwierigkeiten die unausweichbar sind, aber jedenfalls bin ich froh und gluecklich, dass Du von Palaestina, diesem unmoeglichen Fleck Erde, wo die blutigen Zwistigkeiten kaum jemals aufhoeren werden, gluecklich und & lebendig weggekommen bist. Solche Szenen, wie Du durchzuleben gezwungen warst, in fortwaehrender Lebensgefahr Dich befindend, wirst Du in Malta nicht ausgesetzt sein. Ich wuensche Deiner Thaetigkeit den allerbesten Erfolg. Deine liebe Mutter habe ich waehrend den Weihnachtsfeiertagen, die ich in Wien verbrachte, mehrmals gesehen, war mit ihrem Aussehen & ihrem Gemuetsstand recht zufrieden. Mir geht es gottlob gesundheitlich sehr gut. Ich kann selbst ueber mein Alter nicht klagen, denn ich habe gottlob trotz meiner 92 Jahre ueber Altersbeschwerden keinerlei Klagen zu erheben. Leb wohl mein lieber guter Harry, ich gruesse & kuesse Dich & die theuere Joyce in aller Liebe – Dein Onkel Vilmos”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Budapest, 20. Jaenner 1931. Octavo. 1 sheet with a three-page letter. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

14. [Private Materials Sir Harry Luke] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] Storrs, Sir Ronald Henry Amherst.

Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS) from Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs during his tenure as Governor of Cyprus to Sir Harry Luke condoling on the death of Luke’s father: ‘Only a word of v. true condolence on your heavy bereavement. Your father was always most kind [?] + helpful to me & I do realize from personal experience how sharp a blow & shock you are under. R S.’ The letter itself does not reference Cyprus but was clearly written during Storrs’ time as Governor of Cyprus.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, 2nd of July 1930. Folio. 1 page with official envelope. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

15. [Cyprus Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] Storrs, Sir Ronald Henry Amherst.

Typed Letter Signed (TLS with manuscript additions) on Stationery of Government House, Cyprus, from Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs to Sir Harry Luke. The two – page letter was written by Storrs in August 1927, during his posting as Governor of Cyprus and reached Sir Harry while he was still Colonial Secretary in Sierra Leone. Storrs writes: “My dear Harry, Yours of the 18th received with lively satisfaction and the enclosure from the Thegn [Code for “Thane”] shewn to the highly gratified Daisy, who says it is nothing of the documents that emanate daily from the new office within the wall in Jerusalem. …..I am duly exploring the possibilities …..and indeed comic rumour that I am bored with Ubr. On the contrary the charm and interest of the place grow upon me every day and I am encouraged to believe that the Ergs and foot-poundals expended by myself in a variety of directions are already beginning to generate a current of advantage for the Colony: [continued in manuscript handwriting by Storrs]: including the revision to date of yr. admirable handbook [that is ‘Handbook of Cyprus’] (any bequests thereto ?)….”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Cyprus, July 6th, 1927. Octavo. 1 sheet (1 page). From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

16. [Palestine Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] Storrs, Sir Ronald Henry Amherst.

Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS) marked “Destroy” from Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs to Sir Harry Luke. The two – page letter was written by Storrs in June 1925, during his posting as Governor of Jerusalem and Judea and reached Sir Harry while he was still Colonial Secretary in Sierra Leone. Storrs asks Luke “If you can, extract from Co [possibly Colonial Office] who is responsible for the dirty work over my leave, & how the Thane of Roach behaved [that is Edward Keith-Roach, British Colonial administrator and later Governor of Jerusalem].

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Jm [Jerusalem], 12 VI 25 [1925]. Octavo. 1 sheet (2 pages filled with red ink manuscript handwriting by Storrs, with original envelope). From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

17. [Malta Content] – [Luke, Sir Harry] / [Archbishop of Rhodes (Sir Mauro Monsignor Caruana)] / Bishop of Gozo (Mikiel Monsignor Gonzi)] / [Lord Strickland, 4th Prime Minister of Malta].

Two (2) Manuscript Letters Signed (MLS) / Autograph Letters Signed (ALS) on Stationery of the Lieutenant Governor of Malta, from Sir Harry Luke to his mother during the month of June, 1932. The two multi-page letters (from the 6th and 13th of June, 1932) deal with private matters but also have significant content about the famous conflict between the two local, Maltese Bishops [1. Archbishop of Rhodes (Sir Mauro Monsignor Caruana) / 2. Bishop of Gozo (Mikiel Monsignor Gonzi)] and Lord Strickland, 4th Prime Minister of Malta. Luke writes in the letter from June 6th, 1932: “There have been a succession of political changes here these last 2 weeks, keeping me very busy. The Bishops here first refused to accept an apology from Lord Strickland, then agreed to accept it, so the Elections, which were nearly again suspended, will after all be held, next week & after which the new Ministry will be formed and, if all goes well, I should with luck be able to get away about end of June & go with the first instance to England, coming out to you (I hope with Peter) about first week in August…..Things politically seem in a pretty awful mess everywhere. I hope this depressing crisis will soon pass off. Ronald Storrs, whose time in Cyprus is up in hours, has been made Governor of Northern Rhodesia (Central Africa) which I fear he won’t like very much, & he is being succeeded by a very senior man, Sr R[eginald Edward] Stubbs, the present Governor of Jamaica, who is one of the most senior of the Governors. I should have had [?] Cyprus, of course, but would rather be here than go to some remote & awful African hole.”

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Malta, 6 June, 1932 & 13 th June, 1932. Quarto. Two Letters, each four pages on two sheets. From the personal library of Sir Harry Luke, letters to his mother which he inherited after her death.

18. [Palestine Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] Roberts-Wray, Sir Kenneth [Order of St Michael and St George].

Six – Page (!) Manuscript Letter Signed (MLS) / Autographed Letter Signed (ALS) by Sir Kenneth Roberts-Wray to Sir Harry Luke. Stunning manuscript letter in which Roberts-Wray discloses information from the inner workings of the “Palestine Commission”, which investigated Sir Harry Luke and the Wailing Wall – Incident. Roberts-Wray would go on to become an important Legal Adviser for the Crown and the Colonial Office and his star rose steady and led to him writing “Commonwealth and Colonial Law”, the most important work on understanding the british understanding of legal procedure and Colonial Power today.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. German Colony, Jerusalem, , 12th of January, 1930. Small Quarto. 6 pages on 3 sheets with original envelope. From the personal collection of Sir Harry Luke.

19. [Miscellaneous Harry Luke] – [Luke, Harry Charles] Rose, Horace Arthur / Brown, John Porter.

The Darvishes; or, Oriental Spiritualism. By John P. Brown, Edited with Introduction And Notes By H. A. Rose. With Twenty-Three Illustrations.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, Oxford University Press, 1927. 19 cm x 13 cm. XXIV, 496 pages, 23 illustrations. Original Hardcover. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. Good condition with some minors signs of external wear.

20. [Malta Content] – [Luke, Harry Charles] Under Secretary of State, Colonial Office / Downing Street.

Typed Letter Signed (TLS) addressed to Harry Luke and signed OGR Williams on “Downing Street Stationery” / “The Under Secretary of State, Colonial Office”: “Sir, I am directed by Lord Passfield to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th of July and to inform you that the Crown Agents for the Colonies are being authorised to pay to you subsistence allowance at the rate of 25/– a night in respect of your attendance at the Colonial Office Conference for the period 23rd of June to the 15th of July (inclusive). I am, Sir, your obedient servant, OGRWilliams [?]”.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. [London] Downing Street, 23rd of July, 1930. A4. One page with envelope “On His Majesty’s Service”. From the personal collection of Sir Harry Luke. Important letter stating Luke’s attendance at the Colonial Conference in 1930, shortly before he started the Governorship on Malta.