Whitworth, Charles Lord (6 results)

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Headed 'Recordr 4 Mar'. Begins: 'Recd of the Rt. Honble the Lord William Powlett one of the four Tellers of the Recet of his Majys Excheqr the Sum of Two Thousand pounds in farther Parte of an Order dated the 18 day of ffebry 1724'.

1p., 16mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Lord Whitworth & the Duchess of Dorset [now his wife] request the honor of Lord Glenbervie's Company at dinner to morrow [sic] at ½ past five. | Hôtel de l'Empire | Sunday morn.' Whitworth was British Ambassador to Paris. 1802-1803. Note: "After the restoration of the Bourbons in France, which as a political expedient he [Whitworth] highly approved, he visited Paris in April 1819 with the Duchess of Dorset and a numerous train.".

Hardcover. 12mo (7.25" x 4.5"), later full English calf by Arno Werner with gilt-stamped title on spine. Title page with engraved view of Horace Walpole's Gothic revival home. xxiv, 158 pp. Two bookplates of Wyman Parker on front paste-down. Pencil collector's notes on rear endpapers. CONDITION: Very good, slightly worn. 5th book of Strawberry Hill. 2nd year of press. 1 of 700 copies, edited by Horace Walpole. According to Walpole's introductory advertisement, "Lord Whitworth's little treatise will throw considerable lights upon the formation of the Muscovite power, and upon the plans of the extraordinary genius, Peter the Great." Whitworth's "An Account of Russia as it was in the Year 1710, though not published until 1758, was soon available in manuscript to the ministry at home [in England]. Succinct and perceptive, it was a survey of Petrine Russia which held its readership through to the century's end and beyond" (Whitworth, DoNB). Noted among the early reprints of the Strawberry Hill Press (Britannica). Charles, Baron of Whitworth (1675-1725), English diplomatist and ambassador to Russia, was in"September 1704.appointed envoy-extraordinary to Russia, where, so Tsar Peter I commented to Whitworth in May 1705, 'for some considerable time no Englishman had appeared with a public character'. His initial commission was to attempt regularization in Anglo-Russian commercial relations by remedying the Russia Company's mismanagement of its award (1698) of the tobacco monopoly in Russia.that the tobacco monopoly business was resolved between 1707 and 1711 owned much to his assiduity and resource.His friendships suggest an engaging and sagacious man, but Whitworth was firstly a most accomplished diplomat and an unsurpassed interpreter of the Russia of his day" (Whitworth, DoNB). Walpole offers a recollection indicating Whitworth's closeness to the Russian court: "Lord Whitworth had had a personal intimacy with the famous Czarina Catherine [the future Catherine the Great], at a time when her favours were not purchased nor rewarded at so extravagant a rate as that of a diadem. When he had compromized the rupture between the court of England and the Czar, he was invited to a ball at court, and taken out to dance by the Czarina. As they began the minuet, she squeezed him by the hand and said in a whisper, Have you forgotten little Kate?" Bound by Arno Werner February 27, 1962. Includes a signed letter in Werner's hand to librarian and collector Wyman Parker, along with a receipt for $10.50. Letter dated March 10, 1962, reading "Dear Mr. Parker: The leather is 'English Calf' Mrs. Wm. A. Jackson {Houghton Library- Harvard U.) got it for me from J. Hewit & sons, Edinburgh, Scotland. There are all colors from very light to black, it is the best calf obtainable today. Unfortunately, it is veined only in spots (weave & butt) but I loved it and could not resist using it on your Strawberrry Hill. I would like to see you here together with Mrs. Ehlers to go over the latest order. I have my doubts about classification numbers on the spine, something I have never done & isn't done any more on rare books or otherwise. With the weather getting better, I believe you would welcome a day off & I deserve & look forward to see some real people in my shop. Best wishes, Arno Werner." Receipt reads "Mr. Wyman W. Parker. Olin Library Wesleyan University Middletown, Conn. Feb. 27.62 1 Russia Strawberrry Hill 1758. Thank you $10.50." In addition, an early pencil inscription in the book reads "Bought by Lord G[?] sale 1/5/84. Printed by Horace Walpole at his private press on Strawberry Hill."Wyman Parker was a librarian at Wesleyan University, librarian at the Bread Loaf School of English, and a collector of fine press books. REFERENCES: Aldridge, "Whitworth, Charles, Baron Whitworth (bap. 1675, d. 1725)" at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Walpole Horatio" at Encyclopedia Britannica.

First edition from the famed press set up at Strawberry Hill, Horace Walpole's London villa. According to Walpole's introductory advertisement, "Lord Whitworth's little treatise will throw considerable lights upon the formation of the Muscovite power, and upon the plans of the extraordinary genius, Peter the Great." This work was often used as evidence of the state of contemporary Russia and was "essentially an appraisal of Russia's growing military, particularly naval, strength, [and] a positive assessment of Peter [the Great]" Cross, Peter the Great through British Eyes (2000, pgs. 45, 76). 8vo. xxiv, 158pp., [1]. Hazen Walpole 48 (noting Walpole provided the 23-page advertisement). Hazen Strawberry Hill 5. Cross B16. Very good with scattered minor spotting, contemporary calf, rebacked, minor bumping to corners and extremities.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Hardcover. Printed by Horace Walpole at his Strawberry-Hill Press nearly 50 years after the account was first written by Lord Whitworth. In his introductory advertisement Walpole explains that he acquired the manuscript from Richard Owen Cambridge Esq. who purchased it along with a set of books relating to Russian history. Lord Whitworth (1675 - 1725) was an English diplomat that served as the ambassador to Russia in the early 1700s. This account colored many Englishmens' perceptions of Russian affairs for many years after publication. Professionally rebacked with the original dark brown title labels to the spine and the original brown leather boards. Raised bands and gilt rules to spine with gilt devices to corners of boards and gilt dentelles. Wear to corners with tips of boards exposed and minor rubbing to edges. Offsetting from leather turnins to endpapers. A few spots of light soiling to margins, but clean and bright overall. Bookplate of W. Douro Hoare with an illustration of a stag head. An attractive volume despite the noted repair. 158 pages with errata leaf. RUS/062322.

First edition. Octavo (18.5 x 11.5cm). 700 copies printed, of which 600 were sold for the benefit of the poor of Twickenham, the 22pp. Advertisment being written by Walpole. 'On his return to England in April 1710 Whitworth wrote his account essentially as a government briefing document, giving particular attention to naval matters. It was only published nearly fifty years later by Horace Walpole at his famed press at Strawberry Hill and was often used as evidence of the state of contemporary Russia'- Cross. pp. xxiv,158,[2]. With the final errata leaf. An excellent copy, clean & fresh in 19th century full crushed red morocco by Wright, the spine in six panels with label, richly gilt, as are the dentelles, the boards with double gilt borders, aeg. A light unobtrusive offset stain from (presumably) a silk marker affecting four leaves in the centre of the book. With the bookplates of Viscount Birkenhead & a later plate of Muriel Beckett. VG. [Hazen (SH) 5; Hazen (W) 48; Cross B.16; Nerhood 75; Rothschild 2560; Lowndes 2912; Cox I, 195; Havens 75; Allibone 2707; Cat. De Russica W405].