Wordsworth Christopher, Signed (7 results)

Condition: Good. - Over 70 words penned on two sides of 7 inch high by 4-1/2 inch wide creamy white paper. The first page of the letter is framed by black mourning borders. The letter, penned in a difficult hand, is signed "Chr. Wordsworth". Folded for mailing, the letter was once mounted into an album and the top line penned on the verso is obscured by remnants of paper adhering to the edge. Good. The Anglican Bishop and man of letters Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885) was a nephew of the celebrated poet William Wordsworth. A student at Winchester and Trinity, Cambridge, he distinguished himself as an athlete as well as being awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal for poetry in 1827 and again in 1828. He took holy orders and in 1832 toured Greece where he wrote several works on the country's topography and archaeology, including his famous "Wordsworth's" Greece. Returning to Britain, he became Public Orator at Cambridge and was appointed Headmaster of Harrow. Wordsworth held positions as Vicar and Archdeacon before Benjamin Disraeli appointed him Bishop of Lincoln in 1869.

Good black buckram, title-pieces chipped, edge of vol. 2 stained. Shorter works collected in 3 vols.: xvi, 492 + xii, 433 + xvi, 483 p.; 22 cm. Signed inscription in Latin by Bishop Wordsworth Vol. I. Pompeian inscriptions; Notes in Greece; Notes in France; Notes at Paris; Notes in Italy (1862); Notes at Rome; The Greek archbishop of Syros, Alexander Lycurgus; Vatican Council of 1869; Congress of Old Catholics at Cologne -- vol. II. On the inspiration of the Bible; On the interpretation of the Bible; On the revision of the Authorized Version; On the revision of the New lectionary (of 1871); On the holy sacraments; On confirmation; On confession & absolution; Pastoral letter for better observance of Ascension Day; On observance of rogation days; Day of intercession for missions; On forms of prayer for special occasions; On church music; The holy year; On religious faith and worship in art; On cremation; On intermediate state of the soul, between death and resurrection of the body -- vol. III. Religion in science; Religious uses of classical studies; "Ethica et spiritualia" for use of students of Theological School, Lincoln [Latin, + English tr.]; On the spread of infidelity, and on need of learned clergy; On the destiny of Mohammedanism, esp. in the Turkish dominions; Decline of Mohammedanism; Bishop Sanderson on human conscience & law; On ecclesiastical legislation; Ecclesiastical jurisdiction; On diocesan synods; On sale church patronage & on simony; On clerical non-residence; On marriage and divorce; On enforced clerical celibacy; On English cathedrals; Pastoral to Wesleyan Methodists; On labour and capital; On capital punishment; On Church of England 1877; St. Hugh of Lincoln; Lambeth Conference 1878: welcome to American bishops, Epistle in Greek and Latin; Letter to Abp. of Cyprus, in Greek and English. Binding is Hardcover.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. New edition, carefully revised. xxiv, 452 p. 25 cm. B&w illustrations. Red leather with gilt impressing and edges, marbled endpapers. Binding signed by Kelly & Sons. Large stain on front board and smaller marks elsewhere. Corners and lower edges worn. Small mark on title page and a few other marks within. In general, pages clean and neat. The author, a nephew of the famous poet, went for a tour in Greece in 18321833, and published various works on its topography and archaeology, the most famous of which is this volume, first published in 1839. This edition has a supplement by Sir George Scharf, art critic, illustrator, and director of the National Portrait Gallery. The binding firm of Kelly & Sons was founded by John Kelly in 1770 in the vicinity of the Strand, London, but the shop was later moved to larger premises in Water Street. This firm created attractive full leather bindings throughout the nineteenth century.

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. First. AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY TO PROFESSOR THOMAS GAISFORD WITH THE ACCOMPANYING ALS TIPPED IN. First edition. London: John Murray, 1836. Octavo (8 11/16" x 5 5/8", 221mm x 143mm). [Full collation available.] With a lithographed frontispiece, 2 folding engraved maps, 2 lithographed plates, a folding letterpress plate printed in red and black, and 14pp. (27, 69, 109, 139, 140, 142, 143, 145, 186, 195, 199, 216, 233, 267) printed in red and black. Bound in the publisher's green cloth. Author and title gilt to the spine between scrollwork gilt. Yellow glazed end-papers. Spine sunned, and a little cocked. Some bumps to the extremities, with little splits to the headpiece. Some patches of foxing, concentrated at the plates, and some mild even tanning at the upper edge of the text-block. Damp-stain to the upper spine-corner of the frontispiece. Inscribed by the author on the half-title-page, subscribed by the recipient, T[homas] Gaisford. ALS from the author to Gaisford tipped in to the recto of the front free end-paper. Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885) came from a distinguished family: youngest son of Christopher Wordsworth, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge; nephew of the poet William Wordsworth; brother to the Trinity Classicist John Wordsworth and of Charles Wordsworth, Bishop of St. Andrews. He himself was a distinguished man of letters, and would go on to be Bishop of Lincoln (from 1869 to his death). In the year of publication, Wordsworth was appointed Public Orator at Cambridge and Headmaster of Harrow. Before his brilliant career in England, the author spent 1832-1833 traveling in Greece. Unlike so many of the Grand Tourists that preceded him, he was already a serious Classicist. He was able, therefore, to compare his findings against the accounts of travelers ancient (Pausanias, Strabo and others) and modern (Wheeler, Stuart & Revett, Cockerell) as well as literary accounts (poets, orators). Athens and Attica anticipates his larger Greece (1839) and stands at the beginning of the XIXc English tradition of Classical scholarship that embraces all categories of evidence: literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources. Wordsworth was an unusually gifted epigrapher, with his inscriptions being both faithfully recorded and well printed, with red characters indicating his supplements for perished letters. Athens and Attica was Wordsworth's first book-length publication (there were some earlier prize poems and orations), and so it is understandable that he should have sent it to one of the giants of his field: Thomas Gaisford (1779-1855), at the time Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford (the rough equivalent of the senior endowed chair in an American university). Gaisford or a descendant -- the volume was purchased at the 2021 sale of the library of Howth Castle, where Gaisford's descendents lived (Fonsie Mealy, 22 September 2021, lot 465) -- tipped in the letter that accompanied the volume. Written from Harrow (dated Jan. 22. 1838), Wordsworth thanks Gaisford for sending him his Scriptores Latini rei metricæ (Oxford: OUP, 1837), and for accepting a pupil to reside at Christ Church (where the Regius Professor is a Student (i.e., teaching member), and of which Gaisford would go on to be Dean (i.e., head)). The letter is subscribed humbly: "I take the liberty of enclosing a trifle, which I have just printed, and of which I beg your acceptance.".

180x114mm. Single sheet, four sides. Dated 17 April 1871. Headed at Riseholme, Lincoln. In black ink, it reads: 'My dear Sir | May I be | allowed to ask, whether, enclosed, there need [?] Bill commission inti | Committee [?] from, my dear Sir, | yours faithfully, | Lincoln.' Wordsworth has a difficult and sloping hand - a word-for-word is difficult, as some words are illegible. In this letter, however, Wordsworth lists three steps for the committee here mentioned.

No Binding. Condition: Good. On 6 Nov 73, Wordsworth writes a short note, "My dear Myrick, I only have just time to send the enclosed wills. Affectionate regards, yours always, C Lincoln". He adds a postscript with dates he will be in Norwich, hoping to "have the great pleasure of seeing [Myrick]". In the 21 Nov 74 four-page letter Wordsworth accepts "with gratitude" Sir Robert Sutton's presence at the nomination of a vicar to the "Living of East Retford."  He considers impending vacancies and changes in the vicarages of Retford and Blyth and "after careful consideration" recommends Reverend A, F. Elsworth, the Curate of Swinton, "as a fit person to be presented at the vicarage of Retford." The letter is signed, "Your obliged & faithful/C Lincoln." The letters are written on ivory 4½" x7" stationery imprinted "Riseholme, Lincoln" in deep blue Old English Text. Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885) was an Anglican bishop, a prolific scholar, and a travel writer. Some of his significant works include his work on his uncle William Wordsworth, Memoirs of Wm. Wordsworth (1851), The New Testament in the Original Greek (18561860), seven volumes of Sermons Preached in Westminster Abbey (18501859, Five Lectures Delivered in Westminster Abbey on the Inspiration of the Bible, and the Interpretation of the Old and New Testaments (1861). Sir Robert Sutton (1821-1878), 4th Baronet, was a British Army Officer and an avid cricketer who served as the deputy lieutenant for Nottinghamshire. Condition: The 1873 letter has overall light soil. The 1874 letter has two light stains in left blank margin. The letters are quite clear and legible, and, generally, in good condition. Signed by Author(s).

Scarce Signed Dublin Binding - Royal 8vo. p.p. 452. Bound by Hodges, Foster & Co. in contemporary brown morocco, with their name in large gilt lettering on inside cover. Covers decorated to a panel design, with blind and gilt tooling enclosing the arms of T.C.D. on both covers. Spine divided into six compartments by five raised bands with the title in gilt in the second, the remainder identically tooled to a lozenge design. Turn-ins decorated with gilt rolls, comb-marbled endpapers. A.E.G. Provenance, Trinity College Premium label on the first pastedown: Edmond Maunsell Trinity Term, 1873. Fine copy with numerous steel engravings. Scarce Signed Dublin Binding.