1876, ISBN: d81ea3bf12be3f5554217d1d0c30493b

35 letters, 125 pages, several accompanied by original mailing envelopes, some staining, and tears, with loss, else in generally good, legible condition. Letters of the McRae f… Plus…

35 letters, 125 pages, several accompanied by original mailing envelopes, some staining, and tears, with loss, else in generally good, legible condition. Letters of the McRae family of London and New York City, and intermarried relatives, the McRae's were engaged in the silk trade, particularly in the manufacture of silk fringe, ribbons, and braid. The correspondence begins in 1825 when John McRae senior fled England for New York having failed in business, his stock, looms, and other property were seized, and sold by the sheriff, and he fled at least three writs and warrants against him to avoid imprisonment for debt. McRae's oldest son, John Jr., remained behind to settle with the law and creditors and take care of his mother and siblings who were left behind in McRae's haste to escape. McRae re-establishes himself in business in New York, in 1830, again manufacturing silk ribbons and trimmings, his wife and children follow him there, except for John McRae jr., who remains in England running his own silk concern, essentially functioning as an adjunct of his father's American concern. The McRae's prosper in the years following their financial embarrassment, John Jr. is evidently wealthy enough to go fox hunting on a regular basis, and his father was worth over $ 30,000.00 at the time of his death. In 1852, the New York business became Thomas C. McRae & Co., run by John McRae's youngest son. An interesting chronicle of one American emigrant family's success in 19th century New York City. Sample Quotes: John McRae London, 19th July 1825, to his father, John McRae, who had just escaped to New York "My Dear father, Since you left us nothing extraordinary or unlooked for has occurred. We kept yr intentions entirely secret until within these few days past. I broke it soon after you left by degrees to Mrs. M. who of course was extremely anxious abt you. She was much better when satisfied you were out of harms way, but as she will write on part of this herself no doubt she'll speak her feelings better than I can. I paid the man in possession 8 days ago after you reacd Livl in order to keep the thing from being blazed abrd too soon added to wh his attorney & the Sheriff's Ofrs &c having been as I think very dilatory the sale was not advertised until las Wednesday the 13th Inst to take place on Friday the 15th & it accordingly did take place there were but 3 or 4 buyers there for the looms & they bid very low prices consequently Mr Ht bought21 out of the 26 the others sold for from 4 £ to 4 £ 10 per Loom except the French one which sold for 22 £ &all; the others Mr Ht bought in the whole of the mills &c fetched but £ 7. 10the furniture that was left in the house & fixtures &c fetched very good prices the lease has not at present been put up they appear doubtful as to its fetching anything I'm sorry the thing has sold so very badly as it precludes the hope of getting any thing from Mr Ht I'm told the expenses attending seizure, sale &c will be at least 100 £ so that Mr Ht will gain but little. Mr Robts came up about a fortnight ago & wished much to see you I showed him yr letter from Ciren tr wherein you said you should go to Kenle &c he did not say much but upon the whole appeared friendly he wrote on Friday last to say you had noy yet reacd K & requests to know what had been done at Cr I wrote him by return acqg him with sale & told him I had recd a Letter from you dated 27 June which had been by some means delayed which stated you were on ship board & had resolved to quit the country rather than see him & others you were indebted to now that you were stripped of all you had in the world ( you were to have written me a Letter the last thing before sailing saying that you were going abroad that I might have shewn but suppose you forgot it) I have not since heard from him I was surprised at hearing nothing at all from Billings & thinking it best he should know something of it before the sale &c I wrote him an anonymous note in a disguised hand on Monday 11th Inst as from a frd of his informing him of the seizure of all you had by Mr H under a Wart of Aty (I stated under what instrument lest he should think by making you a Bankt he could make Mr H refund) & at the same time told him you had I believed left home in the greatest distress of mind& that I heard you had left the Kingdom & was I believed without a £ & further that I had known you for some yrs & believed you to be a very honest industrious man & that I felt extremely for you signed a friend. I put it in 2 dr pt at Shipton on Mndy night so that he would receive it on Tuesday morng by 10. I was at home all the morng & momentarily expecting him but he did not come until half past 2 & asked (without taking the least notice of having recd any letter) if you were in Town& what was doing at Cr I then told him the whole & shewed him yr two letters he saidvery little but I thought looked as tho' if he had you in his power he would dosomething altho' when he found you were out of his reach said you need not be afraid of him the 87 £ bill was dun on Friday & on Sat he called, I was out, & made many enquiries abt Smith & an endorser named Williams & at length left word if I came home by ½ past 10 I was to go to him & if I did not come home by that hour to call upon him on Sunday morng. I accordingly did so & told him I did not know the parties, that you sold many goods at home to persons I know nothing of but that I would endeavor to get the address of Smith or Williams (he did not ask about Blige) but was afraid I should not succeed as you had no one to assist you at Cr that I could enquire of but that if I could not I would write you for information but that it would be 2 or 3 mons before I could hear he said if we could not make him out he would get me to do so altho' he strongly suspected there was no such person at Rygate, he was very savage abt it & said he was served in such a manner in the whole course of his life so much for him The more I think of the step you have taken the better I'm convinced it is the very best thing that could be done the thing got wind pretty much by some means for in less than a week after you left there were 3 writs out against you & an execution at the suit of Ludd's for 15th these things I learned from the officer who acted for Mr. H but he would not give me the names of the parties he was particularly anxious to know from me how you meant to go about the processes & when he should see you &c & further that as he had been so candid (mind he never said a word abt having them until after having been several times to Cr I found you were not to be met with) I told him I did not know anything about it but would tell you when I saw you. I'm pretty certain one of the writs is at the suit of the Dyers no one as I know in the shape of an officer has been enquiring for you in the City, of course all the expenses will fall on the difft parties. I wrote to Uncle Thomas last week informg of wht had happened & he wrote by return express of his concern at what he heard & that he would exert himself to get either Hn or Blake I think if we can manage to get two or three of the young ones off Mr Hns hands they would do very well . I have not been able to get any looms for them yet on act of Cr being so long deferred but have now to have two inqy of which two I like & have been over nearly the whole parish of Bithnal Green for as a long time before I could meet with any thing that I should wish to put the family into but think at last have found a suitable place it is a small House conts 4 rooms & a small kitchen quite new in a pleasant open, airy situation abt one mile from Church St at 15 Guins per annum no taxes or other rates & intend to lose no time in getting them in & to work & hope they'll be able to manage pretty comfortably considering all things. August 2nd Finding the post officer only make up the Bags for America once a month viz the first Wednesday I refrained finishing this until last day since writing the above Billings has been with me 5 or 6 times very wroth about Bil & will not believe but I know something abt it & one or two talk of making you a Bankt & compelling you to come forward or be outlawed. I always tell him when he mentions the subject of Banky he must use his own discretion but it would only be adding 80 or 100 £ to his loss. I got Burford to write out the statement of Smith a/c from yr ledger & sent it to B last Sunday week since which I have not heard from him. I have taken the House mentioned above & Mrs M & the family are now in it & very comfortable considering the circumstances I have got 2 looms up & have been employed nearly all last week in removing the family & looms &c & putting the looms to work they have both Jane & Harriott, made a start & I hope will work well. You may be certain without my telling you that it was run away with a deal of money & I felt it in my financial arrangements but shall push on & hope to get the better of it altho' it will throw me back badly " (The letter is continued with two notes by McRae's wife and younger son Thomas)."London 23rd Feby 1829 My Dear Father, We have been anxiously very anxiously expecting to hear from you day to day & from week to week for the three months & are much concerned indeed that we do not particularly as you expressd in a former letter your intention of writing "every month at all events" I heard from Mr. James in Novr who at the bottom of his letter was kind enough to say he had seen you a few days previously that you were well even this intelligence although so scanty gave us great satisfaction I wrote you in Novr at the same time & by the same ship as I sent to Mr. Jones but not a word do we hear from you nor can we at all account for your silence but hope & trust there is no influence at home which can prevent your corresponding with the children of your first love we would fain hope there is no such influence but it is difficult to a/c for your long continued silence but we are more anxiously looking for letters from you I had hoped that the success of business would have caused you to send but alas, no. I have but little news to send you either of a Political or Domestic nature as concerns old England excepting that the emancipation of the Catholics has been recommended in the speech from the Throne & that as the day approaches, the 5th March, when it is expected the measure will be proposed to Parliament the public anxiety & agitation appears to increase & petitions are being got up in all parts for & against the proposed measure but it appears to be the opinion of most well informed men that it will be carried & is looked forward to as likely to accomplish the pacification of Ireland & to be a general good to the country Trade is in a very languid state indeed & the shopkeepers generally have been loudly complaining for the last 4 months The Ribbon silk trades are both very bad & several Failures have taken place lately I understand the Stocks of Ribbons &c have accumulated amazingly lately & considerable losses are looked for by the holders. The sale at the East India House commenced on Monday when the prices fell about 20 pr cent in consequence of which the sale was adjourned until the intentions of the Government respecting the duties on Foreign thrown Silks (in which it is rumored they intend making further reductions) shall be known in the mean time trade is excessively flat the manufacturers are in a stew. I have done nothing further about Spring Grove there appears little prospect at present of selling it to advantage. I have not hears whether Turner has distributed any part of my late Grandfathers property but I believe he has not it appears strange that Alexr has not yet applied for his (I have not heard that he has) I was in hope he would teaze & mortify the Turners pretty well on the subject They are wretchedly mean & appear to be despised by nearly all who know them & very deservedly so I believe for my own part I don't care if I never see the man Eliza sticks at Clow & Cumming's notwithstanding the numerous & frequent changes they make I should think since Eliza has been there they have had 6 or 8 thorough removes of the whole establishment herself excepted they appear to value her & have several times voluntarily advanced her salary which I believe is now 40 £ a year which I think is a very good thing for her in these perilous times she is in very good health & desires me to send her best love & duty to you & all the Family which by the bye we expect to hear has increased since Mrs M's arrival in that celebrated Land of Liberty. I should like of all things if I could any way manage it to run over & see you all I hope the time will arrive when I shall be able to do so I shall never forget parting with you in Oxford St my heart felt as if it would burst the absolute necessity & good policy of that step I have never since thought differently of but it was very hard for all of us but I hope all has been & will be for the best there would be no more safety now for Ronald than there was when I saw him last he is not forgotten the last time I saw Billings he enquired & seemed very sour & Robinson is very bitter against him - It was a providential escape for him for which his family in every branch cannot be sufficiently thankful Messrs Abraham & John & Mr. Herbert (all Brothers you know) at Law in the Court of Chancery respecting the Freehold Property was a few months since proposed to be sold & was I believe actually so when as a matter of form it was thought necessary to have Abrms signature to the conveyance he being heir at Law to his late Father but who having a little previously signed some writings which ad brought him into some difficulty refused to sign the said conveyance until the writings were looked over by his solicitor in doing which behold his Solr found that although the Land on which the houses are built was purchased 2 years before the will all regularly made the conveyance of the said land was not made to Mr. Herbert &c until after he had made his will which circumstance it seems renders the will of none effect as far as regards that property & Abrm as heir at law has filed a Bill in Chancery & is proceeding for the recovery of the said property although his Brothers have been in undisputed possession for 13 years & if he succeeds of which there appears little doubt all the rents recd from the time of old Mr must be refunded to him This proceeding supposed worth from 100 to 150 thousand pounds is very freely canvassed as a villainous proceeding as there is no doubt whatever of the property intended to be disposed of by the old man as stated in his will. Jno Herbert & my old friend Geo, 0, 30 volumes. Reddish-brown 3/4 morocco, spines gilt. Some foxing. Minor spotting to a few spines, minor wear. An excellent set. A handsome set of the famous "Illustrated Library Edition," here in an early printing. The dedication at the front of the first volume (Pickwick Papers) states, "This the best edition of my books is, of right, inscribed to my dear friend John Forster, biographer of Oliver Goldsmith, in affectionate acknowledgment of his counsel, sympathy, and faithful friendship during my whole literary life." "The Library Edition came about largely because of the suggestion of Forster that while Dickens's works were available in volumes in the Cheap Edition and in reprints of the serial parts, there was no high-quality edition that would appeal to the wealthy. Dickens eventually came round to the idea that an elegant edition could raise the stature of his writings. He faced a complication, in that the rights to the works were divided between Chapman and Hall and Bradbury and Evans. Consequently, the volumes contained the imprints of both publishers. With a dedication to Forster, the Library Edition appeared in 22 volumes in 1858-9 at 7s 6d per volume. "Titles included Pickwick, Nickleby, Chuzzlewit, Old Curiosity Shop, Reprinted Pieces, Barnaby Rudge, Hard Times, Sketches by Boz, Oliver Twist, Dombey, Copperfield, Pictures from Italy, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, and Christmas Books. The only illustrations were the frontispieces. Between 1861 and 1874 this edition was reissued in 30 volumes with the addition of Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend, The Uncommercial Traveller, A Child's History of England, Christmas Stories, and Drood. The reissue contained illustrationsthe frontispieces plus additional illustrations by artists such as Marcus Stone, John Leech, and Clarkson Stanfieldand came to be known as the Illustrated Library Edition. Recognizing the continuing potential for sales of Dickens's works, Chapman and Hall in 1873 published a prospectus for the Second Illustrated Library Edition, containing, they contended, all the works the novelist wished to preserve. Calling it the first well-printed issue, with specially cast type and better paper than that used in previous editions, this set was published in 30 volumes between 1873 and 1876 and sold at £15 for the set, a high price for the time" (Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens, pp. 205-206). Price: $6000., Chapman and Hall, 5<

1876, ISBN: d81ea3bf12be3f5554217d1d0c30493b

30 volumes. Reddish-brown 3/4 morocco, spines gilt. Some foxing. Minor spotting to a few spines, minor wear. An excellent set. A handsome set of the famous "Illustrated Library Edition," … Plus…

30 volumes. Reddish-brown 3/4 morocco, spines gilt. Some foxing. Minor spotting to a few spines, minor wear. An excellent set. A handsome set of the famous "Illustrated Library Edition," here in an early printing. The dedication at the front of the first volume (Pickwick Papers) states, "This the best edition of my books is, of right, inscribed to my dear friend John Forster, biographer of Oliver Goldsmith, in affectionate acknowledgment of his counsel, sympathy, and faithful friendship during my whole literary life." "The Library Edition came about largely because of the suggestion of Forster that while Dickens's works were available in volumes in the Cheap Edition and in reprints of the serial parts, there was no high-quality edition that would appeal to the wealthy. Dickens eventually came round to the idea that an elegant edition could raise the stature of his writings. He faced a complication, in that the rights to the works were divided between Chapman and Hall and Bradbury and Evans. Consequently, the volumes contained the imprints of both publishers. With a dedication to Forster, the Library Edition appeared in 22 volumes in 1858-9 at 7s 6d per volume. "Titles included Pickwick, Nickleby, Chuzzlewit, Old Curiosity Shop, Reprinted Pieces, Barnaby Rudge, Hard Times, Sketches by Boz, Oliver Twist, Dombey, Copperfield, Pictures from Italy, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, and Christmas Books. The only illustrations were the frontispieces. Between 1861 and 1874 this edition was reissued in 30 volumes with the addition of Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend, The Uncommercial Traveller, A Child's History of England, Christmas Stories, and Drood. The reissue contained illustrationsthe frontispieces plus additional illustrations by artists such as Marcus Stone, John Leech, and Clarkson Stanfieldand came to be known as the Illustrated Library Edition. Recognizing the continuing potential for sales of Dickens's works, Chapman and Hall in 1873 published a prospectus for the Second Illustrated Library Edition, containing, they contended, all the works the novelist wished to preserve. Calling it the first well-printed issue, with specially cast type and better paper than that used in previous editions, this set was published in 30 volumes between 1873 and 1876 and sold at £15 for the set, a high price for the time" (Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens, pp. 205-206). Price: $6000., Chapman and Hall, 5<

1870, ISBN: d81ea3bf12be3f5554217d1d0c30493b

Edition reliée

Gebraucht, guter Zustand, [PU: Chapman and Hall, [1870s]], A very handsome set of the famous "Illustrated Library Edition," here in an early printing. The dedication at the front of the f… Plus…

Gebraucht, guter Zustand, [PU: Chapman and Hall, [1870s]], A very handsome set of the famous "Illustrated Library Edition," here in an early printing. The dedication at the front of the first volume (Pickwick Papers) states, "This the best edition of my books is, of right, inscribed to my dear friend John Forster, biographer of Oliver Goldsmith, in affectionate acknowledgment of his counsel, sympathy, and faithful friendship during my whole literary life." "The Library Edition came about largely because of the suggestion of Forster that while Dickens's works were available in volumes in the Cheap Edition and in reprints of the serial parts, there was no high-quality edition that would appeal to the wealthy. Dickens eventually came round to the idea that an elegant edition could raise the stature of his writings. He faced a complication, in that the rights to the works were divided between Chapman and Hall and Bradbury and Evans. Consequently, the volumes contained the imprints of both publishers. With a dedication to Forster, the Library Edition appeared in 22 volumes in 1858-9 at 7s 6d per volume. "Titles included Pickwick, Nickleby, Chuzzlewit, Old Curiosity Shop, Reprinted Pieces, Barnaby Rudge, Hard Times, Sketches by Boz, Oliver Twist, Dombey, Copperfield, Pictures from Italy, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, and Christmas Books. The only illustrations were the frontispieces. Between 1861 and 1874 this edition was reissued in 30 volumes with the addition of Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend, The Uncommercial Traveller, A Child's History of England, Christmas Stories, and Drood. The reissue contained illustrations the frontispieces plus additional illustrations by artists such as Marcus Stone, John Leech, and Clarkson Stanfield and came to be known as the Illustrated Library Edition. Recognizing the continuing potential for sales of Dickens's works, Chapman and Hall in 1873 published a prospectus for the Second Illustrated Library Edition, containing, they contended, all the works the novelist wished to preserve. Calling it the first well-printed issue, with specially cast type and better paper than that used in previous editions, this set was published in 30 volumes between 1873 and 1876 and sold at £15 for the set, a high price for the time" (Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens, pp. 205-206)., Books<