argyll george douglas campbell 8th (3 Ergebnisse)

Half title, plates, 4pp cata. Orig. green cloth; a little rubbed & marked, rebacked with original backstrip laid down. Armorial bookplate of Charles Whymper on leading pastedown, 25-line ALS, Feb. 10/83 to 'My Dear Dr MacLeod.' laid down on recto of leading f.e.p., recent library bookplate of Dr Robert W. Morrell on verso, 12-line ALS, June 3 76 from J. Wolf to 'My Dear Whymper.' tipped in opposite p.164. George Douglas Campbell, 1823-1900, was a politician and scientist, who has been referred to as a 'Christian Darwinist'. This work forms part of his attempt to integrate his scientific, social, and religious thought. His letter to Dr MacLeod is brief and professional: 'I have instructed the Don the wings of heron and of swan be sent to you for engraving' and includes a brief instruction to preserve 'the gradation of the feathers'. The engravings are by Joseph Wolf, 1820-1889 'the best all-round animal painter who ever lived'. An ALS from him to his friend, the artist Charles Whymper, is tipped in in front of his engraving of a plover and bemoans that 'I can only work an hour at a time on each small figure, I cannot promise you the block before Wednesday but you can rely upon it by that time'. Whymper claimed that Wolf was the first artist to have a full time career as a wildlife painter, and the letter addresses the practicalities of artistic work.

"Every Possible Assistance to You in Yr. Experiments" Argyll [Campbell, George, Eighth Duke of Argyll (1823-1900).] Autograph letter signed to William Scoresby (1789-1857). 3 pages. London, December 17, 1855. 186 x 117 mm. Fine. From George Campbell, eighth duke of Argyll, who held several important positions in the British government in the second half of the nineteenth century; he was also a noted writer on science and economics, and a leader in the scholarly opposition to Darwinism. His correspondent was British explorer and scientist William Scoresby, best known for his studies of terrestrial magnetism and its effects on navigation. In December 1855 the 66-year-old Scoresby was preparing for the scientific voyage recorded in his posthumous Journal of a Voyage to Australia for Magnetical Research (1859), undertaken to prove his claim that an iron ship changed its magnetic signature after crossing the magnetic equator. Scoresby had asked Argyll, who was then serving in the British Cabinet, for assistance in communicating his objectives to the Colonial Office; Argyll replied as follows: I am rather taken aback by yr. announcement that you are yourself going to undertake a voyage to Australia in order to correct & confirm yr. conclusions on the magnetism of iron ships. But I need hardly say that any assistance which I, or the Govt. can give you is due to yr. devotions to a cause of such great importance both scientific & commercial. I think no introduction can be necessary for one whose name is familiar to every Englishman. But I doubt not I can get for you from the Colonial Office letters requesting the Governors of the colonies you may visit every possible assistance to you in yr. experiments . . . Scoresby acknowledged the help he received from Argyll in the first chapter of the Journal of a Voyage to Australia: "From each department, comprising the Admiralty, the Compass Department at Woolwich, and the Colonial Office, the communications with the last of which were kindly made for me by His Grace the Duke of Argyll, my several applications for furtherance or aid in my objects . . . were promptly and liberally responded to" (p. 9). . 650.

Original printed wrappers. 19 cm. 77pp. Spine and corners chipped on edges, previous owner's signature on front wrapper and at head of title page. First separate edition of an essay by the Duke of Argyll entitled "The Prophet of San Francisco," which appeared in the publication 'Nineteenth Century,' with Henry George's reply, "The Reduction of Iniquity," in a later issue of the same periodical, here published from advance sheets. Debate on the nationalization of land and the flat tax.