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John Drury Rare Books

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A collection of eight pamphlets illustrating the controversial debate about the viability of the Manchester Ship Canal from Liverpool to Manchester.

MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL The collection comprises: 1. [ENGINEERS' REPORTS]> Manchester Ship Canal. Engineers' reports and report of the provisional committee to the subscribers to the guarantee fund.> Manchester, John Heywood. 1882. 8vo., 55pp., disbound. 2. 'A MANCHESTER BARRISTER'> Some legal considerations in relation to the proposed Manchester Ship Canal; and the duty of Municipal Corporations to support the undertaking.> Manchester: John Heywood. 1882. 8vo., 10pp., disbound. 3. 'MANCUNIENSIS'> Facts and figures in favour of the proposed Manchester Ship Canal: showing how to solve the cheap transport problem for the great import and export trade of Lancashire and the West Riding.> Manchester: John Heywood. 1882. 8vo., 32pp., folding map, disbound. 4. THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL> The London daily and periodical press on the question. The 'Colliery Guardian' on the advantages on the canal to the Yorkshire coal fields.> Manchester: Guardian Letterpress and Lithographic Works. 1882. 8vo., 15pp., disbound. 5. 'COTTONOPOLIS'> The Manchester Ship Canal. Why is it wanted! And Why it will pay! With observations in reply to recent objections, and including appendix relating to the Bridgewater Navigation Company. By 'Cottonopolis'.> Manchester: John Heywood. 1882. 8vo., 40pp., disbound. 6. 'LUMBER'> Manchester Ship Canal. Manchester a timber port. By Lumber.> London: William Rider and Son. [1882]. 8vo., 15pp., disbound. 7. [PROVAND, A.]> The Manchester Ship Canal scheme. A criticism.> Manchester, John Heywood. 1883. 8vo., 48pp., disbound. 8. 'SUPPORTER OF THE CANAL'> The Manchester Ship Canal. A reply to Mr. A. Provand's adverse criticism, by a supporter of the canal.> Manchester, James F. Wilkinson, [1883]. 8vo., 162pp., disbound. The Manchester Ship Canal is a 36-mile inland waterway linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. This major civil engineering project was completed in December 1893. The canal is now privately owned.
  • $496
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West Bromwich Enclosure Act. An Act for dividing, allotting, and inclosing the several open common fields, common pastures, commons, and waste lands, within the Manor and Parish of West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford.

WEST BROMWICH 8vo., 114 + (2)pp., wide-margined, in tan linen-covered boards, unlettered, a very good copy. Signature on p.5 of 'James Bradshaw 1852'. 'The Enclosure Acts were essentially the abolition of the open field system of agriculture which had been the way people farmed in England for centuries. The ownership of all common land, and waste land, that farmers and Lords had, was taken from them. Any right they had over the land was gone. New fields were designed, new roads were added, and the land was eventually re-allocated to different farmers and Lords. Originally this process was agreed upon through informal agreement but Parliament took over during the 17th century. Between 1604 and 1914 there were over 5,200 bills enacted by Parliament which equates to a little more than one fifth of England. England utilized an Open Field system for much of its history before the start of the Enclosure. This system worked well because it suited what was needed by society at the time. Agricultural and cultivation systems were not very advanced, but it allowed each village to be self-sufficient. This was extremely necessary because transportation was still very primitive. However, over time things began to change. Transportation became much easier with the implement of new roadways, canals and waterways were easier to navigate, and agricultural knowledge increased. In the end, the open field system was not capable of reaping all of the benefits of the newly industrialized England. Therefore, by taking control of the land, the government was able to decide the uses for the land based on what suited it best. This increased the efficiency and profitability of farming. Efficient agriculture was greatly needed at this time due to the fast increase in population; demand for food was at it’s all time highest.' [Wiki]
  • $199
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Extract from Swinney’s Birmingham Chronicle, April 22, 1802. To the Editor of Swinney’s Birmingham and Stafford Chronicle. Sir, Edward Allen, one of the unfortunate men who suffered on Washwood Heath on Monday last, and accused me of being his murderer, I think it a justice due to myself to state to the public, through the medium of your paper, the circumstances which led to his detection and conviction, and to leave them to decide how far Allen was justified in the rash assertions he has made .

SPURRIER, W[illia]m large broadside, 50.5 x 33.5 cms, paper watermarked 1796, paper is fragile in places and grubby on the reverse and with a few contemporary ink mathematical workings, but all the strongly printed and fully readable. This broadside is a contemporary copy of a letter written by William Spurrier (the prosecutor in the trial?) to the Birmingham Chronicle explaining why he believed Allen to be guilty. At the foot of the broadside is a sentence by William Hicks (Editor of the Birmingham Chronicle?), stating, 'I think it my duty to state, that the evidence given before me previous to Allen's commitment, as stated above by Mr. Spurrier, I believe to be correct; and Millington and Wildsmith's evidence was given in the most positive manner.' The second paragraph states: 'Allen had long been known to be an extensive dealer in forged Bank of England notes. This appeared from the confession of Atkinson and another, who lately suffered at Nottingham for the utterance of forged bank notes they had purchased of him, and from the confession of other unfortunate persons, who, by means of such notes purchased from Allen, had forfeited their lives, - He was also suspected to be a principal fabricator of such notes; and the Bank of England, anxious to detect the fabricator, as the root of the evil, I was directed, as their agent, to employ two men of the name of Wildsmith and Millington .'. Forging banknotes was a capital crime in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Only during the Romantic period, however, was the death penalty routinely enforced. In 1796, no one in Britain was hanged for forgery. By 1818, 313 people in London alone had been sent to the gallows. A further 512 were transported to Botany Bay for passing forged notes. Considering that more than a thousand people were arrested for forgery, the conviction rate was very high. But that figure pales in comparison to the 300,000 forged notes the Bank of England received between 1797 and 1834.
  • $787
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Observations on the present state of the Highlands of Scotland, with a view of the causes and probable consequences of emigration.

SELKIRK, [Thomas Douglas 5th] Earl of 8vo., vii + (1) + 223 + (1) + lvi pp., including the half-title and with the errata slip, with the contemporary ownership signature of 'John Hamilton' on title page, uncut, bound in contemporary paper boards, manuscript 'Lord Selkirk' written in ink on spine, corners bumped, boards and extremities a little worn, joints starting but still a very good sound copy. This was the author's principal work. Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk (1771-1820) was an ardent proponent of colonisation in North America. Widely travelled and politically sophisticated he made an eye-opening tour of the Highlands in 1792. After toying with a proposal to set up a colony for Irish Catholics in Louisiana - a plan not supported by the British government, Selkirk turned his attention to British North America and began to pay attention to the needs of Scottish, rather than Irish, families. The Prince Edward Island project was launched in 1803. Selkirk's biographer, J.M. Bumsted in ODNB, is far from alone is suggesting that the 1805 Observations> was Selkirk's 'major contribution to political economy and the debate over emigration. In it', Bumsted continues, 'he emphasized the illogical self-interest of the various objections against highland emigration to North America, arguing that highlanders were entitled to move to preserve their language, culture, and manners'.
  • $331
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The husband’s complaint.

WOOLWORK small broadside, 17 x 10.5 cms, the text all in rhyme, 11 verses of 4-lines each, with decorative border, a couple of small brown marks, but otherwise in very good condition. [together with], THE EXCULPATION> (In answer to the husband's complaint in the matter of his WIFE'S WORSTED WORK).> same printer and suggested date as above, same size and with the same border, a small piece torn from the bottom corner, removing the name of the printer, and with a few smudges but not obscuring any of the text. Eleven verses with 4 lines of verse in each. [together with], AN INJURED WIFE'S LAMENT> (Being a second answer to the Husband's Complaint in the matter of his wife's worsted work).> [Bristol], H.H. King, printer, saint Augustine's Back. [ca. 183-]. Same size as above, with a more intricate border, 8 verses with 4 lines in each, an excellent copy. The Husband's Complaint> begins: 'I hate the name of German wool, in all its colours bright; Of chairs and stools in fancy work, I hate the very sight; The shawls, and slippers that I've seen, the Ottomans and bags, Sooner than wear a stitch on me, I'd walk the streets in rags. The other day when I came home, no dinner got for me, I asked my wife the reason, - she answered, 'one, two, three;' I told her I was hungry, and stamped upon the floor, She never even looked at me, but murmured, 'one green more.' . And so on. The Wife's replies explain how she manages to do all the housework, look after the children, ask friends to dine, as well as making useful woolwork items for the home and for sale: 'I've practised that concerto thing you thought so very fine; I've written all the notes to ask our friends to come and dine; I've filled my vases with fresh flowers, I've scolded all the maids; And after that I will confess, I sorted out my shades. I've read that paper setting forth the sweet confiding trust Husbands should cherish for their wives, and I think it very just; I've settled all my weekly bills, and balanced my account, With a little lot of German Wool,> to make up the amount.' And from A second answer,>: 'He says that I neglect his clothes, his collars have no strings; When counting stitches in my work his gloves he often brings, Requesting me to mend them, for they are so full of holes And if ever I refuse him, Oh, dear me, how he scolds! The men so often talk of what they do not understand, They are so puffed up with self conceit, so anxious to command, They state their will with so much pomp, they talk so long and loud; They are a set most arrogant, most selfish, vain, and proud. Must I give up my fancy-work, my darling occupation, To attend to all the drudgery of domestic calculation? Indeed, I shall do no such thing, and my husband, if he please, May put in practice what he says, and go across the seas.' 'Berlin wool work patterns were first published in Berlin, Germany, early in the 19th century. The first were printed in black and white on grid paper and then hand-coloured. Previously, the stitcher was expected to draw the outlines on the canvas and then stitch following the colours on the pattern. Counted stitch patterns on charted paper, similar to modern cross-stitch patterns, made it easier to execute the designs, because amateur embroiderers were able to follow the patterns using just a simple tent stitch. They were published mostly as single sheets which made them affordable to middle-class women. Soon they were exported to Britain and the United States. The patterns were used sparsely in the United States until the 1840s, when they started to appear in women's magazines, after which 'Berlin work' became all the rage. Indeed, Berlin work became practically synonymous with canvas work. In Britain, Berlin work received a further boost through the Great Exhibition of 1851, and by the advent of ladies' magazines such as The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine. The popularity of Berlin work was due largely to the fact that, for the first time in history, a fairly large number of women had leisure time to devote to needlework.' [Wikipedia]
  • $1,124
  • $1,124