Collins

A Prospect of Lodge the Seat of the Right Honorable Lord Toynham at Linstead in Kent.

Printed for and sold by I. Smith in Exeter

18^th Century copper engraving printed onto laid paper.

Plate: 425 x 546 mm

Crease line down the centre of the image. Slight marginal tears (top and bottom margins). Otherwise, a good impression.

Price: £175

A Prospect of Lodge the Seat of the Right Honorable Lord Toynham at Linstead in Kent.

A View of the Seat of Lord Teynham of Linstead in Kent. The title of Baron Teynham was created in 1616 for Sir John Roper.

The Birthplace of John Nicholson, the ‘Airedale Poet’, Born 1790, Died 1843

Watercolour on prepared, gilt edged card, 1889

Verses by Nicholson in ink, in a contemporary hand, on verso.

105x160mm

£130

The Birthplace of John Nicholson, the ‘Airedale Poet’, Born 1790, Died 1843

A delicately executed, detailed watercolour sketch of the humble farmhouse, at Weardley, West Yorkshire, birthplace of the rustic ‘Airedale Poet’ John Nicholson (1790-1843). This view shows the single storey, stone built, thatched farmhouse, with water butts and drive in the foreground. Receiving an elementary education, Nicholson became a wool sorter in his father's factory at Eldwick, and followed that occupation to the end of his life, allowing for intervals when he was hawking his poems. Employed eventually by Sir Titus Salt, who became his patron, he followed a dissipated lifestyle, although following the death of his first wife, he briefly became a Medthodist preacher. Nicholson's first published work was ‘The Siege of Bradford’, published in 1821, a dramatic poem which, along with a three-act drama, ‘The Robber of the Alps,’ which he had written for the Bradford old theatre. There were one or two short poems in this work, but it was not until the appearance of ‘Airedale in Ancient Times’ (1825) that Nicholson's claim to rank as a poet was generally recognised. The success of this volume was unique. The whole impression was sold in a few months, and a second edition followed in the same year. The poem, which gained for him the title of ‘the Airedale poet,’ is the best of his larger pieces. It contains some fine descriptions of the scenery of the district and of the various stirring incidents connected with its history. An attempt to seek recognition for his verse in London (where he was derided at as a Yorkshire yokel and figure of fun) failed, and after being involved with the Chartists’ Riots, he acquired a reputation as a drunk and troublemaker. In April 1843, while going on a visit to his aunt at Eldwick, he slipped while drunk into the River Aire, and although he managed to haul himself out was found dead soon after. He was buried in the presence of a large crowd at Bingley churchyard. His verse continued to be printed after his death, in 1876 there were rival editions one edited by Abraham Holroyd and published at Saltaire the other dedicated to Sir Titus Salt. Gradually his verse disappeared and as the generation that had known him vanished, so did he.

Helmsley, Yorkshire

August 18th 1864

Watercolour and pen & ink

Slight old glue staining in corners, neatly repaired loss to upper right and lower left corners.

150x230mm

£85

Helmsley, Yorkshire

A small, skilfully executed watercolour sketch of the market square of Helmsley, Ryedale, North Yorkshire. In the foreground is the Market Cross (later rebuilt), with the square (looking towards Bridge Street) surrounded by houses many of which still exist.

View of St. Michael’s and Holy Trinity, Coventry

Coventry, c. 1800

Etching. Original hand-colouring

Slight time staining in sky, small neatly repaired hole.

330x595mm

£380

View of St. Michael’s and Holy Trinity, Coventry

A very delicately executed, detailed, rare, locally published view of Coventry, looking south, taken from Priory Row. In the centre is the ‘Old Cathedral’ church of St. Michael’s, surrounded by its extensive graveyard and on the right, separated from it by Trinity Row, is Holy Trinity Priory with its graveyard. In the distance is the High Street and and the half timbered Golden Cross Inn and on the extreme right are the half timbered buildings of Butcher Row and Broadgate. St Michael’s is now a shell, destroyed during the terrible ‘nine hour Blitz’ during the night of Thursday November 14th 1940, while the red sandstone church of Holy Trinity was one of the few buildings that escaped devastation.