Download the full version and explore a variety of ebooks

or textbooks at https://ebookultra.com

How to Write an Assignment Proven techniques from

a chief examiner that really get results 7th
Edition Pauline Smith

_____ Tap the link below to start your download _____

https://ebookultra.com/download/how-to-write-an-assignment-
proven-techniques-from-a-chief-examiner-that-really-get-
results-7th-edition-pauline-smith/

Find ebooks or textbooks at ebookultra.com today!

We have selected some products that you may be interested in
Click the link to download now or visit ebookultra.com
for more options!.

How To Write A Business Plan 7th Edition Mike Mckeever

https://ebookultra.com/download/how-to-write-a-business-plan-7th-
edition-mike-mckeever/

E Mail Selling Techniques That Really Work Stephan

Schiffman

https://ebookultra.com/download/e-mail-selling-techniques-that-really-
work-stephan-schiffman/

How to Be an Existentialist or How to Get Real Get a Grip

and Stop Making Excuses 1st Edition Gary Cox

https://ebookultra.com/download/how-to-be-an-existentialist-or-how-to-
get-real-get-a-grip-and-stop-making-excuses-1st-edition-gary-cox/

Courage Goes to Work How to Build Backbones Boost

Performance and Get Results 1st Edition Bill Treasurer

https://ebookultra.com/download/courage-goes-to-work-how-to-build-
backbones-boost-performance-and-get-results-1st-edition-bill-
treasurer/
Sales Promotion How to Create Implement and Integrate
Campaigns That Really Work 4th Edition Roddy Mullin

https://ebookultra.com/download/sales-promotion-how-to-create-
implement-and-integrate-campaigns-that-really-work-4th-edition-roddy-
mullin/

Sales Promotion How to Create Implement and Integrate

Campaigns That Really Work 3rd Edition Julian Cummins

https://ebookultra.com/download/sales-promotion-how-to-create-
implement-and-integrate-campaigns-that-really-work-3rd-edition-julian-
cummins/

Jump start how to write from everyday life 1st Edition

Robert Wolf

https://ebookultra.com/download/jump-start-how-to-write-from-everyday-
life-1st-edition-robert-wolf/

How to Write a Business Plan Tenth Edition Mike Mckeever

https://ebookultra.com/download/how-to-write-a-business-plan-tenth-
edition-mike-mckeever/

How to Write a Business Plan 8th Edition Mike Mckeever

https://ebookultra.com/download/how-to-write-a-business-plan-8th-
edition-mike-mckeever/
How to Write an Assignment Proven techniques from a
chief examiner that really get results 7th Edition Pauline
Smith Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Pauline Smith
ISBN(s): 9781848033351, 1848033354
Edition: 7th
File Details: PDF, 1.30 MB
Year: 2009
Language: english
 HOW TO
WRITE AN
ASSIGNMENT
Visit our How To website at www.howto.co.uk
At www.howto.co.uk you can engage in conversation with our
authors – all of whom have ‘been there and done that’ in their special-
ist fields. You can get access to special offers and additional content
but most importantly you will be able to engage with, and become a
part of, a wide and growing community of people just like yourself.

At www.howto.co.uk you’ll be able to talk and share tips with

people who have similar interests and are facing similar challenges in
their lives. People who, just like you, have the desire to change their
lives for the better – be it through moving to a new country, starting a
new business, growing their own vegetables, or writing a novel.

At www.howto.co.uk you’ll find the support and encouragement

you need to help make your aspirations a reality.

Visit www.how-to-write-an-assignment.co.uk

.How To Books strives to present authentic, inspiring, practical info-

mation in their books. Now, when you buy a title from How To
Books, you get even more than just words on a page.
 HOW TO
WRITE AN
ASSIGNMENT
Proven techniques from a chief examiner
that really get results
“Don’t start writing your assignment
without this book.“

Pauline Smith
howtobooks
Published by How To Content,
A division of How To Books Ltd,
Spring Hill House,
Spring Hill Road,
Begbroke, Oxford OX5 1RX,
United Kingdom.
Tel: (01865) 375794 Fax: (01865) 379162
[email protected]
www.howtobooks.co.uk

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced

or stored in an information retrieval system (other than for
purposes of review), without the express permission of the
publisher in writing.

© 2009 Pauline Smith

Fourth edition 2000

Fifth edition 2002
Reprinted 2003
Reprinted 2004
Reprinted 2005
Sixth edition 2008
Seventh edition 2009
First published in electronic form 2009

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.

The right of Pauline Smith to be identified as the author

of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with
the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

Consultant editor Roland Seymour

978 1 84803 335 1

Produced for How To Books by Deer Park Productions, Tavistock

Typeset by Pantek Arts Ltd, Maidstone, Kent
Cover design by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford

NOTE: The material contained in this book is set out in good

faith for general guidance and no liability can be accepted
for loss or expense incurred as a result of relying in particular
circumstances on statements made in the book. The laws and
regulations are complex and liable to change, and readers should
check the current position with the relevant authorities before
making personal arrangements.
 Contents
IIIII

List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi

■ ■ ■ 1. What is an Assignment? 1
Various types of assignment 1
How your assignment will be assessed 5
Choosing the right format for your assignment 9
Who am I writing the assignment for? 10
Case studies: an introduction 11
Summary 12
Self-evaluation 12

■ ■ ■ 2. Making the Right Start 14

Finding your preferred style of learning 14
Managing your time effectively 22
Case studies 26
Summary 28
Self-evaluation 28

■ ■ ■ 3. Analysing the Title Question or Brief 30

Identifying the key words 30
Techniques for understanding the instructions 33
Case studies 36
Summary 38
Self-evaluation 38

■ ■ ■ 4. How to Plan and take Notes 40

Brainstorming 40
Note-taking and collecting further information 43
Producing an outline plan 44
Case studies 47

v
vi Contents

Summary 48
Self-evaluation 49

■ ■ ■ 5. Drafting the Structure 50

Paragraph writing 50
Using sub-headings 53
Writing introductions and conclusions 54
Case studies 56
Summary 57
Self-evaluation 58

■ ■ ■ 6. Improving Your Style 59

Working with a rough draft 59
Achieving the right tone 60
Keeping it clear and simple 60
Avoiding plagiarism 61
Keeping it flowing 61
Avoiding gender and other bias 62
Case studies 63
Summary 66
Self-evaluation 66

■ ■ ■ 7. Presenting Your Final Assignment 69

Using quotations 69
Providing references 71
Preparing bibliographies 73
Preparing appendices 76
Compiling summaries and abstracts 77
Successful layout and presentation 77
Case studies 79
Summary 81
Self-evaluation 82

■ ■ ■ 8. Improving through Reflection 84

Recording your own progress 84
Using constructive feedback 86
Time to reflect 91
Summary 92
Self-evaluation 96
 Contents vii

■ ■ ■ 9. Where Are You Now? 97

Case studies 97
And how about you? 101
Conclusion 102

Glossary 103
Further reading 105
Index 107
This page intentionally left blank
 List of Illustrations
IIIII

1. Assessment criteria for an assignment 6

2. A time log 23
3. Time management: action planner 24
4. Process words: a key to their meanings 31
5. Example of a spider diagram 42
6. Example of a pattern note 42
7. Example of a planning tree on managing stress 46
8. A patterned note on managing stress 47
9. Structuring your assignment into paragraphs 51
10. Examples of transition (linking) words and phrases 62
11. Steve’s planning tree (case study example) 64
12. Examples of good and bad page layout for an assignment 78
13. Levels of competence 89

ix
This page intentionally left blank
 Preface
IIIII

This is a practical book explaining how you can really succeed in the
skill of writing assignments – essays, reports and dissertations.

Each chapter covers a different stage of assignment writing. Each is

illustrated with examples and mini case studies to show you the
results of both good and bad practices.

Summary checklists are included to help you, and each chapter ends
with self-evaluation questions to ensure that you are on the right lines.

If you read this book and follow the advice and guidance provided,
then you should achieve success in assignment writing whether for
study, work or pleasure. The skills you acquire should be helpful to
you in all sorts of ways throughout your life.

My own students tell me that they have found the book very useful to
them and certainly they have produced very good assignments! This
seventh edition includes revisions and improvements in order to pro-
vide further support for your assignment writing, and includes
guidance on online databases and electronic journals to make your
research easier. It is used by students across several college and univer-
sity courses.

When you have read the book I would be pleased to receive any com-
ments and suggestions from you that would be helpful in future
editions. Finally, I would like to thank my students and colleagues
past and present for providing the inspiration for the case study mate-
rial and for giving such constructive feedback on the earlier editions.

Pauline Smith

xi
This page intentionally left blank
 1
What is an Assignment?
IIIII

Journalists and detectives are asked to take on specific ‘assignments’ as

part of their day-to-day work where they investigate an issue or crime and
then produce a report for their newspaper or police bosses. Similarly, stu-
dents are given assignments, by their tutors, as part of their coursework
or in preparation for examinations. These assignments are usually in the
form of a title question (or hypothesis); a short description (or brief); or
task. Students, like journalists and detectives are expected to investigate
or research the ‘brief’ set, and to produce a written piece of work.

An assignment, therefore, involves undertaking both the investigation

and the piece of writing which provides evidence of that research. An
assignment is both process and product. This book concentrates on help-
ing you to develop your skills of researching assignments and
concentrates especially on how to produce a good assignment.

VARIOUS TYPES OF ASSIGNMENT

These are some of the forms that assignments can take:

I essays
I reports
I dissertations.

Let’s consider them in turn.

1
2 How To Write an Assignment

Essays
These are probably the most popular form of assignment set by tutors
for their students on ‘A’ level to Master’s level courses. Whilst
Humanities and Social Science courses are often totally essay-based,
some science courses do incorporate other forms of assignment, such as
reports (see page 3).

Essay section Possible material

Introduction Define any key terms. State what you propose to
do in the assignment/your objectives.
Main body/ Your main points/arguments and supporting
development evidence/examples, in a sensible order.
Conclusion A summary of what you have said/argued/
discovered so far. A conclusion about how you have
fulfilled your objectives. Any recommendations you
can make as a result of your work.

Essays can be set by tutors for both coursework and examination

purposes. Many courses are designed so that a percentage (or even
100%) of the overall marks required for the qualification is awarded
for successfully completing a number of coursework essays. The length
of these essays varies from course to course but is usually between
1,500–5,000 words each. The final examination is also made up of a
number of essays to be completed in a given length of time; three to
four essays in three hours is fairly usual.

Being able to write a good essay in a limited amount of time is there-

fore an important skill to develop!

Essay structure – A good essay should incorporate the following structure:

Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 the Buchaneers. Olmutz may draw into some length;
10,000 men in the Place and old General Marshall
defending it with great vigour. I could not possibly see
General Elliot this morning, being obliged to go to
Kensington, and I am this evening to be at a meeting by
seven. I am,
Ever my dear Lord's
Most Affectionate Friend
W. Pitt.
Seven years later, on the afternoon of February 22, 1766, the
Premier, after a tempestuous debate, concluded a letter to his wife
in the country thus:—
Love to the sweet babes, patriotic or not, tho' I hope
impetuous William is not behind in feelings of that kind.
Send the saddle horses if you please, so as to be in town
early tomorrow morning. I propose and hope to execute
my journey to Hayes by 11. Your ever loving husband
W. Pitt.
The patriotism of William Pitt the younger, born in the very year
Prince Edward joined Captain Howe's ship as a "volunteer for wages
and victuals," was soon to blossom forth not only in an infantile
drama,[39] but in a poem hitherto unpublished, which I had the good
fortune to obtain through Mr. F. Sabin. It was the joint work of
"impetuous William" and his sister in the spring of 1777, and is in
the handwriting of the former:—

ON POETRY

Ye sacred Imps of thund'ring Jove descend.

Immortal Nine, to me propitious, bend
Inclining downward from Parnassus' brow;
To me, young Bard, some heav'nly fire allow.
From Agannippe's murmur strait repair,
Assist my Labours and attend my Pray'r.
Inspire my Verse. Of Poetry it sings.
Thro' Her, the Deeds of Heroes and of Kings,
Renownd in Arms, with Fame immortal stand;
By Her, no less, are spread thro' ev'ry Land
Those Patriot names, who in their Country's cause
Triumphant fall, for Liberty and Laws.
Exalted high, the Spartan Hero stands,
Encircled with his far-renowned Bands,
Who e'er devoted for their Country die;
Thro' Her their Fame ascends the starry Sky.
She too perpetuates each horrid Deed,
When Laws are trampled, when their Guardians bleed.
Then shall the Muse, to Infamy prolong
Example dread, and theme of trajick Song,
Nor less immortal than the Chiefs resound
The Poets' names, who spread their deeds around.
Homer shall flourish first in rolls of Fame;
And still shall live the Roman Virgil's name.
With living bays is Lofty Pindar crowned,
In distant ages Horace stands renowned.
These Bards, and more, fair Greece and Rome may
boast
And some may flourish on this British coast.
Witness the man, on whom the Muse did smile,
Who sung our parents' Fall, and Satan's Guile.
A second Homer, favour'd by the Nine,
Sweet Spenser, Johnson, Shakespear the Divine,
And He, fair Virtue's Bard, who rapt doth sing
The praise of Freedom, and Laconia's King.
But high o'er Chiefs and Bards supremely great
Shall Publius shine, the Guardian of our State.
Him shall th' immortal Nine themselves record
With deathless Fame, his gen'rous toil reward.
Shall tune the Harp to loftier sounding lays
And thro' the world shall spread his ceaseless praise.
Their hands alone can match the heav'nly String
And with due fire his wond'rous glories sing.
Harriett Pitt, May 1771, 13 years old.
William Pitt, 12 years old.

LAST PAGE OF UNPUBLISHED

HOLOGRAPH POEM IN
HANDWRITING OF WILLIAM PITT,
MAY, 1771.
LAST WHIP ISSUED BY WILLIAM
PITT AND SIGNED BY HIM,
DECEMBER 31, 1805.

SIGNATURE OF SIR ISAAC HEARD,

GARTER, ON CARD OF ADMISSION
 TO THE FUNERAL OF WILLIAM
PITT 1806.
Here is a letter written by him thirty-three years later, after his return
to office on the resignation of Addington. It shows conclusively that
his share in helping the Fatherland to weather the storm was
physical as well as moral:—
William Pitt in Downing Street to Lieut.-Colonel Dillon of Walmer.
Downing Street, September 1, 1804.
My dear Sir,—As the Harvest is now nearly over, I imagine
this would be a very fitting time for proposing to assemble
your Battalion on permanent duty; and there seems
chance enough of the occasion arriving for actual Service,
to make it desirable that there should be as little delay as
possible. Lord Carrington has gone to Deal Castle to-day,
and if you can contrive to see him tomorrow, or next day,
I shall be glad if you will settle with him the necessary
arrangements. I think the time should not be less than
Three weeks, and in that case, an extra allowance will be
made of a guinea pr Man, which added to the usual pay
will amount to 2s pr day for the whole period. This will
enable us to give the men full compensation for at least
six or seven hours a day, on an average; and will therefore
allow of three or four long Field Days in each week, and
only short drills in the remaining days; and such
arrangement would, I think, answer every purpose. I
should hope you might fix the commencement of
permanent duty for Monday fortnight, very soon after
which day I hope to come to Walmer to make some stay. I
shall be at Dover on Tuesday next for a day, but have
some business which will carry me from thence along the
Coast, and probably back to town before I reach Walmer.
Believe me, my dear Sir, yours very sincerely,
W. Pitt.
In June, 1909, an extraordinary series of letters by Pitt, Burke, and
others was offered for sale. They were manifestly of supreme
importance to the history of England during one of her most terrible
political crises. I am glad to say certain steps were taken which led
to the issue of the following notice:—

SALE OF AUTOGRAPH LETTERS,

June 9th and 10th.

WINDHAM CORRESPONDENCE.
Lots 519 to 550.

Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge

having Sold these Lots privately, by direction
of the Executors, they will not be included in
the Sale on June 10th.[40]

The patriotism of Pitt certainly finds no echo in the following

extraordinary letter of his opponent, Lord Stanhope, which I
purchased in Paris for 15 francs:—
The Earl of Stanhope to M. Palloy, Entrepreneur de la demolition de
la Bastille, Grenadier Volontier de la 1ere Division de l'Armée
Parisienne, Rue du Fossé St. Bernard, Paris:—
Cheevening House
near Sevenoaks Kent
Aout 25 1790
 Monsieur,—Je vous rend bien des Graces pour votre lettre
obligéante du 7e courant. On vous a mal informé quand
on vous a dit que nous avions à notre fête à Londres un
Chapiteau d'une des Colonnes de la Bastille; ce n'était
point partie d'une colonne; mais seulement une vraie
pierre de la Bastille, comme nous nous sommes assurés.
Je ne profiterez [sic] donc, par de votre trés obligéante
offre, mais je ne vous en suis par moins obligé. Je me
rejouis, chaque jour de la demolition de la Bastille et de la
Liberté des Français
Je suis, Monsieur,
Votre très humble et obeissant serviteur
Stanhope
à M Palloy
A year or so ago I was lucky enough to secure the official dispatch-
box bearing the Royal cipher and his initials, which Pitt left behind
him at Bath, when returning to Putney a few days before his death.
In it is his last Whip, signed on December 31, 1805. On January 21st
he was dying, and on the 23rd he died. This melancholy document
now lies within the forgotten dispatch-box!
Chesterfield—the "great" Earl of Chesterfield—died when the
younger Pitt was fourteen years old. It is more correct to describe
him as a contemporary of his father, the Great Commoner. He was,
as an amusing and able letter-writer, superior to both, but he loved
society and they did not. In the recent Haber Sale at New York
(December 10, 1909) a very fine Chesterfield letter only fetched £3
8s. It is thus described:—

CHESTERFIELD (PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, FOURTH EARL OF).

A.L.S., 2 pp. 4to, London, June 14, 1746. (Endorsed on the back "To
Thos. Prior.") With portrait.
Thomas Prior was the Irish philanthropist, with whom Earl
Chesterfield became acquainted while Viceroy of Ireland.
 A remarkable letter proposing schemes for manufactures
in Ireland. He first suggests glass manufacture, and next
writing and printing paper, and states that the specimens
shown him of Irish manufacture impressed him greatly,
and only "industry is wanting"; another suggestion is the
manufacture of starch, and he writes that he has been
shown a method of making it from potatoes easily and
cheaply, and while the law in England prevents it being
made from anything else than flour in that country, that
law might not apply in Ireland, and proceeds: "These are
the Jobbs that I wish the People in Ireland would attend
with as much Industry and Care as they do Jobbs of a
very different Nature." Many other reflections show sound
common sense.
Two years ago I gave £4 each for five unknown and unpublished
letters, written between 1762 and 1771 by Chesterfield to his
relative, Mr. Welbore Ellis Agar ("Gatty"). The specimen I now give of
them is interesting, as it concerns Bath, a city which I regard as the
great source and centre of the lighter and more gossipy letters of
the eighteenth century:—
Bath, October ye 8th 1771.
Dear Gatty,—When we parted we agreed to correspond by
way of letter, but we did not as I remember stipulate
which should make the first advance, but as I always
sacrificed my Dignity to my pleasure, I here make the first
step though Cozen and Counsillor to the King and your
Unkle, which is a kind of Deputy Parent. Admire my
condescension. To begin, then, with an account of my
Caducity. I made my journey to this place in two days,
which I did not think I could have done, much tired with it
but alive. Since I came I have seen no mortal till last
night, when I went to the Ball with which the new rooms
were opened and when I was there I knew not one
creature except Lord and Lady Vere. The new rooms are
really Magnificent finely finished and furnished, the
Dancing-room, which the Lady Thanet used to call the
Posture-room, particularly spacious and adorned. A large
and fine play room, and a convenient Tea room well
contrived, either to drink or part with that liquor. So much
for this and more I cannot tell you, for as for the people
who are not yet many, they are absolute strangers to me,
and I to them. In my review of the fair sex last night I did
not see one tolerably handsome, so that I am in no
danger of falling in love this season, and indeed my heart
and mind are so engrossed by Mr. Agar's fair cousin Mrs.
Mathews, that I have no room left for a second choice. I
hope that at her return to England, he will do me what
good offices he can with her; my way is to end my letters
abruptly, and without a well-turned period.
So God bless you
Chesterfield.
 A.L.S. OF EARL OF CHESTERFIELD,
OCTOBER 8, 1771, DESCRIBING THE
INAUGURAL BALL AT THE NEW BATH
ASSEMBLY ROOMS.
The Mrs. Mathews alluded to in the letter was probably the wife of
Captain Mathews, who afterwards fought a duel with Richard
Brinsley Sheridan.
Here is another Chesterfield letter from a different source:—
Earl of Chesterfield to Mrs. Montague, May 14, 1771.
Lord Chesterfield presents his respects to Mrs. Montague
and desires her to accept of the enclosed trifle for her
 poor women; his charity purse is at present as light as
hers can possibly be, not from being as formerly his Play-
purse too but from the various applications of wretched
objects which humanity cannot withstand.
Of the early nineteenth-century statesmen letter-writers Brougham
was one of the most prolific, but I have already spoken of a curious
"find" of somewhat sensational Brougham correspondence in Paris.
[41] His ordinary letters only fetch from 3s. to 5s. Far more costly are
the letters of Curran, Grattan, and O'Connell. Here is a typical letter
of the "Liberator," written from Bath:—
Daniel O'Connell to Mr. W. H. Curran.
Bath, October 14, 1817.
My dear Curran,—I have wept over your letter. Oh God
your Father never offended me,—we once differed on the
subject of the details of our Petition, but if my information
on facts respecting that detail was not superior to his, I
feel my inferiority in every other respect too sensibly to
dare to differ with him. As Brutus was called the last of
the Romans so Ireland will weep over him as the last
survivor of those great spirits who almost burst the iron
Bondage of Britain and would have made her free but that
the ancient curse has still bound her and she lingers yet in
slavery. How naturally does the thought fly from his bed of
sickness to the sorrows of Ireland. The Boldest, best,
most eloquent, most enthusiastic, and perhaps more than
the most persevering of her Patriots, he was. Alas he
leaves none like or second to him. You will my friend think
I declaim while I only run rapidly through the thoughts
that his illness crowds upon me. You do well, quite well. It
will, in every respect, console you to recollect that you
have done your duty. I rejoice with all the joy of my heart
can mingle with his state that you have this precious
opportunity of doing that duty cordially and well. If your
letter afforded me hope that I could see your Father, so as
 to be able to converse with him, I would answer your
letter in person, as it is I wait only your reply to go to you.
It would suit most convenient not to leave this before
Saturday, but your reply will command me. The Funeral
must be Public. I will of course attend it. We will arouse
everything Irish in London and pay a tribute to his
memory unequalled by any which London has witnessed.
Tell Phillips I only wait a reply to join you both. Do you
think of conveying his remains to Ireland? this if
practicable would be best. Write, or get Phillips to write,
as soon as you receive this. You perceive that I write in
the extreme of haste, but I am for ten thousand reasons
convinced that you should listen to no suggestion of a
private funeral. You would repent it only once, that is all
your life. Would to God I could offer you consolation.
Believe me, my dear friend, to be most faithfully yours,
Daniel O'Connell.
Mr. Gladstone was, like Wellington and Brougham, a writer of
innumerable letters. There was a demand for them once, but at the
present moment, by the irony of fate, an average Gladstone letter
fetches less than one of his wife. Special circumstances, however,
may give them special value. This is exemplified in the case of the
Gladstone-Manning correspondence written from Balmoral, which I
found at Brighton. The introduction of the economical and space-
saving postcard spoiled Gladstone as a letter-writer in his old age.
Here is a typical letter of his, relating to the present of a bust of
O'Connell and interesting at the present political juncture:—
Mr. Gladstone to Mrs. O'Connell.
10 Downing Street January 28. 1882.
My dear Madam,—I accept with many thanks the Bust you
have been so kind to send me. It is a most interesting
memorial of early days, and of a man of powerful mind
and will, and profound attachment to his Country; whose
name can never be forgotten there.
In my early years of Parliamentary life, casual
circumstances brought me into slight personal relations
with Mr. O'Connel, and I have ever retained the lively
recollection of his courtesy and kindness.
I remain, my dear Madam, your very faithful and
obedient,
W. E. Gladstone.
I must not omit to thank you for the kind terms in which
you speak of my efforts on behalf of Ireland, and I cling in
that confidence to the hope that a happy future is yet in
store for her.
 ONE PAGE OF A.L.S. FROM MR. W.
E. GLADSTONE AT BALMORAL TO
CARDINAL MANNING, N.D.
Four years ago I saw ten letters of the late Lord Beaconsfield
catalogued at £70. Personally I regard him as almost the last of the
now extinct race of letter-writers, for the epistolary art has
succumbed beyond hope of recovery to the combined influences of
the telegraph, the telephone, the type-writer and the halfpenny
newspaper. A "newspaper" letter, as Mrs. Montagu, Lord Lyttelton,
and Lord Bath used to call them, would be as ridiculous as a
conversation on les belles lettres. How Lord Beaconsfield's life is ever
to be written with any hope of completeness, I cannot imagine.
Hundreds of his letters have been sold since his death, and a
specimen of average interest can now be obtained for 20s. or less. I
have gradually acquired thirty or forty and am certain that sooner or
later a rise in price is inevitable. People will soon discover that in the
fragmentary and wholly unsatisfactory published collections of
Beaconsfield's letters the originals have been ruthlessly mangled or
transformed. I shall only include two examples in this book,
beginning with a very early one from the inevitable Bath:—
Benjamin Disraeli to his Sister.
(Franked by E. Lytton Bulwer.)
Bath, Thursday [Jany 24 1833]
My Dearest,—You ought to have recd my letter on Sunday
and I should have answered your's immediately, but it is
almost impossible to get a frank out of Bulwer and I
thought my father wd go quite mad if he received an
unprivileged letter under present circumstances. We quit
this place tomorrow and shd have done so to-day, but dine
with a Mr. Murray here. I like Bath very much. At a public
ball I met the Horfords, Hawksleys etc. Bulwer and myself
went in very late and got quite mobbed.
 I have nearly finished Iskander, a very pretty thing indeed,
and have printed the 1st Vol of Alroy.
I have answered the agric. affair which was forwarded to
me from London.
Directly I am in town I will write about the bills.
The Horfords (father and brother here) asked us to dine,
but were engaged.
Met the Bayntums, but not Clementina. Rather think I may
to day.
yrs ever
B. D.
Let me have a letter in Duke St. Bulwer is getting on
immensely and I shd not be surprised if we shortly see
him in a most eminent position, but this not to be spoken
of. Met Ensor.
Omitting many letters of piquant interest I come to one written in
the autumn of 1851, in which the rising statesman deals somewhat
severely with his old friend, The Times. It runs as follows:—
Hughenden, Sept 19 1851
My dear Sa,—Your mischance was very vexatious, but I
was glad to hear that you had arrived all safe in such kind
quarters.
I see Jem on Tuesday, who passed a longish morning
here.
At Monday I was at Aylesbury where I was obliged to dine
with the old society—Lowndes, Stone, Howard Wyse,
Bernard, Hale, Isham, and Young of Quainton and 3
clergymen supported me, and Lowndes of Chesham in the
chair. I made a good speech on a difficult subject, and the
meeting seemed in heart. I saw to-day in The Times two
columns of incoherent and contradictory nonsense wh
made me blush, tho' I ought to be hardened by this time
on such subjects. I have seen no other papers. They can't
be worse, and perhaps may in some degree neutralise the
nonsense of The Times. I am only afraid the world will
think it all Delphi and diplomatic, and that the wordy
obscurity was intentional, whereas I flattered myself I was
as terse and simple as suited a farmer's table.
I am rather improving and getting on a little.
I hope you will enjoy yourself very much.
We went over to Cliefden the other day—there is one bed
of flowers, called the scarlet ribbon—4,000 geraniums—
the Duchess's[42] own design, very new and wonderful,
winding over a lawn like a sea-serpent, but the plantation
in sad order. The gardener has £10 per week to pay
everything in his department, as the Duchess will not
spend more on a place which yields nothing. My kind
remembrances to Mrs. Peacock.
Affecly yrs.
D.
 ONE PAGE OF A.L.S. OF MR.
DISRAELI (AFTERWARDS LORD
BEACONSFIELD) ON CHURCH
MATTERS, N.D.
I venture to think that in the near future the letters of Benjamin
Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, will be found as essential to the annals
of the Victorian era, as those of Pitt, Windham, and Burke are to
those of the reign of George III.
VII

THE
LITERARY
AUTOGRAPHS
OF THREE
CENTURIES

CHAPTER VII
THE LITERARY AUTOGRAPHS OF THREE
CENTURIES
From the days of Shakespeare and Spenser to those of
Thackeray, Dickens, Tennyson, and Meredith—The value of
literary autographs and MSS.
In a man's letters, you know, Madame, his soul lies naked
—his letters are only the mirror of his heart.—Dr. Johnson
to Mrs. Thrale.
Political interest is ephemeral, but literary interest is
eternal.—Adrian H. Joline, "Meditations of an Autograph
Collector."
By a felicitous coincidence two literary autographs of more than
ordinary interest have come to light at the moment I was preparing
to write the present chapter. The first is the discovery in the Record
Office by Dr. Wallace of the signed deposition of Shakespeare in an
early seventeenth-century lawsuit, under the circumstances
picturesquely set forth in the issue of Harper's Monthly Magazine for
March, 1910. Without conceding to Dr. Wallace's "find" the supreme
importance claimed for it by this able and patient examiner of
ancient MSS., there can be no doubt that it deals a fatal and final
blow to the Baconian theory. On the very day I read Dr. Wallace's
article, Mr. J. H. Stonehouse[43] showed me several fictitious
Shakespeare signatures fabricated by W. H. Ireland nearly forty
years after the appearance of "Vortigern," for the avowed purpose of
demonstrating his ability to imitate them. I cannot help thinking that
Dr. Wallace's article lends increased interest to the letter of the
Shakespearean actor, Dowton, which has already been alluded to in
these pages.[44] In the elaborate essay in which the fifth
Shakespeare signature has been enshrined will be found
reproductions of the other four.[45]

THE SIGNATURE OF
SHAKESPEARE ON
THE LAST PAGE OF
HIS WILL.
Mr. Adrian Joline's theory as to the "eternity of interest" in literary
autographs receives support from the exceptionally high prices they
have commanded from the early days of the collection of MSS.,
when the signatures of kings and statesmen were almost at a
discount. "I shall now," writes the chronicler of autograph prices in
1827, "set poetry, philosophy, history, and works of imagination
against sceptres, swords, robes, and big-wigs.... Addison is worth £2
15s., Pope £3 5s., and Swift £3. Thomson has sold for £5 10s. and
Burns for £3 10s. Churchill, the abuser of his compatriots, is valued
at £1 18s. In philosophy Dr. Franklin reaches £1 17s.; in history,
Hume is valued at £1 18s. and Gibbon at only 8s. The sturdy
moralist Johnson ranks at £1 16s., the graceful trifler Sterne at £2
2s., Smollett at £2 10s., and Richardson at £1. Scott only yields 8s."
In the half-century which intervened between 1827 and 1877 the
prices of literary autographs had risen by leaps and bounds. In his
catalogue of 1876 Mr. Waller asked £8 10s. for a short Latin essay of
Thomas Gray, while Longfellow is priced at £1 18s., George Borrow
at £3 3s., and Wordsworth at £1 1s. A fine letter of Schiller's is
priced at £2 5s. In the next catalogue (1878) I find the following:
Gibbon (a fine A.L.S.) £4 4s.; Voltaire (a 2 pp. A.L.S.) £3 15s.;
Rousseau, a series of letters, including one of the philosopher, £3
10s.; five verses by Scott, £4 4s.; William Cowper, A.L.S., £3 7s. 6d.;
Gray, a bundle of printed matter including one hundred lines of MS.,
£6 6s. In the late Mr. Frederick Barker's catalogues of the same
period we have Edmund Burke (A.L.S.), £3 3s.; Thomas Hood
(A.L.S.), £2 2s.; Voltaire (A.L.S.), £4 4s.; Horace Walpole (A.L.S.), £3
5s.; and a love-letter from John Keats to Fanny Brawne, £28.
In cataloguing the last-named item Mr. Barker says "that one of
these celebrated letters realised by auction a short time since no less
than £47." He also prices two A.L.S. of Robert Burns at £35 and £32
respectively. It will be remembered that in 1827 the price for a Burns
letter was £3 10s. only. For a letter of Schiller (4 pp., 8vo, 1801) Mr.
Barker asks £7 7s. In several catalogues of this period I find Keats
letters averaging £20 to £30. The interesting catalogue issued by Mr.
Barker in 1891 is remarkable for its wealth of literary rariora.
Autograph letters are priced in it as follows: Schiller, £10 10s.; Burns,
£25; Wordsworth, £3 3s.; Thackeray, £25. The last-named letter is
worth describing. It was addressed to Miss Holmes, with a postscript
on the inside of the envelope, and on the third sheet a clever sketch
of Thackeray and Bulwer Lytton standing behind a lady seated at a
piano. The letter itself runs thus:—
There is a comfortable Hotel in this street, kept by a
respectable family man, the charges are Beds gratis,
Breakfasts, thank you, dinner and tea, ditto, servants
included in these charges. Get a cab from the station, and
come straightway to No. 13. I dine out with the Dean of
St. Paul's (you have heard of a large meeting house we
 have between Ludgate Hill and Cheapside, with a round
roof?). Some night we will have a select T party, but not
whilst you are staying here. When you are in your
lodgings. Why I will ask Sir Edward George Earle Lytton,
Bulwer Lytton himself. Bulwer's boots are very fine in the
accompanying masterly design (refer to the sketch),
remark the traces of emotion on the cheeks of the other
author (the notorious W. M. T.), I have caricatured Dr.
Newman (with an immense nose) and the Cardinal too,
you ought to know that.
This letter would be now worth quite £50, and some of the fine
illustrated Thackeray letters now in possession of Mr. Frank Sabin
would probably be cheap at £100 each. Mr. Sabin's collection of the
Thackerayana is probably unrivalled both as regards the United
Kingdom and America.[46]
In Mr. Barker's 1891 catalogue there are four letters of Shelley,
priced at £18 18s., £19 19s., £10 10s., and £9 9s. respectively. There
is also a Schiller at £25, and an Alexander Pope covering one page
8vo only at £8. Darwin is already at £1 10s., Disraeli at 18s., and the
Dickens letters average about £2. A letter of Dr. Priestley, worth
perhaps 5s. in 1827, is now offered at £2 2s.
 DEED CONTAINING THE SIGNATURE OF
FRANCIS BACON, LORD VERULAM, AND
NEARLY ALL THE MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY,
TEMP. JAMES I.
(In the collection of Messrs. Ellis.)
I am permitted by Mr. F. Sabin to reproduce a very early literary
letter addressed in 1690 by John Evelyn to Samuel Pepys. It must
not be forgotten that Evelyn was one of the earliest collectors of
MSS.
Depfd, 25—7:—90.
'Tis now (methinks) so very long since I saw or heard
from my Ext Friend: that I cannot but enquire after his
Health: If he aske what I am doing all this while?
Sarcinam compono, I am making up my fardle, that I may
march the freer: for the meane time—
Do you expect a more proper Conjuncture than this
approaching Session, to do yourself Right—by publishing
that which all good men (who love and honour you)
cannot but rejoice to see? you owe it to God, to your
Country & to yr Selfe, and therefore I hope you seriously
think of & resolve upon it.
I am just now making a step to Wotton to Visite my good
Brother there, Importunately desiring to see me: himselfe
succumbing apace to Age and its Accidents: I think not of
staying above a week or ten daies, & within a little after
my returne be almost ready to remove our small family
neerer you for the winter, In which I promise myselfe the
Hapynesse of a Conversation the most Gratefull to
Sr
Your Most Humble
Faithfull Servant
J Evelyn
I rent this page from the other before I was aware, and
now tis to full to begin againe for good man̄ ers.
Give my most Humble Service to Dr. Gule.
 A.L.S. OF JOHN EVELYN TO SAMUEL
PEPYS, DEPTFORD, SEPTEMBER 25, 1700.
(In the collection of Mr. Frank Sabin.)
Milton, to a certain extent, was a contemporary of both Pepys and
Evelyn, but he had been dead sixteen years at the date of the letter
now quoted. The value of Milton's autographs is fully discussed by
Dr. Scott in the pages of The Archivist.[47] When the subject first
attracted my attention early in 1904 much excitement was caused by
the appearance in Sotheby's Salerooms of what was alleged to be 32
pp. of the MS. of "Paradise Lost." The value of the document was
warmly discussed at the time and sensational bidding was
anticipated. It was bought in, but I believe it was ultimately sold to
an American collector for £5,000 or thereabouts. Mr. Quaritch now
possesses a very fine Milton deed, which is priced at £420, and is
dated November 27, 1623. It is signed by John Milton, as one of the
witnesses to the Marriage Covenant between Edward Phillips of
London and Anne, daughter of John Milton, Citizen and Scrivener of
London.

EARLY SIGNATURE OF JOHN MILTON ON DOCUMENTS

NOW IN POSSESSION OF MR. QUARITCH.
Letters of Dryden and Cowley have fetched very high prices,[48] and
the autograph of Edmund Waller is also rare, but Alexander Pope's
letters are abundant, although they are much less valuable than
those of Swift. A good letter of Pope can be obtained for from £7 to
£10. The late Mr. Frederick Barker told me he was once asked as an
autographic expert to advise a well-known nobleman, Lord H., who
said he had a bundle of letters written by one of the Popes in his
possession and desired to ascertain their value, but as they were
merely signed "A Pope" he did not know which of the Holy Fathers
was responsible for them! Mr. Barker of course identified the "bard
of Twickenham" as their author. They were bound up under his
supervision, and fetched over £200, but still the owner was not quite
satisfied! Of the four Pope letters in my collection, only one has ever
been published, and that but partially. It is of such manifest
historical interest that I do not apologise for reproducing it in its
entirety:—
Alexander Pope at Twickenham to Ralph Allen, Esq., Widcombe,
Bath.
(November 2. 1738.)
Dear Sir,—I trouble you with my answers to the Inclosed
wch I beg you to give to Mr Lyttelton as I wd do him all ye
Good I can, wh the Virtues I know him possest of,
deserve; and therefore I wd Present him with so Honest a
Man as you, and you with so Honest a man as he: The
Matter concerning Urns I wd gladly leave in yr Care, and I
desire four small ones with their Pedestals, may be made,
and two of a size larger. I'l send those sizes to you and I
send a Draft of ye two sorts, 4 of one and 2 of ye other. I
am going to insert in the body of my Works, my two last
Poems in Quarto. I always Profit myself of ye opinion of ye
publick to correct myself on such occasions. And
sometimes the Merits of particular Men, whose names I
have made free with for examples either of Good or of
Bad, determine me to alteration. I have found the Virtue
in you more than I certainly knew before till I had made
experiment of it, I mean Humility! I must therefore in
justice to my own conscience of it bear testimony to it and
change the epithet I first gave you of Low-born, to
Humble. I shall take care to do you the justice to tell
everybody this change was not made at yours, or at any
friends request for you: but my own knowledge (of) you
merited it. I receive daily fresh proofs of your kind
 remembrance of me. The Bristol waters, the Guinea Hens,
the Oyl and Wine (two Scripture benedictions) all came
safe except ye wine, wch was turned on one side, and
spilt at ye Corks. However tis no loss to me for that sort I
dare not drink on acct of ye Bile, but my friends may and
that is the same thing as if I did. Adieu! Is Mr Hook with
you? I wish I were, for a month at least; for less I wd not
come. Pray advise him not to be so modest. I hope he
sees Mr. Lyttelton. I must expect your good offices with
Mrs. Allen, so let her know I honour a good woman much
but a good Wife more.
I am ever, yours faithfully,
A. Pope
Twitnam. Nov 2 (1738).
My other three Pope letters are unknown. They are addressed to Mr.
Bethel on Tower Hill, London, Mr. Charles Ford in Park Place, and Mr.
Jonathan Richardson, of Queen Square, London. The last-named
was catalogued last year as written to Samuel Richardson. I gave £5
for it. Mr. Barker valued it at £8 in 1891. It provides an antidote to
the unkind things Pope wrote about "Sulphureous" Bath on other
occasions:—
Bath. November 14. 1742.
De Sir,—The whole purpose of this is only to tell you that
the length of my stay at this distance from you, has not
made me unmindful of you; and that I think you have
regard enough for me to be pleased to hear, I have been,
and am, better than usual. In about a fortnight or three
weeks I hope to find you as little altered as possible at yr
age, as when I left you, as I am at mine. God send you all
Ease, philosophical and physical.
I am your sincerely-affectionate friend and
servant,
A. Pope
 My services to yr Son.
The letters of Horace Walpole, who generally wrote for posterity, are
valuable,[49] but by no means as costly as those of Thomas Gray. Mr.
Quaritch lately showed a group of holograph letters, illustrating the
"quadruple alliance" of Gray, Walpole, West, and Ashton, which
began at Eton. It included two fairly long letters of Gray and
Walpole. I consider the collection very cheap at £55. Here is a
characteristic unpublished note written by Horace Walpole to Hannah
More, while the latter was staying with the Garricks in the Adelphi:—
Horace Walpole to Hannah More.
March 11.
I heard at Mrs. Ord's last night that you are not well. I
wou'd fain flatter myself that you had only a pain in your
apprehension of the coaches full of mob that were
crowding the streets, but as I do not take for granted
whatever will excuse me from caring, as people that are
indifferent readily do, I beg to hear from yourself how you
are. I do not mean from your own hand, but lips—send
me an exact message, and if it is a good one it will give
real pleasure to yours most sincerely,
H. Walpole.
PS.—Mrs. Prospero, who is my Miranda, was there last
night with a true blue embroidered favour, that cast a ten
times more important colour on her accents and made her
as potent in her own eyes as Sycorax.
To Miss More at the Adelphi.
 PAGE OF DR. JOHNSON'S DIARY
RECORDING HIS IMPRESSIONS OF
STONEHENGE, ETC., 1783.
The value of Johnson's letters has varied very little during the past
quarter of a century, an A.L.S. of exceptional interest often bringing
£40 or £50. Possibly his historic letters to Macpherson and
Chesterfield or his ultimatum to Mrs. Thrale would now fetch
considerably more. In the Haber Sale at New York a 2 pp. 4to A.L.S.
dated April 13, 1779, to Cadell brought £17. I possess several
Johnson letters, many of them unpublished and written during the
last year of his life. The following A.L.S. to Mr. Ryland was seemingly
unknown to Dr. Birkbeck Hill:—
To Mr. Ryland, Merchant in London.
Dear Sir,—I have slackened in my diligence of
correspondence, certainly not by ingratitude or less delight
to hear from my friends, and as little would I have it
imputed to idleness, or amusement of any other kind. The
truth is that I care not much to think on my own state. I
have for some time past grown worse, the water makes
slow advances, and my breath though not so much
obstructed as in some former periods of my disorder is
very short. I am not however heartless. The water has,
since its first great effusion, invaded me thrice, and thrice
has retreated. Accept my sincere thanks for your care in
laying down the stone[50] wh you and young Mr. Ryland
have done. I doubt not of finding [it] well done, if ever I
can make my mind firm enough to visit it. I am now
contriving to return, and hope to be yet no disgrace to our
monthly meeting[51] when I shall be with you, as my
resolution is not very steady and as chance must have
some part in the opportunity, I cannot tell. Do not omit to
write, for your letters are a great part of my comfort.
I am,
Dear Sir
Your most humble servant
Sam Johnson
Pray write.
Lichfield, Oct. 30, 1784.
 THE TWO LAST PAGES OF THE MS. JOURNAL OF MRS.
THRALE'S TOUR IN WALES, JULY-SEPTEMBER, 1774,
DESCRIBING THE DINNER AT BURKE'S.
Six months before his death he writes thus to Mr. Nicoll on the
subject of Cook's voyages:—
To Mr. Nicoll,
Bookseller,
In the Strand, London.
You were pleased to promise me that when the great
Voyage should be published, you would send it to me. I
am now at Pembroke College, Oxford, and if you can
conveniently enclose it in a parcel, or send it any other
way, I shall think the perusal of it a great favour.
I am,
Sir
Your most humble servant
Sam Johnson
June 8 1784
Curiously enough, one of the last subjects upon which Johnson
concentrated his waning energies in 1783-84 was that of the
possibilities of the balloon, which he persistently called "ballon."[52]

For some years I have been an assiduous collector of the letters and
MSS. of George Crabbe. I now possess his two historic letters to
Edmund Burke. It was in the earliest of these (once the property of
Sir Theodore Martin) that he made his despairing appeal for
pecuniary aid to save him from suicide or starvation. Fifty-one years
later, George Crabbe, Rector of Trowbridge, lay a-dying. He receives
in his sick-chamber the following letter from John Forster:—
John Forster to George Crabbe.
[Letter franked by Edward Lytton Bulwer.]
4 Burton St.
Burton Crescent, London
Jany 20 '32
Revd. Sir,—I beg, very respectfully to submit to your
inspection the enclosed paper.[53] May I venture to hope
that your sympathy with the cause of the world of letters
—independently of considerations unfortunately still more
urgent, will induce you to lend the favour of your
distinguished name to a project now become necessary to
rescue Mr. Leigh Hunt from a hard crisis in his fortune
With the greatest respect,
I am, Sir,
Your very obdt. servant
John Forster.
After Crabbe's death the following almost illegible draft of a reply
was found amongst his papers:—
 It wd ill become me who have been so greatly [much]
indebted to the kindness of my Friends, that [I should
refuse to do what I could] disregard [not respond to] the
application you are so good as to make on behalf of Mr.
Leigh Hunt. My influence I fear is small [living] residing
as, I do, where little except Cloth is made, little except
Newspapers read. This is, however, not without
exceptions. [It is] I consider it as doing myself Honour to
join [however feebly] my [name with those endeavouring]
attempt to serve [a distinguished member of] a man for
whose welfare [those] such distinguished persons are
interested [whose names are connected] to the [printed
copy] paper [of the paper] printed [destined] for general
Circulation
I am Sir ——
History had repeated itself, only the rôles were reversed. In 1832 the
benefactor was Crabbe, and the distressed man of letters Hunt!
I have elected to speak of Burke amongst the writers, although he
can claim a high place amongst the statesmen. His letters are always
valuable, although the price fetched for two exceptionally fine
specimens at the Haber Sale (New York, December 10, 1909) was
disappointing. A long letter, written in his twentieth year, brought
only £4 8s.; a splendid letter from Bath a short time before his death
was sold for £6 8s. The following letter from Edmund Burke to Mrs.
Montagu (one of many I have the good fortune to possess) has a
distinct vein of American interest:—
Westminster,
May 4 1776, Friday.
Dear Madam,—I was in hopes, that I might have sent you,
together with my acknowledgement for your kindness, the
only reward you desire for acts of friendship, an account
of the full effect of them. Mrs. James's letter was
undoubtedly what it ought to be on application from you.
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookultra.com