Thompson's History of English Handwriting charts the development of the distinctive, and often very beautiful, English scripts, beginning with the introduction of half uncials by Irish monks in the seventh century. Although manuscripts from Rome and elsewhere on the Continent influenced English handwriting, it displayed unique characteristics which even the Norman Conquest did not completely obliterate. The basis of this book is a paper delivered to the Bibliographical Society in 1899 and printed in the Society's Transactions the following year. It has been revised by Gerrish Gray who has...

Mentioned in despatches at Bunker Hill, brother to the Duchess of Argyll and the Countess of Coventry, John Gunning occupied an enviable position in Georgian society, but in 1792 his whole life started to unravel. The Apology, published in 1792, gives a first-hand account of Gunning's many seductions (including apparently 2 duchesses, 14 countesses, 4 viscountesses and 7 baronesses) and purports to explain the so-called 'Gunning Mystery, ' the authorship of forged love letters between his daughter Elizabeth and the Marquess of Blandford. It also tells how the General, described by Lord Kenyon...