#MB72
1885
The pamphlet, signatures and print are all in good to very good condition.
Pamphlet: Signed in type 'Edward Sullivan' (i.e. Sir Edward Robert Sullivan, 1826-1899). Octavo 4 pp. On creased, spotted and aged paper with closed tears and loss to extremities. Initial paragraph reads: 'Before the British Elector makes up his mind as to whom he will entrust the honour of his country at the General Election, it will be well for him to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" a plain, unvarnished history of the betrayal and death of one of the noblest heroes of this or any other age - GENERAL GORDON.' Headings: 'Why he was sent.', 'What he demanded', 'The hope that ended in despair', 'The end', 'Interest before duty' and 'Our duty and interest'. Very Rare as only one copy found in Worldcat.
Signatures: the two autographs are cut from letters, and laid down on part of an octavo leaf cut from an autograph album, which is captioned in a contemporary hand. Both aged, but in good condition. The autograph of Gordon's sister is on a slip 4 x 10.5 cm, and reads 'Believe me yours very truly - [signed] 'M A Gordon'. The autograph of his sister-in-law (the wife of his brother General Samuel Enderby Gordon, 1824-1883) is on a slip 4.5 x 7 cm, and reads 'Believe me Truly yours [signed] 'M. F. M. Gordon'.
Print: (From a Photograph by Adams & Scanlan. Southampton.) Maclure & Macdonald Liths. To the Queen, London. Lithograph: 57 x 44cm (22.5 x 17.5 inches) with various newspaper clippings mounted onto margins.
"Gordon withstood a siege of 317 days supported by two white officers with native troops wasted by famine and disease. Then, on 26 January 1885, a fall in the level of the Nile enabled the Mahdists to succeed in a final assault on Khartoum. Gordon was speared by dervishes in his palace, and his dissevered head was displayed in the Mahdists' camp. Wolseley's river steamers came in sight of Khartoum on 28 January, then withdrew. Gordon's body was never found"(Oxford DNB).
