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Facsimiles Facsimiles are printed copies of original documents. Over the years many different techniques have been used, beginning with lithography in the early nineteenth century and progressing to very sophisticated photographic methods. It is often surprisingly difficult to distinguish a facsimile from the original, and it is therefore of great help to know that a particular facsimile exists. Given that facsimile reproductions are often particularly good and clear copies of original documents they may also prove useful for comparison purposes when trying to establish authenticity. The following list is not intended to be exhaustive, and is based on the facsimile letters and documents which we have accumulated over many years. We should welcome information about other facsimiles for inclusion in this list. The inclusion of a document in the list does not preclude the possibility of the original coming to light, but in our experience this is fairly unlikely. Some years ago, however, the original of the famous 'Vampire' letter of Byron came on to the market, and several originals of Churchill's notorious acknowledgements are known to exist.

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Albert, Prince consort	28 June 1919	ALS to 'Dear Sir William'
Alexandra, Queen	20 May 1910	On a black-edged card
Alexandra, Queen	24 January 1901
Alexandra, Queen	3 June 1916
Alexandra, Queen	August 1918
Argyll, Duke of	27 August 1715
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Baden Powell, Robert	17 June 1927
Baden Powell, Robert	August 1929
Baden Powell, Robert	October 1901
Baldwin, Stanley	undated	Appeal to voters
Baldwin, Stanley	[December 1938]	Thanks for generosity to refugees
Beatty, David, 1st Earl	21 November 1918	Re the surrender
Burns, Robert	2 July 1786	Deed providing for his daughter
Buxton, Thomas Fowell	20 January 1908
Byron, Lord	27 April 1819	The 'Vampire' letter
Byron, Lord	29 May 1823
Byron, Lord	23 August 1788	To Robert Anesley
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Carlyle, Thomas	17 June 1850	To Leigh Hunt
Carlyle, Thomas	6 May 1861
Carlyle, Thomas	16 July 1868
Carlyle, Thomas	5 June 1864
Cavendish, William	30 April 1831
Chamberlain, Neville	19 October 1938
Churchill, Clementine	'May 1947'	Thanks for help for the Russians
Churchill, Lord Randolph	19 May 1885
Churchill, Sir Winston	various	Many incomplete letters of thanks
Churchill, Sir Winston	September 1920	Printed certificate for hospital
Churchill, Sir Winston	Undated	Re Birley's portrait of Eisenhower
Churchill, Sir Winston	1902	A letter with a stamped signature
Churchill, Sir Winston		A 'thank-you' letter
Churchill, Sir Winston	22 January 1945	To Mrs Ivan Colvin O.B.E.
Churchill, Sir Winston	various	Mentions in Despatches, WWI date
Cobden, Richard	18 March 1857
Copley, John Singleton	20 November 1826
Copley, John Singleton	8 December 1825
Cromwell, Oliver	30 March 1646	Misdated by Cromwell, really 1647.
Cruikshank, George	16 June 1842
Cunningham, Allan	21 July 1841
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Dickens, Charles	10 January 1860	To the Rev. Stephen Roose Hughes
Dickens, Charles	9 May 1862
Dickens, Charles	?1-4 Dec 1845	To J H Stocqueler
Disraeli, Benjamim	19 January 1871	On black-edged paper
Disraeli, Benjamin	24 June 1874	On Black-edged paper
Disraeli, Benjamin	18 October 1852
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Eden, Sir Anthony	June 1955	Thanks for help with the election.
Edward VII	16 June 1864	With 'original' envelope
Edward VIII	6 May 1935	Encouraging games players
Edward VIII	16 August 1920	To the boys and girls of Australia
Edward VIII	undated	Thanks for contribution to Trust
Elizabeth II	various	Various grants of dignities
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Flaxman, John	24 December 1819
Freud, Sigmund	17 October 1937	To Stefan Zweig, in English.
Frith, W.P.	23 January 1868
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Garrick, David	4 September 1753
George V	Christmas 1914	Postcard to troops signed with Mary
George V	'1918'	Welcoming back prisoners of war
George V	August 1918	To 'Soldiers of the United States'
George V	29 June 1893
George V	'April 1918'	To 'Soldiers of the United States'
George V	17 October 1920	To Sir Charles Wakefield
George VI	undated	Christmas card with view of Windsor
George VI	various	Various grants of dignities
Gladstone, Herbert J	25 May 1885
Gladstone, W E	8 August 1868
Gladstone, W E	25 July 1889	With a letter of his wife
Gladstone, W E	30 June 1887
Gladstone, W E	15 October 1886
Grosvenor, Earl	30 July 1868
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Hanbury, Robert	9 March 1868
Hardy, Thomas Masterman	27 October 1805	Reporting on the Battle of Trafalgar
Heath, Sir Edward	February 1975	Thanks for message of support
Heath, Sir Edward	undated	Downing Street cards (black ink)
Henry, Duke of Gloucester	No date	Thanks for gift for King's Trust
Hindeburg, Paul von	28 April 1932
Hitler, Adolf	various	Many documents, especially war date
Hole, S Reynolds	31 May 1900
Hudson, James	18 August 1833
Hugo, Victor	20 August 1851	With letter of Charles Hugo
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Irving, Sir Henry	'May 1862'
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James II	17 November 1688	Confirming payment to Pepys
Jefferson, John	15 May 1843
Jenner, Edward	16 January 1807	About vaccination
Johnson, Samuel	4 March 1755	In Latin
Johnson, Samuel	5 March 1781
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Kitchener, Herbert	16 May 1915	Calling for 30,000 recruits
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Lamartine, Alphonse de	'fevrier 1857'
Lamartine, Alphonse de	4 January 1863
Law, Andrew Bonar	2 July 1914
Law, Andrew Bonar	11 January 1917
Liddell, H T	8 June 1826
Liddon, H P	17 May 1877
Lincoln, Abraham	20 March 1865
Lindbergh, Charles	23 November 1927	'The Playground and Recreation ...'
'Liszt, Franz' ?forgery	n.d.	To Chevalier Catrufo 'En ville'
Lloyd George, David	1 September 1919
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Major, John	undated	Downin Street cards (blue ink)
Mann, Thomas	11 Sept. 1946	'An die Leser des Aufbaus'
Marston, John	'Monday'	To Lord Kimbolton
Mary, Queen	'April 1924'	Thanks for help with dolls house
Mary, Queen	28 June 1893	Signed as 'May'
Maximilian I of Mexico	22 August 1864
Mendelssohn, Felix	18 November 1837	About Clara Novello, in English
Monteagle, Baron	16 November 1841
Montgomery, Field-marshal	various	Personal messages to the troops
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Napoleon I	5 floreal, An 4
Napoleon I	24 June 1790	ALS to the Abbé Raynat
Napoleon I	Various	Many letters to Josephine
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount	14 April 1777	To his brother, 1½ pages.
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount	29 January 1798	To Thomas Lloyd
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount	21 October 1803	To Horatia ('My Dear Child').
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount	[1794]	To Commodore Linzee
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount	8 October 1803	To Captain Ryves
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount	19 October 1805	The 'last' letter to Emma Hamilton.
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount	17 August 1805	To John Scott
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount	7 November 1800	To the Revd Mr Turner
Newman, John Henry	2 January 1884	To The Rev [Alexander] Whyte
Newton, Sir Isaac	2 March 1688/9	To John Covell in Cambridge
Nightingale, Florence	28 May 1900	'To all our Nurses'
Nightingale, Florence	6 May 1881	To the nurses at St Thomas's.
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Ouida (de la Ramée)	Undated	About dogs
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Palmerston, Lord	6 October 1846	To Forster
Palmerston, Lord	20 April 1857	With secretarial envelope
Palmerston, Lord	22 January 1861
Palmerston, Lord	20 January 1862
Pope, Alexander	29 August 1730
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Raglan, Fitzroy Somerset Lord	February 1849	Transmitting a medal.
Richmond, Duke of	15 January 1875
Roberts, Field Marshal	22 Sept. 1914	TLS re the National Service League
Rothschild, Lionel de	20 March 1857
Ruskin, John	20 March 1880
Russell, Lord John	18 October 1861
Russell, Lord John	12 January 1849
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Salisbury, Marquis of	7 January 1903
Schiller, Johann von	6 November 1780
Scott, George Gilbert	30 July 1875
Scott, Sir Walter	Undated	To Charles Tilt
Seward, Anna	17 July 1807	To A[rchibald] Constable
Shelley, Percy Bysshe	23 February 1822	To [James Henry] Leigh Hunt
Smith, Robert	31 May 1826	To Spicer (with wax seal)
Sterne, Laurence	27 July 1766
Stevenson, Robert Louis	[20 Feb 1888]	To Mrs Ehrlich (Letters, v6 p115)
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Tait, A C (Canterbury)	'June 1878'
Tait, A C (Canterbury)	August 1870
Thatcher, Margaret	'May 1979'	Thanks for election congratulations
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Victoria, Queen	25 June 1887
Victoria Queen	14 February 1896
Victoria Queen	28 March 1866	6 pages 8vo with envelope
Victoria Queen	16 March 1885	To Miss Gordon - thanks for bible
Victoria Queen	22 June 1887	To the Women of Great Britain
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Washington, George	14 April 1789	To John Langdon
Washington, George	29 January 1781	To Brigadier General [John] Glover.
Watts, George Frederic	25 June 1894
Wellington, Duke of	13 March 1846
Wellington, Duke of	Undated	About parliamentary petitions
Wellington, Duke of	Undated	Various 'form' letters
Wesley, John	8 July 1782	With address-leaf and cancellations
Wiseman, Nicholas	16 August 1856	With address-leaf and cancellations