Previous image preload Next image preload
Back to catalog
Lot 70
image_0 image_1
Charles "Chinese" Gordon Signed bible quote before leaving for Sudan 1884
Charles "Chinese" Gordon Signed bible quote before leaving for Sudan 1884
image_0 image_1
Description:

Preparing to leave England for the Sudan, Chinese Gordon writes and signs a biblical quotation for his good friend Rev. Horace Waller, relating it to "the vast desert plains of Soudan..."

Autograph Quotation Signed "C.G. Gordon," one page, 4.5" x 5.75". [England, January 1884] Lightly soiled on verso at upper edge, no show-through. Fine condition.

Headed by Gordon "Ps. 83. 13." In full, "_O! God,' / _Make them like a wheel' / _as stubble before the' / _wind.' In the vast desert plains of Soudan, with a high wind, one notices balls of weeds matted together scouring over the plains, just like wheels." Signed at the conclusion at a later date, with a different pen and ink "C.W. Gordon." On verso, in manuscript, "This autograph belongs to the / Rev Horace Waller / Twywell / Northants." In "The Life of _Chinese' Gordon" by Charles H. Allan (London: Abraham Kingdon & Co., 1884), page 27, headed "Gordon's Present Journey to the Soudan." In part, "On the 16th of this present month the writer saw General Gordon enter the train at Charing Cross to start on his intended journey to the Congo via Brussels not more than three or four persons witnesses his departure _ one of these being his own and [David] Livingstone's old friend, the Rev. Horace Waller, who accompanied him to Dover. Two days afterwards Gordon again left Charing Cross, having been summoned from Brussels by a telegraphic order the very day he arrived there. In a few hours, he had made all his arrangements with the Government _ his own personal requirements appear to be almost nil _ and he left for Egypt and the Soudan by the Indian Mail ... Highgate, London, January 1884."

Gordon left Brussels immediately and once again crossed the English Channel to Dover and took the train back to London to make arrangements to return to the Sudan where he had served as Governor General from 1877-1880. Through the years, Gordon had hundreds of pages of Biblical quotes he had written from memory. Undoubtedly, he wrote the quote here offered on his return trip to Dover as he crossed the Channel, thinking of "the vast desert plains of Soudan, with a high wind," believing that the Lord would turn the enemy into "balls of weeds matted together soaring over the plains, just like wheels." Waller was in Dover and Gordon most likely gave him this quotation from Psalms which he signed before presenting it to his good friend.


Lytton Strachey in "Eminent Victorians" (London: Chatto & Windus, 1918) writes that at Pembroke, where [Gordon] was sent to work at the erection of fortifications, "those religious convictions, which never afterwards left him, first gained a hold upon his mind. Under the influence of his sister Augusta and of a _very religious captain of the name of Drew', he began to reflect upon his sins, look up texts, and hope for salvation. Though he had never been confirmed ... he took the sacrament every Sunday." From www.victorianweb.org, "Gordon was first posted to the Engineers depot at Brompton near Gillingham and then to Pembroke Dock in Wales, which were then being built by the Royal Engineers. It was here in 1853 that Gordon was converted to faith in Christ under the ministry of a fellow Engineer officer who became one of his closest friends ... In 1884, when the Mahdi, a Muslim fundamentalist leader, led a revolt in the Sudan against Anglo-Egyptian rule, the British Government needed someone to conduct an orderly withdrawal of British and Egyptian troops down the Nile. In England, everyone except the government saw Gordon, a Major General by this time, as the natural choice to go to the Sudan as Governor General..." The public clamor of "Gordon for the Sudan" forced the government to appoint him as Governor General. His orders were to conduct an orderly evacuation of the troops. Major General Gordon left London on January 18, 1884, and reached Khartoum on February 18, 1884. He began to organize an evacuation. About 2000 people, mostly women, children and the sick, had left by the time the Mahdi's forces began the siege of Khartoum on March 13th. After a ten-month siege, on January 26, 1885, the Mahdists finally broke into Khartoum and the entire garrison was killed, including Gordon, two days before his 52nd birthday.

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. Shipping and handling costs are competitive, we maintain discounted contracts with FedEx. If you have any questions, contact University Archives prior to bidding. After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 5 business days following receipt of full payment for item. We currently ship via FedEx and USPS to P.O. Boxes only. All items are insured. We ship from our offices in Westport, CT and may opt to use a third party shipper for very fragile or oversized items. Items requiring third party shipping will be denoted in the item description. Packages shipped internationally will have full value declared on shipping form. International buyers will be responsible for any customs fees incurred.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Westport, CT to the buyer's door. Please see Terms and Conditions of Sale.

January 28, 2016 10:30 AM EST
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 20% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000