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.
We have now started to compile the catalogue, and will gradually expand it as time permits.
Alexandra, Queen 24 January 1901
Alexandra, Queen 3 June 1916
Alexandra, Queen August 1918
Alexandra, Queen 20 May 1910 On a black-edged card
Argyll, Duke of 27 August 1715
Baden Powell, Robert October 1901
Baden Powell, Robert 17 June 1927
Baden Powell, Robert August 1929
Baldwin, Stanley undated Appeal to voters
Baldwin, Stanley [December 1938] Thanks for generosity to refugees
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
Carlyle, Thomas 6 May 1861
Carlyle, Thomas 16 July 1868
Carlyle, Thomas 5 June 1864
Carlyle, Thomas 17 June 1850 To Leigh Hunt
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 1902 A letter with a stamped signature
Churchill, Sir Winston A 'thank-you' letter
Churchill, Sir Winston various Many incomplete letters of thanks
Churchill, Sir Winston September 1920 Printed certificate for hospital
Churchill, Sir Winston various Mentions in Despatches, WWI date
Cobden, Richard 18 March 1857
Copley, John Singleton 8 December 1825
Copley, John Singleton 20 November 1826
Cruikshank, George 16 June 1842
Cunningham, Allan 21 July 1841
Dickens, Charles ?1-4 Dec 1845 To J H Stocqueler
Dickens, Charles 10 January 1860 To the Rev. Stephen Roose Hughes
Dickens, Charles 9 May 1862
Disraeli, Benjamin 24 June 1874 On Black-edged paper
Disraeli, Benjamin 18 October 1852
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 undated Thanks for contribution to Trust
Elizabeth II various Various grants of dignities
Flaxman, John 24 December 1819
Frith, W.P. 23 January 1868
Garrick, David 4 September 1753
George V '1918' Welcoming back prisoners of war
George V 29 June 1893
George V Christmas 1914 Postcard to troops signed with Mary
George V August 1918 To 'Soldiers of the United States'
George VI various Various grants of dignities
George VI undated Christmas card with view of Windsor
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
Hanbury, Robert 9 March 1868
Hardy, Thomas Masterman 27 October 1805 Reporting on the Battle of Trafalgar
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, Adolfh 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
Irving, Sir Henry 'May 1862'
James II 17 November 1688 Confirming payment to Pepys
Jefferson, John 15 May 1843
Edward Jenner 16 January 1807 About vaccination
Johnson, Samuel 5 March 1781
Johnson, Samuel 4 March 1755 In Latin
Lamartine, Alphonse de 4 January 1863
Lamartine, Alphonse de 'fevrier 1857'
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
Lloyd George, David 1 September 1919
Major, John undated Downing Street cards (blud ink)
Marston, John 'Monday' To Lord Kimbolton
Mary, Queen 'April 1924' Thanks for help with dolls house
Mary, Queen April 1924 Thanks for help with Doll's House
Mary, Queen 28 June 1893 Signed as 'May'
Mendelssohn, Felix 18 November 1837 About Clara Novello, in English
Monteagle, Baron 16 November 1841
Montgomery, Field-marshal various Personal messages to the troops
Napoleon I 24 June 1790 ALS to the Abbé Raynat
Napoleon I 5 floreal, An 4
Napoleon I Various Many letters to Josephine
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount 8 October 1803 To Captain Ryves
Nelson, Horatio 21 October 1803 To Horatia ('My Dear Child').
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount 19 October 1805 The 'last' letter to Emma Hamilton.
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount 29 January 1798 To Thomas Lloyd
Nelson, Horatio, Viscount [1794] To Commodore Linzee
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 6 May 1881 To the nurses at St Thomas's.
Nightingale, Florence 28 May 1900 'To all our Nurses'
Ouida (de la Ramée) Undated About dogs
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
Richmond, Duke of 15 January 1875
Rothschild, Lionel de 20 March 1857
Ruskin, John 20 March 1880
Russell, Lord John 18 October 1861
Russell, Lord John 12 January 1849
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)
Tait, A C (Canterbury) August 1870
Tait, A C (Canterbury) 'June 1878'
Thatcher, Margaret 'May 1979' Thanks for election congratulations
Victoria, Queen 25 June 1887
Victoria Queen 22 June 1887 To the Women of Great Britain
Victoria Queen 16 March 1885 To Miss Gordon - thanks for bible
Victoria Queen 14 February 1896
Victoria Queen 28 March 1866 6 pages 8vo with envlope
Washington, George 14 April 1789 To John Langdon
Watts, George Frederic 25 June 1894
Wellington, Duke of Undated Various 'form' letters
Wellington, Duke of Undated About parliamentary petitions
Wellington, Duke of 13 March 1846
Wiseman, Nicholas 16 August 1856 With address-leaf and cancellations