RICHARD III (1452-1485), king of England. Letter signed (with his monogram, 'R.R.') to the justices of the peace in Warwickshire, Westminster, 22 February n.y. [1484 or 1485], informing them that 'grevous complaint hath be [sic] made unto us on the behalve of oure pooer Subgiet Robert Dalby of an Iniurie surmised to be done unto him by oone Robert Worsley of Chepyngton in wrongfully w[i]t[h]holding frome him the Manoire of Brokhampton', requesting therefore, 'trusting in yo[u]r Wisdomes lernyng and indifferency [i.e. impartiality] if it be as is surmised that ye se[e] oure said Subgiet put in the peasible possession of the said Manoire', in English, on vellum, 10 lines on one membrane, 212 x 293mm, integral address panel, seal slits, remnant of seal on verso (minor wear and losses to folds, small tape repairs on verso, trimmed at lower margin obscuring a countersignature), window-mounted. Provenance: the document presumably passed to John Peyto-Verney, 16th Baron Willoughby de Broke, when he bought the manor of Brookhampton in 1795; an annotation to the upper margin records its presentation to William Hamper by Henry Peyto-Verney, the 16th Baron on 11 November 1822; purchased by John F. Reed at Godspeed's Book Shop Inc., 16 May 1960, $850; to present owner. A RARE ROYAL SIGNATURE. According to our records, no document with a signature of Richard III as king has been offered at auction for at least the last forty years.