[Sir David Wilkie, Scottish genre painter.] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'the Director Waagen' [Gustav Friedrich Waagen], arranging a visit to 'the house of the Duke of Wellington.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Wilkie was in a good position to assist Waagen, who was touring England making notes on significant art collections, for use in his ‘Kunstwerke und Künstler in England und Paris’ (3 vols, Berlin, 1837–39), which formed the basis for his influential ‘The Treasures of Art in Great Britain’ (translated by Lady Eastlake, 4 vols, London, 1854 and 1857). Wilkie had strong connections with Wellington. His 1822 painting ‘The Chelsea Pensioners reading the Waterloo Dispatch’ had been commissioned by the Duke, and was sold to him for the unheard-of sum of 1,200 guineas. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded. Reads: ‘Mr Wilkie presents his compts. to the Director Waagen, and as he finds the house of the Duke of Wellington, will be most conveniently seen at Eleven oclock, he will have the pleasure of calling upon the Director, somewhat earlier than proposed that is about 1/4 before eleven, on Tuesday morning.’