[Catherine Hayes [Mrs W. Avery Bushnell], soprano.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘C Hayes Bushnell’), recommending to ‘Mrs. Hicks’ the selection of patterns to be had at furniture-makers Jackson & Graham. With her calling card.
See her entry in the Oxford DNB. LETTER: 3pp, 12mo. Thirty-one lines. Bifolium. In fair condition, with slight staining at foot of first leaf, and traces of glue from mount on blank reverse of second leaf. In an elongated and somewhat opaque hand. Begins: ‘My dear Mrs. Hicks / I was exceedingly sorry to hear that Mr. Hicks had met with an accident on the day you left.’ What follows is hard to decipher, until she writes ‘I have much pleasure in forwarding to you the address of Jackson & Graham. It is No. 35-36 Oxford St.’ She praises ‘the selection he has of patterns’. The conclusion is similarly indecipherable. CALLING CARD: Conventional copperplate calling card, with mourning border. Edges and reverse carrying traces of glue from mount. Centred: ‘Mrs. W. Avery Bushnell / née / Catherine Hayes.’ In bottom left-hand corner: 13, Westbourne Park, West.’