[ Herbert Henry Asquith, Liberal Prime Minister. ] Autograph Note Signed ('H. H. Asquith') to W. J. Fisher, agreeing to join a committee appealing for help for the family of Harold Frederic.

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'My dear Sir, | I shall be very happy to be one of the committee who are to appeal for help for the family of the late Harold Frederic.' The letter relates to a Victorian scandal. In 1884 Frederic (1856-1898) had come to England with his wife and five children as the London correspondent of the New York TImes. He set up a second household with Kate Lyon, with whom he had a further three children. Lyons was a Christian Scientist, and when Frederic suffered a stroke in 1898, she tried to cure him by faith healing. At the instigation of Mrs Frederic, Lyon was tried for manslaughter, but was acquitted.