Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Ashby-Sterry') to 'my dear Worth'.

16mo, 1 p. Bifolium. Eight lines. Text clear and complete. On stained, aged paper. An uncommon autograph, written in a distinctive stylised hand in purple ink. Reluctantly announcing his inability to go on 'the Barge trip', which he had looked upon 'as the pleasantest excursion of the year, & alas & alas (not that a lass has any thing to do with my engagement) I shall be unable to be with you'. According to his obituary in The Times, Ashby-Sterry 'knew the Thames as intimately as he knew London, and his favourite recreations were rowing and sailing and detailed explorations of old and new London'.