LINLEY

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. All three items signed 'Linley Sambourne'. All three in good condition, lightly aged and worn, and all folded for postage. ONE: 10 April 1889. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Begins 'Dear Sir / Mr Furniss [Harry Furniss, Punch illustrator] has kindly written enclosed & I am sending a boy to you at / 5, Clarendon Place / Hyde Park'.

See the entries on Sambourne and Meredith in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded twice for postage. Addressed ‘To George Meredith Esquire / O.M.’ and signed ‘Linley Sambourne’ with the usual five underlinings. Begins: ‘Dear Mr Meredith, / I venture to write & let you know how very much it rejoices our Household that his majesty has confered [sic] on you the Order of Merit. I, amongst countless others have always felt the incompleteness of that most distinguished body with your name absent.

Printed in black on one side of a 19 x 29 cm piece of stiff card, with rounded corners. In fair condition, lightly-aged, with 4cm vertical closed tear at head. The memorial to a stern-faced Gladstone is depicted - a setting sun blazing behind it - between two mythical seated women, Justice on the right, and a hooded woman with a hand mirror on the left. In the background are the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. The card is made out in manuscript to 'Edward C Young' (with '186357' at foot), and the caption at the foot reads: 'This Memorial Card was issued to [ Edward C Young.

Sambourne (1844-1910) contributed illustrations to Punch for more than forty years. On good laid paper, dimensions roughly 22 inches by 17 1/2. With facsimile signature and date. Folded twice. Slightly discoloured and a little creased, but suitable for framing. Depicts Mr Punch, with his dog Toby, sitting atop a pile of the 'evolutions of the century' (including a bicycle and typewriter), and waving to 116 of the century's worthies, including Bismark, General Tom Thumb and the jockey Fred Archer, but without Karl Marx.