Art and Architecture

[Sir Francis Chantrey, sculptor, and his secretary Allan Cunningham, poet.] Manuscript Letter, written and signed by Cunningham on behalf of Chantrey, to William Tindal, regarding a monument to Colonel Page, with letter from Tindal to Mrs Page.

Author: 
Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (1781-1841), sculptor; his secretary Allan Cunningham (1784-1842), Scottish poet and author; William Tindal [Colonel Frederick Page (1769-1834), Royal Berkshire Militia]
Chantrey
Publication details: 
Cunningham (signing as Chantrey) to Tindal: 'Belgrave Place [London] 7 January 1836'. Tindal to Mrs Page, 'Temple 7 Jany 1835'.
£350.00
Chantrey

An excellent document, providing an invaluable view of the practicalities of commissioning and executing public monuments in the Georgian period. See Chantrey's entry in the Oxford DNB, and Cunningham's, which states: 'In 1814 he was engaged by Chantrey as superintendent of his establishment, and gave up writing for newspapers. He lived afterwards at 27 Lower Belgrave Place, Pimlico. He acted as Chantrey's secretary, conducted his correspondence, represented him during his absence, and occasionally offered artistic assistance. He became a favourite of Chantrey's sitters and visitors.

[Frederick Spencer Gore] Anonymous pencil drawing of him painting at an easel.

Author: 
Frederick Spencer Gore [(26 May 1878 – 27 March 1914) was a British painter of landscapes, music-hall scenes and interiors, usually with single figures.]
Frederick Spencer Gore
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£250.00
Frederick Spencer Gore

English Camden Town Group Painter (1878-1914). Dimensions seven inches by ten inches. Grubby, but in good condition. From the Mark Bonham Carter collection. Captioned 'Spencer Gore | Freddy', with an arrow pointing to impressionistic representation of figure, nine inches high, of the artist in a suit, with high-collared shirt, holding a palette in his left hand and with his right hand outstretched and painting onto a canvas. Around the figure dabs of watercolour and a representation of a foot. Crude drawing of seascape on reverse. Together with scrap of paper reading 'MR.

[Sir John Gilbert, RA, painter and illustrator.] Autograph Letter Signed to the composer and antiquary Doyne Courtenay Bell, providing information regarding a painting of 'the Queen holding a drawing Room at St James's Palace'.

Author: 
Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897), RA, painter and illustrator [Doyne Courtenay Bell (c.1830-1888), court official, omposer and antiquary]
Sir John Gilbert
Publication details: 
'Blackheath 4th April' [no year].
£85.00
Sir John Gilbert

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. A protege of Prince Albert, Bell worked for the Privy Purse from the time of the Great Exhibition, and served as Permanent Secretary to the Keeper of the Privy Purse from 1876 to his death. Signed ‘John Gilbert’ and addressed to ‘Doyne C. Bell Esquire / &c &c.’ 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Sir, / I remember the small picture painted in 1851. H M The Queen holding a drawing Room at St James’s Palace. / I did not intend to paint a larger picture and never did’. See Image.

[W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie], distinguished English maritime painter.] Autograph Note Signed to Douglas A. Wenslow, supplying an autograph.

Author: 
W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie] (1851-1931), distinguished English maritime painter
Publication details: 
26 July 1899. On letterhead of Hoo Lodge, Hoo Saint Werburgh, Nr. Rochester.
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo, on the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition. Folded once for postage. Addressed to 'Douglas A. Wenslow Esq'. Reads: 'Dear Sir / Many thanks for your kind letter. / Here is the Autograph / yours truly / W L Wyllie'.

[W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie], distinguished English maritime painter.] Autograph Card Signed to 'Miss Swan' (daughter of artist John Macallan Swan) regarding 'the copy of Cape St Vincent' and a roll that is unsuitable for a panorama.

Author: 
W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie] (1851-1931), distinguished English maritime painter [John Macallan Swan (1847-1910), RA, painter and sculptor]
Publication details: 
24 March 1931. Letterhead: 'From / W. L. Wyllie, / Tower House, Portsmouth / Tel. 2598.'
£45.00

See his entry, and that of Swan, in the Oxford DNB. From the Swan papers. On both sides of an 11.5 x 9 cm card. In good condition, lightly aged, and with faint ink line at foot. Signed 'W L Wyllie'. Begins: 'Dear Miss Swan / Very many thanks for sending me the copy of Cape St Vincent. It is quite fine I will try if I cannot steal a bit for my big picture.' He turns to a 'roll' which is 'not long enough to make a panorama', but which he hopes to be able to 'drive round and look at' when the weather is warmer.

[Frank Spenlove-Spenlove [John Francis Spenlove-Spenlove], Scottish landscape and figure painter.] Autograph Letter Signed, as principal of ‘ “The Yellow Door” school of modern art’, to ‘Miss Lalonde’, regarding a post card of one of his paintings.

Author: 
Frank Spenlove-Spenlove [John Francis Spenlove-Spenlove] (1864-1933), Scottish landscape and figure painter, founder and principal of ‘The Yellow Door’ school of art in Beckenham, Kent
Frank Spenlove-Spenlove
Publication details: 
‘The Corner House / 69. Addison Rd. W. / 14.12.10’ [14 December 1910], on his letterhead as principal of ‘ “The Yellow Door” School of Modern Art, Beckenham.
£60.00
Frank Spenlove-Spenlove

He styles himslef on the letterhead as ‘Principal - Mr. Frank Spenlove-Spenlove / R.I. R.O.I. R.B.A. R.C.A. R.B.C. F.R.C.S. M.J.S. F.R.S.A.’ Large bold stylized signature. 1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Dear Miss Lalonde / It gives me pleasure to know you appreciate the picture, & I have put my name to your post card as you desire. I only wish the reproduction was more satisfactory! / Yours Sincerely. / Frank . Spenlove . Spenlove’. See Image.

[Sir E. A. Waterlow [Sir Ernest Albert Waterlow], RA, English artist.] Autograph Letter Signed, responding to congratulations on his election to the Royal Academy from ‘Mr. Haynes King’, with two signed reproductions of his paintings.

Author: 
Sir E. A. Waterlow [Sir Ernest Albert Waterlow] (1850-1919), English artist [The Royal Academy of Arts, London]
Sir E. A. Waterlow
Publication details: 
Letter of 22 January 1903; on letterhead of 1 Maresfield Gardens, Fitzjohns Avenue, N.W. [London].
£220.00
Sir E. A. Waterlow

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The letter is 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight discoloration to margin at head and light rust spot. Reads: ‘Dear Mr. Haynes King, / It was extremely kind of you to write & congratulate me on my election as R.A. & I appreciate the attention very much.

[Birket Foster, artist, and Edmund Evans, engraver.] Proofs of three engravings by Evans from drawings by Birket Foster, which appeared in Maria Webb, ‘The Fells of Swarthmoor Hall’.

Author: 
Birket Foster [Myles Birket Foster] (1825-1899), Northumberland painter and illustrator; Edmund Evans (1826-1905), engraver
Birket Foster
Publication details: 
From book published in 1865 in London by Alfred W. Bennet, 5 Bishopsgate Without.
£250.00
Birket Foster

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Webb’s book contained four engravings from drawings by Birket Foster, the last (‘The Tomb of Thomas Lawson’) of which is absent. The first has ‘E. EVANS Sc.’ engraved into the plate; the other two, evidently the work of the same hand, are unattributed. Three proof engravings, on wove paper roughly 20.5 x 13.5. All in good condition, very lightly spotted and worn, and certainly suitable for display. ONE (the frontispiece): Captioned, ‘SWARTHMOOR HALL.

[Alfred Parsons, landscape painter and garden designer.] Original pen and ink drawing of a clump of daffodils growing in front of mass of other foliage. Monogram signature on the drawing ‘AP.’, and with second full signature and date on mount.

Author: 
Alfred Parsons [Alfred William Parsons] (1847-1920), landscape painter, illustrator, and garden designer
Alfred Parsons
Publication details: 
‘Alfred Parsons. / Loseley Park. May 26th. 1893.’
£1,000.00
Alfred Parsons

An attractive and highly-finished production, in black ink, on 17.5 x 20.5 cm piece of wove paper, glued on the reverse at the four corners to a leaf extracted from the autograph album of the novelist George Meredith and his daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. Parsons' monogram signature 'AP. in its two-bordered square is at the bottom left of the drawing, and there is an additional autograph signature with date to the right of the drawing on the leaf of the Meredith album: 'Alfred Parsons.

[Hamo Thornycroft [Sir William Hamo Thornycroft, RA.], sculptor of the statue of Oliver Cromwell outside Parliament.] Autograph Letter Signed to ?Mrs Allingham? [Helen Allingham, watercolourist and illustrator], regarding ?cards for RA?.

Author: 
Sir Hamo Thornycroft [Sir William Hamo Thornycroft, RA] (1850-1925), sculptor of statue of Oliver Cromwell outside Parliament [Helen Allingham (n?e Paterson; 1848-1926); Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo]
Hamo Thornycroft
Publication details: 
?22 Ja? [no year]. On letterhead of ?One-Oak, / 10, Redington Road, / Hampstead. N.W.? [London]
£120.00
Hamo Thornycroft

See the entries on Thornycroft and Allingham in the Oxford DNB. The letterhead is also of interest: 'One-Oak' is a notable example of the work of the Arts and Crafts architect A. H. Mackmurdo. 1p, 12mo. On grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse. Folded twice. Initial ?H? of signature slightly smidged. Reads: ?Dear Mrs Allingham / I have only [?] got your note. / I enclose two cards for RA. Hoping to see you there / Yours very sincerely / Hamo Thornycroft?. See Image.

[John Nash, prominent English painter.] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
John Nash [John Northcote Nash, RA] (1893-1977), prominent English painter
John Nash
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£35.00
John Nash

A good example of Nash’s attractive and distinctive signature ‘John Nash’ on a very light dotted line, a piece of paper cut into an oval roughly 5 cm wide and 2.5 cm high. In good condition, lightly aged, laid down on an irregularly-shaped piece of card. See Image

[‘it rejoices our Household’: Linley Sambourne, ‘First Cartoonist’ with Punch magazine.] Autograph Letter Signed, congratulating George Meredith on receiving the Order of Merit.

Author: 
Linley Sambourne [Edward Linley Sambourne (1844-1910)], ‘First Cartoonist’ with Punch magazine, artist and illustrator [George Meredith, Victorian novelist and poet.]
Sambourne
Publication details: 
1 July 1905; on embossed letterhead of 18 Stafford Terrace, Kensington N.W. [London]
£120.00
Sambourne

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.

[Solomon J. Solomon, RA, English artist.] Signed Autograph Inscription for an autograph hunter.

Author: 
Solomon J. Solomon [Solomon Joseph Solomon] (1860-1927), English painter of Jewish extraction, Fellow of the Royal Society, President of the Royal Society of British Artists
Solomon
Publication details: 
14 October 1894; on letterhead of 60 Finchley Road, N.W. [London]
£45.00
Solomon

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 9.5 x 10 cm piece of paper, laid down on 11 cm square piece of card. In good condition, lightly browned and aged. The letterhead is printed in red. The inscription reads ?Faithfully yours / Solomon J Solomon?.

[Henry Jutsum, landscape painter.] Autograph Note Signed, directing ?Mr. Vaughan? [Thomas Vaughan, Clerk of the Royal Academy] to ?deliver to Mr Green? his ?picture not received for the Exhibition?.

Author: 
Henry Jutsum (1816-1869), landscape painter [Thomas Vaughan, Clerk of the Royal Academy, London]
Jutsum
Publication details: 
?174 Edgware Road / Maida Hill / 27 April 1832?. [London]
£80.00
Jutsum

An uncommon signature. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of 18 x 10 cm piece of paper. Discoloured and worn, with spike hole. Good firm signature, full of character. Reads: ?174 Edgware Road / Maida Hill / 27 April 1832 / Please deliver to Mr Green or [aide? drdee?order?] my picture not received for the Exhibition / Henry Jutsum / To / Mr. Vaughan / Royal Academy?. See Image.

[Alfred Edward Chalon, Portrait Painter in Water Colour to Queen Victoria, and John James Chalon, Swiss-born British artists, both Royal Academicians.] Autograph Signatures to part of an application for assistance from the daughter of Henry Bone, RA.

Author: 
Alfred Edward Chalon (1780-1860), Portrait Painter in Water Colour to Queen Victoria, and John James Chalon (1778-1854), Swiss-born British artists, both Royal Academicians [Henry Bone (1755-1834)]
Chalon
Publication details: 
8 November 1849.
£75.00
Chalon

See their separate entries in the Oxford DNB. On 12.5 x 9.5 cm piece of light-grey paper, cut from. The large signatures are written one on top of the other on one side of the paper, with the only other writing the date at the head: ‘Alfd. Edwd. Chalon / Jno. Jas Chalon’. On the reverse is the beginning of an application to the Artists’ General Benevolent Institution: ‘Gentlemen, Your Petitioner Elizth. Debh. Bone, only Daughter of the late Mr Bone R.A.

[Arts and Crafts architecture in the Potteries, 1908.] Blueprint of plans and elevations by the architect William Ford Slater for ‘3 HOUSES HIGH LANE BURSLEM / FOR MR: HARRY H. ROSE / 1/8th Scale’, for construction by John Henry Broadhurst and Son.

Author: 
[Arts and Crafts achitecture in the Potteries.] William Ford Slater (1866-1951), architect and surveyor; J. H. Broadhurst and Son [John Henry Broadhurst], builder of Burslem, Staffordshire.
Burslem
Publication details: 
J. H. Broadhurst & Son, Burlem, Staffordshire. 27 [June?] 1908. ‘John Henry Broadhurst / [June?] 27/08 / p pro J H Broadhurst & Son’.
£280.00
Burslem

In 1907 the ‘Builder’ describes ‘Mr. W. F. Slater, Overhouse-chambers, Burslem’ as a ‘Surveyor’, and in 1909 the ‘Electrical Review’ refers to him as an ‘architect’ at the same address. Five years later ‘Building News’ reports that Slater is ‘architect to the education committee’. In 1921 (‘The Surveyor’) he is the ‘surveyor, Urban Council Offices, Wolstanton, Staffs’, and in 1926 (‘Public Works Weekly Surveyor’) he is ‘architect to the corporation’.

[Kathleen Epstein and Jacob Epstein, sculptor] Autograph Letter Signed Kathleen & Epstein, To 'Sheridan', text in Kathleen's hand, signed by both. See image.

Author: 
Kathleen Epstein and Jacob Epstein, sculptor.
Epstein
Publication details: 
[Address embossed in red] 18 Hyde Park Gate, Kensington, SW7. Knightsbridge 7968. 7 May 1957.
£150.00
Epstein

Two pages, 8vo, good condition. Text: Thank you for your kind thought in reserving seats for us at your wedding. I shall certainly be there & and there is a chance (but I'm afraid a very slight one) that Epstein will down tools just for that one morning but the compulsion to work every [underlined] morning is very strong. Perhaps I can persuade him to declare a one day strike on June 1st. | It sounds such an auspicious date. I do hope it will prove a very happy one. | With best wishes from us both | Kathleen & Epstein.

[James Abbott McNeill Whistler, painter] Autograph Card Signed J McN.Whistler to Monsieur Francis Howard, mainly asking for a reply to his enquiry referring to a distinguished sculptor

Author: 
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834 – 1903), American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker.
Whistler
Whistler2
Publication details: 
110 Rue du Bac, Paris, postmark undeciphered [1899?].
£800.00
Whistler
Whistler2

Postcard (Carte Postale), 14 x 9cm, shade of green, somewhat grubby and crumpled, smudged. See Images. Text: I sent you a letter some weeks ago - making a proposal with reference to a distinguished Sculptor here [Auguste Rodin perhaps]. Did my letter reach you? !! I regret that I shall not be able to be present at the meeting of 7th - I also wrote as you requested to Gilbert, R.A. | Very faitfully yours | J McN. Whistler. The card is addressed to Monsieur Francis Howard, The Exhibition of International Art, Prince's Skating [Club?] Knitsbridge [sic] S.W. London || Angleterre. See Images.

[John Ruskin, prominent art critic, etc.] Autograph Note Signed J Ruskin to My dear Con (presumably one of his circle called Constance) wishing her (conversationally) a happy Christmas and anicipoating a visit.

Author: 
John Ruskin (1819-1900), prominent Victorian art critic, author, artist and thinker
Ruskin
Publication details: 
Xmas day 63
£650.00
Ruskin

One page, 12mo, good condition, laid down on part of an album page (see note below). Text: My dear Con, | Many and many a Happy Christmas to you- & to all who love you - that's a wide wish I know. | Now - when & how do you & mama want me to come to yoy. I will be at your [underlined] orders, (provided they are peremptory-) any day after New Years day. | Thank mama for her kind note. | Ever affectionately Your | J Ruskin. Note: Item detached from Meredith family album containing letters from distinguished contemporaries such as Henry James, Thomas Hardy, Clemenceau, etc etc.

[John Singer Sargent, American expatriate artist] Autograph Note Signed John S Sargent to a Mrs Sturgis, declining an invitation

Author: 
John Singer Sargent, (1856 – 1925), American expatriate artist.
Sargent
Publication details: 
[Printed address] 33 Tite Street, Chelsea, S.W., No Date.
£450.00
Sargent

One page, 12mo, bifolium, second leaf laid down on part of an Album page, good condition. A scrawl. See Image. Text: I regret [so much?] not being able to accept your invitation - I have already booked myself elsewhere for that Sunday. | With best regards | Yoiurs sincerely | John S. Sargent. Note: Sargent's letter to a Mrs Sturgis has been extracted from an Album which mainly contains letters from distinguished writers (Hardy, George Eliot, Henry James, etc) to fellow author, George Meredith, or his daughter.

[Kate Greenaway, artist] Substantial Autograph Letter Signed Katie to My dearest Joanie [Joan Ponsonby?] . She is writing as if to a child.

Author: 
Kate Greenaway [Catherine Greenaway (1846 – 1901), Victorian artist and writer.]
Greenaway
Publication details: 
[Embossed address] 39, Frognal, Hampstead, N.W., 5 June 1897. Note above address from Kate Greenaway.
£850.00
Greenaway

Three pages, 12mo, bifolium, good condition. Second leaf laid down on part of a album page. See Image of pp.2 & 3. Text: You write to me and I dont [sic] answer. but I know you hear of me From [sic] his letters - which I just manage to send though I fear . [sic] they most often be very dull. | Are you coming up For the Jubilee - its all Jubilee - I hope it is going to be Fine [sic] it would bve such a great disappointment if it was not. | I have been awayFor [sic] the last three Sundays but it seems to take a lot of time somehow . We are of course a long way off the station here.

[John Ruskin.] Carte de visite by Elliott & Fry, London, with facsimile signature.

Author: 
John Ruskin, pre-eminent Victorian art critic; Elliott & Fry, nineteenth-century London photographers noted for their cartes de visite
Ruskin
Publication details: 
1867 or 1869. Elliott & Fry, 55, Baker Street, Portman Square, London, W.
£150.00
Ruskin

Rather long for a carte de visite: 6 x 9 cm albumen print laid down on 6.5 x 10.5 cm card. In fair condition, lightly discoloured and worn. On the card beneath the photograph is a facsimile of Ruskin’s signature (‘John Ruskin’) and ‘ELLIOTT & FRY Copyright. 55. BAKER ST.’ Printed on the reverse is the royal crest and the firm’s address. A copy of the present item was offered by Sotheby’s in 2021, dated to 1867, with the claim that it was ‘signed on the mount’. That claim is erroneous: the signature to that copy is identical with the present lithographed one.

[David Low, English cartoonist, born in New Zealand.] Printed christmas card ‘from Mr. and Mrs. David Low’, illustrated with a cartoon by him of a dog caught ripping up a christmas card.

Author: 
David Low [Sir David Alexander Cecil Low] (1891-1963), English political cartoonist, born in New Zealand
Low
Publication details: 
No date. ‘25, Helenslea Avenue, / N. W. 11. [London]’
£80.00
Low

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is a nice piece of printed ephemera relating to the man described in his Guardian obituary as ‘the dominant cartoonist of the western world’. In 1937 Goebbels had told Lord Halifax that Low’s cartoons were harming Anglo-German relations, and after the war it was revealed that his name was in the ‘black book’ of individuals to be ‘liquidated’ on German conquest of Britain. In good condition, lightly aged.Small 4to bifolium printed in brown ink on thick wove paper.

[Donald Maxwell; Inscribed to the Dean of Rochester; drawing added by Maxwell] A Painter in Palestine : Being an Impromptu Pilgrimage through the Holy Land with Bible and Sketch-Book / by Donald Maxwell ; with a Foreword by the Dean of Rochester

Author: 
Donald Maxwell
Askelon
Publication details: 
London; John Lane: The Bodley Head, 1921.
£320.00
Askelon

[xxii.164.[4 list of other works by author]. With illustrations, 10 plates and 36 Line Sketches, Maps and Plans. Condition mainly good but ink stain and some light rucking on cover. WITH (on a front free ep); original drawing by Maxwell of The Streets of Askelon with inscription to the Dean Of Rochester, To the Dean of Rochester | A little memento of Palestine with all good wishes from the painter, | Rochester May 1921. SEE IMAGE.

[Rudolf Bosselt, German Art Nouveau sculptor.] Two Autograph Letters Signed, in German, one with envelope, all three with device of the Darmstädter Künstler-Kolonie, one addressed to ‘Banquier Ludwig Schweizer’ of Stuttgart.

Author: 
Rudolf Bosselt (1871-1938), German Art Nouveau sculptor who taught at the Dusseldorf art school from 1904, a founder of the Darmstadt artists' colony (Darmstädter Künstler-Kolonie) [Ludwig Schweizer]
Bosselt
Bosselt 2
Publication details: 
7 May and 21 October 1901; both from Darmstadt (the first from 'Herrengarten') and each on the letterhead of the Darmstädter Künstler-Kolonie. The second letter with envelope addressed to Schweizer. All three items with the stylized device of the DKK
£180.00
Bosselt
Bosselt 2

Bosselt was a student of Joseph Kowarzik at the Städel Institute in Frankfurt. He studied at the Académie Julian in Paris, then assisted in founding the Darmstadt artists’ colony. From 1904 he taught at the art school at Dusseldorf. He received an honourable mention at the 1898 Salon des Artistes Français in Paris, and his work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics. These two letters are neatly and closely written, and both signed ‘Rudolf Bosselt’. Each letter is 1p, 4to. The first letter is 18 lines long, the second 15 lines long.

[Charles A. Buckler, architect] Substantial Autograph Letter Signed Charles A. Buckler to Frederick [Watson] on a design for the Bassingham Doorway (oak doors, etc.). See Note below.

Author: 
Charles A. Buckler [Charles Alban Buckler (1825–1905), author, topographer, architect, artist and officer of arms].
Publication details: 
Oxford, 9 Sept. 1857. Two Letters.
£150.00

Four pages, 12mo, bifolium. I am delighted to hear from you that the Bassingham Doorway is to be preserved - | I lose no time in sending a design for the oak doors - I think plainly moulded framing & ridged panels will best suit the age - It looks plain in outline - but if of handsome English oak, will look beautiful in execution.

[Ernest Griset, illustrator.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'J. Swain Esqre.'

Author: 
Ernest Griset [Ernest Henry Griset] (1844-1907), French-born illustrator who settled in London, best-known for his whimsical and fantastic designs
Griset
Publication details: 
1 Victoria Gardens, Ladbroke Road, Notting Hill Gate, W [London]. 29 October 1879.
£120.00
Griset

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of mounting on the blank reverse. The letter reads: 'I shall be happy to execute your orders, and shall be obliged if you kindly forward me the blocks and Copy, with your directions upon what style you wish these drawings to be done: to my address as above.'

[Ruth Mercier, nineteenth-century Franco-Swiss artist.] Autograph Note Signed (in her name and on behalf of Rozalia de Jackowska), in French, to ‘Monsieur et Madam Earle’. Incorporating an original ink drawing by her of a walking stick

Author: 
Ruth Mercier (fl.1880-1915), nineteenth-century Franco-Swiss landscape artist who painted Venice [her friend Rozalia de Jackowska]
Mercier
Publication details: 
25 December 1889.
£220.00
Mercier

1p, 16. On the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium of grey paper, with simple drawing in the same ink as the text of a straight plain walking stick stuck in the ground and running up the left-hand margin, with the handle hooked to the right at the top with the dating to its right. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ‘le 25 Decembre 89.

[J.L. Roget, artist, illustrator; Roget's 'Thesaurus'] A Collection of Printed and Manuscript items (incl. sketches & drawings) from the Roget Family Archive.

Author: 
J.L. Roget [John Lewis Roget. artist, ilustrator, son of P.M. Roget (the Thesaurus which he later edited)]
roget1
roget2
Publication details: 
1840-1883, some undated.
£8,000.00
roget1
roget2

John Lewis Roget (1828-1908) was the son of Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869), the celebrated compiler of 'Roget's Thesaurus' (which work he edited after his father's death). He was called to the bar in 1853, and the inheritance he received on his father's death enabled him to retire in 1871. A blue plaque erected to his memory in the town of Deal, where he spent the latter part of his life, describes him as 'Thesaurus compiler, Artist & Art Historian'.

[John Pye, line engraver.] Autograph Letter Signed, offering the artist William Carpenter his vote ‘at the forthcoming election for Sec[re]t[ar]y of the Artists’ Annuity Fund'.

Author: 
John Pye (1782-1874), line engraver, praised by Turner, promoter of professional associations and co-operative movements [William Carpenter (1818-1899), painter; Artists’ Annuity Fund, London]
Pye
Publication details: 
21 June 1839. 42 Cirencester Place, Fitzroy Square. [London]
£180.00
Pye

Pye was an active figure in nineteenth-century British art. According to his entry in the Oxford DNB he was the engravers’ ‘best spokesman’, hoping ‘to raise the fortunes, status, and public profile of engravers by means of professional association and co-operation’. He was the author of a number of works, including 'Patronage of British Art' (1845). His collection of prints after Turner was acquired by the British Museum in 1869, and the proofs of Turner's ‘Liber Studiorum’ followed in 1870. His notebooks are in British Library.

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