Autograph Manuscript, Signed, of Herbert's Tribute to Thomas Ward
$7,500 · Offered by Biblio · No longer available
Signed
1854. HERBERT, Henry William. Autograph Manuscript, Signed, of Herbert's Tribute to Thomas Ward known as "Tom Draw". 7 pp. 12mo. The Cedars, Newark, NJ: Feb. 1, 1854. Preserved in a cloth folding case with chemise. Minor soiling to preliminary leaf, otherwise fine. Accompanied by a leaflet of the printed letter (the leaflet is inscribed - "Compliments of T. Harry Ward, Grandson"), a typewritten transcript, and the original envelope. With the bookplate of John M. Schiff. Van Winkle p. 63 (referring to the first printed version). Provenance: Harry Worcester Smith (his sale, 1931, lot 277); William Mitchell Van Winkle (sale, 1940, lot 341); Scribner's; John M. Schiff (sale, 1990). Immortalized by Herbert (writing as Frank Forester) in his sporting novels as "Tom Draw," Thomas Ward was Herbert's many-sided, rotund friend. The manuscript originally appeared in a Middletown newspaper and was reprinted as a small four-page leaflet (here supplied). In his touching tribute to his boon companion and fellow sportsman Herbert writes: "I observed in your columns... a notice of the death of `Mr. Thomas Ward, of Warwick, for many years a hotel keeper in that village' . and as a very old friend and admirer of that very remarkable person, whose reputation and innocent eccentricities have become known, far beyond the limits of your fair country . it had occuried to me that you might desire a few lines from my pen . Tom was, at that time, in his forty-third year; and though his weight was even
- Year: 1854
- Binding: unknown
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