BIB_ID
315285
Accession number
MA 3315.51
Creator
Doyle, Richard, 1824-1883.
Display Date
London, England, 1843 December 17.
Credit line
Purchased on the Fellows Fund with the special assistance of Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Page, 1974.
Description
1 item (3 pages, with address) : color illustrations ; 22.6 x 18.3 cm
Notes
Location of writing inferred from contents of the letter.
Date of writing from the letter.
Illustrated on p. 1 with a colored pen-and-ink drawing of Punch bursting through the page; illustrated on pp. 2-3 with a drawing of Doyle at his easel surrounded by several Punch figures, Christmas elves, and other amusing small characters.
Part of a large collection of letters from Richard Doyle (51 items), Henry Edward Doyle (25 items), and Charles Altamont Doyle (3 items) to their father, John Doyle. See collection-level record for more information.
High reserve.
Date of writing from the letter.
Illustrated on p. 1 with a colored pen-and-ink drawing of Punch bursting through the page; illustrated on pp. 2-3 with a drawing of Doyle at his easel surrounded by several Punch figures, Christmas elves, and other amusing small characters.
Part of a large collection of letters from Richard Doyle (51 items), Henry Edward Doyle (25 items), and Charles Altamont Doyle (3 items) to their father, John Doyle. See collection-level record for more information.
High reserve.
Provenance
Richard Doyle; Arthur Conan Doyle; Adrian Conan Doyle. Purchased from House of El Dieff, 1974.
Summary
Concerning his "Christmas things"; remarking that he has been so busy with "Punchification" and cartoons that the work he was doing for his father is as yet unfinished; asking "Now, don't you think it will be much better, instead of showing you in an unfinished state the little work I have done for you, to wait until after Christmas and get it into a more satisfactory condition? Of course you do!"; describing the allegorical scene he has drawn on pp. 2-3, noting that the demon Punch is perched upon the table in exultation, while Harlequin (indicative of Christmas) weeps over Doyle's unfinished work and characters in the background "show that it was not for want of paper"; remarking that "I think that the secret lies in the little man with the money bag."
Catalog link
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