Three Autograph Letters, signed, one with a drawing, to Rev. E.F. Strickland
- 1 vols. 8vo
- New York , 1884
New York, 1884. 1 vols. 8vo. Fine. Worth, Thomas. 1 vols. 8vo. One letter dated September 15, 1884 forwards “a couple of sketches which are not exactly what I would like Mrs. Strickland to have as a specimen of my work” but hopes to send something more suitable later. On April 21, 1891 he reports that two men asked about have died, but that a third can be found at “Life” magazine; he hopes “to send portrait soon.”
The third letter, dated December 1, 1884, is a particular delight. At the head of the page Worth has pasted a clipping from the Chicago Times. “'How to Make $500 a Year with Twelve Hens' is the title of a book recently published. The author is probably no less a person than that distinguished chicken fancier, Rutherford B. Hayes.” Below this Worth has drawn in pencil and ink a hen, in bonnet and holding a furled umbrella, who looks up at the Chicago dispatch and says, “Bless me! Did you ever?”. The gist of the letter is the artist's request “to enquire if the above book is published in Chicago & what price it can be had for, and I will forward the amount & ask you to have it sent to me...My home is on Staten Island where I amuse myself in the interval of grinding out comic illustrations by rearing & watching the motherly hen and the pompous rooster...”
Thomas Worth (1834- 1917), “Uncle Tommy” as he was known to all his acquaintances and friends, sold his first comic sketch to Nathaniel Currier in 1855; he was to become one of the most popular of Currier & Ives's artists. He specialized in comic and caricature work--one of his “Darktown Comics” lithographs sold 73,000 copies--but also did racing and sporting scenes, as well as other subjects. In addition, he illustrated Dickens's Old Curiosity Shop, and contributed to "Judge” and other periodicals. He was a careful craftsman, often revising his work until he had achieved the best possible effect, and was noted for his enormous personal charm. v. Peters, Currier & Ives, I, p. 70 et seq
The third letter, dated December 1, 1884, is a particular delight. At the head of the page Worth has pasted a clipping from the Chicago Times. “'How to Make $500 a Year with Twelve Hens' is the title of a book recently published. The author is probably no less a person than that distinguished chicken fancier, Rutherford B. Hayes.” Below this Worth has drawn in pencil and ink a hen, in bonnet and holding a furled umbrella, who looks up at the Chicago dispatch and says, “Bless me! Did you ever?”. The gist of the letter is the artist's request “to enquire if the above book is published in Chicago & what price it can be had for, and I will forward the amount & ask you to have it sent to me...My home is on Staten Island where I amuse myself in the interval of grinding out comic illustrations by rearing & watching the motherly hen and the pompous rooster...”
Thomas Worth (1834- 1917), “Uncle Tommy” as he was known to all his acquaintances and friends, sold his first comic sketch to Nathaniel Currier in 1855; he was to become one of the most popular of Currier & Ives's artists. He specialized in comic and caricature work--one of his “Darktown Comics” lithographs sold 73,000 copies--but also did racing and sporting scenes, as well as other subjects. In addition, he illustrated Dickens's Old Curiosity Shop, and contributed to "Judge” and other periodicals. He was a careful craftsman, often revising his work until he had achieved the best possible effect, and was noted for his enormous personal charm. v. Peters, Currier & Ives, I, p. 70 et seq