AUTOGRAPH LETTER, signed, to T. W. Gissing:
dated 9 Jan 1862, headed by hand '3 Mead Place', advising that Sowerby is sending Gissing a parcel of 'the remaining Plates of Ferns.' Single sheet (18 cm. x 11.3 cm.) with black border, (possibly without the corresponding blank leaf), written on one side. *John Edward Sowerby (1825\endash 1870), one of a family of esteemed natural history illustrators, was a botanical draughtsman who illustrated Gissing's book 'The Fern and Fern Allies of Wakefield and its neighbourhood' (printed and published for the author by R. Micklethwaite, Journal and Examiner Office, Wakefield, 1862). A pencilled note on the verso, in another hand, identifies the recipient: 'Written to Gissing. Chemist, Wakefield'. Thomas Waller Gissing (1829\endash 1870), father of the novelist George Gissing, moved to Wakefield to open a pharmacy in 1856. He was a keen amateur botanist. Item #150780
Price: $300.00