TWO AUTOGRAPH LETTERS, signed, to Reverend E. J. F. Davies:
The first letter, dated 16th Feb 1935, is a response to a letter from Davies, in which the latter seems to have praised Gissing's travel writing. Gissing expresses his fondness for Davies' home region, Chapel le Dale, in Yorkshire: 'I began tramping through your dales & over the fells about sixty years ago . . . so you can imagine that your kind words came as a breath from the hills to me.' He notes that Chapel le Dale is 'the birthplace of the imaginary Dr. Daniel Dove of Southey's\ul Doctor\ulnone etc.' Single sheet (23 cm. x 17.8 cm., with folds), written on one side. In the second letter, dated 28th Feb, 1935, Gissing agrees that The Doctor 'is as you say, decidedly "a green book", but I find it still interesting to browse upon occasionally. The stories of "The Three Bears" & "The Terrible Knitters e' Dent" alone would be enough to justify it'. Single sheet (17.8 cm. x 11.4 cm.), with horiztonal fold at centre, written on both sides. *Algernon Gissing (1860-1937), English novelist and the younger brother of George Gissing. The Reverend E. J. F. Davies, British clergyman who was a prolific autograph hunter. Robert Southey's seven volumes recording the observations and travels of Dr. Dove and his faithful horse Nobbs, published between 1834 and 1847, contain the first widely known version of The Three Bears (with a naughty old woman protagonist, rather than the later Goldilocks). Item #150783
Price: $400.00