Autograph letter signed and doodled by Punch illustrator Harry Furniss c1912

FURNISS, Harry (1854-1925). Autograph letter signed, with two original pen-and-ink sketches, to H. B. Marriott Watson. The Mount, High Wickham, Hastings, c1912.
 
Autograph letter signed. Single sheet folded, written over four sides, each approximately 140 x 190 mm. Old horizontal fold and general toning, otherwise well preserved. Very Good.
 
An illustrated letter from Furniss to the novelist H. B. Marriott Watson. Furniss complain of being overwhelmed by correspondence, remarking that he has "all my letters answered until there is the letter only to write my name a hundred times or so".
 
The letter has two pen-and-ink sketches. The first is a self portrait of Furniss writing beneath a shower of marks or papers. The second depicts a woman bending over a small man (perhaps Furniss again), accompanying Furniss's account of a "very pretty young lady over 6 ft. high" with whom he describes as "the daughter of a policeman".
 
Furniss also refers to family matters, theatrical engagements and the London season, before closing with "All good wishes to 1913". A pencil note in another hand identifies the recipient as Bob Marriott Watson.
 
Harry Furniss was one of the leading British caricaturists and illustrators of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, best known for his work for Punch and for his illustrations to Dickens and Lewis Carroll. Letters containing original drawings are rare.