Autograph Letter Signed by artist Edwin Thomas Dolby to John Leech 1959

DOLBY, Edwin Thomas. (1824-1902) Autograph Letter Signed to Punch illustrator, John Leech, about illustrating for the periodical 'Once a Week'.
 
Camden Square, N.W., 28 December 1859.
 
Two pages, signed, folded as sent. Very good condition, light handling marks only.
 
A professional letter from the travel and topographical artist Edwin Thomas Dolby to John Leech, written during the first year of publication of Once a Week. Dolby states that Messrs. Colnaghi of Pall Mall have introduced him to Mr. Bradbury “with a view to my assisting in the illustrations of Once a Week,” and seeks Leech’s consideration. He outlines his credentials, noting that he accompanied the “Russian expedition in 1854, which I fully illustrated,” and that he possesses sketches and memoranda from Sweden, Denmark, North Germany, the Baltic, and elsewhere on the Continent. He offers references from “all the principal artists and publishers of the day.”
 
Dolby’s reference to the Russian expedition relates to his large folio publication Dolby’s Sketches in the Baltic (London: M. & N. Hanhart for P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., 1854), issued during the Baltic operations of the Crimean War. That work, published under Colnaghi’s auspices, established him as a draughtsman of war and travel subjects. The present letter shows him leveraging those published credentials in seeking illustration work for the newly founded weekly.
 
Once a Week was established in July 1859 by Bradbury & Evans following their separation from Charles Dickens, and Leech was among its principal illustrators from the outset. Dated December 1859, this letter belongs to the immediate formation period of the journal, when contributors were being assembled for the new illustrated paper.