"Bournemouth is safe with such an experienced fireman!" ALS by Harry Furniss

FURNISS, Harry. (1854-1925). "Bournemouth is safe - with such an experienced fireman!": Autograph letter fragment with original pen-and-ink self-caricature, n.d.
 
Single leaf (approximately 110 × 170 mm), written in ink on headed stationery (“Alington, Dean Park, Bournemouth”). The surviving leaf is the illustrated first page only, the remainder of the letter having been removed by a previous collector; extensive mounting residue to the verso. Small paper-clip mark at the upper left corner. But, very good. 
 
The recto shows a pen-and-ink self-caricature by Furniss, depicting the artist as a fireman directing a hose skywards, accompanied by the manuscript caption “Bournemouth is safe — with such an experienced fireman!” Addressed to Lord Portarlington; unsigned, as expected for a first-page letter.
 
An especially nice example of Furniss’s drawings, that he used to drop into correspondence. Furniss (1854–1925) was one of the leading British illustrators and political cartoonists of his generation, closely associated with Punch and with the illustration of Lewis Carroll’s Sylvie and Bruno.