"Dreadful Hurry" an autograph letter fragment by illustrator, Harry Furniss n.d.

HARRY FURNISS, Harry. (1854-1925). "Dreadful Hurry": an autograph letter fragment with original pen-and-ink self-caricatures, n.d.
 
Single leaf (approximately 110 × 180 mm), written in ink on laid paper. The surviving leaf is the illustrated page only, the remainder of the letter having been removed by a previous collector; mounting dominating the verso. The recto bears a pen-and-ink self-caricature by Furniss, showing the artist striding off at speed smoking a pipe, pursued by a small grotesque half man half chicken figure, with accompanying text. Signed by Furniss, with the inscription “dreadful hurry” beneath his signature. Very good. 
 
An informal sketch by Furniss, preserved as a single leaf by a previous owner for the artwork. Furniss (1854–1925) was a leading British illustrator and political cartoonist, closely associated with Punch and with the illustration of Lewis Carroll’s Sylvie and Bruno. Here, as in many of the illustrations that accompanied his letters, he has included a sketch of himself, on this occasion well and truly on the march.