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John Howard Payne – author, playwright, actor, Diplomat. ALS, June 7, 1840 on plain light blue stationery to Joseph Goldsborough Bruff. The author of Home! Sweet Home rejects a drawing offered by the artist.
Bruff would achieve some fame for his drawings and stories of the western gold miners as well as his skills as a cartographer. But that would all be later. His early work apparently did not impress Payne who had already achieved notoriety for his acting and the song “Home! Sweet Home”. After offering some criticism of a sketch offered by mutual friends, Payne writes “All these things considered, I have thought you would rather be obliged to me for not sending it where it would meet critical eyes, accustomed to the most finished & refined sights.” Ouch.
The letter has typical folds, the adjoining cover sheet is address in Payne’s hand and there is small loss of paper on the blank sheet from the intact wax seal. It might be worth some additional research to learn if Bruff’s work was revised and included in some of Payne’s work.
John Howard Payne – author, playwright, actor, Diplomat. ALS, June 7, 1840 on plain light blue stationery to Joseph Goldsborough Bruff. The author of Home! Sweet Home rejects a drawing offered by the artist.
Bruff would achieve some fame for his drawings and stories of the western gold miners as well as his skills as a cartographer. But that would all be later. His early work apparently did not impress Payne who had already achieved notoriety for his acting and the song “Home! Sweet Home”. After offering some criticism of a sketch offered by mutual friends, Payne writes “All these things considered, I have thought you would rather be obliged to me for not sending it where it would meet critical eyes, accustomed to the most finished & refined sights.” Ouch.
The letter has typical folds, the adjoining cover sheet is address in Payne’s hand and there is small loss of paper on the blank sheet from the intact wax seal. It might be worth some additional research to learn if Bruff’s work was revised and included in some of Payne’s work.