Autograph Letter Signed ('John Foster Fraser') from the English travel writer Sir John Foster Fraser to H. W. Massingham of the Daily Chronicle, describing his career and qualifications while applying for journalistic work.

Author: 
Sir John Foster Fraser (1868-1936), English travel writer [Henry William Massingham (1860-1924), editor of 'The Nation', 1907-1923]
Sir John Foster Fraser
Publication details: 
3 January 1896; The Author's Club, 3 Whitehall Court, SW, London.
£280.00
SKU: 11163

12mo, 4 pp. 61 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. An impressive letter applying for work. He does not expect Massingham (addressed as 'W. H. Massingham') to remember their meeting 'in the Lobby' when he was 'chief reporter on The Sun', while at the same time holding 'a Parliamentary engagement on the staff of the C. N.' Gives details of his subsequent employment, including joining the editorial staff of the 'Manchester Guardian' ('principally to look after their weekly paper which was in a sad way. I prolonged its existence rather than gave fresh life to it & in May last it died.') For the last four months he has been 'in Asia Minor & Syria seeing something of the disturbed country - an interview of mine with Sir Phillip Currie is to appear in the English Illustrated - & getting material which I hope may be useful to me'. He is 'now back in London extremely anxious to get back in the Press Gallery'. A 'descriptive writer' is more than he can hope for, and he would like to 'secure a sessional engagement on the reporting staff of the Daily Chronicle'. He is a 'verbatim note taker' and 'a good summary writer', and is 'well acquainted with Parliamentary work'. Names six individuals 'who know what sort of journalist I am', including Clement Shorter and T. P. O'Connor. As 'a young man & a Radical', he would 'prefer the Daily Chronicle, especially as it is also a literary paper'. Being 'a magazine writer' does not prevent him from 'being a reporter'. He is 'no novice to Parliamentary reporting for it is only eighteen months since I left it'.