[Sir Edwin Landseer, painter and sculptor of animals.] Autograph Letter Signed ('E Landseer.') regarding 'the Lions Heads' - presumably the bronze statues of lions at the base of Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square, London.

Author: 
Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873), English painter and sculptor noted for his treatment of animals, such as 'The Monarch of the Glen' and the lion sculptures in Trafalgar Square, London
Publication details: 
Undated. On his letterhead, St John's Wood Road, N.W. [London] [before 1867?]
£180.00
SKU: 21429

1p, 12mo. On bifolium. Printed on grey-blue paper, with letterhead printed in orange-red, without Landseer's name, but with his stag's head motif. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with thin strip from stub mount adhering to blank second leaf. Folded twice. The recipient is not named. Apparently referring to his bronze sculptures of the four lions at the base of Nelson's column (installed in 1867), the letter reads: 'My Dear Sir | Many thanks for your obliging Note and kind attention to the Lions Heads – I can't leave home Tomorrow before 4. oc when I shall go to B. House | Can you make it convenient to meet me there at half past 4? | Sincerely yours | E Landseer.' ['B. House' is presumably Burlington House.] From the distinguished autograph collection of Richard Hunter, son of Ida Macalpine, whose collection of 7000 books relating to psychiatry is in Cambridge University Library. Macalpine and Hunter had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.