Description
Autograph Letter Signed, to Mrs. Virtue, acknowledging receipt of her Albums, in which Buckingham has written some lines, saying he is going to give his talk on America in Newcastle to an audience of a thousand, and then a Lecture on Constantinople which “might be a favourable opportunity to introduce Mr. Virtue’s Publications”. 3 pp. 7 x 4½ inches, fine. Camden Town, 28 March 1842. A good letter by James Silk Buckingham (1786-1855), author and traveller. His works included Travels in Mesopotamia (1827), a number of accounts of travels in America and Canada, e.g. The Slave States of America (2 vols., 1842). His correspondent in Helen Virtue, the wife of George Virtue, the publisher. Virtue selected accomplished artists, employed the best engravers, and produced books that were rarely surpassed in elegance and correctness for the period. Chief among his publications were the following, all illustrated by William Henry Bartlett: Switzerland, by William Beattie, 2 vols. 1836; Scotland, by W. Beattie, 1838; The Waldenses, by W. Beattie, 1838; American Scenery, 2 vols. 1840; Description of the Beauties of the Bosphorus, by Julia Pardoe, 1840; and The Danube, its History and Scenery, by W. Beattie, 1844. Virtue created a prodigious business, issuing upwards of twenty thousand copper and steel engravings through his career.