Autograph Letter Signed (“Linley Sambourne”) to Sir Martin Conway (1856 – 1937), English art critic, politician, cartographer and mountaineer,

2 pages 4to, 18 Stafford Terrace, 11 July

With two other ALS similarly signed and addressed (one 1 page 8vo, 12 June 1897 and one 1 page 4to, 25 June 1898).

“I am very sorry not to be able to see you here tomorrow/Monday evening but of course on the eve of your departure for South America it would be impossible. I had got it into my head that it was at the end of the month. I heartily wish you all success in your journeys & a safe return … No doubt you saw the account of the adventure in an open boat landing on Cuban soil … in Saturday’s Times…”

These letters were written shortly after Conway’s exploration of the interior of Spitsbergen (1896 -1897), an island in the Arctic circle about which he wrote several books, and shortly before he travelled, in 1898, to South America to explore and survey the Bolivian Andes. Whilst there he climbed "Sorata" (known today as Ancohuma) and Illimani.

Conway is also known for being a member of the Alpine Club (president: 1902-1904), his Liberal politics and for being a pioneer of modern skiing. Linley Sambourne’s diary of 1896 records that Sambourne and Conway saw each other quite regularly during this period. These letters provide a nice record of their acquaintance.

Sambourne was an artist, best known as an illustrator of books and long-serving cartoonist at Punch. His letter to Conway from June 1897 mentions the magazine, warning his friend that "I fear I may be rather late" "as it is the 'Punch' dinner that night".

Stock Code: 225550