Beschreibung:

5 Autograph Letters Signed ("Arthur" and "A.S."), 35 pp recto and verso, 8vo (conjoining leaves), various places including London and Yorktown, June 18, 1883 to October 22, 1892, to his nieces Cissy and Maud Sullivan, and his nephew William Sullivan, many with original transmittal envelopes, some creasing, toning, early letter with separations. Together with correspondence from Sullivan's nephew Herbert ("Bertie") to his American relatives, as well as 2 Civil War-era letters, one from a Union prison in Louisville, from another branch of the family. Present also is an LS of Sullivan in German, May 14, 1896, to a German fan; a cut signature of Sullivan; related family photos and other information. Composer Arthur Sullivan is best remembered for his collaborations with librettist W.S. Gilbert. Always close with his family, Sullivan became guardian to his 7 nieces and nephews when his brother Fred died suddenly at age 39. Soon after, Fred's widow, Charlotte Lacy Sullivan, emigrated to Los Angeles with 6 of the children, leaving the oldest, Bertie, with Sullivan in London. This lot features correspondence from Sullivan to his nieces and nephews in America in which he displays great interest in their education and situations, even trying to mediate a feud between two sisters: "I am sure you can realize what an anxiety it is for me, and also what a pull it is upon me to find 3000 a year for them, and to bring them up with the idea that this is always to go on. And now Maud of course chafes at being beholden to Amy for whatever money she requires, and would like I have no doubt (and very naturally) her separate income. But so long as Amy has the house to keep going and all the other children with her, I can hardly reduce her income because she and Maud don't get on together..." Provenance: descended through the family to the present. See illustration.