Catlin, George | An anxious request for money following the seizure of his collection

Western Art and Design from Bar Cross Ranch, Wyoming

George Catlin

Autograph Letter signed ("Geo Catlin") to "My Dear, kind Friend" [?William Shippard]

4 pages (187 x 118mm) on one folded leaf, Paris, Thursday, n.d. [circa 1848]; light toning, old folds.

Catlin writes anxiously from Paris to a friend (probably William Shippard):

"Since the sudden and unexpected seizure of my collection, I have been using every effort I could to save it and to enable me to to pay all the debts I owe... and as the only means of doing that, with the enormous costs now accrued my offers are before the Am[erica]n and the French Governments, & I am anxiously awaiting the results. I gained an audience after a month of delay, of the Prince President [the future Napoleon III], and my offer is now under consideration...and in the United States Congress, my Petition in which the exact position of my collection is explained, showing that unless they immediately decide it must be lost to the Country."

Catlin was perpetually in a state of financial distress due to his extravagant spending and the expensive production of his plate book. He entreats his friend, "Pray do me this act of kindness, which I shall never forget." He was in Paris from 1845 to 1848 following a spell in London. There he showed his Indian Gallery and it was seen by figures including King Louis-Philippe, Eugène Delacroix and Charles Baudelaire.

PROVENANCE:

Forum Auctions, 28 March 2019, lot 339