Herring Proposes Deal with Carey
Autograph Letter signed to Philadelphia publisher E.L. Carey, discussing a possible partnership with Carey in publishing a work in progress.
New York: 10 Nov. 1840.
Price: $1,250.00
About the item
2pp. 1 vols. 4to. Herring Proposes Deal with Carey. Fine. Addressed on verso of conjugate blank.
Item #213204
The engraver James Herring, along with his collaborator James Longacre, published their famous ground-breaking biographical series, National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans (1834-1839). At some point Herring evidently sold his share in the work to Longacre, for he writes in this letter to Carey, "I ... took his notes to between 5 & 7000 $. But his failure to pay them has embarrassed my operations, and the times have, as you know, been adverse, so the [current] work has laid dormant for some time." Herring outlines his current work "Picturesque Illustrations of American History", and invites Carey to consider a partnership. "Alone I should not now be able prosecute it, on account of the quantity of material necessary to accumulate in advance. I must therefore put it under the control of one like yourself; lay it up for some years; or sell the plates & give it up altogether ... "