Three proof wood-engravings of the 'birthplace of Quakerism' Swarthmoor Hall by Edmund Evans, two from drawings by Birket Foster, with an Autograph Letter Signed by Foster, and a copy of a letter by Evans, to John Abraham and his wife Maria.

ONE. Birket Foster's letter to John Abraham: 12mo, 2 pp. 26 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on aged paper, with one dog-eared corner. Docketed 'Birket Foster re Sketches'. A letter of Abraham's has been forwarded to him 'relating to the illustrations which I did for the late Wm. Benson (to illustrate the Memoirs of the Fell family I believe)'. He suggests that they be put into Evans's hands to engrave: 'he is a thoroughly conscientious man, and will do the best he can for the price you like to name'. (Foster and Evans were lifelong friends and collaborators.) He gives his nephew Joseph Foster the antiquary (1844-1905) as a reference. He cannot recall 'doing a picture of Morecambe Bay & Ulverston' and will be 'very happy to sign the sketches you may have of mine'. TWO. The copy of Evans's letter to Maria Hayes Abraham: 12mo, 2 pp. 22 lines in contemporary manuscript. Docketed in the same hand as the Foster letter: 'Re cost of engraving Birket Foster sketches of Swarthmoor Hall'. Submitting an estimate 'for the same size as the sketches, and to draw and engrave them on wood, to appear as nearly like the originals as possible'. Separate prices are given for the engraving of seven illustrations, with the cost given for 'Printing 1100 sets of the above paper not included'. THREE. The three engravings (all 20 x 13 cm) present here, appeared with one other in Maria Webb's 'The Fells of Swarthmoor Hall and their Friends' (London, 1865). The two from Birket Foster drawings are 'Swarthmoor Hall' and 'Swarthmoor Meeting-House'; the third (unattributed) is of 'Marsh Grange, The Ancient residence of the Askew Family in Furness, and the Birth-place of Margaret Fell.' All three are in very good condition, with light foxing to the margins of two of them. John Abraham, a Liverpool pharmacist, was a direct descendant of Judge Thomas Fell (1598-1658), who allowed George Fox to use Swarthmoor Hall for early Quaker meetings, Fox subsequently marrying Fell's widow Margaret. In 1912 Swarthmoor Hall was bought by John Abraham's daughter Emma Clarke Abraham (1850-1938). From the Abraham archive.