[Payne, J. Bertrand, but signed Moxon & Co. FORGERY- Autograph Letter Signed] To Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward

3 pages. A fascinating and informative letter in the backdrop of the historical dispute between many key players (Moxon & Co; its acting manager and later partner, J. Bertrand Payne; the poet Alfred Tennyson; and the illustrator Gustave Dore). A complicated and intertwined series of events (beginning with Edward Moxon’s death in 1858) had transpired, culminating in Payne’s rise to power in the company and the resultant estrangement of Tennyson (as well as Browning and Swinburne), all factors leading to the decline and ultimate closure of the famed publisher. Signed Moxon & Co., HOWEVER, THE LETTER WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN BY PAYNE HIMSELF (therefore (truncated) a forgery!) following a well-documented pattern of constantly conjuring lies about his importance. Dan Malan, author of dozens on books on Gustave Dore (who was widely published by Moxon) offers the following fascinating background pertinent to this letter: “J. Bertrand Payne was a scoundrel who destroyed the Moxon firm and bankrupted the widow Moxon. This letter is actually written by him about himself, while hiding his identity. Eventually Tennyson left Moxon because of him. There were no other partners. Payne was a dictatorial manager with an enormous ego which would eventually alienate everyone. After Moxon went bankrupt the first thing they did was fire Payne. In 1874, the appeals court judge denounced Payne as the worst type of fraudster, abusing a vulnerable widow and her children for his personal gain, getting them to give him much of the ownership of Moxon when he had started out as a clerk.” The three-page letter is (apparently) written on authentic Moxon’s ‘Dover Street Stationery,’ March 6, 1867. “Dear Sir, We will send for a copy of Dore’s ‘Elaine’ for notice in the next No. of the ‘Fine Arts Quarterly Review.’ Dore was quite mistaken as to the motives which led to his having a commission for the “Idylls of the King...” He adds, “Our literary partner, J. Bertrand Payne, who has studied art as applied to book illustration rather deeply, was long of opinion that the Frenchman’s talents would be profitably employed in the depiction of those grandly chivalrie scenes...he discussed the subject with the Laureate & Mr. Palgrave very fully...” He goes on to explain in detail the nature and quality of Dore’s illustration, adding, “These drawings are for sale & are thrice the size of the Engravings.” He discusses an edition published in Paris, by Hachette et Cie and adds, “so much approved by the Emperor, that through the intervention of Lord Cowley he accepted its dedication for the editor and is about to confer upon him the baron of the region.” etc., much more. Glue and mounting marks along outside edges, else very good. A fascinating and certainly historically important document providing insight into the inner squabbles, vanities and prevarications in relating prominent authors and publishers. Provenance: Directly from the William Fredeman Pre-Raphaelite Collection. (Inventory #: 3023)