Letter listing valentines sent on approval from J.C. Acton, with envelope
An envelope of cream wove paper addressed in ink to: 'Dr Glaisher'. On the verso, an inscription in Glaisher's hand: 'New Bl[...] from [...] / Charing Cross'. The envelope contains a letter dated April 1st, 1925, signed, 'J.C. Acton' and written in black ink on paper with a printed header: 'WALTER ACTON (The Misses Acton) … 10A. EAST STREET, BRIGHTON'. J.C. Acton was one of the daughters of the Brighton-based dealer, Walter Acton from whom Glaisher procured many of the valentines in his collection. The Actons sent Glaisher valentines on approval and he also visited their shop during trips to Brighton. One of the Misses Acton, presumably J.C. Acton, had her own collection of valentines of which Glaisher was very envious and from which he persuaded her to sell him some: 'I got her even to take one out of her album.'. See Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 892-1985, 14 September, 1924, letter to Miss Catherine Parsons (written on headed notepaper from The Grand Hotel, Brighton). The letter lists eight valentines sent to Glaisher on approval, with prices: ‘Dear Sir, I have found a really beautiful jewelled Valentine, the best I have seen - ; I am sending it for you to look at – It is so very perfect – (only one ‘jewel’ missing – _and_ it has a watermark with date – 1852 - / The price of this one is £1.00 / The Cobweb one is scarce - 7.6 [7 shillings and sixpence] / Railway train 7.6 [7 shillings and sixpence] / Cupid’s dream 5 [5 shillings] / 3 small ones 7 the 3 [7 shillings for the 3] / 1 in box 5 [5 shillings] / I hope some of them will be different to what you have- / yours faithfully / J.C. Acton.’. It has been possible to trace four of the eight listed to valentines in Glaisher's collection: _Cupid's Dream_, P.14383-R; Stevengraph sachet valentine ('Railway train'), P.14366-R; P.14603-R is the '1 in box', which is inscribed on the box lid in Glaisher's hand: 'Miss Acton's valentine' and P.14384-R is the jewelled valentine.
Bequeathed by Dr J. W. L. Glaisher, 1928
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
20th Century
Production date:
AD 1925-04-01
Accession number: Valentinesarchive1
Primary reference Number: 215562
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Letter listing valentines sent on approval from J.C. Acton, with envelope" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/215562 Accessed: 2024-10-06 03:41:00
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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/215562
|title=Letter listing valentines sent on approval from J.C. Acton, with envelope
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-10-06 03:41:00|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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