signed
by PAUL DU CHAILLU
PAUL DU CHAILLU (183?-1903). Zoologist and anthropologist of French origin. ALS. 2pgs. 4 ½” x 7”. February 27, 1893. New York, NY. An autograph letter signed “Paul Du Chaillu”. In the letter, Du Chaillu thanks the recipient, Mrs. Dixon, for sending him a book of previously unpublished drawings by sixteenth-century French artist Jean Cousin the Younger. He also discusses his latest writing and some upcoming travel: “My dear Mrs. Dixon, I have returned from the north a few days ago and I have just finished reading your charming little volume ‘A Book of Fortune’ which you so kindly sent me. I must thank you ever so much for the pleasure its perusal has given me. I admire so much the sketches. They are lovely and so artistic. The book is a gem and I value the gift very much on account of the donor for whom I have the greatest regard and administration. I have been very busy all the winter and I am happy to say that ‘Ivar the Viking’ is entirely out of my hands – I think that Scribner intend to publish it in the autumn. When are you coming to New York? Will you be here on a visit in the Spring – I am going to the Hot Springs Arkansas in two or three days and will not be back in New York before April. I am not how to thank you enough for your book. With kind regards to you and Mr. Dixon Believe me always Yours sincerely Paul Du Chaillu”. Chaillu’s book Ivar the Viking: a romantic history based upon authentic facts of the third and fourth centuries was a fictional story based on Chaillu’s anthropological study of the Vikings and incorporating numerous historically-accurate details of Viking life in the third and fourth centuries. It was indeed published by Scribner in 1893. The letter is in fine condition (Inventory #: 3664)