DAVID LOW - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 10/03/1957 - HFSID 53493

DAVID LOW. TLS: "David Low", 1p, 5¼x7. Kensington, 1957 October 3. On imprinted stationery to Mrs. Philip Astley, Edwardes Square. In full: "How very kind of you to return my letter which had been wrongly delivered to you. I agree the postal service in this district is becoming scandalous. Any day now I expect to find some of my correspondence blowing up the High Street. At least three times in the past fortnight I have had other people's letters delivered at this address. I think perhaps I will follow your suggestion and write to the G.P.O. Branch Manager. Thank you for your courtesy. Yours sincerely". At the time he signed this letter, Low was a political cartoonist for the "Manchester Guardian". New Zealand-born British cartoonist David Low (1891-1963) is best known for his WWII-era political cartoons. Low, who was inspired by the art in "Punch Magazine" (to which he would later contribute), had his early cartoons published in magazines and newspapers in his native New Zealand. At the age of 18, he was asked to join the "Sydney Bulletin" in Australia. There, his work attracted the attention of British writer Arnold Bennett, and in 1919 Low arrived in England to take a job with "The Daily News" and the company's evening paper, "The Star". After his tenure with "The Star", which included a commission to draw the portraits of fifty of the most distinguished people in Britain (published as Low's Company, Fifty Portraits in 1952), Low joined the staff of the "Evening Standard", where he was promised complete freedom to express his radical political views. He created his character, Colonel Blimp, who represented everything that Low disliked about British politics, in 1934. In the late 1930s, Low's cartoons criticizing Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini resulted in his work being banned in Germany and Italy. Although he was called a "war-monger" because of his cartoons attacking appeasement, his works also inspired the British people at a time when many feared a German victory. Low became an official British War Artist, and, as such, attended the Nuremberg War Trials with Joseph Flatter. After leaving the "Evening Standard" in 1949, he later worked for the "Daily Herald" (1950-1953) and the "Manchester Guardian" (1953-1963). Low, whose published works also include Europe at War, A History in Sixty Cartoons with a Narrative Text (1941), Years of Wrath: 1932-1945 (1946) and Low's Autobiography (1956), was knighted in 1962. Slightly creased with fold, not at signature. Fine condition.