Joseph Hatton 1884 ALS - Henry Irving USA Tours Press Comms Algernon Borthwick For Sale

JOSEPH HATTON – AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED – 19 AUGUST 1884 To Sir ALGERNON BORTHWICK, proprietor of The Morning Post On HENRY IRVING’s American tours & private telegraphic reporting

"Private. 14 Titchfield Terrace, Regent’s Park, N.W. Aug 19 / 84"

A fine Victorian journalism–theatre crossover ALS from Joseph Hatton (1837–1907), novelist, journalist, and long‑associated contributor to The Morning Post, writing to Sir Algernon Borthwick (1830–1908), later Lord Glenesk, the paper’s proprietor and editor.

Hatton refers to his recent travels with Henry Irving on the American Tour of 1883–84, during which he sent Borthwick short private cables so that the Post might remain au courant with rival papers receiving “special cables.” He now proposes that a friend travelling on Irving’s next American tour (1884–85) could send occasional cables “in my name & on my responsibility” — at no cost to the Post — to ensure accurate reporting.

The letter stresses several points of strong historical interest:

• Irving may be misrepresented by American correspondents: a real problem documented in Irving’s press coverage, where sensationalist telegraphy often distorted incidents for commercial effect.

• Reuters would miss many incidents, as agency coverage of theatrical tours was limited; Hatton offers Borthwick a private intelligence feed unavailable through standard news channels.

• Hatton emphasises that Irving would benefit from having “a friend of truth” in Borthwick and The Morning Post, ensuring London readers received accurate accounts of the tour.

The letter closes “Very truly yrs, Joseph Hatton”, addressed to Sir Algernon Borthwick.

Historical Context

This letter sits precisely between Irving’s 1883–84 American tour (“this tour”) and the planned 1884–85 tour (“the next tour”). Hatton had just returned from the first tour — documented in his 1884 publication Henry Irving’s Impressions of America — and was arranging reliable coverage for the next.

Irving’s celebrity made him particularly vulnerable to sensationalist misreporting, as American correspondents competed for dramatic telegraphic copy. Hatton’s offer of private cables reflects the Morning Post’s reliance on non‑Reuters intelligence networks, a hallmark of Borthwick’s editorial strategy.

This is a textbook example of Victorian press management, showing how theatre, journalism, and telegraphy intersected in the 1880s.

Condition as photos. All items can be returned for a full refund if found to be not as Paul Christopher Hatton (Feb 1837 – Jul 1907) was an English novelist and journalist. He was editor of many English publications including The Sunday Times from 1874 to 1881 and then served as a correspondent for several American periodicals.

Sir Henry Irving (Feb 1838 – Oct 1905) was an English actor-manager in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He established himself at the West End theatre the Lyceum. His long campaign to have theatre recognised as an art of equal importance with music and painting culminated when he was knighted in 1895, the first actor to be thus class="MsoNormal">One of c.2,500+ items once from the collection or dealer stock of Winifred A Myers (Autographs) Ltd, St Martins Lane, London, evidenced by the quantity of Myers pre-printed envelopes and paper folders and the general ‘presentation’ of the items, many having Myers identification notes in pencil.

Winifred Alice Myers (1909 - 1985) served as ABA (Antiquarian Booksellers Assoc) president, 1950-1952. See the ABA website for an extended article on Myers. Myers left her business, in 1985, to Ruth Shepherd, who traded from home until 2004.

Complete with digital .jpg CoA - as photo - for you to print if needed

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