LEMUEL BROOKS: 13 HANDWRITTEN LETTERS AND 8 DRAWINGS, HUNTING COMEDY AND PERSONAL NEWS, 1905–1908

Item #1746

A lively collection of thirteen mostly double-sided handwritten letters and eight separate drawings by Lemuel Brooks, on sheets ranging from approximately 5.5" × 6" to 8" × 10". Dated examples span 1905–1908 and were written from Elmira, Auburn, and Rochester, New York; Reading, Pennsylvania; Cumberland, Maryland; and Columbus, Ohio. An accompanying genealogical printout identifies a likely match as Lemuel Brooks, born December 6, 1862, married to Annie Mary Bell, with his occupation recorded as “Traveler.” The letters’ references to Annie and frequent business travel are consistent with this identification.
Brooks combines personal correspondence with an ongoing illustrated comedy about hunting, friendship, and outdoor misadventures. A hunter called “Coke” is repeatedly outwitted by bears, including one that pins him down and another that carries him away with his gun. Numbered drawings develop sequential hunting episodes, while other illustrations depict hunting dogs, woodcock, exaggerated portraits, rural landscapes, a bear on a rocky ledge, and a moonlit campsite. Speech balloons, humorous captions, and recurring characters give the collection the appeal of homemade comic strips.
An illustrated account of buying a farm ends with Brooks waking to discover that the property existed only in a dream. Elsewhere, he jokingly offers further chapters of his bear-hunting narrative, with “highly colored illustrations,” for twenty-five cents each, postpaid. The letters also discuss dog training, ammunition, fishing, illness, family news, travel for work, and establishing a household with Annie. One reports a nearby dynamite explosion that Brooks attributes to “Black Hand” extortion.
The illustrations appear executed in pencil, ink, and colored media. Included is a racist caricature of a Black cakewalk dancer, which Brooks acknowledges adapting from a picture he had seen. Letters are signed “Lem Brooks” or “Lemuel Brooks,” with addresses in Rochester and Columbus.
The sheets show toning, scattered spotting and staining, folds, edge wear, small tears, and occasional paper losses, some affecting illustrations. An expressive collection of illustrated correspondence, combining everyday news with sustained comic storytelling and hunting humor.

Price: $1,200.00