A fine early 19th century brass bound and line inlaid mahogany writing box, the flame mahogany top inlaid with a brass plate engraved ‘From James Sheridan Knowles to James McHenry Jr’; the interior newly relined with a tooled leather writing surface beneath which are three concealed drawers. A shallow drawer runs the full width of the desk along its base, held closed by a brass pin accessed from within.
19 7/8 in x 10 ¾ in x 8 in
James Sheridan Knowles was an Irish dramatist and actor. Born in Cork in 1784 he wrote several plays for the great actors of his day including Virginius for William Macready and Leo in which Edmund Keen appeared. His play based on the legend of William Tell was premiered at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 1825.
James McHenry was also an Irish author, born in Larne at the end of 1785. He practised medicine in Larne and Belfast and then in 1817 emigrated to America with his wife and young son.
His first publication in America was a collection of poetry The Pleasures of Friendship, published in 1822. The following year he published Waltham: An American Revolutionary Tale, a poetic work about George Washington's experience at Valley Forge, still considered one of the earliest poetic treatments of an American patriotic theme.
McHenry became a close friend and admirer of President Andrew Jackson whose parents had emigrated from Carrickfergus, just a few miles from McHenry’s birthplace of Larne.
Item Code: 5157
£ 1550
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