AUTOGRAPHED Vanity Fair Print 1894 RUDYARD KIPLING Wimbledon 1919 Louis Graves For Sale

Fresh from a Boston, next stop, your collection.
Fresh, authentic, plenty of historical documentation on reverse. Print is in excellent, original condition. Just over 10\" x 16\" framed.
PROVENANCE & HISTORICAL SPECIFICATION STATEMENT
I. THE ARTWORK
Title: \"Soldiers Three\" (Caricature of Rudyard Kipling)
Publication: Vanity Fair Magazine
Date of Publication: June 7, 1894
Medium: Chromolithograph
Artist: Sir Leslie Ward (Pseudonym: \"Spy\")
II. THE AUTOGRAPH
Signatory: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Medium: Hand-signed in pencil
Location: Lower margin, beneath the lithographic image
III. SUMMARY OF PROVENANCE
This framed presentation represents a uniquely documented, primary-source account of an encounter
between British author Rudyard Kipling and American World War I officer and journalist Louis Graves.
On June 24, 1919, during the first post-WWI Wimbledon Championships in London, Lieutenant Louis
Graves secured a major tournament upset by defeating the prominent South African tennis star (and
future 1920 Olympic Gold Medalist) Louis Raymond. Following this victory, Graves-accompanied by fellow
American competitive tennis player and military officer Dean Mathey (subsequently a notable Wall Street
financier and Princeton University trustee)-attended a high-society military reception hosted by Nancy
Astor (Lady Astor) at her residence in St. James\'s Square, London.
At this reception, Graves personally met and conversed with Rudyard Kipling, obtaining the author\'s pencil
signature on the lower margin of this 1894 Vanity Fair print. Decades later, the presentation assembly was
completed by mounting Graves\' original wartime diary entry alongside his commemorative May 12, 1964
newspaper retrospective (\"Kipling at Lady Astor\'s\") on the reverse of the autographed print.
IV. PRIMARY DOCUMENTATION INCLUDED (VERSO)
Original Diary Page (June 24, 1919): A contemporary handwritten pencil entry by Louis Graves detailing
his tennis victory over Louis Raymond (\"Beat Raymond of South Africa... 3 sets to one\"), followed
immediately by a personal account of the evening reception (\"Spent a very pleasant evening at Mrs.
Waldorf Astors reception... Met Rudyard Kipling & chatted quite a bit with him...\").
Published Account (May 12, 1964): An article authored by Louis Graves published in The News and
Observer, providing a retrospective look back forty-five years to the events of that evening, explicitly
verifying his travels with Dean Mathey and their interactions with Kipling.

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