ANTON VAN WOUW - AUTOGRAPH LETTER

This is a two and a half page letter/love letter/ prose piece in Dutch by the famed South African sculptor, Anton Van Wouw, regarded as the father of South African sculpture. 4to. Circa 500 words. The manuscript starts:"Dadelpracht - Sophie / O! Eesellige slaapskameraad van myn jeugdig buitenlewen / Het is nu de 86tweede maal in myn lewen dat ek u aan mijn hart druk................." Further contents are difficult to decipher fully, particularly as in Dutch and with a difficult handwriting and it will be left to interested parties to examine the images provided. The piece is not signed, but the authenticity is unquestioned as  it’s provenance (from the Bess Reitz papers) is reliable and the document has been annotated in two different hands as "from Oom Anton van Wouw". Van Wouw was married (his second marriage)  to OFS President F.W. Reitz's sister-in-law, Engelina /Lina. I have previously sold a letter from Lina Van Wouw to Bess Reitz which was obtained from the same archive. Van Wouw autograph material is scarce. The three leaves have been folded twice and have some creasing and edge fraying. There are some notes (names etc.) on the verso of the largely blank third leaf.