William Makepeace Thackeray

Inscribed by the artist in brown ink on drawing, "Arrives in his ancestral halls he orders his faithful butler to bring him a glass of brandy and water exceedingly hot and exceedingly wi[--]; He proposes in consequence to lady Emily Carrickfergus and is (we need not say) accepted; The faithless Altamout likewise proposes to the odious but wealthy lady Hampington; Reading the announcement in the Morning Post Lady Mary Anne goes almost dis[--] ; but finishes by acception Sir Humpford Bumford a [----] old baronet worth 20000 £ a year; The infant is left in a hamper at the Foundling Hospital; and Sir Edward Lulow Bulwig Bulwig ditto ditto &c Law[---] writes a fashionable h[--]d regarding this"; verso: inscribed in graphite at top left, "Thackeray-Satires on the works of Sir Edward Bulwar Lytton"; inscribed by other hand in graphite at bottom, "Given to Mrs. E. M. Fitzgerald-by Thackeray".