“Week before last I took to Mr. Bunce a little bit of sunset effect in the form of a sketch which I did in fifteen minutes, in India ink and white. Beard admired it ever so much, and just for fun I took it to Bunce as a sort of specimen of ‘original design.’ To my surprise he admired it so much that he gave me a block, and told me to put it on the wood by all means, for the ‘Journal.’ It is very simple in composition, being drawn in a circle with the foreground
The Road to Hide-and-Seek Town
First Composition, 1873
open. On the right is a hillside with a few tall trees; on the left another slope, more distant. The extreme distance is composed of a village with church-spire, trees, etc., standing out against a brilliant sunset sky which shows through the trees. In the extreme foreground is a traveler, or farmer, wending his way homeward; his figure is almost a silhouette and his shadow is cast upon the road. It is my first attempt at a design. My head is ‘chuck full of them,’ but I cannot get a chance to use them I am so busy.”
Other letters covering this period are full of interest. They show the heart of the young fellow, his frank delight in his own success, and in the approval which his work begins to receive. He was much elated over the success of an engraving he made for the “Aldine”:
“New York, Feb. 2, 1872.
“Dear Mother:
“I have just a few moments’ spare time which I will improve by writing a short letter or note to you.