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GARRICK, David (1717-1779). Actor. Autograph receipt signed ('D: Garrick'), 1 page 8vo (oblong), 100 x 198 mm. (4 x 8 inches, dated 19 November 1746. A discharge for eight guineas (£8 8s) received from Mr George Draper for wine.Old filing hole and creases repaired, neatly laid down. In the early 1840s Garrick and his brother Peter, each of whom had inherited something in the region of £1,000, set up in the wine business as Garrick & Co., David in London with an office and vaults in Durham Yard, between the Strand and the Thames, and Peter in Lichfield. The business did not long survive, and Garrick turned his attentions fully to the stage. Late in 1841 David wrote to his brother that: 'Since I have been a Wine Merchant I have run out near four hundred pounds & trade not encreasing I was very Sensible some way must be thought of to redeem it. My Mind (as You must know) has been always inclin'd to ye Stage,... I know You will bee much displeas'd at Me yet I hope when You shall find that I may have ye genius of an Actor without ye Vices. ... I am willing to agree to any thing You shall propose about ye Wine. ... Last night I play'd Richard ye Third.' (The Letters of David Garrick, ed. Little and Kahrl, 1963, I, pages 27-28.) It is curious to find that the actor, now well established, appears to have been still dabbling in the wine business as late as November 1746. The identity of George Draper has has not been established. He may have been associated with Garrick's lifelong friend the brewer Somerset Draper or the 'Drapar', apparently an apothecary, mentioned in Garrick's letter to his brother of 5 July 1740 (Letters, I, p. 24, where the editors speculate that he could be Somerset Draper's younger brother Nightingale (1712-1764) who later inherited the brewery concern). [No: 25879] The image links to a larger or more detailed version.
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