Autograph letter signed by engraver, John Bell (1811-1895) to architect Edward Salomons

original letter. BELL (John, 1811-1895), Engraver. Autograph letter signed to Edward Salomons Esq., architect, Manchester. 15 Douro Place, Victoria Road, Kensington, 23 June 1855. 4 pp. on a single bifolium, approx. 450-550 words in ink. Old folds with remnants of card to left-hand side where removed from a scrapbook. The sheet has a split along the centre fold from the top edge to around the midpoint of the letter. Overall clean, with contents clear; condition good to very good. A long and detailed professional letter from the sculptor John Bell, one of the foremost British sculptors of the period. Writing to the architect Edward Salomons (1828-1906), Bell apologises for a hurried earlier note sent "on my return from Paris," explaining that he was "occupied in consequence of having to ship on with a work I have to complete within a fixed time." He offers extensive advice on the design of studios for artists, suggesting practical elevations, costs ("£80-£150-£180"), and materials, and discusses the views of Art Journal editor Samuel Carter Hall. Bell notes that he is himself considering building "a large one all in iron . removable or saleable if desirable when my work was done," an early anticipation of modular or prefabricated studio design. Written at a pivotal moment in Bell's career, shortly after his celebrated Eagle Slayer (1855) was exhibited at the Crystal Palace, the letter reflects his interest in the union of art and architecture-concerns that would later inform his major public works, including the America group for the Albert Memorial and the sculpture for the Colonial Office façade. . Good. Soft cover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1855.