A rare letter jointly signed by Victorian actor Sir Henry Irving and Dracula author Bram Stoker has sold for £400 at John Nicholson's auction.

Hidden in an autograph book, the letter dates to 19 February 1899, two years after Stoker published Dracula. Despite its success, Stoker remained better known as Irving’s theatre manager during his lifetime. Many have claimed that Irving was the chief inspiration for the infamous vampire.

The album also features the signatures of Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Scout movement founder Lord Baden Powell, and Lord Roberts, a British commander in the Boer War. Actress Ellen Terry, Irving’s longtime stage partner, is also included.

The letter, addressed to a “Madam,” contains a short message before trailing into Irving’s nearly illegible handwriting. The pair’s friendship began in 1876 when Stoker, then a theatre critic, praised Irving’s performance as Hamlet.

For the winning bidder, this is more than an autograph – it’s a piece of literary and theatrical history.