In his biography of Moore (1978, p.131), Roger Berthoud relates how Moore first met the poet Stephen Spender in 1934. Having been asked to provide a portrait for a literary magazine, The London Mercury, Spender replied that he would only allow himself to be drawn by Henry Moore, whom he had heard of through mutual friends such as Geoffrey Grigson and Herbert Read. According to Berthoud, Spender relates that Moore did 'a number of drawings, partly with the idea, which he subsequently abandoned, of amalgamating several done from different angles into a single composite portrait.' On the mount of HMF 1071 is an inscription in pencil which includes the words 'drawing/prelimin . . . ing', perhaps giving credence to Spender's comment. Only the four drawings HMF 1069-72 are extant.