NINETEENTH

Autograph Letter Signed from the poet and patron of the arts John Kenyon to 'Mr. Curtis' [George William Curtis of the New York Tribune], inviting him and his brother to dine with 'our genial friend Felton'. With portrait.

Author: 
John Kenyon (1784-1856), poet and patron [George William Curtis (1824-1892), American traveller; James Burrill Curtis (1822-1898); Cornelius Conway Felton (1807-1862), President of Harvard College]
Publication details: 
39 Devonshire Place [London]; 19 May [1847?].
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. Very good. Neatly presented, With the blank second leaf of the bifolium tipped in onto a large leaf of cream paper, with the engraved portrait of Kenyon (7 x 8 cm), extracted from a contemporary magazine, laid down above it, both items surrounded by a ruled border. Kenyon begins the letter: 'I have a male party to dine with me on Saturday next - consisting of persons whom you would I think like to meet - our genial friend Felton among them.

Corrected Autograph Manuscript of part of the poem 'A Day at Tivoli', by the Victorian writer John Kenyon.

Author: 
John Kenyon (1784-1856), poet and patron, who encouraged his cousin Elizabeth Barrett's marriage to Robert Browning
Publication details: 
Without date or place [the poem published in 1849].
£450.00

2pp., 4to. 35 lines of verse. On a leaf of laid paper with watermark 'J WHATMAN | TURKEY MILL'. Paginated 13-14. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The first page begins with the line 'The shrouding soil, and give it back to air,' and the second page ends with the line 'Won it's [sic] dark truth, and Gaspar fed on such.' The verses in this manuscript are published on pp.19-21 of 'A Day at Tivoli: with other Verses' (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-row, 1849).

Autograph Letter Signed ('D Green') from Duff Green, editor of the 'United States Telegraph', to the Hon. David Henshaw of Boston.

Author: 
Duff Green (1791-1875), American soldier, author and journalist, editor of the United States Telegraph [David Henshaw (1791-1852), United States Secretary of the Navy]
Publication details: 
Washington; 29 April 1829.
£150.00

1p., folio. Nineteen lines of text. Text of letter on the recto of first leaf of bifolium, with address on verso of second, with red postmark. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Green writes that Roberts is in Washington, but that although 'great exertions have been made for him' he does not believe he will be appointed. He refers to 'late developements [sic] in the 4th Auditors Office'. He asks if he can get his 'note renewed'; he finds himself 'hard pressed to make the arrangements for the next winter - buildg &c is expensive & I have much to bring up'.

Holograph document by John Roby, consisting of a ballad from his 'forthcoming "Traditions of Lancashire"', beginning with the line 'Maiden, braid those tresses bright', preceded by an Autograph Note Signed ('Jn Roby') by Roby, for Mrs. Thelwall.

Author: 
John Roby (1793-1850), English banker, poet and author, best-known for his 'Traditions of Lancashire' (1829) [Henrietta Cecil Thelwall, wife of the noted radical John Thelwall (1764-1834)]
Publication details: 
The document dated 'Rochdale 11th. December 1828'.
£450.00

4pp., 4to. On two loose leaves of Whatman paper, each watermarked 1827. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The document begins with the following note, dated and signed by Roby: 'The following ballad from my forthcoming "Traditions of Lancashire," though not of much value in itself, may yet acquire some, from its connexion with, and introduction into Mrs. Thelwall's elegant volume of Scraps.' (The implication that the two leaves have been removed from Mrs Thelwall's album is supported by pagination from 12 to 15.) Sixty-four lines, divided into sixteen four-line stanzas.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E. L. Blanchard') from the dramatist Edward Litt Laman Blanchard to Frederick Burgess.

Author: 
E. L. Blanchard [Edward Litt Laman Blanchard] (1820-1889), English dramatist [Drury Lane; pantomime]
Publication details: 
6 Adelphi Terrace, Strand, WC [London]; 26 July 1878.
£80.00

3pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Blanchard and his wife 'very seldom go out of a Sunday but should the weather be at all favourable' they will 'make a vigorous effort to avail ourselves of the strong temptation you have so kindly thrown in our way'. They will be 'quite content with an afternoon ramble in your beautiful garden and a chat with dear Mrs. Keeley'. He is sending 'impromptu lines written by my father nearly a Century ago' (not present) that he believes ought to be in Burgess's possession 'as a double ancestral inheritance'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E Meriam') from the meteorologist Ebenezer Meriam to the abolitionist and Unitarian minister Samuel J. May of Syracuse, New York, on the education of Onondaga Indian Children.

Author: 
Ebenezer Meriam (1794-1864), American meteorologist, statistician, pamphleteer and philanthropist [Samuel Joseph May (1797-1871), Harvard-educated Unitarian minister and abolitionist]
Publication details: 
New York; 8 April 1854.
£150.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Meriam is enclosing a 'copy of bill appropriating $350 per annum for two years for the education &c of Onondaga Indian Children which was signed by the Governor on the 5th Inst'. The letter ends with Meriam reporting the receipt of two letters. Syracuse University Library holds a collection of 'Ebenezer Meriam Letters on Onondaga Indian Education', including eight from May.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. G. Holland') from the American author Josiah Gilbert Howard ('Timothy Titcomb'), editor of the Springfield Republican, to 'Mr Vose' [Henry Vose]. With a copy of M. Eaton's 1879 portrait of Holland.

Author: 
Josiah Gilbert Holland ['Timothy Titcomb'] (1819-1881), American novelist, poet and editor of the Springfield Republican [Henry Vose]
Publication details: 
Republican Office, Springfield, Massachusetts; 21 April [1857].
£120.00

1p., 12mo. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. He asks 'what good reason was there for indefinitely postponing the Republican Convention. It seems like a queer move up this way, and my neighbor of the Hampshire Gazette is pitching in'. He regrets that Vose is 'going away' and is 'not going to see the libel case through'. From the papers of Henry Vose. The portrait of Holland (extracted from The Magazine of Poetry, 1890) is in good condition, neatly presented and lightly attached to a paper mount.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E B Pusey') from Edward Bouverie Pusey, Professor of Hebrew at Christ Church Oxford, and a leader of the Oxford Movement, to 'My dear Knott', a letter of introduction for 'Mr Brumby', whose mind is 'preying upon itself'.

Author: 
Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), English churchman and Regius Professor of Hebrew at Christ Church, Oxford, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£95.00

1p., 16mo. Good, on aged paper. He writes that the bearer, 'Mr Brumby', has come to him with an introduction from Crawley of St. Savour's [Rev. J. C. L. Crawley of St Saviour's, Leeds]. 'It wd be of great use to him, I think, not to be thrown so much upon himself. I am afraid of his mind preying upon itself. Cd. you make him acquainted with 2 or 3 good men. He is of N. C.'

Autograph Letter Signed from the American statistician Lemuel Shattuck to 'Dr. Jarvis' [Edward Jarvis of Concord], 'relative to the Report about which we have conferred'.

Author: 
Lemuel Shattuck (1793-1859), American statistician and public health pioneer [Edward Jarvis (1803-1884) of Concord, Massachusetts, psychiatrist and statistician]
Publication details: 
Boston; 2 April 1847.
£130.00

1p., 4to. Good. He has received no reply to the letter he wrote 'in relation to the Report about which we have conferred', and was 'in hopes to have been able to see you at Dorchester before this time', but has had 'another ill time', being 'confined again to my room'. He has received a letter from 'Dr <?> of New York in relation to the , and an answer is required forthwith'. He asks Jarvis to call as soon as possible. It was under the influence of Shattuck that Jarvis first became interested in statistics.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E Lord') from the theologian Eleazar Lord to the Rev. Dr James Richards of Newark, discussing the endowment of 'another Professorship' and other matters apparently relating to the New York Sunday School Union Society.

Author: 
Eleazar Lord (1788-1871), DD, American financier, railway president, theologian and philanthropist [Rev. James Richards, DD, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Newark]
Publication details: 
[2 September 1823.]
£165.00

1p., 4to. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed on the reverse of the second leaf to 'Revd Doct Richards | Newark'. Undated, but docketed by Richards 'E Lord DD | Sepr 2d | 1823 | author of the Biog. Dictionary'. Lord writes that he was glad to receive Richards' letter. 'I have as yet only the offer of a mann to be one of 4 to endow another Professorship. - He is however deliberating of a larger grant. The man on whom I hd placed some dependence, will I fear disappoint me.' He asks if 'any thing in this way' could be done on Richards' 'side of the river'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Mary H. Catherwood') from the novelist Mary Hartwell Catherwood to her publisher Charles F. Chichester of the Century Company, requesting correction of statement 'according to "White Islander" contract'. With two portraits.

Author: 
Mary Hartwell Catherwood (1847-1902), American author of historical romances, mostly set in set in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois [Charles F. Chichester, Treasurer of the Century Company, New York]
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but answered by Chichester on 1 January [1883].
£120.00

1p., 12mo. Very good, within thin paper windowpane mount. She writes 'Dear Mr. Chichester:- | I return statement. Please have it corrected according to "White Islander" contract, and send me the check early in February. And I shall be obliged.' Docketed by Chichester 'Ansd. 1. 30' and 'Corrected State. sent | Sent Ck $186.66'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Alexr Chalmers') from the biographer Alexander Chalmers to James Perry, commenting humorously on an attack of gout.

Author: 
Alexander Chalmers (1759-1834), Scottish biographer and editor [James Perry (1756-1821), proprietor and editor of the 'Morning Chronicle']
Publication details: 
Throgmorton Street, London; 26 March 1821.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. Seventeen lines, closely written. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip of stub adhering to margin. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'J. Perry Esqre | Tavistock Square'. He will dine with Perry with pleasure, 'after a five weeks confinement with the Gout, a disorder of which I never before had any personal acquaintance, but which, I suppose, I must, in some unguarded moment, have treated with contempt.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C. S. Henry') from Caleb Sprague Henry. editor of the New York Review, to William Whitwell Greenough, accepting an article, but complaining of Greenough's handwriting, and of 'a difficulty in getting Saxon type'.

Author: 
Caleb Sprague Henry (1804-1884), Episcopal clergyman and author, editor of the New York Review, Professor of History and Philosophy in New York University [William Whitwell Greenough (1818-1899]
Publication details: 
New York; 26 April 1838.
£150.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. 57 lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'William W. Greenough | Andover | Massachusetts', with circular postmark in red ink and remains of red wax seal. Regarding 'the article on Bosworth's Anglo-Sax. Dict.', Henry writes: 'From the few first pages that I have read & the glance that I have given at the rest, I am satisfied that I shall be glad to print your article.

The autograph signatures of the English actor Charles Kean and his wife Ellen Kean [nee Tree].

Author: 
Charles Kean [Charles John Kean] (1811-1868), Irish-born actor and manager of the Princess's Theatre, Oxford Street, London; his wife Ellen Kean [born Eleanora Tree] (1805-1880)
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 25 June 1852.
£80.00

On one side of a piece of laid paper, approximately 11.5 cm square. Minor traces of glue to corners on the reverse. Good, firm signatures, provided for an autograph hunter. The husband signs first: 'Charles Kean | Friday | 25 June 1852'. Beneath this is the wife's signature: 'Ellen Kean'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the actor Charles Kean, informing an unnamed correspondent that it is not his intention 'to close the Princess's Theatre during any portion of Lent'.

Author: 
Charles Kean [Charles John Kean] (1811-1868), Irish-born actor-manager, best remembered for his Shakespeare revivals at the Princess's Theatre, Oxford Street, London, son of Edmund Kean (1789-1833)
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 1 February 1852.
£90.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with negligible glue from previous mounting to the corners of the blank reverse. The letter reads: 'Sir, In reply to your note, I write to say that as it is not my intention to close the Princess's Theatre during any portion of Lent, it will not be in my power to avail myself of your offer.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Chas Mackay') from the author Charles Mackay to Stephen Massett, discussing his work, and praising the American suffragist Victoria Woodhull Martin and Marie Corelli.

Author: 
Charles Mackay (1812-1889), Scottish poet, author and editor [Stephen C. Massett (1820-1898) English-born American musician; Victoria Woodhull Martin (1838-1927), American suffragist; Marie Corelli]
Publication details: 
47 Longridge Road, South Kensington; 17 December 1888.
£350.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with stub from previous mounting neatly adhering to margins. Mackay hastens to reply to Moffatt's letter, but fears that 'the "pesky" gout in my right hand will render my cacography illegible'. After dealing with his 'Selected Poems' and the Reform Club, Mackay discusses his poem 'Eternal Justice', which was printed with his 'knowledge & permission' by 'Miss Victoria Woodhull Martin [...] I have since received a visit from her, and highly esteem the honour of her acquaintance.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C: M: Young') from the actor Charles Mayne Young to his rival William Charles Macready, recommending an actor named Simpson for a position at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and wishing Macready success as manager there.

Author: 
Charles Mayne Young (1777-1856), actor [William Charles Macready (1793-1873); Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]
Publication details: 
Ashbourne Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire; 16 November 1841.
£220.00

3pp., 12mo. 37 lines. Fair, on worn and discoloured paper. An interesting letter, casting light on the relationship between two great actors who, according to the Oxford DNB, 'disliked but respected each other'. Macready is not named, but Young ends by sending his 'Kind Comts to Mrs Macready'. Macready had taken over at Drury Lane on 4 October 1841, but the season would not begin until 27 December. The letter begins 'My dear Sir!

Autograph Letter Signed from the poet and engraver Charles Swain to a lady (name obliterated), complaining of the problems that prevent him from paying a visit, and referring to William Jerdan.

Author: 
Charles Swain (1801-1874), poet and engraver [William Jerdan (1782-1869), editor of the Literary Gazette]
Publication details: 
Prestwich Park, Prestwich, near Manchester; [c.1853].
£80.00

4pp., 12mo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'My dear friend', and with the name of the recipient obliterated from the valediction: 'Will you give my sincere and grateful remembrances to your noble hearted husband? and believe me | dear <...> | Every affectionately, | [signed] Charles Swain'. He can put off 'the evil day' no longer, and must now 'give in to circumstances' and reluctantly inform her that he cannot come and visit.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Cs. Redding') by Cyrus Redding, expressing regret at not being able to assist William Shoberl, son of the journalist Frederic Shoberl, and bewailing the state of English publishing, and of his own affairs.

Author: 
Cyrus Redding (1785-1870), journalist and author, editor, Galignani's Messenger, and working editor, New Monthly Magazine [William Shoberl, son of Frederic Shoberl [Schoberl] (1775-1853), journalist]
Publication details: 
"Hill Road, | Thursday'. [No date, but on paper watermarked 1855.]
£80.00

3pp., 12mo. 55 lines, neatly and closely written. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'Mr W. Shoberl.' An excellent letter, giving an experienced and knowledgable view of the state of the mid-Victorian British booktrade. Redding begins by stating that he is 'indeed concerned to hear the statement' Shoberl has communicated to him. He wishes it was in his power to forward Shoberl's wishes.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. C. Loudon') from the Scottish botanist John Claudius Loudon to the bookseller 'Mr. Jones', of the firm Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, Finsbury Square, London.

Author: 
J. C. Loudon [John Claudius Loudon] (1783-1843), Scottish botanist, garden designer and editor [Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, booksellers, Finsbury Square, London]
Publication details: 
Bayswater House; 28 May 1818.
£280.00

2pp., 4to. On a bifolium, with the main text on the recto of the first page, and the postscript with the address on the verso of the second. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Tipped-in onto leaf removed from an autograph album. The book he enquired after on the previous day was 'any spanish work translated into french or English Interlineally for a beginner in that language'. He has seen German and Italian books 'so translated', and will be grateful if Jones can suggest a Spanish one.

Part of the corrected autograph draft manuscript of Timothy Pitkin's 'Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States of America' (1816), relating to the renewal of the charter of the Bank of North America at Washington.

Author: 
Timothy Pitkin (1766-1847), American Yale-educated lawyer, politician, historian and statistician [Bank of North America, Washington (now merged with Wells Fargo)]
Timothy Pitkin
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated, but written before the book's publication in 1816.
£550.00
Timothy Pitkin

2pp., on one side each of two 4to leaves headed '14' and '15'. 53 lines of text (25 lines to the first leaf and 28 lines to the second), with deletions and emendations. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with negligible cut to margin of second leaf (not affecting text). Neatly tipped-in to nineteenth-century grey paper wallet.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F Greville') from the diarist Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville to an unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville (1794–1865), Clerk to the Privy Council, and political diarist
Publication details: 
'Grosv[eno]r Place | Saturday [no date]'.
£56.00

1 p, 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, and still tipped-in onto leaf removed from album. Arranging a time at which to call on him. According to the Oxford DNB Greville moved from Grosvenor Place to Lord Granville's house in Bruton Street in 1849.

[Printed handbill poem by 'B. B.'] On a favourite Dog, interred in the Grounds of Dryburgh Abbey, MDCCCXIV. [With Victorian photograph of a dog.]

Author: 
'B. B.' [Sir Brooke Boothby (1744-1824)?] [Dryburgh Abbey, property of David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan]
Publication details: 
Date and publisher not stated. [Scotland, circa 1814?]
£400.00

Poem: On one side of a piece of 12mo paper. Fair, lightly-aged and a little ruckled, with traces of gum from previous mounting on the blank reverse. The 12-line poem is written in heroic couplets, and begins 'POOR, faithful animal, adieu! - | To Nature's kind affection true, | For fourteen years, thy grateful heart, | Devoted, play'd its humble part.' At the end a contemporary hand has ascribed the poem to 'B. B.', and the same hand gives the date as 'September 3d'.

French nineteenth-century handbill poem by 'L. N.' on the game of whist, titled 'Le Whist.'

Author: 
'L. N.' [French nineteenth-century handbill poem on the game of whist]
Handbill poem by 'L. N.' on the game of whist
Publication details: 
Date of publication and name of printer not stated [1840s Paris?].
£350.00
Handbill poem by 'L. N.' on the game of whist

2 pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium of wove paper. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. Signed 'L. N.' in type at end. A 114-line poem, in rhyming alexandrine couplets, beginning 'Messieurs, au jeu du whist adoptez constamment | L'air grave britannique et le flegme allemand.

Anonymous French nineteenth-century handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess, entitled 'Le Jeu d'Échecs.'

Author: 
'Le Jeu d'Échecs' [anonymous French nineteenth-century handbill poem on the game of chess]
Handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess
Publication details: 
Date of publication and name of printer not stated [1840s Paris?].
£650.00
Handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess

4 pp, 16mo. Paginated [1] to 4. On a bifolium of wove paper. Fair, on lightly-aged and creased paper, with thin strip of previous mount adhering to inner margin of first page.

[Printed handbill.] Sonnet on the late Dutchess of Gordon. [By Sir Brooke Boothby.]

Author: 
[Sir Brooke Boothby (1744-1824)] [Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon (1748-1812), Scottish Tory political hostess]
Publication details: 
[Circa 1810.]
£280.00

Printed on one side of a 4to leaf, to which a black mourning border has been given by hand. Well printed on wove paper. Fair, on lightly-aged and ruckled paper. The author's name is not given, and the title reads 'SONNET | ON THE LATE | DUTCHESS [sic] OF GORDON.' The poem begins: 'IS then the bright expansive spirit flown, | That wont to animate the admiring throng? | Does the fair theme of many a poet's Song | Exist in pleasing memory alone?' The poem was also printed in 'The Poetical Register, and Repository of Fugitive Poetry, for 1810-1811' (London: F. C. and J.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'A Henry Savage Landor') from the traveller Arthur Henry Savage Landor to 'Mr Roper' of Boston [the inventor Sylvester H. Roper?].

Author: 
Arnold Henry Savage Landor (1865-1924), English painter, explorer and writer, born in Florence, discoverer in Tibet of sources of Indus and Brahmaputra rivers [Sylvester H. Roper (1823-96) of Boston]
Publication details: 
First Letter: 'Saturday' [1 December 1888]; on lettherhead of the Somerset Club, Boston. Second Letter: 'Sunday' [6 January 1889]; 2 Walnut Street [Boston].
£165.00

Both items in very good condition, on lightly-aged paper, each with slight trace of paper label at spine. Letter One: 3 pp, 12mo. Docketed at head of first page '1 Dec/88.' and 'The Explorer of Thibet [sic]'. He thanks him 'for the Card of the St Botolph Club' and will try to go there the following day. He has 'so many things to do' that he is not sure he will be able to stay there long. Letter Two: 4 pp, 12mo. Docketed beneath address '6 January 89.', and beneath signature 'The traveller in Thibet [sic]'. Thanking him for the 'note and cheque', and hoping that the sketch arrived safely.

Autograph Manuscript of Captain Basil Hall, RN, FRS, cut from letter, and with his signature, giving his plans while in America.

Author: 
Captain Basil Hall (1788-1844), RN, FRS, naval officer, traveller and author, friend of Sir Walter Scott
Publication details: 
Note in contemporary hand reads 'From Washington - 13 Jan: 1828.'
£280.00

On one side of a piece of paper approximately 18.5 x 6.5 cm, neatly cut from a letter. Laid down on a piece of 22.5 x 28 cm paper, and with a border drawn around it. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'We have been most kindly & hospitably received by every body & I find such a variety of character & even of incident (of a political kind) that I rejoice exceedingly at having come here in the first instance. We still propose leaving this on the 1st. of Feby., Charleston on the 1st. of March, & New Orleans on the 1st.

Corrected Autograph Manuscript of part of Captain Thomas Mayne Reid's 1866 novel 'Afloat in the Forest'.

Author: 
Captain Thomas Mayne Reid (1818-1883), Irish-American novelist
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated [circa 1866].
£280.00

1 p, folio. On grey paper. Fair, on aged paper, with slight spotting and chipping to extremities affecting a few words of text. A whole page of the manuscript, numbered '9' and written entirely in Reid's hand, with a few minor emendations by him, from Chapter XXVI, 'Treed by an Alligator'. Begins with the reported speech: '"That would be anything but pleasant - perhaps more so [last word emended from 'unpleasant'] to those who are waiting for us, than to ourselves.

Autograph Letter Signed from Jane Hood, wife of the poet Thomas Hood, to 'Mrs Elliot', wife of the family doctor, Robert Elliot of Camberwell, containing news of the poet and his work, money troubles and family affairs, at the end of their lives.

Author: 
Jane Hood [née Jane Reynolds], (1791-1846), wife of the poet and humorist Thomas Hood (1799-1845)
Publication details: 
'Wednesday' [1844 or 1845); 'Devonshire Lodge | New Finchley Road | St Johns Wood'.
£280.00

4 pp, 12mo. Bifolium. 73 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Hood returned to England from Ostend in 1840, moving into Devonshire Lodge after trying other lodgings. A fine letter, informative, energetic and moving. Jane begins by thanking Mrs Elliot for the 'kind present to my Tom [the couple's son Thomas Hood the younger (1835-1874)]': 'I only wish you could have seen the happy boy - how proud he was - and indeed is, of his new appearance - he sends his love & best thanks. I am sorry to say he does not yet write a readable letter'.

Syndicate content