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Thomas Gray to Thomas Wharton, 8 December 1757

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To
Dr Thomas Wharton M:D: in
King's Arms Yard, Coleman Street
London
9 DE

Dear Doctor

I have received the draught you were so good to send me, & the money is paid. you apprehend too much from my resolutions about writing: they are only made to be broken, & after all it will be just as the maggot bites. you have a very mean opinion of the Epick, if you think it consists only in laying out a Plan. in four & twenty years at a moderate computation I may have finish'd twelve books, & nine years after I hope to publish. I shall then be 74 years old & I shall get 500£ for the copy to make me easy for the remainder of my days. somebody has directed a letter to the Revd Mr. G: at Strawberry-Hill, wch was sent me yesterday hither. it is anonymous, consists of above 9 pages, all about the Bard, & if I would hear as much more about his Companion, I am to direct to the Posthouse at Andover. I do not know but I may have that curiosity, for his observations (whoever it is) are not nonsense. he takes the liberty of a Person unknown, & treats me with abundance of freedom. I guess it to be some reading Clergyman. Mr Brown & I join in our best compliments to Mrs Wharton.

I am, Dear Sr, most sincerely
Yours
TG:
Letter ID: letters.0293 (Source: TEI/XML)

Correspondents

Writer: Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771
Writer's age: 41
Addressee: Wharton, Thomas, 1717-1794
Addressee's age: 40[?]

Dates

Date of composition: 8 December 1757
Date (on letter): Dec: 8. 1757
Calendar: Gregorian

Places

Place of composition: [Cambridge, United Kingdom]
Place of addressee: [London, United Kingdom]

Physical description

Form/Extent: A.L.S.; 1 page, 205 mm x 160 mm
Addressed: To / Dr Thomas Wharton M:D: in / King's Arms Yard, Coleman Street / London (postmark: 9 DE)

Content

Language: English
Incipit: I have received the draught you were so good to send me, & the money...
Mentioned: Andover
Butler, J., Mr

Holding Institution

Location:
(confirmed)
Egerton MS 2400, ff. 102-103, Manuscripts collection, British Library , London, UK <http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/bldept/manuscr/>
Availability: The original letter is extant and usually available for academic research purposes

Print Versions

  • The Works of Thomas Gray, 2 vols. Ed. by John Mitford. London: J. Mawman, 1816, section IV, letter LXVIII, vol. ii, 299-300
  • The Works of Thomas Gray, 5 vols. Ed. by John Mitford. London: W. Pickering, 1835-1843, section IV, letter LXXVI, vol. iii, 181-182
  • The Letters of Thomas Gray, including the correspondence of Gray and Mason, 3 vols. Ed. by Duncan C. Tovey. London: George Bell and Sons, 1900-12, letter no. CLIV, vol. i, 371-372
  • Correspondence of Thomas Gray, 3 vols. Ed. by the late Paget Toynbee and Leonard Whibley, with corrections and additions by H. W. Starr. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971 [1st ed. 1935], letter no. 257, vol. ii, 541-542