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Thomas Gray to William Mason, 6 June 1767

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Dear Mason

We are a-coming, but not so fast as you think for, because Mr Brown can not think of stirring till Whitsun-week is over. the Monday following we propose to set out in our chaise: do not think of sending Benjamin, I charge you. we shall find our way from Bautry very cleverly.

I shall bring with me a drawing, wch Stuart has made. he approves your sketch highly, & therefore (I suppose) has alter'd it in every particular, not at all for the better in my mind. he says, you should send him an account of the place & position, & a scale of the dimensions; this is what I modestly proposed before, but you give no ear to me. the relief, in artificial stone, he thinks, would come to about eight guineas.

Poor Mr Fitzherbert had a second Son, who was at Caen: he complain'd of a swelling & some pain in his knee, wch rather increasing upon him, his Father sent for him over. the Surgeons agreed, it was a White-swelling, & he must lose his leg. he underwent the operation with great fortitude, but died the second day after it.

Adieu! I am ever
Yours
T G:

I rejoice, Mr Wood is well, & present my humble service to him.

Letter ID: letters.0500 (Source: TEI/XML)

Correspondents

Writer: Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771
Writer's age: 50
Addressee: Mason, William, 1724-1797
Addressee's age: 43

Dates

Date of composition: 6 June 1767
Date (on letter): June 6. 1767
Calendar: Gregorian

Places

Place of composition: London, United Kingdom
Address (on letter): Jermyn-street

Content

Language: English
Incipit: We are a-coming, but not so fast as you think for, because Mr Brown can not...
Mentioned: Bawtry
Brown, James, 1709-1784
Stuart, James

Holding Institution

Location:
(confirmed)
Henry W. And Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, New York Public Library , New York, NY, USA <https://www.nypl.org/about/divisions/berg-collection-english-and-american-literature>
Availability: The original letter is extant and usually available for academic research purposes

Print Versions

  • The Correspondence of Thomas Gray and William Mason, with Letters to the Rev. James Brown, D.D. Ed. by the Rev. John Mitford. London: Richard Bentley, 1853, letter CX, 388-389
  • 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. CCCII, vol. iii, 144-145
  • 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. 444, vol. iii, 963