Thomas Gray to William Mason (26 July 1767) Alexander Huber Editor Thomas Gray Archive
info@thomasgray.org https://www.thomasgray.org/
Oxford

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

 USA New York, NY New York Public Library Humanities and Social Sciences Library Henry W. And Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature

The original letter is extant and usually available for academic research purposes

 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. 449, vol. iii, 969-970 http://www.e-enlightenment.com/search/letters/print/?printref_sourceedition=graythOU0084&printref_docnumber=449 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 CXIV, 398-400 https://www.thomasgray.org/texts/diglib/primary/MiJ_1853/1/398 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. CCCVII, vol. iii, 151-152 https://www.thomasgray.org/texts/diglib/primary/ToD_1900iii/1/151 Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771 Durham, United Kingdom Mason, William, 1724-1797 Durham, United Kingdom

Gregorian

 English Brown, James, 1709-1784 Wharton, Thomas, 1717-1794 Mason, William, 1724-1797 Westmorland Rookby (Rokeby) Richmond (Yorks.) Hartlepool Cumberland Barnard Castle

This letter is part of the Primary Texts section of the Thomas Gray Archive.

XML created for the Thomas Gray Archive.

This letter is part of the correspondence calendar of the complete correspondence of Thomas Gray. The calendar contains detailed bibliographic records for all known original, copied, or published letters written by or to the poet as well as the full-text, where available. Each record is accompanied by digitised images of the manuscript, where available, or digitised images of the first printed edition.

 Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) 26 July. 1767, Old-Park. Dear Mason

You are very perverse. I do desire, you would not think of dropping the design you had of obliging the A:p. I submitted my criticisms to your own conscience, & I allow'd the latter half to be excellent, two or three little words excepted. if this will not do, for the future I must say (whatever you send me) that the whole is the most perfect thing in nature, wch is easy to do, when one knows it will be acceptable. seriously I should be sorry, if you did not correct these lines; & am interested enough for the party (only upon your narrative) to wish, he were satisfied in it, for I am edified, when I hear of so mundane a Man, that yet–He has a tear for pity–

By the way I ventured to shew the other Epitaph to Dr Wh:, & sent him brim-full into the next room to cry: I believe, he did not hear it quite through, nor has he ever ask'd to hear it again. and now will you not come & see him?

We are just come back from a little journey to Barnard-Castle, Rookby, & Richmond (Mr Brown & all, all) some thoughts we have of going for two or three days to Hartlepool. then we (Dr W: & I), talk of seeing Westm:d & Cumberland, & perhaps the west of Yorkshire; the mountains I mean, for we despise the plains. then at our return I write to you, not to shew my talent at description, but to ask again, whether you will come or no.

Adieu! I wish you health & peace of mind, and am ever Yours T G:

Mr Brown & the Dr desire their comp:ts to Mr Robinson.