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Thomas Gray to Norton Nicholls, 5 November 1767

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To The Revd Mr Nicholls at Capt:n Floyer's in Richmond Surrey
5 NO

Dear Sr

I am come, & shall rejoice to congratulate you face to face on your good luck, wch is wonderful in my eyes: I hope there are no rubs in the way to prevent my seeing you snug in the rectory, surrounded with fat pigs & stubble-geese, & Madam in her grogram gown doing the honours of Lovingland at the head of your table.

I have much to say, so much that I shall say no more: but come quickly, if the main chance will suffer you, or I will know the reason why.

Adieu! I am sincerely
Yours
T G:
Letter ID: letters.0511 (Source: TEI/XML)

Correspondents

Writer: Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771
Writer's age: 50
Addressee: Nicholls, Norton, c. 1742-1809
Addressee's age: 25[?]

Dates

Date of composition: 5 November 1767
Date (on letter): 5 Nov: 1767
Calendar: Gregorian

Places

Place of composition: London, United Kingdom
Address (on letter): Jermyn-Street
Place of addressee: [Richmond, United Kingdom]

Physical description

Form/Extent: A.L.S.; 1 page
Addressed: To The Revd Mr Nicholls at Capt:n Floyer's in Richmond Surrey (postmark: 5 NO)

Content

Language: English
Incipit: I am come, & shall rejoice to congratulate you face to face on your...
Mentioned: Lovingland

Holding Institution

Location:
(confirmed)
College Library, Eton College , Windsor, UK <http://www.etoncollege.com/collegelibrary.aspx>
Availability: The original letter is extant and usually available for academic research purposes; bound into a copy of Mathias's Works of Thomas Gray (London, 1814), vol. II, part 2; a photocopy is at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, OSB MSS c 467, box 1, folder 67

Print Versions

  • The Works of Thomas Gray, 5 vols. Ed. by John Mitford. London: W. Pickering, 1835-1843, letter VI, vol. v, 69
  • 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. CCCXIII, vol. iii, 161
  • 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. 455, vol. iii, 979