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Richard Hurd to Thomas Gray, 4 December 1769

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To Thomas Gray Esqr at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge; [readdressed:] Mr Roberts, Hosier and Hatter, at the three Squirrels in Jermyn Street, London

Dear Sir

I troubled you some time ago, by Mr Mason, with a petition on behalf of Mr T. Warton, who is digesting his history of E. Poetry, and wishes very much to know what your idea was for the scheme of such a work. I told him, I did not know what progress you had made in that design, or whether you had drawn out a plan of it, but that, if you had, I believed you would readily acquaint him with it. This passed in the Summer, & since that I have heard nothing of him. But as I suppose you are now in college, after your various wanderings by sea and land, you will give me a pleasure to let me know what I shall further say on this subject to Mr Warton. If you have any papers to communicate to him, & will send them to me, I will take care they shall be transmitted safely to Oxford. I believe I may answer to you for him, that he will make no improper use of your favours.

Of Mr Mason I hear nothing, except, by Dr Gisburne, that he is now at Aston. He complains, that you and I are hyper-critical, or rather hyper-political: But in this he is mistaken: We only wish to see his Georgic, truly Virgilian.

Mr Nevile has sent me his Imitations. They are not to be considered, as Satires, for popular reading; but as classical amusements, sometimes copying the sense, & sometimes the manner, of his originals. And in this light, they have frequently great merit.

You did not send me a copy of the Installation Ode; which piqued me, so much, that I was greatly disappointed when, with so good a disposition to find fault, I was obliged, with all the world, to commend & admire it

I am very truly, Dear Sir,
Your affectionate humble Servant
R. Hurd
Letter ID: letters.0571 (Source: TEI/XML)

Correspondents

Writer: Hurd, Richard, 1720-1808
Writer's age: 49
Addressee: Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771
Addressee's age: 53

Dates

Date of composition: 4 December 1769
Date (on letter): Dec. 4, 1769
Calendar: Gregorian

Places

Place of composition: London, United Kingdom
Address (on letter): Lincoln's Inn
Place of addressee: [London, United Kingdom]

Physical description

Addressed: To Thomas Gray Esqr at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge; [readdressed:] Mr Roberts, Hosier and Hatter, at the three Squirrels in Jermyn Street, London

Content

Language: English
Incipit: I troubled you some time ago, by Mr Mason, with a petition on...
Mentioned: Nevile, Thomas
Warton, Thomas, 1728-1790
Warton, Thomas, 1728-1790

Holding Institution

Location:
(unconfirmed)
Hurd Library, Hartlebury Castle , Hartlebury, UK <https://www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk/museums/county-museum-hartlebury/>
Availability: The original letter is extant, but there is no further information about its availability

Print Versions

  • The Correspondence of Richard Hurd & William Mason. And letters of Richard Hurd to Thomas Gray. With introduction & notes by the late Ernest Harold Pearce. Ed. with additional notes by Leonard Whibley. Cambridge: University Press, 1932, 68-69
  • 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. 509*, vol. iii, 1092-1093