CHATTERTON (THOMAS) Autograph fragment, the lower right portion from a lost letter to his sister...

CHATTERTON (THOMAS) Autograph fragment, the lower right portion from a lost letter to his sister Mary, comprising nine lines on recto and eight on verso ('...You have doubtless [heard of the Lord Mayor's remonstr]ating and addressing the King; but [it will be a piece of news to infor]m you that I have been with the [Lord Mayor on the occasion. Having addresse]d an Essay to his Lordship, it [was very well received; perhaps] better than it deserved;... My compliments to Miss [Thatcher, if am in love, I am; tho' the] Devil take me...'), with subscription in another hand 'Original handwriting of Chatterton' beneath, dust-staining, five small pin holes, in a heavy paper window mount, 90 x 85mm., with mount 185 x 132mm., [London, 30 May 1770] Footnotes: RARE FRAGMENT OF A LOST LETTER FROM THOMAS CHATTERTON TO HIS SISTER. The current fragment has been identified as a portion of a letter written by Chatterton, Wordsworth's 'marvellous boy', to his sister Mary Newton. He writes from Tom's Coffee House in Birchin Lane, Cornhill on 30 May 1770, a place frequented much by young merchants, less than three months before his untimely death. He was embarking on a life of literary journalism in London and the letter, of which this is a portion, talks confidently of his high hopes for the future, plans to write a 'voluminous History of London', of an essay addressed to the Mayor of London which was well received ('...better than it deserved...') and of a mysterious Miss Thatcher. The text of the letters to his mother and sister from these last months are known from Herbert Croft's 'strange book' (Taylor, p.1064) Love and Madness of 1780, which includes transcriptions he took directly from manuscripts borrowed (under false pretences according to Donald Taylor) from the recipients. Mrs Chatterton allowed him to keep Thomas' last letter (8 July 1770) and two drawings, but retained the rest. Some years later his sister Mary assisted Joseph Cottle in the publication of The Works of Thomas Chatterton of 1803 (pp.587-589), co-edited with Robert Southey, who also printed the letter in whole, and it is possible the letters may then have passed into Cottle's hands at that time. After that, however, they disappear from view. The survival of our fragment may suggest that the letters were cut into pieces to be sold as souvenirs of Chatterton, who become a cult figure in Romantic circles after his death. The full text of Chatterton's letter is also included in Meyerstein, A Life of Thomas Chatterton, 1930, pp. 371-374 and in Donald S. Taylor's The Complete Works of Thomas Chatterton, 1971, no.587, pp.1095-1096, and our fragment is discussed on the Thomas Chatterton manuscript project website. Provenance: Purchased in the early 1990's by collector Tom Routledge (1937-2011), who lectured on the fragment at the 'Thomas Chatterton & Western Culture, 250th Anniversary' conference held at the University of Bristol in September 2002, a copy of which is included in the lot; thence by descent. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing