William Hone to W[illiam] T[homas] Moncrieff, 17 November, 1826 An Electronic Edition William Hone Kyle Grimes

For publication in the Hone Correspondence section of the William Hone BioText, http://honearchive.org. The letter is published under a Creative Commons license, details of which are accessible from the BioText homepage.

Transcribed from a high-quality scan of the original in the Hone Collection, Adelphi University, Series 1A, Bx 1, f. 4. I am grateful to Adelphi University for providing the scan and for permission to publish the letter.

 First transcription and encoding in TEIlite p5. Produced workable HTML transformation using custom XSLT.
William Hone to W. T. Moncrieff,Known for large-scale stage spectacles, William Thomas Moncrieff was a popular (and controversial) dramatist during the 1810s and 20s. He became the manager of Vauxhall Gardens shortly after this letter. [return] 17 November, 1826. Hone Collection, Adelphi University, Series 1A, Bx 1, f. 4.[return] — -TEI-
22 Belvedere place
17 Nov: 1826. My dear Sir

I was born in a two pair of stairs room at the corner house of Horse Street, being the last on the right hand side of the way, going toward the bridge out of Bath — which I deem it my duty to acquaint you with — and further, that I saw Bath (for the first time after I was removed from it at three years old) in December 1818, and from what I was enabled to observe of the people never desire to see it again — and, moreover, I acquaint you with this, because you date your note from that city — and, furthermore, because my birthplace coming first to my eye, set my minds eye on the goggle — wherefore it pleases me to discurse before I discourse, and so it brings me to your locale.

My dear Sir, what I said to you about "lodging taking" I have not the least recollection of — but I hope nothing offensive — indeed from what you say of and concerning "Saville House" I am persuaded I have been "quite correct," and done nothing more than a little of the "agreeable." I assure you, though, my head has been more [word] excursive than my body — I have been — not "non est" &c. but non compos — and am now not quite "as well as could be expected." Could I have a few chirrupy notes, like yours, it would do much to bring me round. I thank you sincerely for your kind recollection of me, and hope you will not forget the call you wot of.

As to the Wassail "the jolly Wassail bowl" — it will be to me this Xmas as though it were not.Hone had written an extensive article on Wassail for the Every-Day Book that was published in the 1 January, 1826 number [link]. [return] I am pretty miserable, but

Most Sincerely Yours W Hone

I believe we talk more about you, whom we have only seen once, be it remembered, — more than we do of half the people we have known half our lives — Come!

 W. T. Moncrieff Esq..