William Hone to John Childs, 26 December, 1829 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 and edited from the original in the British Library, Add. MS 41071, ff. 26-27.
William Hone to John Childs, 26 December, 1829.British Library, Add. MS 41071, ff. 26-27. [return] — -TEI-
Newington Green
26 December 1829. Dear Childs,

I have been northward strutting since the 24th of October till I got home from Derby yesterday—in token of my having been at the latter place take this, that I dined on Tuesday with Mr. William Strutt, and afterwards went to the Theatre with him & there with all the Messrs. Strutt was present at the performance of Mr William Cobbett being his first appearance there. Moreover, as further token, I add, that on Wednesday I saw at Wilkins, the Booksellers, a certain edition of Ainsworth in octavo which I presumed to say of, that it was the finest specimen of the Bungay Press, and unequalled by any typography I am acquainted with.Hone refers to Childs's publication in 1829 of Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary. [return]

Moreover, I have been informed on coming home that you had devised & intended the conveyance to me of a certain dole, as of annual custom, whereof no intelligence can be derived either at the Belle [one word], the Bull, or the Spread Eagle (a never-to-be-forgotten house) in Gracechurch Street opposite whereto I am about to open certain premises under the sign and denomination of the "Grasshopper Coffee-house" with a view to which latter purpose, & in contemplation thereof, & of being assisted therein, I peradventured to Liverpool, & abode there at Edward Rushton's for three weeks, and afterward sojourned at Manchester (with our friend John Shuttleworth) for nearly a month & thence essayed to Leeds, & to Sheffield, and lastly, Derby as aforesaid.

If there be any error in the matter of the Turkey, drop me a line, if not, be silent till we meet at the said Grasshopper, in or after the month of February next. I write this on the counter of Mr. [one word], the Buscuit baker, in Threadneedle Street, where we last met.

With best wishes, and regards, to Mrs Childs and your family, and the like to your brother, I remain

Dear Childs, Yours most sincerely W Hone

It is just possible that I may journey towards Yarmouth in a week or two. I have a chest-full of autographs for sale, & Mr Dawson Turner has thrown out a sort, of a sort of "[short word] of invitation." Are there any other autograph buyers in Suffolk or Norfolk?In his effort to raise money to open the Grasshopper Coffee House, Hone was trying to sell his collection of autographs. [return]

[Addressed:] For: Mr. John Childs Dictionary Manufacturer Bungay, Suffolk