William Hone to Dr. [Charles] West, 3 August, 1840 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 the original at Wellesley College Library, Special Collections, Last Days of William Hone, f. 2.

 Transcribed from images supplied by Wellesley.
William Hone to Dr. Charles West, 3 August, 1840.Wellesley College Library, Special Collections, Last Days of William Hone, f. 2. The letter concerns an effort to develop an application to the Royal Literary Fund in order to support Hone now that he has had to give up his work at The Patriot due to his physical infirmities. The application was submitted on 7 November, 1840. Eventually, with recommendations from Robert Woollaston, Josiah Conder, and J. Payne Collier, the application was successful. West had acted as Hone's advocate during these proceedings; Hone received £40 on 12 December, 1840. A summary of Hone's exchanges with the Literary Fund—both in the present instance and in his application of February 1834—can be found in Nigel Cross's A Select Catalogue of Applicants to the Royal Literary Fund, 1790-1870, PhD diss., University College London, 1980. [return] — -TEI-
Richmond.
3 August 1840 My dear Sir

Mr. Alderman Pirie is the best Treasurer we can have — he unites Church & Dissent, all isms, and noism — Try hard for him; & for Mr. Piper Senr. & Dr. [Price?], Mr. W. A. Hankey, & G. F. Angos (Angas) as Trustees — with Mr Joseph Sturgeon & Mr Ald. Pirie as Treasurer, — they unite all interests. & the name of each is mighty. If the list presents these it will be a powerful one.

When will you come hither? As soon as you can I shall be glad to see you — the earlier in the week the better for sleeping, & for me.

Thank you for the Antiq. Tracts. I have found in them the Horn-book.

I am mindless — the drain from the spinal chord continues — The summer has set in gloriously, & the heat compels me to sit at home listless all day, & with my pen powerless. Even Faustus is unread. There is [staple?] in Goethe's Life.

"Lord Dudley's Letters," to Dr Coppleston is the title to a book.This is likely Letters of the Earl of Dudley to the Bishop of Llandaff (London: John Murray, 1840). [return] Richmond people say there is nothing in it! Read it.

Most sinderely Yours W Hone Messrs. Hankey & Co. Bankers?