Autograph letter signed : Bournemouth, to William Angus Knight, 1880 May 12 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Saying that Knight "could neither gain much from my coöperation nor lose much from the want of it," regarding information about Wordsworth; adding that he would only be able to repeat what he told an earlier inquirer (a Mr. Grosail?); commenting "To gather about a mans work all the details that can be found out about it is, in my opinion, to put a drag upon it. And as of the works, so of the Life"; saying that his understanding was that Wordsworth wanted only a "brief memoriam"; writing "His desire was disregarded & his Life lies buried in the dust heaped upon it (with the best intentions) by his nephew & biographer, the Bishop of Lincoln" (referring to Christopher Wordsworth); adding that he is afraid he is answering Knight in "a too confidential tone," but saying that he is thankful for "the attention shown me in yr Letter"; writing that he does not know whether a copy of the original edition of Descriptive Sketches still exists