Lost Dr. Samuel Johnson letter discovered in Gloucestershire country house
A lost letter written by the renowned English writer Samuel Johnson has been discovered among a cache of letters found "tucked away" in the cupboard of a Gloucestershire country house.
The18th Century man of letters compiled one of the most famous dictionaries in history: Dictionary of the English Language.
The letter, which had been officially logged as ‘present location unknown’ for many years, was published in The Letters of Samuel Johnson and was found on a routine valuation by Chorley's Auctioneers and Valuers’ specialists.
The letter was tucked away with others in a cupboard, with the current owner of the house being unaware of their historical importance.
He penned the missing letter to Sophia Thrale, the daughter of Hester Lynch Thrale, a British author and patron of the arts, who Johnson corresponded with so regularly and in so much detail, that her letters later became historically important published resources into 18th-century society and the great mind of Dr. Johnson.
The two became acquainted when Hester, who came from one of the most illustrious Welsh land-owning dynasties; the Salusbury family, married the brewer Henry Thrale in 1763 and moved to London.
The current letter to a twelve-year-old Sophia Thrale, the sixth daughter of Hester Lynch Thrale, is the only known letter between them to survive, although there are several references to others in Johnson’s published letters.
In the letter the elderly Johnson chides Sophia for not thinking of herself as his favourite; ‘my favour will, I’m afraid never be worth much, but its value more or less, you are never likely to lose it.’ He also praised her arithmetical ability; 'Never think, my Sweet, that you have arithmetick enough, when you have exhausted your master, buy books, nothing amuses more harmlessly than computation'.
The letter carries an estimate of £8,000-£12,000 and will be open to bids in a sale titled The Library: Printed Books & Manuscripts at Chorley’s on Tuesday 19 September 2023.
