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Thomas Gray to Horace Walpole, [19 January 1735]

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To
The Honble Mr Horace Walpole
at his house in St James's Square London
CAMBRIDGE 20 1A

[           ]

You have perform'd your promise as fully, as I could have wish'd it: there seems to have been no occasion for ushering it in with an Apology, since I have long learnt to be more than contented with whatever comes from a hand so dear. the things, that are to be deliver'd by word of mouth, give me so much impatience, that I would desire you to send down your mouth by the coach, if I were not apprehensive what a loss it would be to the next Masquerade, & what a dearth of pretty things it might occasion in town; however I hope you'll not fail to send your thoughts by the post, without a Masque. you are extremely good in making me a feast every other day; I have kept myself alive all this long Christmas by the help of your letters, & a few Mince-pyes, which an old Gentlewoman in this town sends me, & in whose favour I have made no small progress, I can assure you. you must know, I make my Addresses to her by calling her, Grandmother; in so much, that she sends her Niece every day to know how I do: N:B: the other [day she] was dying, as every one thought, but herself: and when the Physician told her how dangerous her case was; she fell into a violent passion with him: marry come up! she dye! no, indeed would'nt she; dye quotha! she'd as soon be hang'd: in short she was so resolutely bent upon not dying, that she really did live, & is now as well as

your sincerest friend
OROZMADES

P:S: Punch is more smart, than ordinary.

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Letter ID: letters.0010 (Source: TEI/XML)

Correspondents

Writer: Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771
Writer's age: 18
Addressee: Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797
Addressee's age: 17

Dates

Date of composition: [19 January 1735]
Date (on letter): Sunday: Jan: 21
Calendar: Julian

Places

Place of composition: [Cambridge, United Kingdom]
Place of addressee: [London, United Kingdom]

Physical description

Addressed: To / The Honble Mr Horace Walpole / at his house in St James's Square London (postmark: CAMBRIDGE 20 1A)

Content

Language: English
Incipit: You have perform'd your promise as fully, as I could have wish'd it...

Holding Institution

Location:
(confirmed)
GBR/1058/GRA/3/4/9, College Library, Pembroke College, Cambridge , Cambridge, UK <http://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/>
Availability: The original letter is extant and usually available for academic research purposes

Print Versions

  • The Correspondence of Gray, Walpole, West and Ashton (1734-1771), 2 vols. Chronologically arranged and edited with introduction, notes, and index by Paget Toynbee. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1915, letter no. 9, vol. i, 24-25
  • The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence. Ed. by W. S. Lewis. New Haven, Conn.: Yale UP; London: Oxford UP, 1937-83, vols. 13/14: Horace Walpole's Correspondence with Thomas Gray, Richard West and Thomas Ashton i, 1734-42, Horace Walpole's Correspondence with Thomas Gray ii, 1745-71, ed. by W. S. Lewis, George L. Lam and Charles H. Bennett, 1948, vol. i, 75-76
  • Correspondence of Thomas Gray, 3 vols. Ed. by the late Paget Toynbee and Leonard Whibley, with corrections and additions by H. W. Starr. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971 [1st ed. 1935], letter no. 10, vol. i, 19-20