BIB_ID
106147
Accession number
MA 9146
Creator
Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797.
Display Date
[1773 October 27].
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1901.
Description
1 item (1 page) ; 23.4 x 18.9 cm
Notes
There are two dates on this letter: next to his signature, Burke gives the date of writing as "Wednesday Night." The date "27 Octr 1773" appears at the top of the sheet, but it is written in a hand that matches dates on other letters received by Philip Francis (see MA 9148 for an example). Based on a comparison with these letters and letters by Francis in the Morgan's collection, it appears to be a docketing by Francis or his secretary. The notes to this letter in The Correspondence of Edmund Burke support an October 27, 1773 dating, based on Francis's response; see page 473 in the Correspondence, cited below, for additional information.
The place of writing is given as "Broad Sanctuary," a street in Westminster.
The place of writing is given as "Broad Sanctuary," a street in Westminster.
Provenance
This letter was removed, along with others, from Volume I of a bound collection of the correspondence of Philip Francis (MA 148-150) in 1928. The correspondence had gone by descent to Philip Francis's eldest granddaughter Miss Francis, and was in her possession in 1871; sale (London, Sotheby's, 27 November 1897); purchased by Pierpont Morgan from the London dealer J. Pearson & Co., 1901.
Summary
Telling Francis that he has received a letter informing him that his old friend, and his lawyer, John Ridge, "whom I have not seen for many years, & whom I have long and impatiently expected, will be at my house in the Country early tomorrow"; asking if, in these circumstances, he could postpone a scheduled meeting with Francis and John Bourke; adding that, if Francis agrees to a postponement, he will inform Bourke himself.
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