Letter from John Payne Collier, Maidenhead, to A.C. Swinburne, 1880 February 18 : autograph manuscript signed.

Sending him a copy of a poem which he wrote in his youth; saying "I can hardly expect that you will like it; but at 92 I send you a poem (so I venture to call it) which I wrote before I was 19, which I privately printed in 1825 and which I am not yet ashamed of : two stanzas I then added on the fall of Napoleon, & some notes - You dare not, for reverence of the art, put it behind the fire; and after reading your 'Study of Shakespeare' (part of which I may not well understand) I wish to shew you some mark of my regard. Accept it, not without some feeling of respect for the old author, however he may be mistaken in his estimate. While I wrote it, I had the music of Spenser's verse always in my ears; and I had hardly then begun my enquiries regarding Shakespeare. I remain with sincere respect for yourself and work."