Autograph letter signed : [London], to William Angus Knight, 1891 October 6.

Concerning "the books at Preston" (books from Wordsworth's library in the possession of John Burton, at Preston): writing that "I have not any power myself to authorize any expenditure. The remaining capital, about £200 is in the hands of the Trustees, of whom I am only one; and none of us have yet been delegated to expend any money even on necessary furniture"; explaining that he had brought the question of purchasing the books before the Trustees' Committee and the Committee postponed discussion on it; listing some objections to the purchase, including the fact that the Trustees have other expenditures before them ("we have to furnish the House with cottage furniture, to complete the repairs, to put windows in, to set up bookcases") and that the books are not necessarily of great interest: "The mass of those books are books of no interest, as well as I remember, except for the fact of their having been used by Wordsworth. The one marketable value they have is his autograph, and I don't believe that the Preston man would at an auction get more than 20 or 25.£. If the books were books of literary interest, I sh. feel inclined to give my voice heartily for the expenditure, and certainly if they were editions of his poems"; asking for another copy of the list of the books, so that the Committee can examine it carefully; suggesting that the books could be bought for the Trust by an interested party: "There are those who were pretty free in making offers of cash who never subsd. [for "subscribed"] a penny -- Selborne or Coleridge, I forget which of the two [possibly John Coleridge and Roundell Palmer, Earl of Selborne] -- offered money & never sent it. I don't think Gordon Wth [for "Wordsworth"] gave us a farthing. Why shouldn't some of these men help us a little. I & my people have done their share"; re-emphasizing how little money the Trust has to spare: "You do not seem to comprehend how poor we are, & that if a little further public interest is not shown, we shall be obliged to close the place after a few years. We have to be close-fisted, & our friends ought to help us."