Acquired as part of a large collection of letters addressed to William Angus Knight, Chair of Moral Philosophy at the University of St. Andrews and Wordsworth scholar. Items in the collection have been individually accessioned and cataloged.
Embossed letterhead: "1. Manchester Square, / W." Brooke has crossed this out and written "Nottingham" instead.
Signed with his initials.
Discussing the display and framing of prints that Knight had given to Dove Cottage (see MA 9087.28); discussing which books of Wordsworth's poetry should be displayed in Dove Cottage: "I have never looked forward to having all the editions of Wths poetry placed in the Cottage. All I have ever desired is that the first editions of the various poems should be placed there; & perhaps the first four editions of the Lyrical Ballads. The collected editions after 1820 or perhaps after 1832 seem to be unnecessary. Some day, we may perhaps have a regular Wordsworth Library; but not yet. We have not money for it. Moreover it was never in my idea to have a Wordsworth Museum in the Cottage"; suggesting that Knight try to sell the books in his possession (see MA 9087.29) to an American institution; telling him that he has instructed James Bain to send the books on to the bookseller Elkin Mathews; commenting on George Craik, who was a partner at Macmillan: "I fancy he looks on me as a lost soul. I offered him that Tennyson book. He was so cold about it that I took it elsewhere. He is a kind of slave to Hallam [Tennyson]"; responding to an invitation to lecture at St. Andrews: "I will do what I can about the Lecture. It will depend on my health. My acceptance, when I give it, will be conditional."