Letter from Aubrey de Vere, Curragh Chase, to William Angus Knight, 1884 April 9 : autograph manuscript signed.

Thanking him for the copy of the "Transactions of the Wordsworth Society" and rejoicing "...to hear that the new Edition will be out so soon, & that your Biography will follow before long..I remember Wordsworth once telling me that the alterations made by him from the original copy of a poem consisted much more often in expression than in comprehension;" hoping to send him his new essay entitled "Wisdom & Truth" of Wordsworth's poetry which will be printed in the Catholic World (American journal); hoping to republish all of his Wordsworth essays with essays on other great poets, saying he has arranged with Dr. Grosart to include "Recollections" of Wordsworth" among these and promising that Knight can quote freely from this; asking him to dissuade the Wordsworth Society from asking him to preside over a meeting explaining "...I prefer to make my small efforts to the extension of Wordsworth's fame & influence (so far as I can) in a humbler way. I can never be sure of being in London at a particular time, & have no habit of public speaking or knowledge of a chairman's duties at a meeting. Consequently whenever I may be able to be present, I should much prefer not to be charged with those duties."