BIB_ID
376798
Accession number
MA 981.1
Creator
Boswell, James, 1740-1795.
Display Date
1758 July 29.
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan before 1906.
Description
1 item (4 p.) ; 30.6 cm
Notes
Part of a large collection of letters from James Boswell to William Johnson Temple and related correspondence. Letters have been described in individual records; see MA 981 for details.
Provenance
Major William Stone; purchased by Pierpont Morgan from the London dealer J. Pearson & Co. before 1906.
Summary
Explaining why his father does not want him to visit Temple at Berwick this season; commenting on Temple's account of performance of Elfrida [Elfrida: a Dramatic Poem on the Model of the Antient Greek Tragedy, by Rev. William Mason] and The Spleen [by Matthew Green]; mentioning that he was introduced to Temple's friend, [David] Hume, and remarking that Hume "has realy a great deal of learning, and a choice collection of books ... Mr. Hume ... is a very proper person for a young man to cultivate an acquaintance with; though he has not, perhaps, the most delicate taste, yet he has applyed himself with great attention to the study of the ancients, and is likeways a great Historian, so that you are not only entertained in his company, but may reap a great deal of usefull instruction"; writing at length about his feelings for a "Miss W--t," but concluding that he "can have but little hopes, as she is a Fortune of £30,000"; asking him not to mention his infatuation with Miss W--t to anyone else; discussing his upcoming travel plans.
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