Autograph letter signed : [London], to George Goodin Moulton-Barrett, 1888 December 21.

Writing that he found George's letter from October 1 waiting for him when he returned home after four months spent with Pen and Fannie in Venice, accompanied by his sister Sarianna; discussing Pen's purchase of the Venetian palazzo Ca' Rezzonico, the low price he paid for it, the restoration work he is doing on it, and how happy and suited to the project he seems; commenting that the only circumstance that clouds his happiness at present is Fannie's uncertain health; mentioning that Pen has painted a full-length portrait of him; sending news of the success of "his Edition" (see MA 2148.84); encouraging George to come see them, and to go visit Pen and Fannie: "He [Pen] intends to fit up 'some Bachelor rooms': he himself will occupy the Pope's old apartment [referring to Clement XIII, a previous inhabitant of the palazzo]--the snuggest: and quietly wait till, bit by bit, he 'furnishes' the whole of his domain--which he does not find at all too vast"; quoting two lines from John Donne's poem "The Progresse of the Soule."