BIB_ID
407959
Accession number
MA 35.52
Creator
Arblay, Alexandre Jean Baptiste Piochard, comte d', 1754-1818.
Display Date
[1814 May].
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1905.
Description
1 item (2 pages, with address) ; 19.7 x 15.4 cm
Notes
No date or place of writing is given. However, based on internal evidence, this letter was most likely written during the month that Monsieur d'Arblay spent in England following the death of FBA's father Charles. Charles Burney's will left James and Charlotte considerably worse off than their other siblings, and Esther and Fanny attempted to ameliorate this by proposing that they receive part of the profits from a mortgage the two older sisters had inherited. The proposal was not accepted; a letter written by FBA to James's son Martin in the end of May refers to James's refusal (see letter 781, The Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney, Volume 7: 1812-1814, pages 342-343). Other letters in this collection that make reference to the matter are MA 35.25 and MA 35.57-59.
Address panel: "To Brother / James Burney."
Address panel: "To Brother / James Burney."
Provenance
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan from the London dealer Quaritch in July 1905 as part of a collection of Burney's correspondence and fragments of manuscripts, bound in three volumes. Disbound in 1925.
Summary
Telling James that he has a proposal, one that has already been agreed to by Esther and Fanny; begging him not to "make face to my broken English. But try [doucement] to guess my true meaning which always is what it ough [sic] to be, il est concordant with my parfait estime and true brotherly love of you"; writing that the "Ireland Burney Business" ought to produce at least £1600, "but the difficulty is to have that money paid and secured"; asking that James take on the responsibility of bringing the business to a "happy end," at which point James would divide the money equally between Esther, Fanny and himself; proposing that, before the money is divided, Fanny receive reimbursement, as well as interest, for a £100 which she is advancing "for the prosecution of that affair" and that their sister Charlotte ("dear Sister Broom") also receive £300; asking in a postscript if James's son Martin could assist with the legal aspects of this matter.
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