Letter from W. E. Henley, London, to Lord Windsor, 1903 January 23 : autograph manuscript signed with initials.

Saying "The birds turned up at Woking yesterday : so they came in time for the feast. Or, rather, they would have done so, had we feasted there, & not chez [illegible], as we did. This is our new address; & here we purpose to remain till Parliament meets, & a little bit after. Here I can see [illegible], & discuss methods of 'badgering' the Chief - (or is it First?) - Commissioner of Works; & here I hope to see the First (or is it Chief?) - Commissioner of Works, & discuss the same with him. I must look into that matter of "Slang" when I get back to Woking. I think I shall be able to send you a complete set : partly in sheets & partly in parts. It is subscribed at £10/10; &, with all its faults (& they are many & gross), it is far & away the best thing done in our tongue. But, as I said, it isn't a book for general reading : far from it. And it's seven volumes long;" adding, in a postscript, "I don't know the county in which Oakley Park is situated; so I send this on to Hewell;" adding, in a second postscript, "I am asked to say that the wild duck at yesterday's breakfast wasn't to be named in the same breath with those Shropshire birds, & made them appear in the light of a blessed memory."