Letter from Maria Tunno, London, to Charlotte Susannah Raikes, 1817 : autograph manuscript signed.

Expressing her preference for rural life; noting that it is possible to love “the country and domestic habits” without disliking the amusements of London; declining an invitation to Theobalds Place and embracing the opportunity to be with Charlotte Susannah “from a distance”; thanking Charlotte Susannah for the invitation to meet her child; discussing her conversation with a guest she sat next to at a dinner party (possibly J.M. Raikes or her brother Edward) and “tormenting him with as many questions about the home department”; expressing relief regarding the health of Charlotte Susannah and her daughters Charlotte and Matilda; commenting on Charlotte and her entrance into society, praising her “cultivation of mind, and agreeable accomplishments,” and appreciating her nephew Charles “the cherub”. Letter continues, dated "Tuesday": Stating that since writing the above, she and her father have looked at properties, which are pretty but not desirable purchases due to their proximity to bad roads; disclosing that “my poor child” (possibly a reference to her sister Rosa) had the Measles; noting that the Quarterly has featured the poet Lord Byron; the Quarterly defended and praised him as a poet and a character, and she is wondering what Charlotte Susannah thinks about this.