Letter 16: 30 June 1804'

Letter 16: 30 June 1804


  • Physical form: One half sheet folded into 2 leaves (12.3 x 19.8 cm); fol 2r is blank, 2v is cover
  • Cover: Miss Rickards / Mrs Rickards / Church Row /Hampstead / Middlesex
  • PM: [x]o’Clock / JU [30] / 1804 N.T.
    [traces of an oblong PM] by [xxx] / on S
    [Two]PyPo[st] / Unpaid / Stoke N[ewington]
  • WM: None
  • SM: Misc MS 4357

My dear Miss Rickards,

When I saw Mrs Hoare, [1] it was my full intention, & Mr Barbauld’s to offer ourselves to our Hampstead friends, & when I went to London that afternoon, I hoped not to return without having seen you, but by the time I got to London, where I only drank tea with Mrs Kinder, [2] I was very glad to get home again, for the extreme hot weather we have had lately, has weakened me a good deal, & I found it necessary to recruit by perfect quiet—I dare not therefore just
at

[fol 1v] at present make any engagement, but as soon as I find myself a little stouter, which may be in a few days, I will let you know, & in the mean time beg Mrs Rickards not to wait for us in making her engagement with Mr Tooke [3] &c—I do indeed think it a long time since we met, & shall with the greatest pleasure visit Hampstead as soon as I am fit to offer myself to you. With most affectionate remembrances to Mrs Rickards, I am dearest Lydia, Yours ever

AL Barbauld

Notes

[1] Mrs. Hoare: Wife of Samuel Hoare, banker, of Hampstead. BACK

[2] Mrs. Kinder: Probably Anna Letitia Kinder, the wife of John Kinder, draper, in Cheapside (Hunter, 182). BACK

[3] The Rev. William Tooke (1744–1820), historian. The Tookes and the Barbaulds visited frequently in June 1802 (RB, Diary). BACK