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
S. Newington
June 30th
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
