[John Wolcot, "Peter Pindar"; satirist] Two Letters [File copies?], Unsigned, from Wolcot to Henry Colburn, publisher [both docketed "Sir Joshua Reynolds | sent to Colborn [sic] Bookseller"
Published by No place or date trimmed. Watermark Letter One, 1809
- Used
Seller: Richard M. Ford Ltd, London, United KingdomRichard M. Ford Ltd
AbeBooks seller since November 20, 1997
Condition: Used
£ 250.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Total five pages, 8vo, trimmed (perhaps removing a place and date), closed tear on one fold, mainly good condition. This form of the letters (file copies?) was obviously in John Rope Rogers' mind in his "Biographical Sketch", introducing "Opie and His Works Being a Catalogue of 760 Pictures by John Opie [.]" [1878]: "The following letter of Dr. Wolcot's, indorsed,"On Sir Joshua Reynolds; sent to Colborn, Book-seller" was found in a collection of published and unpublished remains of Dr. Wolcot, which was sold at Puttick and Simpson's, May 17th, 1877. The letter is undated, as Wolcot's usually were, and is apparently a school-boy's copy, corrected by Wolcot himself. The pictures mentioned are two of those which Opie afterwards took to the King, and were probably kept by Wolcot as specimens. This would fix the date of the letter as in the spring of 1782. The Jew is now at Enys, and the Beggar was probably that exhibited at the Royal Academy, with four others in that year. "I have again called on Reynolds with a pair of John Opies pictures, the portrait of a Jew and Cornish beggary on which he expressed surprize at performances by a boy in a country village containing excellencies that would not disgrace the pencil of Caravaggio. Opie's knowledge of chiaroscuro without having ever seen a picture of the dark masters, drew from his eye a sort of wonder. It strikes me that Reynolds expects Opie to be as perfect in the delineation of the graces as in the heads of vulgar nature, and in consequence become a formidable rival. But here I am sorry to say he will be fortunately mistaken; Opie, I fear, is too fond of imitating coarse expression . . . To him at present elegance appears affectation, and the forms of Raphael unnatural. He too much resembles a country farmer, who never having tasted anything beyond rough cyder, cannot feel the flavour of burgundy or champagne." That they were "found in published and unpublished papers of John Wolcot" strongly suggests they were Wolcot's file copies. Not in his hand, unless Rogers is correct in ascribing corrections of the "Schoolboy" hand to him. His suggestion that the letters were written in 1782 must be incorrect since Colburn, the recipient, would have been a mere two years old. And the watermark date of Letter One is 1809, early days for Colburn but possible. Rogers gives a decent amount of information above about Letter Two. In Letter One, Wolcot focusses on Joshua Reynolds, commencing: "An enthusiastic lover of painting you have in several of your letters expressed a desire of knowing some thing relative to the person an powers of Reynolds - Fortunate in having gained a little access to this extraordinary man perhaps I may not be totally disqualified for offering and [sic, for 'an'] impartial delination [sic] - I am proud to say that not only vidi Virgilium [underlined], but audivi [undeciphered word] rather in form nature has kindly overballanced [sic] this deficiency by making him a Hercules in intellect. His features are plain but replete with expression; Tho' utterence [sic] ungraceful and inharmonious but highly compensated by the force and truth of his observation he converses with perfect freedom and communicates instruction without the faintest tincture of egotism - His room is filled with the works of the first masters Rubens, Corregio, [undeciphered], Claude, Georgione [Giorgione] &c- He did me the favour of entering into the merits and defects of two or three performances [.]" See Image for rest of letter.…
Seller Inventory # 23717
Bibliographic details
- Title
- [John Wolcot, "Peter Pindar"; satirist] Two Letters [File copies?], Unsigned, from Wolcot to Henry Colburn, publisher [both docketed "Sir Joshua Reynolds | sent to Colborn [sic] Bookseller"
- Author
- John Wolcot, "Peter Pindar" (baptised 9 May 1738 14 January 1819), Satirist.
- Publisher
- No place or date trimmed. Watermark Letter One
- Publication year
- 1809
Richard M. Ford Ltd
London, United Kingdom
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 14 to 45 business days | 5 to 10 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 4.50 | £ 8.85 |
Payment methods
- Bank Draft
- Bank Wire Transfer
- Cash
- Cash on Delivery
- Check
- Direct Debit
- Money Order
Store description
Private premises. Autographs, manuscripts and archives on any subject. Particular interest in publishing and bookselling history. Occasional catalogues. Company number: 03785276
Specialty
Bookselling History, Publishing History, Autographs And ManuscriptsAssociation member
Seller's business information
Richard M. Ford Ltd
7 The Close
Norwich, United Kingdom NR1 4DJ
Terms of sale
All carriage costs, including insurance, are extra.
Payment on receipt of item if customer known or institution. Otherwise, cash
with order.
Payment in British Pounds or IMO (pounds) or PayPal.
If item considered unsatisfactory or description inaccurate, it may be returned
within two weeks of receipt. No dealer discount.
Photocopies or scans of part only of a letter will be supplied on request for
authentification purposes.
VAT requested where applicable.
Return policy as per EU regulations on my website.
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Richard M. Ford Ltd, London, United Kingdom, +44 07884315545, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
My normal charge for post is £1.50 (U.K.) and £4.50 (U.S. and Continent). Anything heavier than a letter (archive or book) will lead to an increase in my normal charges.