A new letter by Robert Lowth has come to light:
It is advertised on the website Modern First Editions (from which I took this image). This is very interesting news, but I have a lot of questions:
- the information on the website says that the letter is signed, but it lacks a signature, so what made the sellers identify it as a letter from Lowth? (And why do they claim it is signed?)
- if there is no date or place, on what grounds is it dated 1767? It is said to have been sent from Oxford, but this cannot be seen in the letter itself.
- how did they get hold of it?
- why would someone wish to sell the letter?
- who is it addressed to?
But most importantly of all, why do they ask so much for it? Three hundred pounds is a great deal of money for a letter that isn’t really very informative and that is in far from perfect condition.
robertlowth 