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an old manuscript with writing on it and a black stamp on top of it
Ader

23 - Thomas DE QUINCEY (1785–1859), English writer.
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Estimate €1,000 - €1,500
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Description
Thomas DE QUINCEY (1785–1859), English writer. Autograph letter, Fox Ghyll, 9 November 1823, to the publisher James Augustus Hessey in London; three and a half pages, quarto size, address (water-stains with some gaps and loss of text, skilfully restored); in English. A long letter to the publisher of his *Confessions of an English Opium-Eater* and the *London Magazine*, concerning Ricardo and Malthus. De Quincey divides his letter into seven points. 1. He is sending the proofs of Malthus’s ‘Measure of Value’ for the latest issue of the Magazine. 2. He has received the parcel containing the two issues of the Magazine, ‘the “Advice to an Opium-Eater” – “Public Education” and two private letters’. He mentions the death of David Ricardo (11 September) and wishes to pay tribute to him by writing a ‘Brief Statement of the services rendered to Political Econ. by the late Mr Ricardo: in what state he found it, in what state he left it: drawn up in such a way as to be intelligible to those who possess no knowledge of that science, and providing an overview of the entire field of the science, and an outline of what remains to be done’. He regrets not having published anything about him whilst Ricardo was still alive… 3 He is going to send the proof of Malthus’s work with a short addition… 4. He speaks at length of his poor health, having suffered greatly from ‘a most severe constipation of the bowels’… 5. He was deeply affected by the news of the death of the late Richard Ayton (1786–1823, writer and playwright), and speaks of the great merit of his articles; it is a great loss: ‘He is a great loss; a very great one indeed. His essays will make a delightful volume when collected’. 5. He wrote a letter to the ‘Lion’s Head’ in response to William Hazlitt’s article on Malthus’s doctrine… ‘Whilst acknowledging, however, that Hazlitt has said all that I have said (though I believe he did not express it in the way that would make it most effective in a dispute with a Malthusian), I nevertheless think that he has said something further with which I wholly disagree. As this will shed some light on the reasons that render Mal[thus] blind to the arguments put forward against him, I have considered it important enough to make it the subject of a brief letter. – Some of M[althus]’s other errors will strike everyone, whatever their views on political economy may be.” 6. He is delighted that Hessey liked his articles... He adds that *Public Education* strikes him as ‘a very sensible book’, and that the *Avis à l’Opium-Eater* contains some important truths… Etc.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale Letters and Autograph Manuscripts – Part I
Auction location
Auction time 10/13/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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