Beschreibung:

Autograph letter to her brother Charles Burney Jr. ("My dearest Carlos").
Ilfracombe: begun 28 August, finished 3 September 1817. 4pp., folded sheet (230 x 185 mm). Unsigned, addressed in her hand "To the Revd Dr. Burney" and postmarked. Condition : folds, small holes from opening (loss to one word). Provenance : Descendants of Burney family, sale; Sotheby's London, 15 July 1998, lot 54, £920. A lengthy letter on a variety of topics, including a fine description of Ilfracombe, the health and travels of her husband, various honors conferred onto her brother and other matters. The most interesting content within the letter, however, concerns her desire to see the monument honoring her father erected at Westminster Abbey and remembering those that have died: "…But oh how I long to visit Westminster Abbey! yet with how sorrowing a heart shall behold There the last testimony that can be offered to manes so dear! With me, as Age never lessened affection, so could it but little abate regret. Confidence, indeed, in Life, will not accompany attachment for the old, &, so far, we can never be wholly unprepared for their loss: but expectation of deprivation rather endears those we hold fearfully, than hardens us for separation; where the object is tenderly prized. So I, at least, have always found it, not alone with regard to our dear Father, but to Mr. [Samuel] Crisp, Mrs. [Mary] Delany, & Mr. [William] Locke…" Journals and Letters , X:1116.