SWIFT, Jonathan (1667-1745). Autograph letter signed ('Jonath. Swift') to [Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland], Dublin, 14 January 1734/5, three pages, 4to , bifolium, docketed on terminal blank (minor soiling).
SWIFT, Jonathan (1667-1745). Autograph letter signed ('Jonath. Swift') to [Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland], Dublin, 14 January 1734/5, three pages, 4to , bifolium, docketed on terminal blank (minor soiling). Swift lobbies the Lord Lieutenant in relation to a position at Trinity College, Dublin. He has been approached by members of the college, 'because they believed you thought me an honest man, and because they heard I had the honor to be known to you from your early Youth': the matter concerns a Dr Whitcomb, who is attempting to obtain a dispensation to allow him to hold his fellowship simultaneously with a church preferment conferred on him by Dorset, which lies outside the limitations of distance and value imposed on fellows, comprising as it does 'a very large Parish in a very fine Country', worth £600 a year, which 'abounds very much with Papists, and is consequently a most important Cure requiring the Rector's Residence'. Swift advances a number of reasons for not granting the dispensation, notably that it would halt the turnover of fellowships at the college; he observes that conditions for entry to a fellowship are much more stringent that at Oxford or Cambridge, and that there are few openings for younger sons of gentry families, not least because 'by the want of Trade ... there is no Encouragement for Gentlemen to breed their Sons to Merchandice'. The letter concludes with a somewhat double-edged apology for Swift's writing it, explaining his 'earnest desire, that you may continue as you began from your youth -- without incurring the least censure from the World, or giving the least cause of discontent to any deserving person'. A postscript anxiously asks for a message 'to let me know that you do not disapprove of this Letter'.
SWIFT, Jonathan (1667-1745). Autograph letter signed ('Jonath. Swift') to [Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland], Dublin, 14 January 1734/5, three pages, 4to , bifolium, docketed on terminal blank (minor soiling).
SWIFT, Jonathan (1667-1745). Autograph letter signed ('Jonath. Swift') to [Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland], Dublin, 14 January 1734/5, three pages, 4to , bifolium, docketed on terminal blank (minor soiling). Swift lobbies the Lord Lieutenant in relation to a position at Trinity College, Dublin. He has been approached by members of the college, 'because they believed you thought me an honest man, and because they heard I had the honor to be known to you from your early Youth': the matter concerns a Dr Whitcomb, who is attempting to obtain a dispensation to allow him to hold his fellowship simultaneously with a church preferment conferred on him by Dorset, which lies outside the limitations of distance and value imposed on fellows, comprising as it does 'a very large Parish in a very fine Country', worth £600 a year, which 'abounds very much with Papists, and is consequently a most important Cure requiring the Rector's Residence'. Swift advances a number of reasons for not granting the dispensation, notably that it would halt the turnover of fellowships at the college; he observes that conditions for entry to a fellowship are much more stringent that at Oxford or Cambridge, and that there are few openings for younger sons of gentry families, not least because 'by the want of Trade ... there is no Encouragement for Gentlemen to breed their Sons to Merchandice'. The letter concludes with a somewhat double-edged apology for Swift's writing it, explaining his 'earnest desire, that you may continue as you began from your youth -- without incurring the least censure from the World, or giving the least cause of discontent to any deserving person'. A postscript anxiously asks for a message 'to let me know that you do not disapprove of this Letter'.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
