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Brilliant, highly influential British poet (1688-1744) best known for his satire Rape of the Lock and his editions of Homer and Shakespeare. ALS signed “A. Pope,” one page, 7.25 x 4.25, no date. Handwritten letter to Rev. Henry Layng, in part: "I could not be a day here without acquainting you, tho as I attend upon my Lord Oxford and am to return with him to London…I apprehend my Ld. Bathhurst is so fully imployed ab't Elections that I had better defer my going to him. Otherwise my disposition had been to have gone from hence…If this find you at leisure, I wish to see you here. If not, let it assure you how truly I am yr mindful servant." Affixed to a slightly larger sheet and in very good condition, with light staining, heavy intersecting folds, and paper loss to the bottom.
This revealing letter places Alexander Pope within the close-knit political and literary circles of early 18th-century England, referencing his attendance upon “my Lord Oxford”—Robert Harley, the influential Tory statesman and one of Pope’s important patrons—and Lord Bathurst, another intimate friend and supporter. Its casual references to travel, elections, and social calls offer a glimpse of Pope not as the polished satirist of The Rape of the Lock and The Dunciad, but as a participant in the aristocratic networks that shaped the literary and political culture of his age.
From the personal collection of a lifelong collector, teacher, and traveler with a passion for world history. His collecting years ranged from the 1970s to the present day, meaning that several of the premier pieces have not been on the market in decades.
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