Autograph Letter Signed (“J.S. Knowles”) to William Hazlitt
A rare and wonderful letter from James Sheridan Knowles to William Hazlitt. Letters written to Hazlitt are even scarcer than those written by him. 1 1/2pp, 4to, Glasgow, 28 November 1823. A letter to William Hazlitt, beseeching Hazlitt to help him further his literary career: "You know what you can do for me -- for your old & grateful Pupil, who only wants to . tell the world what he owes you. You can do more for me than any man alive. I have written a better play than Virginius. . [YJou can appreciate me above all other men. . Now Hazlitt be the guardian of your 'boy poet'. . See how scurvily the Examiner has used me - how shamefully it has swerved from its first love -- It cannot be Leigh Hunt -- I know it cannot. I have directed a copy of ['Alfred'] to be forwarded to you. It is dedicated to Mr. John Patterson to whom I promised to dedicate it eight years ago. ." Integral leaf cut away; mounted to a larger ruled sheet; folds and one marginal tear (repaired); with a few slight ink smudges (all text still legible). In good condition, despite the defects noted. From the collection formed by Payson G. Gates, later in the possession of his daughter, Eleanor M. Gates. The text of this letter has been published in "Leigh Hunt: A Life In Letters / Together With Some Correspondence of William Hazlitt," edited and introduced by Eleanor M. Gates (Essex, CT: 1998), who notes: "Letters written to Hazlitt are even scarcer than those written by him. . The 'Alfred' on which Knowles was apparently pinning his future hopes, was 'Alfred the Great, or the Patriot King,' which remained unproduced until . eight months after Hazlitt's death. As a dramatist, Knowles [(1784-1862)] enjoyed increasing popularity, and a long list of stage successes. Hazlitt called [his boyhood friend] 'the first tragic writer of the age. Knowles in turn freely admitted his debt to Hazlitt for 'early counsel and encouragement,' without which, he felt, 'he would probably never have been a dramatist." (p. 657).
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