.jpg?w=1)
Details
GRAY, Thomas (1716-1771). Autograph letter signed ("TG:") to James Browne, Master of Pembroke College Cambridge, n.p., 25 October 1760.
One page, bifolium, 197 x 163mm (a little browned, repairs to integral address leaf).
"The King is dead": the poet and scholar best-known for his 1751 work Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard announces the sudden death of King George II. Gray reports "he rose this morning about six (his usual early hour) in perfect health, and had his chocolate... between seven & eight an unaccountable noise was heard in his chamber [...] This event happens at an unlucky time, but (I should think) will make little alteration in publick measures." Published in Letters, ed. P. Toynbee and L. Whibley, no. 323. Provenance: Christie's New York, 5 December 1991, Lot 243 – Christie's South Kensington, 30 October 1992, Lot 6 – Bonham's, 22 November 2011, Lot 77.
One page, bifolium, 197 x 163mm (a little browned, repairs to integral address leaf).
"The King is dead": the poet and scholar best-known for his 1751 work Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard announces the sudden death of King George II. Gray reports "he rose this morning about six (his usual early hour) in perfect health, and had his chocolate... between seven & eight an unaccountable noise was heard in his chamber [...] This event happens at an unlucky time, but (I should think) will make little alteration in publick measures." Published in Letters, ed. P. Toynbee and L. Whibley, no. 323. Provenance: Christie's New York, 5 December 1991, Lot 243 – Christie's South Kensington, 30 October 1992, Lot 6 – Bonham's, 22 November 2011, Lot 77.