WILLIAM MAGINN - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED CIRCA 1824 - HFSID 73503

WILLIAM MAGINN
The nineteenth-century political writer sends note to friend about expecting a letter and having it forwarded to him, signs name in black ink
Autograph letter signed: "William Maginn" in black ink. 1 page, 7¼x9. Angel Hotel, Saint Edmunds, Suffolk, England. In full: "Dear Sir, I took the liberty of desiring a letter addressed to me to be directed to your card, for being perfectly a stranger in London, I did not known how else to ensure its being before me. If it has arrived you will oblige me by sending it to the above direction or if not drop me a note today "nulla bona". I just followed the route of the Bath coach in stopping here, and shall quit it without delay; have the goodness therefore to return me an answer before six 'o clock. I am, Dear Sir, Yours faithfully". William Maginn (1793-1842) was an Irish journalist and writer who became a major contributor to London's Blackwood's Magazine, as well as a well-known Paris correspondent to The Representative. He was a founding member of the ultra-Tory Standard and Fraser's Magazine, and wrote for the "scandalous" Sunday paper The Age. He wrote only one novel Whitehall (1827), which was a fake historical novel taking place in 1820s England, written from the year 2227, mostly as a commentary of the contemporary political scene. Maginn famously fought a duel in 1836 with Member of Parliament Grantley Berkeley, after Berkeley had brutally assaulted magazine publisher James Fraser over a review Maginn wrote of Berkeley's novel Berkeley Castle, and Maginn had called him out. Normal mailing folds. Toned. Creased throughout. Tears along edges. Torn in bottom left margin. Slightly soiled. Edges slightly frayed. Otherwise, fine condition.