'THE MARVELLOUS BOY' AND HIS 'USELESS LUMBER OF LITERATURE'

CHATTERTON (THOMAS, 1752-1770, poet, literary hoaxer, committed suicide 25 August 1770) REMARKABLE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Thomas Chatterton'), TO HORACE WALPOLE, accepting that he is not able 'to dispute with a Person of your literary Character', telling him that he 'transcribed Rowley's Poems &c &c from a Transcript in the Possession of a Gentleman who is assured of their authenticity', explaining that St. Austins Minister was in Bristol and that in speaking of 'Painters' in Bristol he meant glass stainers, asserting that the 'MSS have long been in the hands of the present Possessor w[hi]ch is all I know of them', stating that, although only sixteen years of age, he has lived long enough to see that 'Poverty attends Literature', thanking Walpole for his advice and with evident resignation promises to go beyond Walpole's counsel 'by destroying all my useless Lumber of Literature. and never using my Pen again but in the Law', 1 page, small quarto, paper splits and hole where opened, repaired, integral address leaf 'For Horace Walpole Esqr. / Arlington Street / London', boldly struck Bishop marks (10 April), two line Bristol strike, manuscript cancellation, endorsed 'Letter 1st' in a contemporary hand, trace of former guard, intact wafer seal with paper attached, Bristol, 8 April [17]69

The present letter is part of one of the most celebrated correspondences in English Literature, one which was to cause Horace Walpole embarrassment and unhappiness for the rest of his life: he was accused of driving Chatterton to his suicide and the episode did much to tarnish his posthumous reputation.

Dubbed by Wordsworth 'the marvellous boy', Chatterton became one of the most revered names in English Literature, particularly inspiring to the Romantic imagination. Shelley celebrated him in 'Adonais'. Coleridge dedicated his 'Monody on the Death of Chatterton' to him (first drafted when Coleridge was sixteen years of age and reworked throughout his life, the last occasion being in the year of his death) -- Coleridge also solemnised his ill-fated marriage in Chatterton's church. William Blake's debt to Chatterton was extensive and profound, his youthful poetry in particular being heavily influenced by the vocabulary and imagery of the Rowley poems. Keats dedicated Endymion to Chatterton and claimed him as 'the purest writer in the English Language'. Warton declared him 'a prodigy of genius'. Johnson called him 'the most extraordinary young man that has encountered my knowledge'. Rossetti wrote one of the finest English sonnets in his praise, and described him as 'absolutely miraculous' and 'as great as any English poet whatever'. Malone went furthest, declaring him 'the greatest genius that England has produced since the days of Shakespeare.'

Even Horace Walpole came to the conclusion: 'I do not believe there existed so masterly a genius.' But in Chatterton's lifetime, as this letter shows, Walpole failed to support the young poet, rightly believing the Rowley poems to be hoaxes. Chatterton's first letter to Walpole is dated 25 March 1769 (British Library). In it he informs Walpole that 'Being versed a little in antiquitys, I have met with several Curious Manuscripts among which the following may be of service to you, in any future Edition of your truly entertaining Anecdotes of Painting.' It continues with an account of the development of painting in England by 'T. Rowleie, 1469 for Mastre Canynge.'

Walpole's reply is dated 29 March 1769 (British Library). He offers 'a thousand thanks' for Chatterton's letter, and 'for the very obliging offer you make of communicating your MSS to me.' He asks where Rowley's poems are to be found, and gives his opinion on the verses of John Abbot: 'wonderful for their harmony & spirit.'

Chatterton's reply, according to Walpole, gave an account of his pathetic circumstances, and 'hinted a wish' that Walpole would assist him to emerge from his dreary apprenticeship in the law, affirming at the same time that a 'great treasure of ancient poetry' had been discovered in his native city of Bristol. Walpole meanwhile had shown the poems to Thomas Gray who told him that they were modern forgeries and advised him to return them at once. The letter that Walpole wrote at Gray's prompting questioned the authenticity of the manuscripts. It elicited the present letter with its tragic determination of 'destroying all my useless Lumber of Literature. and never using my Pen again but in the Law.' Characterised by Walpole as 'peevish', the present letter was first published in The Works of Lord Orford, 1798, iv. p. 236.

Chatterton wrote twice more to Walpole asking him to return the manuscripts, one of which Walpole said he found 'singularly impertinent.' Chatterton expressed his feelings in his lines 'To Horace Walpole' in August 1769 ('I thought not I should ever see / So mean a Heart as thine has proved to be...'). Twelve months later he committed suicide; he was only eighteen years of age.

Manuscript material by Chatterton is of the greatest rarity.

£14,000