FREDERICK A. STOKES CO.
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3. INFORMAL OR FRIENDLY LETTER
NICE,
August 28, 1857
MY DEAR ENTHUSIAST,
Again I request your kind offices by the enclosed note, in giving it or forwarding it to my brother. Charles and I have been much gratified in reading aloud — he reading to me while I work — the life of Shakespeare by Thomas Campbell. It is put together in a most pleasant spirit, which all the biographies are not. But a poet is sure to write well on a poet. Everything that Coleridge, for instance, says of our Idol is in charming taste; and also Barry Cornwall’s Memoir and Essay on Shakespeare and his Writings has the same delightful poetic charm. After reading the heap of inappreciative discussions on the subject, it is truly refreshing to go through the dissertations of such authors as these upon our poet of poets. They can best feel his merits, and can therefore most veneratingly and modestly treat the theme of his genius and greatness.
With united kindest regards from Charles and myself to you and Mrs. Balmanno, believe me to be
Gratefully,
MARY COWDEN CLARKE