News | September 4, 2023

Lost Samuel Johnson Letter Found in Cupboard to Auction

Chorley's

The newly discovered Johnson letter

A lost letter written by lexicographer Samuel Johnson and officially logged as ‘present location unknown’ for many years has been found on a routine valuation by Chorley’s.

The letter - published in The Letters of Samuel Johnson (Oxford, 1994; Bruce Bedford, ed.) - was tucked away with others in a cupboard, with the current owner of the house being unaware of their historical importance.  

He penned the missing letter to Sophia Thrale (1771-1824), the daughter of Hester Thrale (1741-1821, later Mrs Piozzi), the British diarist and arts patron who was a close friend of Johnson and with whom he corresponded regularly and in detail.

The current letter to 12-year-old Sophia,is the only known letter between them to survive, although there are several references to others in Johnson’s published letters. In the letter the elderly Johnson chides Sophia for not thinking of herself as his favourite: "My favour will, I’m afraid never be worth much, but its value more or less, you are never likely to lose it." He also praises her arithmetical ability: "Never think, my Sweet, that you have arithmetick enough, when you have exhausted your master, buy books, nothing amuses more harmlessly than computation", pointing her to a "curious calculation" relating to the capacity of Noah's Ark in a 1168 essay by John Wilkins, Real Character

The letter carries an estimate of £8,000-£12,000 and will go under the hammer in Chorley's September 19 sale 'The Library: Printed Books & Manuscripts'.

UPDATE:  The lost letter sold for £38,460 at auction. It was bought by a UK institution, so will remain in the UK

The Johnson letter envelope
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Chorley's

The Johnson letter envelope

The opening of the Johnson letter
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Chorley's

The opening of the Johnson letter

Letter between Sophia and Hester
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Chorley's

Letter between Sophia and Hester

The letters between Johnson and the family began in 1765, but their correspondence ended following Hester Lynch Thrale’s second marriage following her husband’s death, to an impoverished Italian music teacher who had taught her children (Gabriel Mario Piozzi). Johnson did not approve, and their correspondence ceased in 1783, though hey would reconcile just before Johnson’s death in 1784.

“Initially, I was asked to value a collection of books and rugs for a family who had recently taken over their ancestral family home," said Werner Freundel, Director at Chorley’s auction house. "I spent a long afternoon between the library and drawing room, collating volumes of Tillotson, Defoe, Kipling and Scott that had been separated throughout the years during their time in the various generations of the family. 

"One of the cupboards in the library yielded several manuscript volumes detailing the household expenditure during the late 18th and 19th centuries. There were also fascinating diaries, accounts of society gossip, family feuds about inheritance, as well as advice on etiquette, marriage, and grumbles about failing health. I then came across a volume of over 100 letters that the family weren’t aware of and I asked if I could take them away to go through. Later, alongside a manuscript specialist we examined everything in more depth and it wasn’t long before our curiosity was piqued by the mention of Sarah Siddons, Hester Thrale-Piozzi, several members of the Hoare banking family and Samuel Johnson. Finally, a letter from and signed by, the famous Dr Johnson appeared towards the end of the volume."

It is unknown how the letters came into possession of the family, but among other letters from the same Gloucestershire property is a series of 30 letters between Hester and Sophia, written between 1805 and 1821 when Sophia had married the banker Henry Merrick Hoare. The letters are of considerable length and reflect the deep affection between the two. They divulge society gossip and include their own poetry and verse. This set of letters is encased in an unbound leather album bearing the bookplate of Sophia’s husband and have never been published. Within the same box was a selection of other letters mostly to Sophia from the stage actress Sarah Siddons (1755- 1831) which includes a page where she complains that she must "embrace the dreadful fatigue of playing every night". They carry an estimate of £15,000-£20,000.