A love letter to Emily, Lady Tennyson
Autograph letter signed ("Arthur Hallam").
8vo. 1 p. on bifolium.
€ 4,500.00
To his fiancée Emily Tennyson (1813-96), sister of Hallam's close friend Alfred, Lord Tennyson: a brief yet engaging love letter which opens sweetly with "Cara, carissima, let me hear from you". Hallam goes on to describe his concerns over Emily's health - a common theme in his letters sent to her: "Alfred gives a pretty good account of your health, and Arthur says you have a great colour. Thank Heaven. I shall be soon with you, unless I am cruelly deceived in my expectations". After apologising for being unable to write a longer letter, he expresses his concerns and his love for her: "I have not now time to write more; daily or hourly I think of you, and hope in you: should that hope fail me, Emily, do not think I can recover the wound. For my sake endure & hope & trust in the affection of those about you: these will be fearful times for all who are not strengthened in love".
Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Hallam met when they were students at Cambridge and quickly became friends through their shared interest in poetry. Hallam fell in love with Tennyson's sister Emily while visiting their home in 1829 over Christmas; the couple became engaged in 1830, though Hallam's father would not allow them to announce their engagement before he was twenty-one, in 1832. Hallam's sudden death while visiting Vienna in 1833 prevented their marriage. Emily would marry Lt. Richard Jesse in 1842. Hallam was immortalized by Lord Tennyson's famous elegy, "In Memoriam A.H.H".
Sotheby's, 25 July 1978, lot 396.
Folding marks, browning, stains.
