Alexander Pope (1688-1744) - photo 1
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) - photo 2
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) - photo 3
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) - photo 4

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

Sold
£ 23 940
Auction dateClassic
15.12.2023 11:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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ID 1108949
Lot 150 | Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
Ten autograph letters, of which six signed (‘A. Pope’, 'A.P.'), to Hugh, 3rd Earl of Marchmont, with two letters addressed jointly to Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, Twickenham (‘Twitenham’) and Bath, 10 January 1739/40-[26 March 1744]
22 pages, various sizes (187 x 110mm to 301 x 186mm), of which eight are bifolia and four with integral address panels. Provenance: Arthur A. Houghton, Jr.; his sale, Christie's, 'The Library of Arthur A. Houghton, Jnr.', Vol. II, 11-12 June 1980, lot 382.

All of the known letters from Pope to Marchmont, a leading member of the Tory opposition and a close friend of Pope at the end of his life. Pope deplores the political climate under Walpole, writing after the death of Sir William Wyndham that he and Marchmont ought to ‘study Popery & Slavery abroad a while, to reconcile ourselves to the Church & State we may find at home on our return’ (22 June [1740]). He reflects on his life and work at a time of political malaise, writing in his letter of 10 October 1741, ‘I thank God, that I do not yet live under Tyranny, nor an Inquisition: that I have thus long enjoyed Independency, Freedom of Body & Mind, have told the world of my Opinions, even on the highest subjects, & of the Greatest Men, pretty freely; that good men have not been ashamed of me; and that my Works have not dy’d before me’. These letters also demonstrate the strength of his feeling for Marchmont and Bolingbroke, to whom Pope writes near the end of his life, ‘When I see a finer Day, or feel a Livelyer Hour, I find my thoughts carried to you, with whom & for whom chiefly I desire to live’ (26 march 1744).
Place of origin:England
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