Richard Arkwright (1732-1792) - photo 1
Richard Arkwright (1732-1792) - photo 2
Richard Arkwright (1732-1792) - photo 3

Richard Arkwright (1732-1792)

Starting price
£ 100
Auction dateClassic
15.12.2023 11:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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ID 1109116
Lot 315 | Richard Arkwright (1732-1792)
Richard Arkwright (1732-1792)
Autograph letter signed ('R. Arkwright') to [Jedediah Strutt], Cromford, 2 March 1772
Four pages, 323 x 201mm, bifolium. Provenance: Sotheby's, 13 December 1990, lot 420.

'One person will spin a Thousand Hanks a Day': Arkwright writes in a ferment of excitement at the potential of his new mill at Cromford. The letter, written in Arkwright's idiosyncratic spelling, opens with an outburst of confidence in the potential of his new machinery, discussing also the details of the threads spun, and his difficulty in finding someone to assist their partner Samuel Need, 'there is no person at the mill that will put themselves out of their whay to be of aney Servis Except teas Mr Needs hart out with a continual want & uneasiness', and offering to go himself to Need's factory in Nottingham. He continues with the difficulty of finding good employees to set cards at the mill, complaining that those he ordered from Halifax have not come in the right quantity; 'I whant sombody to look after the spining &c. I have rote to Kay yesterday if he will not come can you think of sombody ... no one man will know all that I shold Expect the might'; also on further innovations, 'Rich[ar]d has hit upon a method to spin woostid with Roulers it is quite sertain', going on with the greatest confidence 'I can't think of stoping this Concrn hear as that at notting[ha]m is or Ever will be aney thing in comparison to this'; adding several further messages for Strutt to pass to Need ('Mr N.'), and asking for parts and equipment to be sent, including 'some good Latches & Catches for the out doors ... and a Large Knoker or a Bell to First door', concluding 'I am tired with riteing so Long a Letter & think you can scairsly Reed it'.

I have sent a little cotton spun on the one spindle & find no Difficanty in Geting it from the Bobbin & Dubel'd & Twist'd in the maner you see it with one opration, one hand I think will do 40 of 50 £ of it in one day from the bobins it is spun upon that is in the new whay I am sertain of it ansuaring & one person will spin a Thousand Hanks a Day so that wee shall not want 1/5 of the hands I First Expect'd ... I see Greate Improvements Every day, when I rote to you last had not thorow.ly prov'd the spining several things apening I could not a count for since then has proved it – I have made trial to twist it for Velverets & find what the[y] do with fiver operations Can do with one.

This well-known letter catches Arkwright at the outset of his career, full of confidence and practical application. The recipient, Jedediah Strutt, had entered into a partnership with Arkwright and Samuel Need to build a cotton mill in 1771 at Cromford using Arkwright's water frame: this constructions is considered by some to mark the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Cromford Mill is now the centre of the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Place of origin:England, United Kingdom
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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