2110-5-1-26

228 Woodstock Rd. Oxford

23 Dec. 1927

Dear Mr. Buchan,

Many thanks for the delightful little book. I looked for it in the Bodleian catalogue under your name & so failed to find it.

It does add to Johnsonian knowledge by telling us that Wise added to the Manor- house and by giving us some idea of his singularities. I have accordingly quoted the passage about the Gothic cottage and the Roman altar.

I see that the Wartons have claimed another victim in the late editor of the 'E.H.R.' - their biggest catch so far: These people with the same name are a nuisance and it requires constant vigilance to avoid mixing them up. Take the Mudges, that truly remarkable family. To return to the Wartons. The difficulty of

keeping them separate is increased by the existence of Wharton, Gray's friend. One Draper, an American, recently wrote a book on William Mason, Gray's friend and biographer, in which throughout he dropped the aitch. Paget Toynbee went for him. In due course Toynbee wrote another book concerned with Mason. Draper reviewed it & went through it with a small tooth comb to some purpose. At the same time Leonard Whibley (not Charles), who is in Toynbee's confidence, wrote an article in Blackwoods on Mason, in which the printer deliberately suppressed the aitch in Wharton. Whibley was furious.

I am not sure whether you want me to return your book - I am willing to believe you do not, but if you do, I will of course - with reluctance. I have never sold a book - yet.

I send you an effort to arrive at the truth, which you may find amusing.

Yours very truly,

L.F. Powell