JOHNSON, Samuel (1709-1784) English Essayist and lexicographer, autograph letter signed.
To an unnamed correspondent, 2 sides, March 17 1783. "About a fortnight ago, I wrote to you a request in favour of a young man whom I recommended as a clerk or copyer. Whether you never received my letter, or have forgotten it I know not. I now repeat the request that if you know any business, in which a man not without literature, and accustomed to write for lawyers can be employed, you would be pleased to make trial of my friend, by which you will have the satisfaction of helping a man in great distress, and will oblige, Sir, your humble servant Sam: Johnson." The letter is unpublished.

Provenance: Purchased by the vendor at Sotheby's c. 1966 'to stop it from going abroad'.

Cataloguer's note: The late Donald F. Hyde (1909-1966), together with his wife Mary (1912-2003), were prolific collectors of Johnson material for more than 60 years. Following Mary's death in 2003, the Donald & Mary Hyde Collection was bequeathed to the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Collection contains no less than 746 Johnson letters, more than half the known total. As a result of Donald and Mary Hyde's collecting Johnson's letters are now quite scarce on the market.