Wordsworth, William

Autograph letter signed, ("W Wordsworth"), 2 pages (9 x 7 1/4 in.; 229 x 184 mm) with integral address leaf. Kendal,  postmarked 26 June 1865, to Edward Ferguson; small 1 inch tear at seal.

Wordsworth recounts a tragic loss. The author sends word to his cousin Edward Ferguson of the death of Wordsworth's sister-in-law, Sarah Hutchinson. Wordsworth feels deep grief over the loss of his relative to rheumatic fever. The majority of the letter is dedicated to Wordsworth's anxiety over how the death will affect his sister Dorothy, who was mentally troubled for most of her adult life: "Dora was improving, but how this event will affect her, along with what she has to fear for her Aunt Wordsworth no one can foresee."

This apparently unpublished letter does not appear in the second edition of The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth (ed. Selincourt and Hill).