Barton, Bernard

Twenty-four lines in four stanzas, one page, trimmed from a sheet and laid down on the verso of a lithographed portrait with an explanatory note (9 3/4 x 5  3 / 8  in.; 245 x 137 mm.), [c.December 1828]; some light spotting. Red morocco- backed folder.

[with:] transcript of a letter by Robert Southey, about Charles Lamb, four pages

Halsted B. Vander Poel — E.H. Mills (bookplate) — sale, Christie's South Kensington, 16 November 2004, lot 480 [part lot]. acquisition: James Cummins

 "...And differ as, in taste, we may,
Believe me to remain alway[s]
Thy faithful friend …"

Barton's poem, as recorded in the note affixed to the same sheet as the manuscript, was sent to Lamb with a copy of his New Year's Eve and other Poems (1828). 

Perhaps recalling the origins of their friendship, when Barton and Lamb quarreled over the compatibility of Barton's Quaker beliefs and his intentions as a poet, Barton here in lighthearted tones expects that Lamb will look with "half condemning eye" on his book, particularly the dedication to the Bishop of Winchester ("..And Sumner tho' he hold a See, | Has said and down kind things for me...") and choice of frontispiece ("...Martin's plates...To me are full of food for thought...").

In fact, Barton's fears were unfounded. On receipt of the book, Lamb responded: "Martin’s frontispiece is a very fine thing, let C. L. say what he please to the contrary" (letter to Barton, 5 December 1828).