Description:

Cowper William



William Cowper ALS, Celebrated Poet  & Hymnodist: "Sir for ye Reason above be so good (considering my Deafness) to write your answer"

1pp ALS inscribed overall and signed by British poet William Cowper (1731-1800) as "Your most Obedt humble Servt, Wm Cowper". In very good condition with overall toning and isolated edge wear. Expected paper folds, including professionally restored central vertical fold, and horizontal fold with small tear at right edge. A small v-shaped silk patch has been added at top. The page measures 6.125" x 7.75".

Twenty-year-old law student William Cowper wrote this letter on Saturday, April 17, 1752, likely from London, where he was studying at Westminster School. The letter treats financial matters relating to an "Estate", so it is probable that Cowper's correspondent was a lawyer, banker, or merchant. Cowper's letter shows that the youth possessed both great tact and self-control: "Sir I did not think it adviseable to mention anything last night on the Subject of the unexpected Deposite required lest it shoud get Air  … " Cowper was eager to "pay you Interest for the money during the time It is employd for my Service but make good all Costs & Damages occasiond by moving your money and ye deducting or paying Poundage or Charges otherwise accrueing in transacting This Affair … "

 

In a most interesting post-script, the future poet and hymnodist wrote: "Sir for ye Reason above be so good (considering my Deafness) to write your answer". Contemporary sources do not confirm Cowper's hearing loss, but in the Works of William Cowper, Esq. Comprising His Poems, Correspondence, and Translations published in 1836, one of Cowper's letters written thirty-five years after this one described his hearing loss to like being under a bathtub. Cowper wrote to his cousin Lady Harriet Hasketh (1833-1807) on September 29, 1787: "I have a perpetual din in my head, and though I am not deaf, hear nothing aright, neither my own voice, nor that of others. I am under a tub, from which tub accept my best love".

 

Hearing impairment did not prevent Cowper from composing his short and eloquent verses, many of which were later set to music. It was also only one of the many stressors in the poet's life. Family deaths, societal pressures, performance anxiety, and thwarted romances caused episodes of severe depression. Cowper was institutionalized between 1763 and 1765 after several suicide attempts. The poet discovered religion in between depressive episodes, which alternately soothed and irritated his fragile mental health. His collaboration with curate John Newton (1725-1807) led to the 1779 publication of their Olney Hymns, a collection of 348 hymns emphasizing evangelical tenets like forgiveness, sin, salvation, and damnation. The most famous of these hymns was "Amazing Grace".


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