[Shirley Brooks, editor of Punch.] Autograph Letter Signed to William Glen, commending his 'friend's verses', which have 'an echo of Keats in them'.

Author: 
Shirley Brooks [Charles William Shirley Brooks] (1816-1874), journalist and novelist, editor of Punch, 1870-1874 [William Glen; the Literary Gazette]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Literary Gazette Office, 4 Bouverie Street, EC [London]. 5 October [circa 1858].
£45.00
SKU: 14721

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Brooks (who conducted the Literary Gazette between 1858 and 1859) writes that he has read Glen's 'friend's verses carefully, and with much pleasure. There is an echo of Keats in them, but no mere invitation. Circumstances, quite apart from the merit of the poem, prevent my using it, but when it appears, I can have no doubt of its general acceptation, & I am obliged by its having been offered to me.' It may be that Glen (not to be confused with the Glasgow poet of the same name) was masking his own identity, with typical Victorian reticence, but no likely work suggests itself as the subject of the letter.