[Lord Craig on the Earl of Chesterfield.] Autograph Manuscript of revised draft of early part of essay by Scottish judge William Craig, Lord Craig, on the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield, author of ‘Letters to his Son’.

See Craig’s entry, and that of Chesterfield, in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium. The second leaf had been neatly inserted into a windowpane mount. On brittle and aged paper; complete, but coming away at foot from torn remains of mount, with slight chipping at foot of first leaf, the central horizontal fold of which has closed tears along its crease. The item is unsigned, but ‘Lord Craig’ is identified as the author in pencil in nineteenth century hand twice on the mount. Ninety-two closely-written lines, with extensive revision and amendation. Begins: ‘Few Books have been published of late years wh. have drawn men more than the Letters of ye Earl of C. to his son. The high character of ye Nob. Author & uncommon elegance of the stile & manner have contributed to their celebrity and the peculiar nature of the instructions which they contain their progress in the World.’ Although untraced, the essay was probably intended for periodical publication, probably in ‘The Mirror’ or ‘The Lounger’.