English author and dramatist (1787-1855) best known for 'Our Village,' a series of sketches of local life; she grew up near Jane Austen and was an acquaintance of hers when young. ALS signed “M. R. Mitford,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 7.5 x 9.5, no date. Handwritten letter written to a friend from Three Mile Cross, referencing Jane Austen. In part: "First let me thank you heartily & sincerely for your most elegant present of Miss Austen's works, which I shall value doubly—for your sake & their own. The edition is very beautiful, & it is delightful to possess as one's own the entire collection of their favourite writer—at present I am lending them to the fair Emily Weiss who reads them with a delightful sincerity of admiration." She goes on to offer some medical advice ("Those head attacks are miserable things—& leeches a most miserable remedy"), mentions a visit to an upper-class household (where the "collection of pictures, about thirty in number, would sell for sixty thousand pounds"), and discusses some literary works (including "a very fine poem," "the article on the Drama," and her series "Our Village"). Any contemporary reference to Jane Austen is very rare in manuscript form especially from a noted author. In fine condition.
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