84. Thomas Park to [? Lord Buchan],
5 May [1802]*
High Street, Marylebone, May 5
My Lord
... Bloomfield has been grievously afflicted of late with a lumbago which disables him from taking such exercise as his constitution requires. It is a matter indeed of painful reflection to all who esteem the man or admire the poet, that his mental faculties are not adequately supported by corporeal stamina. The sale of his poems is unprecedented—a second impression, consisting of 5000 copies, is just put forth, & promises to move off with a celerity no less flattering than the former.
I procured a copy of the Border Minstrelsy two days ago ... [1]
Notes
* James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection 17848, Beinecke Library, Yale University; also BL RP 6851(i) (extract) BACK
[1] The first two volumes of Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border: Consisting of Historical and collected in the Southern Counties of Scotland; with a few of Modern Date, founded upon Local Tradition were published in 1802. BACK