TALBOT4003

Coedriglan ¹
January 23^d.

My dear Henry

I cannot help writing to tell you how much we like your Hermes ² pray go on and let us have more of your very striking and curious conjectures & discoveries – of course I cannot understand your Greek but all I do make out delights me – you say some thing about Veii meaning holy city – do you think the original word has any connection with Vehm or Wehmgorichte which was considered a holy tribunal – I like all your story of the man in the pit particularly – M^r Traherne ³ showed your first Hermes to the Bishop of Llandaff ⁴ when we were in ther at his house last October and he is very fond of these sort of researches so he was much pleased – he is going to publish some letter of Lord Dudley’s ⁵ in which he shewed me a pretty little character of you which I think describes you very well. so pray look for it when you happen to meet with the book – I wish you could have come to see us when you were at Margam ⁶ I liked the photogenics ⁷ you did there, very much. We bought a camera obscura and tried our hands but failed and the only thing I have done at all is an etching on glass⁸ – Emma ⁹ did an etching on glass for the report of the Swansea institution which was very nice – it was a view of a new cave of bones that was discovered in the north coast of Gower – I do not know if the Roman inscription was found at Aberavon since you were at Margam or while you were there – I think Kit ¹⁰ has made out very satisfactorily who it is about, that is if the letters are as he says, but I have not seen the stone for the Aberavon people took it away and have locked it up in their town-hall. I shall have a good account of M^rs Talbot & the children ¹¹ from Mama ¹² when she comes here I hope –

Your affectionate cousin
Charlotte Traherne

Coedriglan
Jan 23^d.

H. Fox Talbot Esq^re.
31 Sackville S^t
London