TALBOT5130

Melbury ¹
28^th Dec^r

My Dear Henry

I was so sorry after your departure yesterday that I did not ask you to write to me after your arrival at the Abbey, just to intimate you were alive after so cold & dismal a journey. I thought of you all the Afternoon & Evening, & consulted Wright ² as to the Moon which I hope lit you on you way. One comfort is that you might be at home at 8 o’clock but by Bridgewater not till Midnight as you could not have caught the train you intended, that everybody agreed. I have just given Emily Murray ³ the 1^st & 2^d N^o of Hermes, & the Antiquity of Genesis. ⁴ Her great friend Lady Byron ⁵ is a good Greek Scholar, & she means to lend it her. I wish to make it more known – besides shewing the versatility of your genius. Your Uncle ⁶ was very cordially sorry to part with you

Aff^ly Y^rs
EF

[envelope:]
H. Fox Talbot Esq^r
Laycock Abbbey
Chippenham
Wilts

I have just given Theresa ⁷ a Pencil of Nature ⁸