From Barham Zinoke   19 July 1850

My dear Sir

I may almost say that I spent a day with you at George Ransome’s last year; perhaps this may amount to a sufficient degree of acquaintanceship to enable me to present you with the accompanying Pamphlet without appearing to be taking a liberty. I do not for a moment suppose that you will agree with much of what I say, as however you have done so much for the Ipswich Museum theyre may be some ideas in it of which you may approve. On page 5 I have made free with your name. The Pamphlet has been received very favourably in the Westminster & Foreign Quarterly, & forms part of the heading of the Educational article in the new Edinburgh. I am not altogether pleased with it myself but such as it is I send without any further comment or qualifications. It is a large & many sided question.

I have two Americans coming to stay with me next week from Tuesday till Friday. Bancroft Davis, the secretary of the American Legation, & nephew of Bancroft the best historian of the United States, & Stevens who is employed by the Smithsonian Institution in forming their library– I heard a few days ago that he has sent them out £8,000(?) (sic) worth of books. I intend to show them the country hereabouts – Woolverstone Park – Holbrook Gardens which are the grounds of Sir Charles Kemps old house now pulled down – & M ^r Mills’s grounds at Stutton – Another day I shall take them over to Ufford to see my friend Capt ⁿ. Brookes library, wh.is well worth seeing – now if I had a proper room to offer you & a better bed than such an one as this iron Duke sleeps on, having only a small bed in a small room to offer spare, & if besides I was able to entertain you as you ought to be entertained, I s. ^d venture to take the liberty of asking you meet these two Yankees. I put in in this manner in order to save you the trouble of answering this. I s. ^d also have added amongst the drawbacks that having an invalid Lady living with me– I do not see large dinner parties, & also that one of the three days I shall be obliged to take these “distinguished foreigners” to see Ipswich. But this I shall knock off on Tuesday if they come by an early train.

I gave the Museum & George Ransome a pat on the back in an article I wrote for the May number of Fraser’s Magazine on the United States of America.

Will you believe me | yours very truly | Barham Zinoke

P.S. The M.E. on the title-page of my Pamphlet are the final letters of my names: it was written last year.