Autograph Letter Signed from the author Edith Sichel, thanking Lady Mary Ponsonby for sending the 'adorable manuscript' of her memoir, and discussing the way in which the 'whole Court lives' in it.

4pp., 12mo. 49 lines. Bifolium. On aged and creased paper, with remains of stub. In what appears to be a reference to the memoir by Lady Ponsonby that was published after her death (London: John Murray, 1927), Sichel (at the risk of appearing 'an impertinent Bore') thanks her 'for that adorable manuscript': 'You have made me so happy these days, transported me so entirely to the world I longed to see, that it would really be ungrateful not to say how much I thank you. The whole Court lives, and the Queen most of all, & Prince Albert. And I worship Miss Skerrit, & Lady Jocelyn fascinates me, and so do the Duke of Bedford, and Lord Granville. And the pages raise so many things I want to hear about from your lips.' She continues by discussing 'our French affair': 'The author to-be of the French Life of the Queen is one of the present ministers & easy to get at.' Sichel states that 'Beaumers' would like Lady Ponsonby's memories to have a wide audience, and asks whether she would object to the appearance of her name. After stating that she is 'off to Surrey', Sichel concludes in the hope that Ponsonby's 'damnable Famille Shingles keep off'.