[ John Wesley Etheridge, Semitic scholar. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. W. Etheridge'), regarding the identity of a correspondent of Dr Adam Clarke.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. 23 lines of text in a neat and distinctive hand. The male recipient is not identified. Had Etheridge not been 'much from home on one journey after another', he would have written before. 'I have been referring to my papers, but find nothing that will give you any certain information about the lady to whom Dr Clarke's letter is addressed, except that her husband was connected with the civil service in India, though about even that I am not absolutely sure.' He was given 'some particulars relative to Mrs Tompkin's family' by the 'late Mrs. Richard Smith', but did not write them down, and they are now beyond recall. He concludes: 'There is a lady, one of the few surviving personal friends of Dr Clarke, who could tell you all about it, and as an autograph collector you would find her worth corresponding with, as I know she used to be very diligent in that line. I refer to Miss Tooth, whose address is Upper Clapton, London'. 'The Life and Labours of Adam Clarke' (1842) contains a letter from Clarke to 'his friend Mrs. Tomkins, one of those who had supported the Shetland Mission'.