[Daniel Noble, Manchester physician specialising in mental illness.] Autograph Letter Signed ('D. Noble') to an individual concerned with the printing and distribution of his work ('Mr. C.'?), mixing practical and personal matter.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf. The recipient is not named. The letter begins: 'My Dear Sir, | I beg to introduce my friend Mr. Walker to you as he is frequenting the Leeds Anniversary Meeting of the Association'. He presumes that the recipient has not 'disposed of many copies' of his 'late publication': 'The demand here is steady and continued but not extensive.' He sees that the recipient was 'right' when he stated, speaking from his 'actual experience', 'that such publications are chiefly for giving and but little for sale'. His 'expectation will be more than realized' if two hundred copies of the publication sell. After 'squaring up' with the recipient, Noble will 'distribute the remainder' as 'judiciously' as he can, having regard to his own 'probable interests'. He would like to see him in Manchester, though he would find Noble 'as of erst, alone, and widowed, my family being in the Country for salutiferous purposes.' He asks to be remembered to 'Dr. Evans, whose hearty kindness, and most unexpected politeness to myself whilst in town, I never think of without a feeling of gratitude, and respect, and liking for the noble hearted fellow. Will you come? if you don't I shall really feel offended'. He feels sure that only 'something untoward' would prevent a visit. He ends by asking after 'Mrs. C.' A postscript reads: 'I see no notice in the Lancet yet. Am I indebted to you for a very favourable notice in the Argus?' From the distinguished autograph collection of the psychiatrist Richard Alfred Hunter (1923-1981), whose collection of 7000 works relating to psychiatry is now in Cambridge University Library. Hunter and his mother Ida Macalpine had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.