[Thomas Davies, bookseller; Boswell & Johnson; Thomas Cadell] Autograph Letter Signed Thos Davies to Unnamed correspondent (Thomas Cadell, publisher? see below), unwilling to participate in an auction including books in quires.

One page, 12mo, laid down on l. larger stiff paper, some staining but text clear and complete. I would willingly be of service to Mrs Evans & attend the sale; but I wish not to buy books in quires - I am besides so very deaf that it is a pain to me to be in company - | Mrs Evans & you may depend upon my doing what little service is in my power when y[ou]r bound stock is sold [...] | P.S. I am delighted greatly with y[ou]r Travels ['Voyages' excised] of Mr. Coxe - He is a most accomplished Gentleman & I am sure has a most excellent heart.. Given that Davies died in 1785, he is presumably mentioning Coxe's Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark, published by Thomas Cadell in 1784. This would mean that Thomas Cadell was the addressee, and the consignor of books in quires to a Sale held by a Mrs Evans, presumably the mother of the renowned auctioneer, R.H. Evans, whose father, Thomas Evans, was a bookseller and auctioneer who, in fact, died in 1784. [Perhaps Cadell was playing on that fact - a fellow bookseller recently dead.] See image. Thomas Davies (c. 1713 – 1785) was a Scottish bookseller and author. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and was for some years on the stage; but having been ridiculed by Churchill in The Rosciad he gave up acting and opened a bookshop in Covent Garden. It was here that in 1763 he introduced Boswell to Dr. Johnson, who was his close friend and to whom he dedicated his edition of the works of Massinger. He wrote a successful Life of Garrick (1780), which passed through four editions, and Dramatic Miscellanies (three volumes, 1783–4). [Wikipedia].