[Joseph Hatton, novelist and journalist, editor of the Sunday Times.] Autograph Letter Signed to Alexander Ireland, describing his grief at the death of his son the explorer Frank Hatton, and the comfort he has found in Ralph Waldo Emerson's writing.

See the two men?s entries in the Oxford DNB. A long letter, covering all four sides of a 12mo bifolium with mourning border, with the first pages written conventionally on the recto of the first leaf, and the rest written lengthwise. Signed ?Joseph Hatton? and addressed to ?Alexander Ireland Esq?. In good condition, on aged and worn paper, with tape from mount adhering to the second leaf. Folded once. There were some doubts regarding Frank Hatton?s death in the jungles of Borneo, but the accepted account was that he had been accidentally shot. Begins: ?In the midst of the bitterest sorrow of a life that has not been all sunshine, your excellent biographic sketch of Emerson has afforded me some hours of consolatory relief. I have read over & over again the great prose-poet?s lines on the death of his child, Waldo, adapting them with human selfishness to my own loss, for in respect of my dear & only boy it might also with truth be said he / - ?did adorn / The world whereinto he was born.? [the quotation is from Emerson?s poem ?Threnody?]?. He moves on to a discussion of ?Carlyle?s words? to the sister of ?Mr Neuberg?. He characterizes his son as ?self-sacrificing, affectionate? and ?wise & gentle?. With regard to his book ?A Modern Ulysses? he writes: ?Portions of my new novel which is published almost simultaneously with the announcement of his death were written for him, dealing with that part of the world in which he was at work; and I had looked forward to talking over with him the shortcomings of my imaginary travels. In the midst of our [reflecting?] upon his return, the news that he is dead & buried. Your kind heart will tell you how we have suffered, how we do suffer.? He is sending Ireland the novel, and asks for his ?Book-Lover?s Enchiridion?. In a postscript he states that he hopes to be able to refer to the Ireland?s Emerson piece in the New York Times.