LOUTH

The subject of the present letter, Thomas Paley, was certainly related to William Paley, but they were not brothers, as Paley had none. The reason for the lack of information about Thomas Paley is his disgrace. In 1806, five years after the present letter was written, Thomas Paley, a senior fellow and tutor at Magdalene, was forbidden to reside at the college (while still retaining his stipend), being guilty of 'highly offensive and injurious conduct providing a dangerous example to juniors' in ways 'which from delicacy cannot be specified' (see Cunich, 'History of Magdalene College').

Thomas Wilkinson Wallis was the greatest wood carver of Victorian England. Born in impoverished circumstances in Hull, by 1844 he had established his own business in Louth Lincolnshire, and for the 1851 he submitted seven carvings, 'of which ‘Trophy of Spring’ was awarded a medal. It was his most intricate carving, it took him 8 months to complete and was considered to surpass the work of Grinling Gibbons.

xi + 67pp., 12mo. Disbound and without covers. The preface to the first edition is dated from 'Liverpool, 1869', and that to the second from 'Lincoln, 1871'. In the latter Goy writes that he is in 'failing health', but that 'the whole has been thoroughly revised, and much additional matter introduced. The chapter on Artificial Teeth has been enlarged, and the character of the work altogether improved.' Scarce: no copy of any edition found on either COPAC or OCLC WorldCat, and none in the Wellcome Library.