RYE

4 pages, 16mo, bifolium, black-bordered. She explains at length why she finds it difficult to arrange a visit to her correspondent, including the illnes of a Miss Tait (awaiting doctor's orders) [Lucy Tait was her partner], and her daughter who has just returned from Egypt. She hopes to be in London with her daughter on the 21st, and perhaps take a train to Broxbourne to see her. Note: "Her future husband was so impressed by her intellect at their first meeting that he vowed to marry her on the spot, despite her being only eight years old at the time.

Nicely printed on thick watermarked laid paper, roughly 56 x 78 cm. Plate dimensions roughly 40.5 x 64 cm. Even creases from folding of map four times. Fair, with a little discoloration along folds and very slight wear and loss fold junctions. At foot of plate: 'The Scale is 96 Rods to One Inch.' Only two copies of this item located: the first, in the British Library Department of Maps describes it as showing 'existing and intended drainage systems. Engraving style and date suggests hand of Charles John Downes, engraver for maps accompanying Hasted's History of Kent'.