$300
Estimate: $300 - $500
Auction: February 18, 2021 10:00:00 AM EDT
Aldworth (House), Haselmere, Surrey, July 5, no year (ca. 1875-92). One sheet folded to make four pages; 6 1/8 x 3 7/8 in. (155 x 98 mm). Autograph letter, signed by Tennyson to Sir Henry Bedingfield, Bart.: "My dear Sir,/By all means/call your house/"Locksley" if you/have taken a fancy/to the name./My wife is pretty/well, & we beg/to be remembered/to Mrs. Bedingfield./I am yours very truly/A. Tennyson" ("Locksley Hall" was a poem by Tennyson, first published in 1842). Creasing from original folds; tape remnants from old mount on corners of third page; ink stains on fourth page. Lot includes an engraved portrait of Tennyson.
Sir Henry Bedingfield, Bart., was a descendent of Sir Henry Bedingfield (1505-1583), who worked in various capacities under Queen Mary I. In a letter dated August 20, 1875, Bedingfield writes to Tennyson about his recent play "Queen Mary" (1875): "...I am the direct descendant of Sir Henry, and date from the house which was his home. The millions who will read 'Mary Tudor,' or witness the play on the stage, will carry the impression that my ancestor was a vulgar yeoman in some way connected with the stables, whereas he was a man of ancient lineage, a trusted friend and servant of the Queen...I trust therefore to your feeling of justice, that you will, if possible, either strike out Sir Henry's name from future editions, or allot him a more dignified part on the stage..." Tennyson later replied to Bedingfield writing that in deference to him, Sir Henry's name would not be mentioned on the stage and that the playbill would refer to him as "Governor of Woodstock." (p. 183, Alfred Lord Tennyson, A Memoir, by His Son, Volume 2, 1898).