ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT PAGE FROM “THE VIRGINIANS” THACKERAY (William Makepeace, 1811-1863, Novelist)

Autograph manuscript of part of pages 360 to 361 of The Virginians, in his upright hand “but for the pure unquenchable flame of patriotism that was for every burning in the bosom of the heroic leader. What a constancy, what a magnanimity, what a surprising persistence against fortune! Washington before the enemy was no better nor braver than hundreds that fought with him or against him (who has not heard the repeated sneers against ‘Fabius’ in which his factious captains were accustomed to indulge?) but Washington the Chief of a nation in arms, doing battle with distracted parties; calm in the midst of conspiracy; serene again the open foe before him and the darker enemies at his back; Washington inspiring order and spirit into troops hungry and in rags; stung by ingratitude, but betraying no anger, and ever ready to forgive; in defeat invincible, magnanimous in conquest, and never so sublime as on that day when he laid down his victorious sword, and sought his noble retirement - here indeed is a character to admire and revere; a life without a stain, a fame without a flaw. Quando invenies...”, 1 side 8vo., no place, no date, circa

Thackeray is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, which was adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick. Among his later novels is The History of Henry Esmond, in which Thackeray tried to write a novel in the style of the eighteenth century, a period that held great appeal for him. The Virginians is the sequel to Esmond, it is set partially in North America and includes George Washington as a character who nearly kills one of the protagonists in a duel.

Item Date:  1858

Stock No:  42911      £2750

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