Three Autograph Letters Signed (all 'J. E. Cussans') from John Edwin Cussans to H. C. Wilkins, regarding antiquarian matters. With autograph manuscript of beginning of account by Cussans of the parish of Sarratt, from his 'History of Hertfordshire'.

The four items in good condition, on lightly-aged and dusty paper. Letter One (11 May1879): 2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Begins in typical high-spirited style: 'To morrow (Monday) I shall be at Radlett, and shall forward by train to you, at St Albans Station, Midland, the proof sheets of Dacorum, which I shall not expect you to return until you become the First Lord of the Admiralty. Then, I shall.' Letter Two (25 September 1879): 2pp., 12mo, and 1p., 8vo. Bifolium. He discusses Breakspear Farm, 'said to have been the birthplace of Nicholas (not Sir Nicholas) Brakespear, the only Englishman enthroned at St. Peter's - (I mean the Roman, not the Hertforshire St Peter's)'. He discusses the life fo 'the only Englishman who ever jangled the sacred keys'. He is seeing Lord Verulam shortly, and will ask him about the matter. He expresses annoyance at 'A London Reader': 'If he be individual enough to give his real name, I shall be obliged to smash him.' He repeats the previously-stated hope that he may see Wilkins's 'valuable contributions reproduced in a more substantial form': 'Your vocation and mine are somewhat different. I have a bob-tail coat, and a white choker on, and am obliged to confine myself within the four corners of the etiquette demanded of a County Historian. You have a roving commission - can work in your shirt-sleeves if you like - and can enjoy yourself in a way denied me, but when the eighth figure of this quadrille is over, I feel more than half inclined to put off my "company" dress, and don a good thick suit of corduroy (which even "a London Reader" can't hurt), and go in for a particularly free and easy History of the County, as it never is.' Letter Three (21 April 1880): 2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. He is enclosing the 'proof of Sarratt and of Croxley - which you must not trouble to return.' 'As my accounts of the parish are not yet published, readers would naturally imagine that I had copied without acknowledgment from the Advertiser.' Account of the Parish of Sarratt: 1p., folio. Headed 'Sarratt'. In margin: 'H. E. Cussans | 4 Wyndham Crescent | Junction Rod | IV | 2/2/80'. Ends abruptly, with word 'over', so clearly only the first page. Begins: 'This is a small parish about four miles north west of the Town of Rickmansworth.'