[Gordon of Khartoum.] Typed Letter Signed from D. J. Kennedy to Gordon's biographer H. E. Wortham, regarding his mother's uncle Samuel Mossman, editor of the North China Herald and author of a scarce book on Gordon.

3pp., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He has been reading Wortham's biography ('Gordon: An Intimate Portrait', published in the same year) and asks whether he might be interested in 'a book which was published in 1885 by my mother's uncle, a Mr. Samuel Mossman. I believe he died about forty years ago, and lived in Liverpool. I never saw him, and as far as I am aware, my mother and her father saw little of him.' After a brief paragraph concerning bequests Kennedy continues: 'I know that my mother and I always wondered what had happened to any letters her uncle might have received from General Gordon and as to what happened to his diary, but as when I was of an age to take an interest in these matters my grandfather was dead, we never obtained any information.' He did however retain 'a book published by Samuel Mossman in 1885 which was based on General Gordon's "diary", which apparently at that time was in Samuel Mossman's possession and consisted of a few sheets of paper'. The following paragraphs discuss Mossman's unwillingness to publish the diary during Gordon's lifetime, and 'some large copies of maps on Chinese silk, which I understand were copies of General Gordon's survey maps given by him to Samuel Mossman'. He would be happy to show Wortham Mossman's book ('the only copy existing in our possession'), and ends by discussing the possibility of his visiting his flat in West London. Mossman's book ('The Great Taiping Rebellion: A Story of General Gordon in China') is indeed scarce, the only copy on COPAC being t the British Library.