Four Autograph Letters Signed (all 'C. H. Firth') to Messrs George Routledge and Sons, relating to revisions of his editions of the Newcastle's and Hutchinson's lives.

All four items 12mo bifoliums; the first of three pages and the other three of four. Text of all four clear and complete. Good on aged and lightly-creased paper. Minor water staining at head of first leaf of first item. Letter One (28 lines): Discussing the delivery of 'the alterations & additions' of the two lives, and the correction of the proofs by Routledge's reader. 'I shall of course require some payment for my revision of the two books, & you have not said anything on this head. I therefore propose that you give me ten guineas for revising Newcastle & fifteen for revising Hutchinson.' Letter Two (44 lines): Explains 'what I wish to do with regard to Newcastles and Hutchinsons lives': 'I should insert in the introductions some verbal alterations & several new paragraphs. The corrections and additions to be made are mainly in the notes & appendices. During the last 20 years a very large amount of new material for the history of the period has been published, and I have also collected additional information [...] from various private sources.' Continues to describe 'the changes necessary to bring the two books up to date'. Letter Three (39 lines): He is enclosing (not present) 'the matter to be inserted in the Introduction and Appendix to the new edition of Newcastle's Life', and explains what further changes he wishes to make. 'I hear from Mr Lee that you mean to leave out the plates, and have crossed out the table of illustrations accordingly - I should also leave out the list of obsolete words in the appendix. [annotated in pencil 'No!']' Letter Four (26 lines): He has received the copies of the revised versions of the books, but has not yet received 'the payment agreed on for my editorial work'. 'The volumes look well and I am glad to see my edition of the Memoirs made accessible to the public at a low price. Hitherto they have been too dear to be of much use to students of history. | These cheap editions are extremely useful to teachers of history, & I hope you will continue the series -'.