Author:
Richard James Balston [R. J. Balston] of Boxley Abbey, ornithologist [Rev. Charles William Shepherd of Maidstone; Edward Bartlett]
Publication details:
'Mrs Hunter's | Balta Sound | Lerwick | Shetlands'. 31 October [1880]. In envelope with 'LERWICK' postmark.
8pp., 12mo. On two bifoliums. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. With envelope, with Penny Red stamp and circular postmark in black ink ('B | LERWICK | 5 NO | 80'), addressed to 'The Revd. | C. W. Shepherd | Trosley Rectory | N Maidstone | Kent | England'. Balston and his companion on the trip Edward Bartlett would go on to collaborate with Shepherd on the 1907 publication 'Notes on the Birds of Kent'. The letter begins: 'Dear Shepherd | Here we are in the Arctic Regions, & it being Sunday & snowing fast, are not able to get out, so I sit down to spin you a yarn.
