3, [1] p.; 262 mm.
This is a letterpress copy of a letter, dated 2 August 1827, from Sir Walter Scott to his friend, Sir Adam Ferguson, about a painting in Ferguson's possession by Sir David Wilkie of Scott and his family. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1818 with the title 'A finished sketch of Walter Scott, Esq. and his family' (cat. no. 117) but today generally know as 'The Abbotsford Family' (1817) [in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art]. The letter is in response to one from Ferguson about a request to him for descriptions of the figures in the painting, which is to be engraved, and some more contemporary anecdotes about his friend Scott. Scott provides his own descriptions of the figures in the painting but politely and firmly refuses to provide further personal anecdotes. He also requests that before any descriptions are published Scott should be sent proof to check.
The letter was published in the journal The Bijou in 1828 with slight alterations at the beginning of the letter and asterisks instead of the name of the person who was requesting the information and anecdotes of Ferguson (Mr. Balmanno). The published letter was preceded in The Bijou by the engraving of the painting by W. H. Worthingon.
There is no evidence on the printed letter of where it was printed, who by or when.