This is an autograph formal letter in the third eprson from Walter Scott to an illegible correspondent, possibly Mr Hurst. Abbotsford, undated, Sunday evening, ca 1814.

The letter is sending "a small volume of rare tracts which must be taken great care of, the first to be copied is of "the present Miserable State of Ireland". The introduction is on paper aparte as laid in at the place. Mr Scott's servant returns to Abbotsford on Wednesday & will bring any thing that may be sent to Castle Street in the course of Tuesday..."

The letter is referring to a small volume of pamphlets that he borrowed from Matthew Weld Hartstonge (c 1772-c 1835), an Irish barrister who corresponded with Walter Scott. He sourced much material for Scott in the prepartion of his edition of Jonathan Swift. Scott writes to Hartstonge in April 1814 referring to the volume of tracts as "the last you were kind enough to send", suggesting that this note must date from a similar period. The edition was then published in July of that year, with the tract in question included as an appendix to the first volume, and this note must be sending the volume to a copyist to have a text made for the typesetters to work from. Scott usually asked his publishers to arrange such copying, but the name here is not Constable or anyone else on the title-page of the printed volume; it may be "hurts" (for "Hurst"), who with Longman certainly was involved in publishing the 2nd edition of Scott's works of Swift.