ALS and hand written poem by Father and Daughter William and Catherine Hutton

HUTTON, Catherine (1756-1846); HUTTON, William (1723-1815). Autograph letter signed by writer daughter Catherine enclosing an unpublished poem in the hand of her historian father William.  Bennett's Hill, 8 September 1821.
 
Autograph letter signed by Catherine Hutton, one page on a single sheet folded, approximately 220 x 180 mm, with an oblong manuscript leaf approximately 180 x 120 mm attached at the left-hand edge. The attached leaf contains an eight-line poem entitled "Memory", written and signed by William Hutton, with Catherine Hutton's autograph identification above: "Written at the age of eighty four by Wm Hutton historian." Old folds, light toning and handling marks, with a small area of loss and former attachment at the upper left corner; the manuscript remains complete. Very good.
 
Catherine Hutton writes to an unidentified male correspondent who had expressed a desire to possess an example of her late father's handwriting. She remarks that she considers William Hutton's memory highly honoured by the request and encloses 'a few lines of his which have not been published'.
 
William Hutton (1723-1815) was one of the most remarkable self-made literary figures of eighteenth-century England. Beginning life as a factory worker before becoming a successful Birmingham bookseller, he established himself as an antiquary, historian and poet, producing influential county histories of Birmingham, Derby and the Roman Wall, alongside numerous essays and volumes of verse. His daughter Catherine Hutton (1756-1846) was herself a successful novelist, travel writer and prolific correspondent whose letters and journals provide a record of early nineteenth-century literary and social life.
 
The enclosed manuscript preserves an unpublished poem by William Hutton entitled "Memory", written when he was eighty-four years of age and authenticated in his daughter's hand. A most uncommon combination between two well known literary figures who were also father and daughter.