Autograph letter signed by novelist William Harrison Ainsworth c1825

AINSWORTH, William Harrison.
Autograph letter signed to John Partington Aston, discussing legal studies, politics, and urging him to complete “the Tale” [London, c.1825].
 
7pp. closely written on two bifolia (8vo), c.2,000 words, black ink, signed. Addressed to John Partington Aston, docketed, with traces of seal. Old folds, a couple of small puncture holes caused by them, some toning, a stain and handling wear, but a very good, complete letter.
 
An unusually long and substantial early letter from William Harrison Ainsworth (1805–1882), then about twenty years old, to his close friend and literary collaborator John Partington Aston (1805–1854), clerk in his father’s Manchester law office and soon to be co-author with Ainsworth of Sir John Chiverton (1826).
 
The letter is steeped in the concerns of a young, articled clerk: Ainsworth describes his weary struggles with legal tome Blackstone and Herbert on Ejectments, reflects on opinions in civil and common law, and reports legal and political news. Yet amidst the legal grind runs a more revealing note: he urges Aston to press on with “the Tale” — almost certainly the joint project that became Sir John Chiverton, the historical romance published the following year and praised by Walter Scott.
There are glimpses too of his wider circle and cultural life: mentions of the Curran family, Aston’s brothers, and theatrical news from Drury Lane (Kean and Don Giovanni).
 
Most surviving Ainsworth correspondence is from later along in his life. This example, stretching over seven pages shows the early formation of his partnership with Aston, with Ainsworth as a young man and at the beginnings of his career as a novelist.