Autograph letter signed by writer Emma Robinson / E L'Estrange dated 1855

ROBINSON, Emma (1814-1890), writing as E. L'Estrange. Autograph Letter Signed, to Charles Manby, discussing literature, the Westminster Review, the Paris Exhibition, engineering, and contemporary politics. 42 Queen's Road, St. John's Wood, 9 July 1855.
 
Single folded bifolium, 4 pp., approximately 180 x 115 mm. Written in brown ink on all four pages. Signed "E. L'Estrange" at the conclusion. Old horizontal and vertical folds as issued. In very good condition.
 
A content rich literary letter from the Victorian novelist Emma Robinson, writing under one of her pseudonyms E. L'Estrange, to the civil engineer and scientific administrator Charles Manby (1804-1884), Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 
 
Robinson asks Manby for his opinion on the work of "Mr McKenzie", explaining that she had hoped to seek his views before making alterations, and expresses confidence that Manby's advocacy through the Westminster Review will assist the author. She comments wryly that "Literature agrees with very few of the foolish people who profess it."
 
The letter then turns to the recipient's appointment as one of the jurors at the Paris Exhibition, on which Robinson warmly congratulates him. Reflecting on Britain's industrial achievements, she remarks that England "stands up proudly for its England in everything made of wood and iron - we are the first Civil Engineers in the world you know." She then launches into criticism of the Home Secretary Sir George Grey, writing that he is "a proper example of an incapable minister - you can't make one complete without an almost equal mixture of violence and weakness." Letters by the writer Emma Robinson under her pseudonym E. L'Estrange are uncommon.