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Letter from Sir Benjamin Thompson of Munich to Lord Sheffield [John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield], 18 Nov 1791. Describing the condition and people of Bavaria. Speaking of the Elector's troops: '... I know of no Troops that are so well and so comfortably clothed as ours, both for Summer and Winter ...'. Giving details of the crops, minerals and commerce of Bavaria. 'It would be difficult,'he writes, 'to convey to your Lordship an adequate idea of the Ignorance, Superstition and corruption which pervade and darken every part of this neglected Country.' Says that the clergy and nobility hold a monopoly of the beer in Bavaria: '... which is the great source of their riches, and on that account Drunkenness must be encouraged.'

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Thomas Robert Malthus of London to Rev George Turner, Kettleburgh, Wickham Market, [Suffolk], 28 Nov 1800. Referring to Malthus's tract An Investigation of the Causes of the present High Price of Provisions(1800). 'I sat up till two o'clock the evening before I went to Bath to finish it that it might come out before the meeting of Parliament.' Referring to the the famous Essay on the Principle of Population: 'The prevailing conversation about the pop[ulation] of the country has caused enquiries to be made about the Essay, which is now nowhere to be bought. This I hope will animate me to proceed in another edition, though to say the truth I feel at present very idle about it'.

Autograph, with signature.

[A letter from James Bonar to Professor H S Foxwell, asking permission to print Malthus's letter, and a corrected proof of the letter for the Economic Journal are filed with Malthus's original letter.]