The Cotman Letters 1804-1833

July 31. 1811. Norwich.
To Dawson Turner Esquire
Yarmouth

Dear Sir.
Since I had the pleasure of seeing you last I have been in a very melancholy state - that of being very nearly totally Blind from a very severe cold - I am now entirely free from it & have been a short tour merely to fill in the vacant time betwixt the printing of the Letterpress and the actual sending the remaining setts (sic) out to my Subscribers which are I am afraid become rather impatient. Therefore should Mr Printer have performed his part, I shall be very glad to hear from him. I have been to Binham, Walsingham, over which place is a very pretty West End of a Chapel, called Houghton in the Dale, which stands farther out of the way, and have never been noticed by the Pencil. Its chief beauty consists in its being so very small & the symmetry of the whole together. Basham House, is really quite beautiful, this has afforded me fresh matter, and as I think it has never been done justice to, I have taken the more trouble about it. Mr Repton has drawn it, and it is to be published by the Society of Antiquaries - with grand plans, History &c. So far it is desirable, but thus it will not be universally known, as the Society’s works are confined among themselves. At Little Snoring I found a curious doorway, a pointed arch with Saxon tracery upon it, surmounted with the Horseshoe arch. If this is not a boon for the Antiquarian, I shall despair of ever finding one for him. [SKETCH of doorway] Dear Sir, do you think this will do, as a Norfolk worthy? How much it is my wish to find subjects in Norfolk which will stand with any other county in England! I heard you favoured me by enquiring for me when you were in Norwich a little time since - I wish I had been at home to have seen you - Present my compliments to Mrs Turner & I hope she & her little baby are quite well.