aveller) on the Ganges or Hydaspes (Indian streams) to meet a
smutty Gentoo ready to burst with laughing at the tale of Bo-Bo! for
doubtless it hath been translated into all the dialects of the East. I
grieve the less, that Europe should want it. I cannot gather from your
letter, whether you are aware that a second series of the Essays is
published by Moxon, in Dover-street, Piccadilly, called "The Last Essays
of Elia," and, I am told, is not inferior to the former. Shall I order a
copy for you, and will you accept it? Shall I _lend_ you, at the same
time, my sole copy of the former volume (Oh! return it) for a month or
two? In return, you shall favour me with the loan of one of those
Norfolk-bred grunters that you laud so highly; I promise not to keep it
above a day. What a funny name Bungay is! I never dreamt of a
correspondent thence. I used to think of it as some Utopian town or
borough in Gotham land. I now believe in its existence, as part of merry
England!

[_Some lines scratched out._]

The part I have scratched out is the best of the letter. Let me have
your commands.

CH. LAMB, _alias_ ELIA.

[Talfourd thus explains this letter: "In December, 1834, Mr. Lamb
received a letter from a gentleman, a stranger to him--Mr. Childs of
Bungay, whose copy of _Elia_ had been sent on an Oriental voyage, and
who, in order to replace it, applied to Mr. Lamb." Mr. Childs was a
printer. His business subsequently became that of Messrs. R.&R. Clark,
which still flourishes.

This letter practically disposes of the statement made by more than one
bibliographer that a second edition of Elia was published in 1833. The
tale of Bo-Bo is in the "Dissertation on Roast Pig."

Lamb sent Mr. Childs a copy of _John Woodvil_, in which he wrote:--]

LETTER 613

FROM THE AUTHOR

In great haste, the Pig was _faultless_,--we got decently merry after it
and chirpt and sang "Heigh! Bessy Bungay!" in honour of the Sender. Pray
let me have a line to say you got the Books; keep the _1st vol._--two or
three months, so long as it comes home at last.

LETTER 614

CHARLES LAMB TO MRS. GEORGE DYER

Dec. 22nd, 1834.

Dear Mrs. Dyer,--I am very uneasy about a _Book_ which I either have
lost or left at your house on Thursday. It was the book I went out to
fetch from Miss Buffam's, while the tripe was frying. It is called
Phillip's Theatrum Poetarum; but it is an English book. I think I left
it in the parlour. It is Mr. Cary's book,