[Letter] 1866 Jan. 30, [to] H. [Henry] Reeve
Blackheath Park
Jan.30.1866
Dear Sir
I regret that Mrs
Austin should have had any
annoyance or anxiety on
the subject of the missing Notes
of Lectures. They never were in
her possession, having unfortunately
been lent by me and lost by the
borrower within a year or two
after the Lectures were delivered.
The notes were written out
next day from memoranda made
by myself in the Lecture Room,
and Mr Austin's slow delivery
and splendid articulation made
it easy to report all the important
passages nearly in his exact words.
By these means I had the good
fortune to preserve many very
valuable oral elucidations.
There was only one lecture (I
forget which one) at which I
was unable to be present, and
in that case Mr Austin kindly
lent me his manuscript to enable
me to fill up the vacancy. I
never saw the MS. of any of the
others, nor did he see any of the
Notes.
I am happy that the unusual
length of my article is not an
insuperable obstacle to its
insertion.
The proofs should be sent
to Blackheath. I am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J.S.Mill