Thomas Steavens (c.1718–1759). Henry Bilson Legge (1708–1764...

Thomas Steavens (c.1718–1759). Henry Bilson Legge (1708–1764) Three autograph letters signed to Thomas Steavens, Berlin and Leipzig, 1748–1749. Three letters comprising seven manuscript pages: Berlin, 28 October/8 November 1748, 2 pp. on a folded bifolium; Berlin, 19/29 November 1748, 3 pp. on a folded bifolium; and Leipzig, 21 January 1749, 2 pp. on a smaller single sheet. Each signed "H. Legge" and docketed by the recipient; the Leipzig letter additionally bearing an autograph endorsement initialled by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams. Old folds, occasional light toning and minor marks, otherwise generally well preserved and legible. Correspondence written during the closing months of Legge's embassy to the court of Frederick the Great. Legge discusses his expected recall from Berlin, his proposed journey through Dresden and his determination not to leave Germany without seeing "the great Williams and the small Steavens" and shooting a wild boar. In the second letter he reports receiving his formal letters of revocation and awaiting Frederick's return from Potsdam, "which will be by the end of next week, to get my final Audiences," before beginning his journey home. The final letter, written from Leipzig while travelling to England with Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, urgently advises Steavens to abandon his travels and return home for medical treatment: "For God's sake don't be so mad." Williams adds beneath Legge's signature, "I am of this opinion," followed by his initials. Henry Bilson Legge (29 May 1708–23 August 1764) was a Whig politician and diplomat who served as private secretary to Sir Robert Walpole and, at the time of these letters, as envoy extraordinary to the court of Frederick the Great. Following his return from Prussia he became Treasurer of the Navy and subsequently served three times as Chancellor of the Exchequer. See Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, "Legge, Henry Bilson (1708–1764), politician."

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