Auctioned Wordsworth letters to be displayed

Letters written by William Wordsworth in which he revealed he was struggling to pen lines of poetry will eventually go on display, the charity which bought them at auction has announced.

The items, sold for £6,350 including buyer's fees at Christie's last month, include one addressed to fellow writer Thomas De Quincey and two to Irish physicist Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

In one, dated 1830, Wordsworth acknowledged he had "scarcely written a hundred verses during the last twelve months".

The Wordsworth Trust said the letters filled "important gaps" in the timeline of the poet's life and would be shown at its museum in Grasmere.

Ahead of the auction last month, Christie's Thomas Venning said the letters showed Wordsworth was a "revolutionary youth" who saw his creativity "drying up" as he grew older.

Revealing it had been the successful bidder, the trust said the correspondence included references to Wordsworth's political views and demonstrated the extent of his social circle.

The items were bought with the help of donations from the Friends of the Nations' Libraries charity and a private supporter.

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