John Stuart Blackie, classical scholar : autograph envelope with inscription in New Testament Greek. Edinburgh, June 1882.

Mailing envelope, 95 x 120 mm, front addressed in ink in the hand of John Stuart Blackie to ‘J. Christie Esq., 14 Florence Place, Stanley Street, Glasgow’, with accompanying inscription in Greek at lower left ἀληθεύω εν ἀγάπη (=”I speak the truth in love”) – an allusion to Ephesians 4:15 – and endorsed twice in pencil in Christie’s hand Blackie; franked with 1d postage stamp with postmark dated EDINBURGH JU 3 82; verso with Glasgow arrival stamp dated the same day; the letter is no longer present; envelope well preserved, with some paper adhesions to verso from where it was once mounted in an album.

John Stuart Blackie (1809-1895) was one of the pre-eminent classical scholars of the nineteenth century, who for several decades held the Chair of Greek in the University of Edinburgh. He was also an authority and lecturer on many subjects, and a champion of the Gaelic language and of Celtic culture. Charismatic, dynamic and of striking appearance, he was one of the most famous Scottish identities of his time.

Provenance: Jane Emma Murphy (Balcombe) (1854-1924), of “The Briars”, Mornington, Victoria, Australia; thence by descent through the à Beckett family, Melbourne.