Rediscovered Samuel Johnson letter fetches more than four times its estimate at auction

A recently-discovered letter written by one of Lichfield’s most famous sons has sold for more than four times its estimate at auction.

The correspondence from Samuel Johnson was discovered amongst a cache of documents kept in a cupboard in a Gloucestershire country home.

The letter – written to Sophia Thrale – had previously been known about, but had officially been logged as lost by scholars having disappeared from public view.

But it was rediscovered during a valuation at the house, leading to it being sold to an organisation described as “a British institution” by Chorley’s auctioneers for £38,460.

Werner Freundel, director at Chorley’s, said:

“Samuel Johnson’s charming letter to a young Sophia Thrale will remain in the UK and we hope it will be displayed to the UK public in time.”

Werner Freundel, Chorley’s