NEWMAN JOHN HENRY: (1801-1890) English Cardinal, canonised as a saint in the Catholic Church in 2019. A charming ...

NEWMAN JOHN HENRY: (1801-1890) English Cardinal, canonised as a saint in the Catholic Church in 2019. A charming A.L.S., John H Newman, one page, 8vo, Oriel College [Oxford], n.d. ('Monday'; annotated 30th August 1840 in another hand at the head of the page), to Miss. Edwards. Newman informs his correspondent that he will take care to be at St. Ebbe's at eight o'clock, adding that it will give him pleasure to have the assistance of Mr. Bennett and continuing 'Will you give my best thanks to Mrs. Eykyn for her kind wish that I should take breakfast at her house, which I hope she will excuse my doing in consequence of an engagement I already have on Thursday morning'. With blank integral leaf. Autograph letters by Newman have become increasingly rare in recent years, and the present example has particularly charming associations. VG Newman's visit to St. Ebbe's Church, in the centre of Oxford, on Thursday, 2nd September would have been in preparation for a marriage ceremony that he presided over the following day, 3rd September 1840. The marriage took place between a couple whom Newman had introduced to each other, Thomas Combe (1796-1872, English Printer, Publisher & Patron of the Arts, the 'Printer to the University' at the Oxford University Press) and Martha Howell Bennett Edwards (1806-1893, British Art Collector, an influential promoter and supporter of the work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood). One of the witnesses at the marriage ceremony was Joseph Bennett, presumably the gentleman referred to in Newman's letter.