'Your preface to Aubrey is as delightful as it is learned, and Aubrey himself astonishes me more and more. Has there ever been a writer with more economy of phrase, or with a better gift of describing characters and appearances in two or three sentences? He seems to me to give every essential, and to cut off every wrapping which would take away from that essential. He is so companionable,too. I do think your valuation, your criticism, of him is one of the most discerning and enlightening pieces of criticism of our time, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am to you for giving me this book, so full of life, of warmth and of light....'