John Playfair to Mary Berry, 22 September 1810, in response to her edition of the Letters of Madame du Deffand, received three days previously: 'The preface is excellent, very well written and very judicious. The notes bespeak that great familiarity with the characters and persons who figure in the book, whch cannot be acquired by reading [...] I find a great deal of amusement and interest in the few letters I have yet read'.