A. Campbell | Autograph letter signed, on the death of Clive of India, 24 November 1774

A. Campbell

Autograph letter signed, to his brother, on the death of Clive of India

attributing his death somewhat implausibly to "the injudicious use of the Bath Waters" and describing the circumstances ("...He came on Sunday from Bath. On Monday I spent two hours with him, when he only complained of a slight cold and noise in his ears that kept him from sleeping. Doctor Fothergill attended him and declared that he had no alarming symptom...He [Clive] conversed with me as usual and carried me the different Apartments to see new pictures he had bought - Yet the next day I beheld only the melancholy remains of my dear and noble friend..."), 3 pages, 8vo, Weston super Mare, 24 November [1774], very light spotting

It is unclear how medicinal waters, however injudiciously administered, would have caused Clive to sever his own jugular with a paperknife. The reasons for his suicide are disputed. Samuel Johnson was characteristically categorical: he "had acquired his fortune by such crimes that his consciousness of them impelled him to cut his own throat". He was also suffering from gallstones, opium addiction, and depression.

PROVENANCE:

Cavendish Philatelic Auctions, 12 November 1998