182x113mm. Single sheet, folded. One side, with envelope in Arnold’s hand. Undated. On Education Department, Whitehall headed paper. In black ink, it reads: ‘Dear Sir | The “Lectures on Translating Homer” | are out of print. “Merope” can be | obtained at Messrs Longman. “Empedocles | on Edna” is printed in the collected | edition of my Poems. | Elliot and Fry, the stereoscopic company, Maull & Polyblank, & | Fradelle, have all published | photographs of me. I do not | like any of them, but I think | Fradelle’s (Regent St.) is the least | bad. | Truly yours | Matthew Arnold.’ A nice letter to an obscure recipient. Arnold names several of his key works, presumably responding to a desire to purchase them and acknowledges, at some length, the quality and variety of commercially available portraits of him. He signs this example in a clear and bold hand. Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) was an English poet, essayist, and cultural critic renowned for his lyrical poetry and incisive commentary on society and education. Educated at Rugby and Oxford, he served as an inspector of schools, promoting educational reform while writing influential works such as his famed poem ‘Dover Beach’ and influential ‘Culture and Anarchy’. Arnold’s literary and pedagogical contributions shaped Victorian thought, advocating intellectual rigor, moral insight, and the civilizing power of culture in public life.