Chapter 13: The Final Chapter, 1880-1

Item 151
The Gladstone Bag and the manuscript
Cover of green leather-bound typescript of Thomas Longman's memoirs, 'Memoirs personal and various' (1921)
Lent by a private collector

In his memoirs, 'Memoirs personal and various', Longman recounts (pp. 99-101) his return visit to Hughenden in September to collect the manuscript of Endymion. His awe at the prospect of the meeting was soon mixed with dismay when he realised the bag he'd brought was a Gladstone bag - a capacious holdall with two equally-sized compartments, named after the Liberal leader. In the candle-lit gloom Disraeli either didn't notice this or forebore to comment as his manuscript was transferred from his three dispatch boxes.