Folded leaf of writing paper with printed address '11, Caledonian Place, Clifton, Bristol'. 17.8 x 11.4 cm. 34 lines. Horizontally folded in half. Corners a bit worn. William Watson (1858-1935) was a famous British poet until 1914. In this letter, he enjoys the gift of a volume of poems by Coleridge 'enhanced by your autograph & the much too flattering inscription'. 'I am sure no one deserves a rest more than you'. This was because the barrister Stephen Coleridge, secretary of the National Anti-Vivisection Society ('N.A.-V. Soc.' in this letter), had taken it upon himself to prosecute a medical doctor, William Bayliss, because of his cruelty against a 'brown dog' who had been dissected alive for a medical experiment, and had to live on for a long time to be studied for vivisection experiments. Coleridge was a son of John Duke Coleridge, former Lord Chief Justice of England, and great-grandson of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Some months after this letter was sent, a trial started - so there was to be, alas, not much rest for Coleridge, who in the end was ordered to pay about 5000 pounds to Bayliss for defamation. Watson had tried to involve the Daily News, but this didn't work out. William Watson was one of many authors who voiced their support against the vivisection and the callous attitude of medical students present. For the dog a monument in bronze was later erected in a park in Battersea, London.