SPURGEON, Charles Haddon (1834-1892). Baptist preacher and religious writer.
Autograph Letter Signed [to William T. Stead, then editor of the Pall Mall Gazette], 1 page 8vo, Westwood, Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, 10 June 1884. Arranging a meeting, despite being 'sorely pressed for time' ('Friday at 6 ... Crystal Palace Station - walk 20 minutes').

In celebration of Spurgeon's fiftieth birthday, the Gazette published an article on 18 June 1884 entitled 'Mr. Spurgeon At Home'; it is likely to have been based on the meeting to which this letter refers. The article contained a meticulous description of Spurgeon's home and only a few quotations from the (no doubt hasty) interview: 'Mr. Spurgeon himself, in a white felt wide-awake and light alpaca garden coat, chatted pleasantly of men and things . But for the present our space is exhausted. Of what Mr. Spurgeon said we shall be able to speak more at length another time.'

Stead was to lose his life in the sinking of the Titanic (15 April 1912).
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