28 OCTOBER 1972, Page 16

Essay on Woman

Sir: I am in the United States and have only just heard of a ridiculous error by your contributor Bookbuyer, who says in your issue of October 14: "On page 108 of Andre Deutsch's carefully and magnificently produced numbered edition of John Wilkes's Essay on Woman there is a whole line missing."

This is an untrue as well as a damaging statement. There is nothing amiss with page 108 except that the word " declare " appears as "declared." It is not in Wilkes's poem itself but in one of Mr Adrian Hamilton's historical chapters. Andre Deutsch Andre Deutsch Ltd, 105 Great Russell Street, London WC1