Florence Nightingale letters sell for £2,250

The letters were recently discovered in a Victorian desk, where they had lain for decades

Letters penned by Florence Nightingale demonstrating her "boundless kindness and compassion" have sold for £2,250 at auction.

Two missives written by the nursing pioneer between 1892 and 1894 were found inside a Victorian desk at a house in Holloway, Derbyshire.

Nightingale was in poor health when she wrote them to the carer of a woman named Hannah Allen.

The items were sold by Derbyshire-based Hansons Auctioneers.

Ms Allen lived in Holloway, close to Nightingale's former family home.

Nightingale was in poor health when she wrote the letters

Nightingale refers to her as "our poor friend, Hannah Allen'" and asks "whether she would like me again to send her pounded meat & orange jelly".

In one, Nightingale mentions her poor physical state, saying: "My permanent & constant work is so far beyond my strength that I am quite unable to undertake any extra work."

Jim Spencer, an expert at Hansons Auctioneers, said the letters were a "wonderful find".

Letters inherited

He said: "They epitomise all that Nightingale stood for - boundless kindness and compassion and the importance of gaining the right care."

The seller inherited the letters in 1986 and recently discovered them in the desk.

Two letters sold for £1,300 and £950 and a book which Nightingale inscribed sold for £1,800.

Five other letters failed to reach their reserve price.