Essayist and poet who seems to have had a disease (7)

I believe the answer is:

addison

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'essayist' is the definition.
(Joseph Addison, co-founder of the Spectator)

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(Other definitions for addison that I've seen before include "Writer of essays" , "author" , "Man of letters" , "C17-18 English essayist" , "Joseph --, co-founder of The Spectator" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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