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Letter from Maria Edgeworth, Navan, to William Jacob, 1824 June 13 : autograph manuscript signed.

BIB_ID
157569
Accession number
MA 3037
Creator
Edgeworth, Maria, 1768-1849.
Display Date
Navan, Ireland, 1824 June 13.
Credit line
Purchased on the Acquisitions Fund, 1975.
Description
1 item (6 pages, with address) ; 22.9 x 18.8 and 37.4 x 22.8 cm
Notes
Written from "Black Castle," the home of Edgeworth's aunt Margaret Ruxton.
Address panel with part of a seal and postmarks: "W. Jacob Esqre. / Receiver of Corn returns / Regents Street / London."
Provenance
Purchased from Francis Edwards Ltd. (Bull 44, lot 57), 9 Sept 1975.
Summary
Thanking him for a pamphlet written by his son on legal matters and an article from the Quarterly Review; criticizing the second half of the pamphlet, in regards to who is most qualified to judge whether a book is immoral; arguing that the matter should be put before juries and not left up to judges, in line with the British constitution; discussing the potential financial consequences an accusation of immorality might subject an author to, without adequate recourse; discussing the effect of censorship on a book's popularity: "All the experience of childhood youth and age I apprehend are against the prohibitory system as to reading [...] Nothing is effectual but good principles & good taste in extinguishing the wish and demand for pernicious books;" arguing that publishers who publish immoral books are primarily motivated by the hope of gain; writing that she believes freedom of the press is the best way to limit the demand for "pernicious books;" arguing that publications like the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews "act in the best way as censors of the press making it a censorship of opinion not of law merely;" writing further about reviews and how they encourage and educate readers; commenting on Jacob's article on Mexico and their different opinions on the subject of slavery; discussing her own and her family members's plans for the summer; sending greetings from her Aunt and Uncle Ruxton; mentioning a friend who is reading a novel called Alonzo, "which though a bad imitation of Scott gives a curious view of the manners of Spain during the revolution," and offering to introduce Jacob to her; discussing her reactions to James Justinian Morier's novel The Adventures of Hajji Baba and other books; discussing the causes that prevent "the abundancy of English capital from flowing over to Ireland," her hope that the English attitude towards Ireland is changing, and unemployment in the latter country; commenting on the "mining companies & speculating insurance companies" that have recently opened in Dublin and saying that she does not believe this is a positive development; mentioning prominent failures and their effect on public opinion; saying that she greatly enjoyed her three-week visit to Abbotsford in Scotland and "[Walter] Scott is equal to his writings in conversation;" discussing Thomas Moore's destruction of Lord Byron's memoirs after his death.