Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Letter from Uvedale Price, Foxley, to Lady Margaret Beaumont, 1823 March 24 : autograph manuscript signed.

BIB_ID
414572
Accession number
MA 1581.167
Creator
Price, Uvedale, Sir, 1747-1829, sender.
Display Date
Foxley, England, 1823 March 24.
Credit line
Purchased from Benjamin Ifor Evans, 1954.
Description
1 item (3 pages) ; 23 x 18.7 cm
Notes
Written from Foxley, Price's estate near Yazor, Herefordshire.
This item was formerly identified as MA 1581 (Price) 101.
This letter is from a large collection of letters written to Sir George Howland Beaumont (1753-1827) and Lady Margaret Willes Beaumont (1758-1829) of Coleorton Hall, and to other members of the Beaumont family.
Provenance
Purchased as a gift of the Fellows from Benjamin Ifor Evans, 1954.
Summary
Referring to Lady Margaret's interest in Italian literature and mentioning that he is enclosing information about a series of lectures proposed by Ugo Foscolo; describing Foscolo as "a man of a strong original mind"; saying that he wishes he could be in the audience if the lectures go forward, but he will probably have to content himself with reading them; describing Foscolo's background and the seizure of his property when Austria took possession of Venice: "he applied what he could rescue from the wreck, to the purchase of leasehold property in England, on which he built two houses; & he now finds that from something in our laws about aliens, the title is insecure"; saying that this financial instability almost drove Foscolo to desperation, when the lectures were proposed as "an honorable mode of relieving him from his present distress"; urging Lady Margaret to use all her influence to assist Foscolo: "I am sure you will feel for the situation of a man of no common talents, of a high & independent character, thus doomed to poverty by no fault of his own"; saying that he is not personally acquainted with Foscolo but he has been corresponding through a third party with him about his essay on Latin and Greek pronunciation; adding that Foscolo reviewed his manuscript and made corrections and comments on it: "it is a great satisfaction to me to find that he approves of it, & that his principles of pronunciation, to which he has given great attention, agree with mine. I felt myself under obligations to him for all the trouble he had taken & for the interest he expressed in my work; & was glad of this opportunity of acknowledging it by adding my name to the list of subscribers"; mentioning wishing that he had Wordsworth's opinion of his work, because of the latter's "knowledge of the ancient languages, his acuteness & general habits of criticism"; inviting both Beaumonts back to Foxley.