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

Record ID: 
414572
Accession number: 
MA 1581.167
Author: 
Price, Uvedale, Sir, 1747-1829, sender.
Credit: 
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.

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.

Provenance: 
Purchased as a gift of the Fellows from Benjamin Ifor Evans, 1954.