BIB_ID
415595
Accession number
MA 1848.69
Creator
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834.
Display Date
London, England, 1804 March 12.
Credit line
Purchased from Joanna Langlais, 1957.
Description
1 item (4 pages, with address) ; 25.2 x 19.8 cm
Notes
Coleridge does not list a year of writing, but "1804" appears on the postmark.
Coleridge gives the place of writing as "Mark Lane, 17" and mentions in the letter that he is writing from "Sharp's Library." This is a reference to Richard Sharp, whose business was located at 17 Mark Lane in London.
This collection, MA 1848, is comprised of 92 letters from Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Robert Southey, written between 1794 and 1819. See the collection-level record for more information (MA 1848.1-92).
This letter is from the Joanna Langlais Collection, a large collection of letters written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge to various recipients. The collection has been divided into subsets, based primarily on Coleridge's addressees, and these sub-collections have been cataloged as MA 1848-1857.
Address panel with postmarks: "Robert Southey, Esqre / Greta Hall / Keswick / Cumberland."
Coleridge gives the place of writing as "Mark Lane, 17" and mentions in the letter that he is writing from "Sharp's Library." This is a reference to Richard Sharp, whose business was located at 17 Mark Lane in London.
This collection, MA 1848, is comprised of 92 letters from Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Robert Southey, written between 1794 and 1819. See the collection-level record for more information (MA 1848.1-92).
This letter is from the Joanna Langlais Collection, a large collection of letters written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge to various recipients. The collection has been divided into subsets, based primarily on Coleridge's addressees, and these sub-collections have been cataloged as MA 1848-1857.
Address panel with postmarks: "Robert Southey, Esqre / Greta Hall / Keswick / Cumberland."
Provenance
Purchased from Joanna Langlais in 1957 as a gift of the Fellows, with the special assistance of Mrs. W. Murray Crane, Mr. Homer D. Crotty, Mr. and Mrs. Donald F. Hyde, Mr. Robert H. Taylor and Mrs. Landon K. Thorne. Formerly in the possession of Ernest Hartley Coleridge and Thomas Burdett Money-Coutts, Baron Latymer.
Summary
Describing his attempts to get passage on a ship bound for Malta, including consulting with John Rickman and Richard Sharp; saying that an open place on the "Well Known Fast Sailing Brig, Speedwell" was found and that he went to see the ship; describing the accommodations, the other passengers, the cost, and what will be provided for him and what he needs to bring; saying that he booked his passage, only to learn that one of the king's ships, the Lapwing Frigate, is also sailing to Malta, and he thinks the frigate might have advantages over the brig; writing "Be it as it will, I am heartily glad that the affair is settled / I could not have much longer endured the state of anxiety & suspense -- at day I can do well enough; but at night my children, & other things & thoughts, lie hard & heavy upon me / & when they chance to combine with rain & damp, affect me wildly. Only last night I had a long hysterical weeping in my Sleep -- long it must have been, from the wetness of the Pillow & my Shirt Collar. -- What my Dream was, is not to tell; but when I awoke, the rain was beating against the Casement"; saying that it isn't the cold, but the damp that affects him the most; adding that he has been, on the whole, tranquil for the last two months and he looks forward very much to the voyage; writing "Mr Sharp, who is just come in says that for his part he would much rather go on board the Speedwell than the finest King's Ship, the company of the younger naval officers being generally oppressive"; acknowledging receipt of extracts from "Madoc" and saying that he is making a copy, which he will send to Sir George and Lady Margaret Beaumont; adding that his wife Sara may think this "a disrespect to her penmanship, but I wish to have a copy myself, & had rather have it in her Handwriting than in my own: whereas it is possible, that the Verses of the Poet Southey in the Handwriting of the ci devant Poet in rus & now Metaphysician, Coleridge, may be more of a curiosity with Sir G. & Lady Beaumont"; promising to answer all of Southey's letters soon; describing his recent interactions with Thomas Poole and saying that, though there were places in London where he could stay cheaply, Poole had entreated him to stay near him, "& no doubt, he was very fond of my conversation & the instruction he derived from it / but I had to pay for all my Lodgings, & 7 shillings every day for dinner"; saying that he has left this living situation and gone to Tobin's, and that he will write more about his assessment of Poole's "present character" soon; telling him in a postscript that Daniel Stuart no longer has any influence at the Morning Post and that he will send Southey an issue of The Courier.
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