Works of Charles and Mary Lamb. VI-VII. Letters
Charles Lamb to Mary Matilda Betham, 1 June 1816
[Dated at end: June 1, 1816.]
DEAR Miss
Betham,—I have sent your very pretty lines to Southey in a frank as you requested.
Poor S. what a grievous loss he must have had!
Mary and I rejoice in the prospect of
seeing you soon in town. Let us be among the very first persons you come to
see. Believe me that you can have no friends who respect and love you more than
ourselves. Pray present our ![]()
| 490 | LETTERS OF C. AND M. LAMB | Sept. |
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kind remembrances
to Barbara, and to all to whom you may
think they will be acceptable.
Yours very sincerely,
C. Lamb.
Have you seen Christabel
since its publication?
Mary Matilda Betham (1777-1852)
English poet and miniature painter and friend of Southey, Coleridge and the Lambs. She
was the elder sister of the antiquary Sir William Betham.
Barbara Edwards [née Betham] (1806-1848)
The daughter of the Rev. William Betham (1749-1839); she married Edward Edwards of
Westerfield Hall, Suffolk (d. 1864), and was the mother of the writer Matilda Barbara
Betham Edwards.
Mary Anne Lamb (1764-1847)
Sister of Charles Lamb with whom she wrote Tales from Shakespeare (1807). She lived with
her brother, having killed their mother in a temporary fit of insanity.
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
Poet laureate and man of letters whose contemporary reputation depended upon his prose
works, among them the
Life of Nelson, 2 vols (1813),
History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (1823-32) and
The Doctor, 7 vols (1834-47).
