The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to Edith Southey, May 1804
“. . . . . The Thames is ebbing fast before the
window, and a beautiful sight it is, dear Edith; but I wish I were upon the banks of the Greta! I will
not remain an hour longer than can be helped. You have no notion of the
intolerable fatigue it is to walk all day and not get to bed till after
midnight. . . . . I have lost a grand triumph over you,
Edith. Had you seen me in my Hyde, when I tried it,
you would never have sent me to a London hyde-maker again. The sleeves are
actually as large as the thighs of my pantaloons, and cuffs to them like what
old men wear in a comedy. I am sure, if I were a country farmer, and caught
such a barebones as myself in such a black sack, I would stick him up for a
scarecrow.
“I saw Longman
yesterday, who was very glad to see me. I am trying to make him publish a
collection of the scarce old English poets, which will be the fittest thing in
the world for Lamb to manage, if he likes
it; or, perhaps, to manage with my co-operation. The Amadis sells not amiss; the edition, they
say, will go off. Thalaba
goes off slowly, but is going. They got me W.
Taylor’s review, which is very characteristic of his style, talents, and
good-will for the author. I will bring down the number.
“. . . . . On Thursday Carlisle gives me a dinner. There must be one day for Turner; and as for all my half ![]()
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a thousand acquaintances, they may ask till they are
blind, for I won’t go. I might live all the year here, by being invited
out as a show, but I will not show myself. I write you very unsatisfactory
letters, dear Edith, but you know how
like a bear with a sore head this place makes me; and never was I more
uncomfortable in it, though with a pleasanter house over my head than ever, and
better company.
Sir Anthony Carlisle (1768-1840)
English surgeon and professor of anatomy at the Royal Academy (1808).
Charles Lamb [Elia] (1775-1834)
English essayist and boyhood friend of Coleridge at Christ's Hospital; author of
Essays of Elia published in the
London
Magazine (collected 1823, 1833) and other works.
Thomas Norton Longman (1771-1842)
A leading London publisher whose authors included Southey, Wordsworth, Scott, and
Moore.
Edith Southey [née Fricker] (1774-1837)
The daughter of Stephen Fricker, she was the first wife of Robert Southey and the mother
of his children; they married in secret in 1795.
William Taylor of Norwich (1765-1836)
Translator, poet, and essayist; he was a pupil of Anna Letitia Barbauld and correspondent
of Robert Southey who contributed to the
Monthly Magazine, the
Monthly Review, the
Critical Review, and
other periodicals.
Sharon Turner (1768-1847)
Attorney, historian, and writer for the
Quarterly Review; he wrote
History of the Anglo-Saxons, 4 vols (1799-1805).
