NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS

Part 5: Papers of Caroline Bowles (1787-1854) and Robert Southey (1774-1843) from the British Library, London

Detailed Listing

The catalogue entries which follow are taken from the British Library Catalogue of Additional Manuscripts.

REEL 1

Add Ms 28096

Southey - Joan of Arc: a poem in ten books.

Autograph; with notes and corrections for the first edition by the author and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Imperfect at the beginning. Prefixed is the autograh preface to R. Southey's "Letters written during a short residence in Spain and Portugal." Paper. Small Quarto.

Add Ms 28603

Southey - letters to Colonel William Peachy, 1808-1837.

Forty-five original letters from Robert Southey to Colonel, afterwards General, [William] Peachy; 15 May 1808 - 7 Apr. 1837. Paper. Small Folio.

REEL 2

Add Ms30927

Southey - letters to Captain Thomas Southey, 1793-1831.

Original letters; of Robert Southey, Poet Laureate, to his brother Capt. Thomas Southey, R.N.; 1793-1831. A few are in rhyme; and many of the letters contain extracts from, or enclose copies of, his poems.
Paper; ff. 281. Folio.

Add Ms 30928

Southey - letters to Charles Danvers, 1799-1813. Original letters of Robert Southey to Charles Danvers; 1799-1813. Paper; ff. 133. Quarto.

REEL 3

Add Ms 34046

Letters from the Lake poets to Daniel Stuart, 1800-1814.

Original letters, one hundred and eighteen in number, from the Lake Poets to Daniel Stuart, Editor of the Morning Post and the Courier, viz.: Eighty-seven from Samuel Taylor Coleridge (one at f.103, being to Mrs. Stuart); circ. 1800 - 14 Oct. 1828. ff. 2-110; Eighteen from William Wordsworth; Dec. 21, 1801 - 17 May, 1838. ff.114-131;Thirteen, with three autograph poems, from Robert Southey; 3 Jan. 1799 - 3 May, 1838. ff. 132-148. Included also are a few other letters, among which are the following:-

1. Letter from Daniel Stuart to the Stamp Commissioners, asking if a weekly paper, The Friend, to be published by Coleridge, would be considered as a newspaper; Courier office, 19 Dec. 1808. With
Counsel's opinion by H[enry?] B[rougham?], and note of reply by Stamp Office, 23 Dec. f. 44.

2. Letter from Thomas Clarkson, anti-slavery agitator, to D. Stuart; London, 4 Feb. 1809. f. 52.

3. Correspondence between [George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster [natural son of William IV.], and D. Stuart, respecting the discontinuance of the annuity to Coleridge from the Royal Society of Literature, and on the action of the King [William IV.] therein; 19, 21 July, 1831. ff. 112, 113.

4. Letters from William Erskine to Miss Stuart; Edinburgh, 2 Nov. 1848, 13 St. Bernard's Crescent, 8 Mar. 1849. If. 150-152.

5. Letter from James Gillman to Mrs. Stuart; Highgate, Saturday [16 Sept. 1826]. f. 153. Paper; ff. 153. Large Quarto. Bequeathed by Miss Mary Stuart.

Add Ms 36485

Southey - The Curse of Kehama, a poem.

The Curse of Kehama, a poem by Robert Southey, first published in 1810. Holograph. A note (f. 337) by the poet's brother Capt. Thomas Southey, R.N., states that the MS. was “sent sheet by sheet in letters” to him when “on board His Majesty's [Ship] Dreadnought off the coast of France in 1809” (see letters from R. Southey to his brother, Add. 30927, ff. 150- 168). The text in many passages differs from that of the poem as printed, agreeing generally with the original form as found in an autograph copy, begun 28 May, 1806, now in the possession of Miss Warter, the poet's grand-daughter, the corrections made in which were embodied in the printed text. Paper; ff. 338. With book-plate of the arms of Southey. 4 ½in. X 3 ¼in.

From The Curse of Kehama:

Curses are like young chickens,
They always come home to roost.

And Sleep shall obey me, and visit thee never,
And the Curse shall be on thee, for ever and ever.

REEL 4

Add Ms 45185

Bowles - letters to Emma Burrard, 1838-1850

Letters from Caroline Anne Bowles, poetess, second wife (4 June 1839) of Robert Southey, to Emma, wife of her cousin the Rev. George Burrard, 3rd Bart. 1840; Monday [31 Dec. 1838] - 1 June 1850. Included also are the following poems:-

(1) Three satirical poems (apparently unpublished) by Caroline Bowles on Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford,1845, beginning respectively 'So you've watched the flying crow', 'Says Johnny to Sam,’ 'Brother Cantwell! Romish brother' (the last entitled 'Anticipation’). Autograph. ff. 64-64b;

(2) Poem by Eleanor Orlebar, beg. 'And dost thou dwell on this bright Earth no more'; March 1845. ff. 65-66. See also Brit. Mus. Quart., xiii, 1938-1939, pp. 13-14. Paper; ff. 68. Quarto. 1838-1850. Presented by Sir Sidney Gerald Burrard, 7th Bart.

[Add M47883-47892. Literary works and correspondence of Robert Southey (b. 1774, d. 1843), and members of his family; 1787-1856. Supplementary chiefly to Add. MSS. 28096, 28603, 30927, 30928, 36485, 49529. Used by J. Simmons, Southey, 1945, while still in the possession of the donor, and there
cited as 'Boult MSS'. See also Brit. Mus. Quart., xix, 1954, pp. 32-33. Twenty-one volumes. Presented by Mrs E. A. Boult, great-granddaughter of Robert Southey.]

[47883-47887. SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vols. I-V. Poems, reviews, and miscellaneous literary works of outhey; 1787 - after 1837. Autograph. Five volumes.]

Add Ms 47883

Southey - Madoc, the second version.

SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vol. I. 'Madoc'; the second version, comprising one book and a substantial part of another, put into verse, summer 1794 (f. 2), from the original prose version of 1789 (see Add. MS. 47890, f. 193b). The 1794 recension was revised and continued to the beginning of Book 4, 22 Feb. - 9 Mar. 1797 (f. 27b), taken up again, autumn 1798, and completed in fifteen books, 12 July 1799 (Add. MS. 47890, ff. 183b-184, National Library of Wales MS. 4811, no. 42). Southey took up the revision of the 1799 version 18-28 Sept. 1803 (Add. MSS. 30928, ff. 35- 36b, 47891, f. 5b), and after extensive additions and revisions (Add. MSS. 30927, f. 106, 30928, ff. 41b-42, 47890, ff. 33, 41, 183), 'Madoc'
began to be sent to the printers, 14 June 1804 (47890, f. 197b), but revision continued until Oct. 1804 (Add. MSS. 30927, f. 107, 30928, ff. 46, 47, 47890, ff. 49b, 201) and the printing was finished by 18 Apr. 1805 (47890, f. 207). Copies of some of the additional material in the hand of Southey's wife, Edith, sent by him to his brother, Thomas, are now Add. MS. 30927, ff. 103-106. The original MS. of the 1799 recension was sold at Sotheby's, 8 May 1844, lot 3156, and the MS. of the final version, 29 Oct. 1804, was lot 3157 in the same sale, and lot 152 at Sotheby's sale of 11 July 1895. Paper; ff. i+27. Duodecimo. A.D. 1794. Bound in brown calf, gold- and blind-tooled, circ. 1827, with title 'First Fragment of Madoc' and
'1794'on the spine.

“Come, listen to a tale of times of old!
Come, for ye know me. I am he who sung
The Maid of Arc, and I am he who framed
of Thalaba the wild and woderous song.
Come, listen to my lay, and ye shall hear
How Madoc from the shores of Britain spead
The adventurous sail, explored the ocean paths,
And quelled Barbarian power, and overthrew
The bloody altars of idolatry,
And planted in its fanes triumphantly
The Cross of Christ. Come listen to my lay!”

Add Ms 47884

Southey - Thalaba the Destroyer.

SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vol. II. 'Thalaba the Destroyer'; 1799-1800. A fair copy made from the original, which was begun 13 July 1799 (f. 3), and completed 19 July 1800 (f. 282), containing numerous corrections,
cancellations, and additions, made up to circ. 13 Sept. 1800 (see Add. MS. 30928, f. 7). Published in 1801 in two volumes, from Southey's transcript of the present MS., sent to England circ. 6 Nov. 1800 (Add.
MS. 47890, f. 149. See The Life and Correspondence of the late Robert Southey, ed. C. C. Southey, ii, 1850, pp. 95, 100, 103-104, 108, and Southey's preface, 8 Nov. 1837, to his Poetical Works, iv, 1838, pp. ix-xiv. Paper; ff. ii+285. Octavo. 1799-1800. Brown calf binding.

Add Ms 47885

Southey - Carmen Funebre. A Vision of Judgement.

SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vol. III. 'Carmen Funebre. A Vision of Judgement' (f. 1); 1820-1821. Apparently a fair copy, with a few corrections and deletions, of the original MS. begun circa May 1820, but left unfinished until circ. 14 Dec. 1820. See Life and Correspondence, v, p. 52. Published in 1821 as A Vision of Judgement. Paper; ff. 31. Quarto. 1820-1821. Three gatherings (i10 , ii9, iii12), each on different paper. Calf binding, gold- and blind-tooled.

Add Ms 47886

Southey - reviews.

SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vol. IV. Review of N. Biddle, Travels ... across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean ... in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, 1814, as well as of earlier accounts of the expedition
carried out by Captain William Clark and Meriwether Lewis, published in The Quarterly Review, vol. xii, 1814-1815, pp. 317-368. Paper; ff. 28. Quarto. A.D. 1814. Calf binding, gold- and blind-tooled.

REEL 5

Add Ms 47887

Southey - miscellanea.

SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vol. V (ff. 65). Miscellanea, 1787-1837, including:-

(1) The original draft, in Southey's hand, Aug.-circ. 3 Sept. 1799, of 'The Devil's Thoughts' by himself and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published, in a different order, with minor changes from the present text, and omitting a cancelled verse on f. 6, in The Morning Post, 6 Sept. 1799. Followed by notes for (f. 9), and fair copies (ff. 10-17, 18-19b), with further extensive additions, corrections, and deletions, of another
version, entitled 'The Devil's Walk'. This was expanded and rewritten by Southey both circa 11 Dec. 1826 - 30 Jan. 1827 (see Add. MS. 47889, ff. 117-120b, which include fair copies of some of these additional
verses), and at a later date, apparently from the present draft and from the Morning Post version, possibly also from the shortened version published in The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge, ii, 1828, pp. 89-92. It was published in a different order, with four verses not in these fair copies, and other variations, in The Poetical Works of Robert Southey, iii, 1837, pp. 87-100. ff. 6-19b.

(2) Notes of his dreams, 7 Nov. 1804 - 16 Aug. 1808, 3 July 1818 - 10 May 1832. Printed in The Correspondence of Robert Southey with Caroline Bowles, ed. E. Dowden, Dublin, 1881, pp. 366-384. See also Add. MS. 47891, f. 13. ff. 21-32b.

(3) 'The Book of the Prophet Jehephary', a skit on Francis Jeffrey and the Whigs, 1816. Printed in Selections from the Letters of Robert Southey, ed. J. W. Warter, iii, 1856, pp. 35-42. ff. 35-38b.

(4) 'A letter to Henry Brougham Esquire Member for Winchelsea', written in reply to An Account of the Proceedings at Appleby from Saturday the 27th of June [1818], to the Final closing of the Poll, printed
at Kendal on behalf of Brougham's supporters. ff. 39-44b.

(5) 'Fragments of Milesian History', a skit on Irish history and politics; aft. 1818 (watermark). ff. 45-50.

(6) 'Memoirs of the Cats of Greta Hall', in the form of a letter to his daughter, Edith May, 18 Jan. 1824. Printed in The Doctor, vii, 1847, ed. J. W. Warter, pp. 582-596. ff. 51-56b.

(7) Review of W. Danby, Ideas and Realities, Exeter, 1827, and J. Everett, The Village Blacksmith, 4th ed., 1832. ff. 57-58b.

[47888-47891. SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vols. VI-IX. Correspondence of Southey and his family; 1795-1856. Used for New Letters of Robert Southey, ed. K. Curry, 2 vols., 1965, and there cited as 'Boult MSS.' See also W. Braekman, 'Letters by Robert Southey to Sir John Taylor Coleridge', Studia Germanica Gandensia, vi, 1964, p. 109, for a list of the published correspondence of Southey. Letters from 47888, 47889, ff. 178-278b, 47890, 47891, ff. 32-78, 109-131b, also from Add. MSS. 30927, 30928, are
printed, with others not now in the collection, in Life and Correspondence and Selections from the Letters, with minor inaccuracies and frequent silent omissions, and letters from 47890 are published or republished by A. Cabral in Robert Southey: Journals of a Residence in Portugal ... and a Visit to France .. ., 1960, pp. 67-167. Four volumes.]

Add Ms 47888

Southey - letters to his 1st wife, Edith (née Fricker), 1795-1831 and his daughter, Edith May (later Warter), 1819-1835.

SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vol. VI (ff. 246). Letters from Southey to:-

(1) His first wife, Edith, née Fricker (d. 1837); 1795-1831. The letter to Mrs Southey on f. 131 is wrongly assigned to their daughter, Edith May, in Selections, iv, pp. 203-204. ff. 1-142b.

(2) His daughter, Edith May, afterwards Warter; 1819-1835. ff. 143- 246.

Add Ms 47889

Southey - letters to his 2nd wife, Caroline Bowles, 1818-1829 and the Rev John Wood, 1829-1837.

SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vol. VII (ff. 277). Letters from Southey to:-

(1) His second wife (1839), Caroline Anne Bowles; 1818-1829. Printed in considerable part, with other correspondence not now in the collection, by E. Dowden, op. cit. ff. 1-177b.

(2) His daughter Edith's husband (1834), the Rev. John Wood Warter, Rector of West Tarring, co. Suss.; 1829-1837. ff. 178-277b.

REEL 6

Add Ms 47890

Southey - letters to Captain Thomas Southey, 1794-1830 and Charles Danvers, 1797-1814.

SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vol. VIII (ff. 265). Letters from Southey to:-

(1) His brother, Capt. Thomas Southey, R.N.; 1794-1830. Supplementary to Add. MS. 30927. Includes a single letter from their mother on f.5. ff. 1 - 144b.

(2) Charles Danvers; 1797-1814. Supplementary to Add. MS. 30928. ff. 145-265b.

Add Ms 47891

Southey - letters to John King, 1802-1829, Mr & Mrs Wade Brown, 1810-1837, Grosvenor Charles Bedford, 1821-1833, and various others, 1807-1837, including James Hogg. Letters from Walter Savage Landor to Robert & Caroline Southey, and to the Rev and Mrs J W Warter, 1839-1856.

SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vol. IX (ff. 200). Letters from Southey to:-

(1) John King; 1802-1829. Partly French. ff. 1-31 b.

(2) Mr and Mrs Wade Browne; 1810-1837. Preceded (ff. 32-33b) by a joint letter from Southey and his first wife to Mrs Browne, 12 Sept. 1810. ff. 32-77b.

(3) Grosvenor Charles Bedford; 1821-1833, n.d. Supplementary to Bodleian MSS. Eng. Letters c. 22-27, d. 47-57. ff. 79-107.

(4) Various individuals; 1807-1837, n.d. Includes (ff. 115-118) correspondence with James Hogg, 15 Dec. 1814, n.d. ff. 109-131b. Followed (ff. 132-200) by letters from Walter Savage Landor to Robert
and Caroline Southey, and to the Rev. and Mrs J. W. Warter, 1839- 1856.

REEL 7

Add Mss 47892

A - L Bowles - 12 poetical notebooks.

[47892 A-L. SOUTHEY PAPERS. Vols. X-XXI. Poetical notebooks of Caroline Southey; circa 1806-1836, n.d. Supplementary to Add. MSS. 45185 and 50747 A, B. Twelve volumes.] 47892 A. Vol. X (ff. 28). Circa 1806 (watermark); 1809-1820. The poems on ff. 18, 18b, 20b, 22b-23, 24b-26 are printed in The Poetical
Works of Caroline Bowles Southey, 1867, pp. 215, 103, 136, 167-168, 243-245, and the source of the poem on pp. 97-101 is noted at ff. 27-27b.

47892 B. Vol. Xl (ff. 23). Circa 1821 (watermark). Ff. 1-2b, 7b-9, l0b- 11, 21b-22b are printed, op. cit., pp. 155-157, 163-164, 102-103, 247- 248, and ff. 3b-6 are printed in C. A. Southey, Solitary Hours, 1826, pp. 229-233.

47892 C. Vol. XII (ff. 20). Circa 1824. Ff. 1-4, 6-17 are printed in The Poetical Works, pp. 135-136, 285-290, 190-191, 293, 239-243.

47892 D. Vol. XIII (ff. 9). N.d.

47892 E. Vol. XIV (ff. 20). 13 Mar.-10 June 1828. Ff. 2-2b, 5-8b, 11- 12b, 16-20 are printed, op. cit., pp. 233, 171-173, 246, 237-239, 216-219.

47892 F. Vol. XV (ff. 22). Sept. 1827-19 Mar. 1829. Partly French. Ff. 2-9, 15b-18 are printed, op. cit., pp. 170-171, 97-101, 252-255, 220-222.

47892 G. Vol. XVI (ff. 18). 29 Sept. 1830-23 Oct. [1831?1. Ff. 1-3b are printed, op. cit., pp. 259, 209-210.

4 7892 H. Vol. XVII (ff. 21). 29 Oct. 1831-16 Aug. 1832. Ff. 1-9, 19-20 are printed, op. cit., pp. 181-183, 157-162, 210-211.

47892 I. Vol. XVIII (ff. 19). 15 Jan. 1833-Aug. 1834. Ff. 14-15, 17-19 are printed, op. cit., pp. 180-181, 212-215, and f. 16 is printed in R. Southey and C. A. Southey, Robin Hood, 1847, p. 237.

47892 J. Vol. XIX (ff. 17). Jan. 1826-Jan. 1836. Ff. 13-15, 16b- 17b are printed in The Poetical Works, pp. 256-258, 282-283, and ff. 1-9b are printed in C. A. Southey, Tales of the Factories, 1833, pp. 26-43.

47892 K, L. Vols. XX, XXI (ff. 22, 3). N.d.

Add Ms 49529

Southey - A Tale of Paraguay, a poem.

'A TALE OF PARAGUAY': a poem by Robert Southey in the Spenserian stanza; before 24 Feb. 1825 (f. iib). Autograph fair copy, with autograph revisions in pencil and ink. Published in 1825 with minor textual variations and with a preface, verse dedication and notes added. Note on f. 60 indicating that stanzas 17-19 of canto i are to be printed as stanzas 4-6 of canto ii (so in published text). Bequeathed by Mrs Ellen Annette Boult, great-granddaughter of Southey. Paper; ff. iii+232. 105 x 85mm. [1825?]. Watermarks dated 180-, 1813, 1814, 1818. Note on f. iib by Southey's son-in-law, the Rev. John Wood Warter (d. 1878), recording the completion of the poem, 24 Feb. 1825, together with an extract by Warter from a related letter of Southey to Miss Caroline Bowles, 14 Oct. 1825. Contemporary brown calf binding, gilt- and blind-tooled, rebacked. Armorial bookplate of Southey on f. i.

Add Mss 50747

A-B Bowles - The Evening Walk and other verses.

[50747 A, B. POEMS, ETC., OF CAROLINE ANNE BOWLES, second wife of Robert Southey; 1823-1854, n.d. Autograph and printed. Supplement Add. MSS. 45185, 47812 and 47892 A-L. Presented by Mrs Edna Forbes Aitken-Walker and her sister, Miss Dora Ethel Gibbon.]

50747 A. CAROLINE BOWLES PAPERS. 'The Evening Walk'; 1823, n.d. Autograph fair copy. Differs in numerous minor details from that printed in The Poetical Works of Caroline Bowles Southey, 1867, pp. 262-75. Paper; ff. i+31. Oblong quarto. 1823. At f. 1 is C. A. Bowles's presentation inscription to the Rev. Roger Frampton St Barbe, 6 June 1823. Six watercolour drawings by St Barbe, illustrating the poem, inserted at ff. 3, 6, 12, 20, 22, 27. Binding of olive-green morocco, gilt-tooled and gilt-edged, early 19th cent.

50747 B. CAROLINE BOWLES PAPERS. Paper; ff. 5. Quarto. 1. ff. 1-2b. Letter to the Rev. R. F. St Barbe; 1 Apr. 1824. Incorporates texts of her poems 'The Mariner's Hymn' as printed, ed. cit., pp. 135-6, on f. 1, and 'It is not Death', as printed, with one substantial change, ibid., pp. 286-8, on ff. 1b-2. For other autograph fair copies of these poems, see Add. MS. 47892 C, ff. 1-4. The letters of Robert Southey, 27 Jan.-24 Feb. 1824, from which she quotes, now Add. MS. 47889, ff. 36-41, were printed in The Correspondence of Robert Southey with Caroline Bowles, ed. E. Dowden, 1881, pp. 49-54.

2. ff. 3-4b. Verses by Robert Southey 'To the Memory of Paul Burrard'; n.d. Fair copy, circa 1824, in the hand of Miss Bowles. First collected in The Poetical Works of Robert Southey, iii, 1838, pp. 129-31. Burrard, who was killed at Coruña, was A. D. C. to Sir John Moore and first cousin to Miss Bowles, who seems to have supplied Southey with information for the poem. Her letter of 5 May 1824, acknowledging receipt of Southey's copy, is printed by Dowden, pp. 60-1.

3. f. 5. 'Memoir of the Rev. R. F. St. Barbe, M.A.' by 'T. M.', from The Gentleman's Magazine, Dec. 1854, pp. 632-3. Printed.

Add Ms 59737

Southey - letters to Sharon Turner, 1820-1837 and John Hardcastle’s Recollections, 1821-1840.

LETTERS OF ROBERT SOUTHEY AND JOHN HARDCASTLE. Paper; ff. 21. (1) 222 x 185mm.; (2) 257 x 204mm. British Library arrangement. 1. ff. 1-11. Robert Southey: six letters to Sharon Turner; 1820-1837. Presented by Miss C. L. Hawker, 1 June 1976. 2. ff. 12-21. John Hardcastle (b.1821): 'Recollections' covering the years 1821-1840. Autograph. Presented by Miss Phoebe M. Hardcastle, 18 June 1976.

<back