3812. Robert Southey to William Westall [fragment], 8 March 1822

 

Address: To/ Wm Westall Esqre/ 19. Mornington Place/ Hampstead Road
Stamped: 2 o’Clock 11 MR 1822 ANn 
Postmark: [partial] P./ Bg St Westmr 
MS: The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. AL; 2p.
Unpublished.

8 March. 1822.
My dear Westall

If you are ready by the end of June, instead of May, it will be as soon as I shall be.

(1)

Westall was producing A Series of Views of Spain and Portugal, to Illustrate Mr. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War; Drawn on Stone by W. Westall, A.R.A., from Sketches by General Hawker, Mr. Locker, Mr. Heaphy, &c. Part I, containing Eight Views, illustrating Vol. I (1823). These pictures could be inserted into the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).

And if you are not, I shall make no scruple of keeping the work back for your convenience.

I am afraid that none of G Hawkers

(2)

Major-General Samuel Hawker (1763–1838), who had served in the Peninsular War between 1808 and 1811 as commander of the 14th Light Dragoons.

sketches which you now mention can be brought in. The pass of Villa Velha could only be mentioned as xxx the way by which part of Sir J Moores army marched into Spain.

(3)

History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (London, 1823–1832), I, p. 758, where Southey noted that the crossing of the Tagus at Villa Velha was ‘a point, which, in former wars, has been considered the key to Lisbon’. Southey admitted that inserting this passage meant putting ‘a peg in on purpose’ to justify Westall’s picture; see Southey to Herbert Hill, 2 July 1822, Letter 3865. Sir John Moore (1761–1809; DNB) had commanded the British forces in northern Spain 1808–1809.

– Of Heaphy’s

(4)

Thomas Heaphy (1775–1835; DNB), a watercolour artist who had gone out to Spain in 1812 and produced portraits of many leading British officers.

Bil Bilbao may come in the first series, & my Uncle has what he calls a scratch of Elvas

(5)

A medieval castle on the Portuguese–Spanish border; it was captured by France in 1807 and then successfully besieged by Anglo-Portuguese forces in 1808.

which may also be introduced.

I write in haste, rather than let a post go by without replying to your questions. – The best account of the War is by Col: Jones, in two volumes octavo.

(6)

Sir John Thomas Jones, 1st Baronet (1783–1843; DNB), Account of the War in Spain, Portugal, and the South of France, from 1808 to 1814 Inclusive. In Two Volumes (1821). An earlier, one-volume, edition had appeared in 1818.

I should like you very much to see what is printed of mine.

When I get on with the Paraguay Poem

(7)

Southey’s A Tale of Paraguay (1825). Richard Westall (1765–1836; DNB) provided two illustrations for this poem.

you & your brother shall see it. – I will speak about the pencils

(8)

Keswick was a centre of pencil manufacturing because of the graphite deposits in Borrowdale, nearby.

– & endeavour to find means of sending them

Notes

1. Westall was producing A Series of Views of Spain and Portugal, to Illustrate Mr. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War; Drawn on Stone by W. Westall, A.R.A., from Sketches by General Hawker, Mr. Locker, Mr. Heaphy, &c. Part I, containing Eight Views, illustrating Vol. I (1823). These pictures could be inserted into the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).[back]
2. Major-General Samuel Hawker (1763–1838), who had served in the Peninsular War between 1808 and 1811 as commander of the 14th Light Dragoons.[back]
3. History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (London, 1823–1832), I, p. 758, where Southey noted that the crossing of the Tagus at Villa Velha was ‘a point, which, in former wars, has been considered the key to Lisbon’. Southey admitted that inserting this passage meant putting ‘a peg in on purpose’ to justify Westall’s picture; see Southey to Herbert Hill, 2 July 1822, Letter 3865. Sir John Moore (1761–1809; DNB) had commanded the British forces in northern Spain 1808–1809.[back]
4. Thomas Heaphy (1775–1835; DNB), a watercolour artist who had gone out to Spain in 1812 and produced portraits of many leading British officers.[back]
5. A medieval castle on the Portuguese–Spanish border; it was captured by France in 1807 and then successfully besieged by Anglo-Portuguese forces in 1808.[back]
6. Sir John Thomas Jones, 1st Baronet (1783–1843; DNB), Account of the War in Spain, Portugal, and the South of France, from 1808 to 1814 Inclusive. In Two Volumes (1821). An earlier, one–volume, edition had appeared in 1818.[back]
7. Southey’s A Tale of Paraguay (1825). Richard Westall (1765–1836; DNB) provided two illustrations for this poem.[back]
8. Keswick was a centre of pencil manufacturing because of the graphite deposits in Borrowdale, nearby.[back]
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