4140. Robert Southey to Herbert Hill, 21 February 1824

 

Address: To/ The Reverend Herbert Hill/ Streatham/ Surry
Stamped: KESWICx/ 298
Postmarks: E/ 24 FE 24/ 1824; 10. F.NOON.10. / FE. 24/ 1824
Endorsement: 1824
Seal: red wax; design illegible
MS: Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, WC 240. ALS; 4p.
Unpublished.

Keswick. 21. Feby. 1824

I notified on the evening of my return my safe arrival to EMay – & that all was found well at home. I have got into my old coat & old shoes, but hardly yet into my old habits, except the after dinner nap – which I enjoy heartily. There was a heavy accumulation of letters to be answered; – & the busy life which I had left for fifteen weeks seemed to me like a dream from which I was hard not yet fully awakened. Now however I am getting into order, & beginning to take up the broken threads of my various employments. And it is one advantage (not the least) of my situation here, that I am as little troubled with neighbours as you are.

Landors long expected consignment from Florence had arrived before me. It contained about fourscore volumes of all kinds, mostly of the 16th century, some four or five of the preceding one. Some are merely curious & take up space which might be better filled; but a good many are of real utility & value. You would have been well pleased to have been at the unpacking. There is a fine Latin Ptolemy of 1535.

(1)

Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100–c. 170), Claudii Ptolemæi Alexandrini Geographicæ Enarrationis Libri Octo (1535), no. 2178 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Solenus & P. Mela 1543.

(2)

Gaius Julius Solinus (c. early 3rd century AD) and Pomponius Mela (mid-1st century AD), Polyhistor, Rerum Toto Orbe Memorabilium Thesaurus Locupletissimus et Pomponius Mela de Situ Orbius, (1543), edited by Sebastian Munster (1488–1552), no. 1448 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Pliny (Frobenius) 1525.

(3)

Pliny the Younger (AD 61–c. 113), Joannes Frobenius Lectori S. D. En damus C. Plinii Secundi divinum opus cui titulus, Historia Mundi, multo quam antehac unquam prodiit emaculatius: id primum ex annotationibus eruditorum hominum, præsertim H. Barbari; deinde ex collatione exemplariorum, quæ hactenus opera doctorum nobis quam fieri potuit emendatissime sunt excusa ... Additus est index (1525), printed by Johann Froben (c. 1460–1527), no. 2161 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Cicero de Officiis, Amicitia & Senect. 1508

(4)

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC), De Officiis, Amicitia et Senetute. Paradoxia Eiusdem (1508), no. 696 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Suetonius & the Augustan Hist. 1489.

(5)

Gaius Suetonius (AD c. 69–after 122) Caii Suetonii De Vita XII Caesarum Liber Primus (1488). This edition included the ‘Historia Augusta’, a collection of Latin lives of second and third century Roman emperors, that may possibly have been a continuation of Suetonius’s work. The biographies were traditionally ascribed to six unknown authors. The book was no. 2662 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Opera Agricolationum Columellae, Varronis &c. 1496

(6)

Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (AD 4–c. 70), Agricolationum Opera: Columellae; Verronis: Catonis: necnon Palladii: cum exscriptionibus & commentariis S. Philippe Beroaldi (1496), no. 210 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

– but this which would otherwise have been one of the most valuable books in the box has the dry rot in its margin. – Valerius Maximus 1503.

(7)

Valerius Maximus (1st century AD), Valeri Maximi Facta et Dicta Memorabilia (1503), no. 2893 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Casaubons Epistles.

(8)

Isaac Casaubon (1559–1614), Epistolae (1656), no. 453 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Leonardo Bruni’s.

(9)

Leonardo Bruni Arretini (c. 1370–1444), Epistolarum Libri VIII (1741), no. 65 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Cortes’s Narration in Italian 1524

(10)

Hernán Cortes (1485–1547) wrote an account of the conquest of Mexico in five letters, known as cartas de relación. The second of these letters was printed at Seville in 1522, translated into Latin and then into Italian: Ferdinando Cortese, la Preclara Narratione della Nuova Hispagni del Mare Oceano, Tradotta dal Latino di P. Savorgnano in Lingua Volgare, da N. Liburnio (1523), no. 3282 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

(the original was never published.). Sphaerae Mundi Compendium 1496,

(11)

Johannes de Sacrobosco (c. 1195–c. 1256), Sphericum Opusculum (1496), a doubtful edition, published in Venice of the Sphaera Mundi, first printed in 1472; however, this book does not appear in Southey’s library catalogue.

– with a heap of others each of which Mallavado

(12)

‘ill-washed’, Southey’s nickname for a bookseller from Lisbon known to him and to Herbert Hill.

would have described as raro, & curioso, & boa obra.

(13)

‘Rare, curious and good works’ (Portuguese).

The parcel also which I forwarded from Norwich is arrived. Here I had a copy of Lyndwood’s Provinciale,

(14)

William Lyndwood (c.1375–1446; DNB), Provinciale, seu Constitutiones Angliae (1679), no. 1691 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

the Lettres de M l Conte d’Estrades,

(15)

Godefroi, Comte d’Estrades (1607–1686), Lettres, Memoires et Negociations en Qual d’Ambassadeur en Hollande depuis 1663 jusque’en 1668 (1709), no. 825 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

& of Cardinal D’Ossat.

(16)

Arnaud D’Ossat (1537–1604), Lettres du Cardinal d’Ossat, avec des Notes Historiques et Politiques de M. Amelot De La Houssaie (1708), no. 851 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

5 vol. each, & a number of little odd books more or less useful. I am making some of my shelves carry double to accommodate them. This house however has xx capabilities for more shelves, when they may be needed. My good fortune did not forsake me on the journey home. I suffered nothing from cold owing to the care with which I had provided against it tho the night of my departure from town was said by the Coachman to be the severest he had ever encountered. It blew a storm of rain & sleet, & his great coat was literally encrusted with ice. – The winter here has been as mild as in the south, & no snow has fallen in the vallies.

EMay’s absence makes the house appear very different from what it used to do. Till I mist her I was hardly conscious how much interest I took in some of her pursuits. She was to begin with her drawing master

(17)

One of the four Fielding brothers, who were all fashionable painters of watercolours: Theodore Henry Adolphus Fielding (1781–1851; DNB); Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (1787–1855; DNB); Thales Fielding (1793–1837; DNB) and Newton Smith Fielding (1799–1856; DNB).

on Monday last, Wm Westall recommended him: – he is a very distinguished artist, & his appearance & manners prepossessed me greatly in his favour. Edith is very likely to be discouraged with her first attempts at colouring; – but a little impatience & a little distrust of herself, are all she has to contend with, for she has excellent power of hand, & is dexterous in whatever she undertakes. Bertha also promises well in this way. I fear we shall not find a convoy for her to Rickmans before April.

Murray offered me 700 guineas for the copyright of my Book.

(18)

Southey’s The Book of the Church (1824).

I refused the offer, & told him he must be very well aware that of all the authors with whom he was concerned, I was the one whom he had paid the worst. As much as this I am sure of getting – for Wesley

(19)

The Life of Wesley; and the Rise and Progress of Methodism (1820).

has produced as much. But if the book should obtain a steady sale as an historical work (the only one of its kind,) the property may be more valuable than all my other writings. And this is not improbable, tho I am neither so inexperienced, nor so sanguine as to calculate upon it.

I am now going to work upon the Peninsular War – & the Tale of Paraguay,

(20)

Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832) and A Tale of Paraguay (1825).

– the latter will square my accounts in the Row, which are at present much on the wrong side. Love to my Aunt & the children. – Edward will not forget that his coming here at B.Tide is a settled thing.

(21)

At Westminster School, where Edward Hill was a pupil, there was a one-month holiday in the late summer, referred to as Bartholomew-tide, after St Bartholomew’s Day on 24 August.

God bless you
RS.

Notes

1. Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100–c. 170), Claudii Ptolemæi Alexandrini Geographicæ Enarrationis Libri Octo (1535), no. 2178 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
2. Gaius Julius Solinus (c. early 3rd century AD) and Pomponius Mela (mid-1st century AD), Polyhistor, Rerum Toto Orbe Memorabilium Thesaurus Locupletissimus et Pomponius Mela de Situ Orbius, (1543), edited by Sebastian Munster (1488–1552), no. 1448 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
3. Pliny the Younger (AD 61–c. 113), Joannes Frobenius Lectori S. D. En damus C. Plinii Secundi divinum opus cui titulus, Historia Mundi, multo quam antehac unquam prodiit emaculatius: id primum ex annotationibus eruditorum hominum, præsertim H. Barbari; deinde ex collatione exemplariorum, quæ hactenus opera doctorum nobis quam fieri potuit emendatissime sunt excusa .. Additus est index (1525), printed by Johann Froben (c. 1460–1527), no. 2161 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
4. Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC), De Officiis, Amicitia et Senetute. Paradoxia Eiusdem (1508), no. 696 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
5. Gaius Suetonius (AD c. 69–after 122) Caii Suetonii De Vita XII Caesarum Liber Primus (1488). This edition included the ‘Historia Augusta’, a collection of Latin lives of second and third century Roman emperors, that may possibly have been a continuation of Suetonius’s work. The biographies were traditionally ascribed to six unknown authors. The book was no. 2662 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
6. Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (AD 4–c. 70), Agricolationum Opera: Columellae; Verronis: Catonis: necnon Palladii: cum exscriptionibus & commentariis S. Philippe Beroaldi (1496), no. 210 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
7. Valerius Maximus (1st century AD), Valeri Maximi Facta et Dicta Memorabilia (1503), no. 2893 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
8. Isaac Casaubon (1559–1614), Epistolae (1656), no. 453 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
9. Leonardo Bruni Arretini (c. 1370–1444), Epistolarum Libri VIII (1741), no. 65 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
10. Hernán Cortes (1485–1547) wrote an account of the conquest of Mexico in five letters, known as cartas de relación. The second of these letters was printed at Seville in 1522, translated into Latin and then into Italian: Ferdinando Cortese, la Preclara Narratione della Nuova Hispagni del Mare Oceano, Tradotta dal Latino di P. Savorgnano in Lingua Volgare, da N. Liburnio (1523), no. 3282 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
11. Johannes de Sacrobosco (c. 1195–c. 1256), Sphericum Opusculum (1496), a doubtful edition, published in Venice of the Sphaera Mundi, first printed in 1472; however, this book does not appear in Southey’s library catalogue.[back]
12. ‘ill-washed’, Southey’s nickname for a bookseller from Lisbon known to him and to Herbert Hill.[back]
13. ‘Rare, curious and good works’ (Portuguese).[back]
14. William Lyndwood (c.1375–1446; DNB), Provinciale, seu Constitutiones Angliae (1679), no. 1691 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
15. Godefroi, Comte d’Estrades (1607–1686), Lettres, Memoires et Negociations en Qual d’Ambassadeur en Hollande depuis 1663 jusque’en 1668 (1709), no. 825 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
16. Arnaud D’Ossat (1537–1604), Lettres du Cardinal d’Ossat, avec des Notes Historiques et Politiques de M. Amelot De La Houssaie (1708), no. 851 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
17. One of the four Fielding brothers, who were all fashionable painters of watercolours: Theodore Henry Adolphus Fielding (1781–1851; DNB); Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (1787–1855; DNB); Thales Fielding (1793–1837; DNB) and Newton Smith Fielding (1799–1856; DNB).[back]
18. Southey’s The Book of the Church (1824).[back]
19. The Life of Wesley; and the Rise and Progress of Methodism (1820).[back]
20. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832) and A Tale of Paraguay (1825).[back]
21. At Westminster School, where Edward Hill was a pupil, there was a one-month holiday in the late summer, referred to as Bartholomew-tide, after St Bartholomew’s Day on 24 August.[back]
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