1992. Robert Southey to John Murray, 1 December 1811
1992. Robert Southey to John Murray, 1 December 1811 *
Keswick. Dec 1. 1811.
My dear Sir
I cannot send you Chalmers [1] for this number, & perhaps the length of the first article renders it less desirable than it otherwise might be, – for that also must necessarily be of considerable extent. You have Montgomery now in your hands, [2] – & if another short article will be of use it may be got ready, – either the American Sillimans Travels, [3] – or the account of the Zetlands, [4] – both which have lain too long on my shelves, – or Eltons Poems, [5] – or Mitfords Agnes, [6] – which is a volume of high promise. Only let me know if any of these are in other hands.
I am making daily progress with Nelson, [7] & before the end of the month shall be able to send you half the work. My receipt for doing much, is to have many things in hand, & to lay any one aside as soon whenever I do not get on with it to my satisfaction. Bell & the Dragon is also in forwardness. [8]
The carriage of your last parcel was again charged to me, tho distinctly marked as paid. This has been now so often repeated as to show that it is a regular system of fraud.
I was very sorry to receive with the proof an intimation of Mr Giffords illness.
believe me my dear Sir
Yrs very truly
R Southey.
Notes
* Address: To/ Mr Murray/ Fleet Street/ London./Proof Sheet inclosed
Stamped: KESWICK/ 298
Postmark: E/ 4 DE 4/ 1811
Watermark: Britannia
Endorsement: 1811 Decr
1st/ Southey R
MS: National Library of Scotland, MS 42550. ALS; 2p.
Unpublished. BACK
[1] Alexander Chalmers (1759–1834; DNB), The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper (1810), reviewed by Southey in Quarterly Review, 11 (July 1814), 480–504; and Quarterly Review, 12 (October 1814), 60–90. BACK
[2] James Montgomery, The West Indies, and other Poems (1810) and The Wanderer in Switzerland, and other Poems (1811), reviewed by Southey in Quarterly Review, 6 (December 1811), 405–419. BACK
[3] Benjamin Silliman (1779–1864), Travels in England, Scotland, and Holland (1810), Southey’s review eventually appeared in Quarterly Review, 15 (July 1816), 537–574. BACK
[4] Arthur Edmondston (1776?–1841; DNB), A View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Islands (1809); not reviewed by Southey, but cited by him in Quarterly Review, 7 (March 1812), 68. BACK
[5] The poet, translator, theologian and occasional reviewer for the Quarterly Review, Charles Abraham Elton (1778–1853; DNB). Elton, like Southey, was Bristol-born. In 1810 he published Tales of Romance, with Other Poems. Southey did not review it for the Quarterly. BACK
