3287. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 26 April 1819

3287. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 26 April 1819⁠* 

My dear R.

Thank you for your emendations, they have always been adopted, unless I could show satisfactory cause for rejecting them. And in the whole course of the proofs, the amount & value of such emendations is considerable. – The last chapter [1]  will take in a good many ove things which were overlooked in their proper place, & allow place for some corrections. I will add as you advise, a list of words, – weights, measures & money. [2] 

I cannot say that we go on well, – but we are in hope. The child continues very unwell, – his complaint is a bad cough, – of which the throat appears to be the seat. Change of weather would be the most likely means of removing it, – it came on this day week with an east-wind, – & that wind continues still. – This has made Mrs S. unmindful of her own complain ailment, – which is just in the same state.

This concluding chapter will swell the volume to an unmerciful bulk. [3]  But it will be a proper conclusion. I think it will require a months work more. But if I can leave home with a mind at ease, I shall set off as soon as the last part is transcribed.

My brother Tom desires to be remembered to you. He is now fixed in Newlands, about half way between this place & Buttermere, on the Shakesperian road. [4]  There he is with six cows & six children, [5]  – upon a sorry farm, & in a half-finished house, – but in a beautiful situation, & within an easy walk.

Remember us to Mrs R.

God bless you

RS.

Keswick. 26 Apr. 1819.

Notes

* Endorsement: 26. Ap – 19
MS: Huntington Library, RS 366. ALS; 2p.
Unpublished. BACK

[1] Chapter 44 of Southey’s History of Brazil, 3 vols (London, 1810–1819), III, pp. 696–879. BACK

[2] ‘Explanation of such Portuguese, Spanish, and other Foreign Words, as are used in the Text’, and ‘Table of Weights, Measures, and Money’, History of Brazil, 3 vols (London, 1810–1819), III, pp. 899–900. BACK

[3] Volume 3 of the History of Brazil (1810–1819) ran to 950 pages. BACK

[4] A rather obscure joke about the Newlands Pass from Keswick to Buttermere; it may refer to the fact that Newlands Farm was the home of Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway (c. 1555–1623; DNB). BACK

[5] Tom Southey’s family consisted of Margaret Hill Southey (b. 1811), Mary Hill Southey (b. 1812), Robert Castle Southey (1813–1828), Herbert Castle Southey (1815–1864), Eleanor Thomasina Southey (1816–1835) and Sarah Louise Southey (1818–1850). Still to arrive were Nelson Castle Southey (1820–1834), Sophia Jane Southey (1822–1859) and Thomas Castle Southey (1824–1896). BACK

Addressee

Rickman, John (1771–1840)

People mentioned

Southey, Charles Cuthbert (1819–1888) (mentioned 1 time)
Fricker, Edith (1774–1837) (mentioned 1 time)
Southey, Thomas (‘Tom’) [brother] (1777–1838) (mentioned 1 time)
Rickman, Susannah (née Postlethwaite; d. 1836) (mentioned 1 time)

Places mentioned

Emerald Bank, Newlands (mentioned 1 time)
Keswick (mentioned 1 time)
The Collected Letters of Robert Southey, Part Six
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