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Edited by Elizabeth RaisanenMelissa Klamer.
Sponsored by:First digital edition in TEI, date: 11 August 2014. P5. . IMG_0196.JPG, IMG_0195.JPG, IMG_0194.JPG, IMG_0199.JPG, IMG_0198.JPG, IMG_0197.JPG, IMG_0193.JPG, IMG_0192.JPG, IMG_0191.JPG, IMG_0190.JPG, IMG_0189.JPG, IMG_0188.JPG, IMG_0187.JPG, IMG_0186.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford7c#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford7b#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford6c#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford7a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford6a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford6b#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford4c#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford4b#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford4a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford3a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford2b#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford2a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford1a#.JPG, .
Published by: Digital Mitford: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive, Greensburg, PA, USA: 2014.
Reproduced by courtesy of the The Reading Central Library.Digital Mitford Letters: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive
Repository: The Reading Central Library. Shelf mark: qB/TU/MIT Vol. 4, Horizon No.: 1361550 ff. 469
One quarto sheet of paper folded in half to form two octavo pages, which comprise pages 1-4 of the letter. The fifth page bears the end of the letter on one side, and (after being folded into four panels) exposes the address portion of the leaf on the other side. The address side of the leaf seems to have been matted, though the reverse side is fully visible in the Reading Central Library bound portolio. Address leaf lacking postmarks, bears the date "April twenty six 1823" in Mitford's hand, with "J. B. Monck Plymouth" at the bottom indicating that Monck franked this letter on Mitford's behalf. The last sheet of the letter is torn suggesting a missing round seal.Hands other than Mitford's noted on this manuscript:
I am but just returned from Town, whither I have been led by one of the evil consequences of dramatic Authorship--that is to say a false report--& lose not a moment in writing to you to thank you for your Zealous kindness, & to say how heartily we sympathisesympathize in all your feelings.--I have no time to tell you the story of the strange mistake which led me to LondonLondon, England | London | England |
51.5073509 -0.12775829999998223
| Capital city of England and the United Kingdom; one the oldest
cities in Western Europe. Major seaport and global trading center at the mouth
of the Thames. From 1831 to 1925, the
largest city in the world.--#lmw51.5073509 -0.12775829999998223--no heart to talk to you of plays & theatres--for my very soul is sick of them all--they mean to be kind I believe all of them--but between the lies & the quarrels & thepage 2
envy that attends [suc[Gap: 1 chars, reason: inkblot.]ess] I have fairly wished a thousand times that the Play had failed. Do not tell this--But really my soul sickens within me when I think of the turmoil & tumult which I have undergone--& am to undergo--for Charles KembleCharles Kemble will not suffer me to withdraw my Tragedy of the FoscariFoscari: A Tragedy. Mary Russell Mitford.
London
:
G. B. Whittaker
. 1826. , & threatens me with a lawsuit if I do. In the meantime I am tossed about between him & MacreadyWilliam Macready
English actor (1793-1873) Born London, died Cheltenham. Appeared at Covent
Garden and Drury Lane. Appeared in Sheridan Knowles’s William Tell (1825)
and Bulwer-Lytton’s Money (1840)
--#lmw like a cricket ball--affronting both parties, & suspected by both because I will not come to a deadly rupture with either. Only imagine what a state this is for one who values peace & quietness beyond every other blessing of life!--In the meantime they have stoptstopped JulianJulian; a Tragedy in Five Acts. Mary Russell Mitford.
London
New York:
G. B. Whittaker
W. B. Gilley
. 1823. the Play at the end of the eighth night though it was page 3
going brilliantly to brilliant houses--& [1] Miss Mitford received £ 200 for Julian from Covent Garden £ 100 cash on the 9 of May & £ 100 by bill payable on the 12 of October—#penAnnot_RCL (but this is quite between ourselves) not paid me for the third & sixth nights--To be sure I have Charles KembleCharles Kemble's personal word--& I believe him to be an honest man--but to undergo all this misery & not get my money would be terrible indeed! To crown all, Mr. HamiltonSamuel Hamilton, or:
Publisher and editor of the Lady’s
Magazine. He took over the publishing business of his father and
grandfather, both named Archibald, alongside his brother, also named Archibald.
He first appeared as the printer of the magazine in August
1799. Mitford had contributed articles to the magazine, for which
Hamilton may have neglected to pay her the total amount due, sometime in
1823.
--#bas of our Magazine has absconded above forty pounds in my debt--Oh who would be an Authoress!--The only comfort is that the Magazine can't go on without me, & that the very fuss they make ^in quarrelling over me at the Theatre proves my importance there--& so that if I survive these vexations, I may in time make something of my poor poor brains.--but I would rather serve in a shop--rather [scrub] scrubfloors--rather nursepage 4
children than undergo these tremendous & interminable disputes & this unwomanly publicity.--
Well I will talk of this no more & I have nothing else to talk of--for though I have been in Town I have been so engrossed & absorbed by these distracting concerns that I have lost all consciousness of any thing better--I shall have something to send you in a month or two for I have been sitting for my portrait to be engraved at the desire of my Bookseller--I hope & [Gap: 1 word, reason: .][trust][2] This word is smudged, and also struck through by a later annotator in red crayon, the same hand that drew diagonal lines across many of Mitford's manuscript pages in the Reading Central LibraryReading Central Library The principal archive of Mary
Russell Mitford’s personal papers and related documents, holding
approximately 1,000 manuscripts and a nearly comprehensive collection of her
publications.
The principal archive of Mary
Russell Mitford’s personal papers and related documents, holding
approximately 1,000 manuscripts and a nearly comprehensive collection of her
publications.-- collection.—#mjk #ebb that you are all as well as you can be--say every thing to yourself & your brother & Miss ElfordGrace Chard Elford, or: Miss Elford | Born: in Plympton, Devon, England. Died: 1856-02-24 in St. Thomas, Devon, England.
Elder daughter of Sir William
Elford and Mary Davies
Elford; she was baptised at Plympton, Devon on November 11, 1781.
Her middle name, "Chard," is derived from her maternal lineage; Grace’s
maternal grandmother was born Mary Chard. Grace Elford remained unmarried and
later came to reside with her sister Elizabeth Elford Adams and her family,
according to census records. She died on February 22, 1857 at St. Thomas,
Devon.--#lmw & all who are so good as to know me ^of your family that may convey [most] of gratitude sympathy[3] It is possible that the sympathy is in reference to the recent passing of his son Jonathan. However, this is difficult to definitively prove.—#bas #ebb & true good wishes--I hope Mr. Elford continues & will continue better--Adieu my dear friend--
It is very strange that I was about to request you to enclose your letter to Mr. MonckJohn Berkeley Monck
Member of Parliament for Reading area
1820-1830, who frequently franked Mary Russell Mitford’s letters. Mitford’s letter to Sir William
Elford of 20 March 1820 about the
election of Monck describes him in context with a politically active
"Patriot" shoemaker, Mr.
Warry, who brought him from France. Monck was the author of
General Reflections on the System of the Poor Laws
(1807), in which he argued for a gradual approach
to abolishing the Poor Laws, and for the reform of workhouses. Francis Needham claims that it is he who
is referred to in "Violeting", when the narrator thinks she sees "Mr. and Mrs.
M. and dear B.". ("Dear B." would be their son,
Bligh.) Dr. Webb’s research suggests that "celebrated
shoemaker" is Mr. Warry, possibly Joseph
Source:
Francis Needham, Letter to
William Roberts, 26 March 1954. Needham Papers, Reading Central
Library.--#lmw #ebb #scw who is so Kind as to give me a general permission his address is--J. B. MonckJohn Berkeley Monck
Member of Parliament for Reading area
1820-1830, who frequently franked Mary Russell Mitford’s letters. Mitford’s letter to Sir William
Elford of 20 March 1820 about the
election of Monck describes him in context with a politically active
"Patriot" shoemaker, Mr.
Warry, who brought him from France. Monck was the author of
General Reflections on the System of the Poor Laws
(1807), in which he argued for a gradual approach
to abolishing the Poor Laws, and for the reform of workhouses. Francis Needham claims that it is he who
is referred to in "Violeting", when the narrator thinks she sees "Mr. and Mrs.
M. and dear B.". ("Dear B." would be their son,
Bligh.) Dr. Webb’s research suggests that "celebrated
shoemaker" is Mr. Warry, possibly Joseph
Source:
Francis Needham, Letter to
William Roberts, 26 March 1954. Needham Papers, Reading Central
Library.--#lmw #ebb #scw Esqre M. P.
Coley Park
Reading.
Pray forgive this sad no letter! Alas the free & happy hours when I could read & think & prattle for you are past away!--Oh will they ever return! I am now chained to a desk 8, 10, 12, hours a day--at mere drudgery--all my thoughts of writing for hard money--all my correspondence on hard business--Oh pity me! Pity me! My very mind is sinking under the fatigue & the anxiety--God bless you my dear friend!--Forgive this sad letter.