Digital Mitford: Letter View

The magnificent portion of bride cake arrived this morning & shall be distributed as you desire. Yes, we will set half the pretty girls in the parish dreaming on it—I wanted to make a bargain with one to whom I gave a bit just now that she should tell me her dream—but she says that would destroy the charm—If she told who the husband was to be she should never [del: .] get him. There was no saying a word after that you know. Bythebye nothing but the sort of sacred air that breathes around Bridecake—so that to steal that would be to invade the sweetest & holiest of our affections & sympathies—nothing but this fine & general feeling could have preserved your munificent present, & brought it safe to us. By some accident it was sent not by a ReadingReading, Berkshire, England | Reading | Berkshire | England | 51.4542645 -0.9781302999999753 County town in Berkshire, in the Thames valley at the confluence of the Thames and the River Kennet. The town developed as a river port and in Mitford’s time served as a staging point on the Bath Road and was developing into a center of manufacturing. Mitford lived here with her parents from 1791 to 1795, on Coley Avenue in the parish of St. Mary’s and attended the Abbey School. The family returned to Reading from 1797 to about 1804, after which they relocated to Bertram House. They frequently visited Reading thereafter from their homes at nearby Bertram House, Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. Mitford later used scenes from Reading as the basis for Belford Regis; or Sketches of a Country Town.—lmw Coach but a NewburyNewbury, Berkshire, England | Newbury | Berkshire | England | 51.401409 -1.323113899999953 Market town on the River Kennet in Berkshire. Horseracing took place between 1805 and 1811 at the Newbury Races, although the current racecourse did not come into existence until 1905.—ebb, lmw one, & found its way to Three Mile CrossThree Mile Cross, Berkshire, England | Three Mile Cross | Berkshire | England | 51.4047211 -0.9734518999999864 Village in the parish of Shinfield in Berkshire, where Mary Russell Mitford moved with her parents in 1820. They lived in a cottage there until 1851. —ebb, after being carried half way to NewburyNewbury, Berkshire, England | Newbury | Berkshire | England | 51.401409 -1.323113899999953 Market town on the River Kennet in Berkshire. Horseracing took place between 1805 and 1811 at the Newbury Races, although the current racecourse did not come into existence until 1905.—ebb, lmw, through the intervention of all manner of men & women—Post boys—& Chambermaids & keepers of Turnpike gates. But every thing belonging to such a Wedding & such a Honeymoon as yours will turn out right depend on it. You see that your good luck extends even to your friends—& travels about with your bride-cake. Oh it will never forsake you! Never! I think that last honeymoon letter written whilst the fair Bride was sitting working & smiling at your side, was prettier even than the first. Did you read it to her as you wrote it? or page 2
shall I send her a copy? It was worthy even of that charming seal. How much you must both have felt in going into your painting room!— Will the LazarusThe Resurrection of Lazarus, The Raising of Lazarus. Benjamin Robert Haydon.
Painting of enormous dimensions exhibited in 1823 at Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London. While on exhibit in 1823, the picture was seized from the gallery when Haydon was arrested for debt and imprisoned for two months.—ebb be finished against next season? If any thing could improve your genius it would be living in such a sunshine of love & beauty.

Miss JamesElizabeth Mary James, or: Miss James | Born: 1775 in Bath, Somerset, England. Died: 1861-11-25 in 3 Pembroke Villas, Richmond, Surrey, England.
Close friend and correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. She was the eldest daughter of Thomas Webb and Susanna Haycock. Her father died in 1818 and her mother in 1835. After her parents’ deaths, she lived with her two younger sisters, Emily and Susan, in Green Park Buildings, Bath, Walcot, Somerset; High Street, Mortlake, Surrey; and 3 Pembroke Villas, Richmond, Surrey. According to Coles, referring to Mitford’s diary, letters were also addressed to her at Bellevue, Lower Road, Richmond (Coles 26). She was buried at St. Mary Magdalene, Richmond, Surrey. In the 1841 census, she is listed as living on independent means; in the 1851 census, as landholder; in the 1861 census, she as railway shareholder.—lmw is very anxious to have the pleasure of being known to Mrs. HaydonMary Hyman Haydon
The daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Cobley, the Rector of Dodbrooke, Kingsbridge, Devon, she was widowed with two children when she married Benjamin Robert Haydon on 10 October 1821.—ghb—She mentioned your note with great delight, & talked of calling—but was not I suppose certain of the time you would return to Lisson Grove. She is by this time back again at RichmondRichmond, London, England | Richmond upon Thames | Richmond | London | England | 51.46131099999999 -0.3037420000000566 Richmond upon Thames, now a borough of London, formerly part of Surrey. The Hoflands lived there and Thomas Hofland painted views of the area.—lmw. I wished her very much to call on you Sunday or Monday that she might leave with you my poor TragedyFoscari: A Tragedy. London : G. B. Whittaker . 1826. which I have should of all things have wished you to read—indeed I begged her to take the chance—I have such an opinion of your judgment. But it is now out of her hands. Only think of my shocking ill luck in having written on the same subject with Lord ByronGeorge Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron | Born: 1788-01-22 in Holles Street, London, England. Died: 1824-04-19 in Missolonghi, Greece.
Romantic-era poet, playwright, and celebrity. English peer after he inherited the Barony of Byron of Rochdale in 1798. He died fighting for independence for Greece. Friend of William Harness.—lmw

—The story of FoscariFrancesco Foscari
character in Foscari —ebb
See also historical counterpart: son of Doge Foscari.—ebb—I am so distressed at the idea of a competition, not merely with his Lordship's talents, but with his great name, & the strange awe in which he holds people, & the terrible scoffs & sneers in which he indulges himselfGeorge Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron | Born: 1788-01-22 in Holles Street, London, England. Died: 1824-04-19 in Missolonghi, Greece.
Romantic-era poet, playwright, and celebrity. English peer after he inherited the Barony of Byron of Rochdale in 1798. He died fighting for independence for Greece. Friend of William Harness.—lmw

, that I have written to Mr. TalfourdThomas Noon Talfourd | Born: 1795-05-26 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1854-03-13 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England.
Close friend, literary mentor, and frequent correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. A native of Reading, Talfourd was educated at the Reading’s newly-established Mill Hill school, a dissenting academy, from 1808 to 1810. He attended Dr. Richard Valpy’s Reading School from 1810 to 1812. His career in law began with a legal apprenticeship with Joseph Christy, special pleader, in 1817. He was called to the bar in London in 1821 and ultimately earned a D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Oxford on June 20, 1844. While establishing his practice as a barrister and special pleader, he worked as legal correspondent for The Times, reporting on the Oxford Circuit, and also continued his literary interests. After 1833, he was appointed Serjeant at Law, as well as a King’s and Queen’s Counsel. He was elected and served as Member of Parliament for Reading from 1835 to 1841 and from 1847 to 1849 ; he served with Charles Fyshe Palmer, Charles Russell, and Francis Piggott. Highlights of his political and legal career included introducing the first copyright bill into Parliament in 1837 (for which action Charles Dickens dedicated Pickwick Papers to him) and defending Edward Moxon’s publication of Percy Shelley’s Queen Mab in 1841 . He was appointed Queen’s Serjeant in 1846 and Judge of Common Pleas in 1849 , at which post he served until his death in 1854. He was knighted in 1850 .
Talfourd’s literary works include his plays Ion (1835), The Athenian Captive (1837) and Glencoe, or the Fate of the MacDonalds(1839).
—lmw, cmm, ebb
requesting him to consult another [del: .] friend on the propriety of entirely suppressing my play, which had gone to TownLondon, 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.—lmw to be presented to the ManagerWilliam Charles Macready | Born: 1793-03-03 in London, England. Died: 1873-04-27 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
English actor, one of the most prominent tragedians of his era. He appeared at Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres in London and also toured the United States. He appeared in Sheridan Knowles's William Tell, Byron's Sardanapolus, and Bulwer-Lytton's Money (1840), as well as in many Shakespearean roles. He also managed both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres. In his role as actor-manager, Macready was a correspondent and collaborator with Mary Russell Mitford. The first play on which they worked was Mitford's Julian. Mitford dedicated to Macready the print edition of Julian: To William Charles Macready, Esq., with high esteem for those endowments which have cast new lustre on his art; with warm admiration for those powers which have inspired, and that taste which has fostered the tragic dramatists of his age; with heartfelt gratitude for the zeal with which he befriended the production of a stranger, for the judicious alterations which he suggested, and for the energy, the pathos, and the skill with which he more than emhodied its principal character; this tragedy is most respectfully dedicated by the author. Macready retired from the stage in 1851. —lmw
the very day that the subject of Lord Byron's was announced.[1] Lord Byron's play was published by John Murray on 19 December 1821. Byron had composed it between 12 June and 9 July 1821 in Ravenna.—ebb I rather think now that it will not be offered—that Mr. TalfourdThomas Noon Talfourd | Born: 1795-05-26 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1854-03-13 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England.
Close friend, literary mentor, and frequent correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. A native of Reading, Talfourd was educated at the Reading’s newly-established Mill Hill school, a dissenting academy, from 1808 to 1810. He attended Dr. Richard Valpy’s Reading School from 1810 to 1812. His career in law began with a legal apprenticeship with Joseph Christy, special pleader, in 1817. He was called to the bar in London in 1821 and ultimately earned a D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Oxford on June 20, 1844. While establishing his practice as a barrister and special pleader, he worked as legal correspondent for The Times, reporting on the Oxford Circuit, and also continued his literary interests. After 1833, he was appointed Serjeant at Law, as well as a King’s and Queen’s Counsel. He was elected and served as Member of Parliament for Reading from 1835 to 1841 and from 1847 to 1849 ; he served with Charles Fyshe Palmer, Charles Russell, and Francis Piggott. Highlights of his political and legal career included introducing the first copyright bill into Parliament in 1837 (for which action Charles Dickens dedicated Pickwick Papers to him) and defending Edward Moxon’s publication of Percy Shelley’s Queen Mab in 1841 . He was appointed Queen’s Serjeant in 1846 and Judge of Common Pleas in 1849 , at which post he served until his death in 1854. He was knighted in 1850 .
Talfourd’s literary works include his plays Ion (1835), The Athenian Captive (1837) and Glencoe, or the Fate of the MacDonalds(1839).
—lmw, cmm, ebb
will suppress it—& I heartily wish he may. My poor TragedyFoscari: A Tragedy. London : G. B. Whittaker . 1826. has been a work of great labour & is certainly complete enough in its own small way, but it is abundantly womanish & feeble, & does not at all adhere to the literal historic truth—which would be a great disadvantage in case the noble authorGeorge Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron | Born: 1788-01-22 in Holles Street, London, England. Died: 1824-04-19 in Missolonghi, Greece.
Romantic-era poet, playwright, and celebrity. English peer after he inherited the Barony of Byron of Rochdale in 1798. He died fighting for independence for Greece. Friend of William Harness.—lmw

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should have done so, & have made the public familiar with the facts. I hope it will not be offered. What do you think of Lord Byron'sGeorge Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron | Born: 1788-01-22 in Holles Street, London, England. Died: 1824-04-19 in Missolonghi, Greece.
Romantic-era poet, playwright, and celebrity. English peer after he inherited the Barony of Byron of Rochdale in 1798. He died fighting for independence for Greece. Friend of William Harness.—lmw

dramatic power? ManfredManfred. was very fine certainly—perhaps the finest thing he ever did—& Marino FalieroMarino Faliero. certainly the worst. But FoscariFrancesco Foscari
character in Foscari —ebb
See also historical counterpart: son of Doge Foscari.—ebb is a story of real human sympathy—not of factitious sentiment—He will certainly succeed in that. If this play be sent back to me unoffered I shall immediately begin another on some German story& shall take for the opening the exquisite first act of the OrestesOrestes. Euripides. -0408. of EuripidesEuripides | Born: -0480 in Salamís. Died: -0406 in Macedonia.
Ancient world playwright, considered together with Aeschylus and Sophocles as establishing the classical foundation of Western tragedy. Author of Ion , on which Thomas Noon Talfourd later based his own play of the same title, as well as Orestes , and Cyclops , the only known complete example of a burlesque satyr play, translated into a satiric poem in 1819 by Percy Shelley . —ebb, lmw
—which I saw acted so finely a fortnight ago, & which it is quite wonderful to think has never been transferred to the English stage. What astonishing people those Greek dramatists were! I am just now reading PotterRobert Potter, Reverend | Born: 1771 in Podimore, Somerset, England. Died: 1804-08-09 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England.
While a clergyman in Scarning, Norfolk, and the Master of Seckar's School, he completed some of the earliest English translations, in blank verse, of Aeschylus in 1779, Euripides in 1783, and Sophocles in 1788. —ghb
's AeschylusThe Tragedies of Aeschylus. Aeschylus.
Translation of Aeschylus’s plays read by Mitford.—ebb with the intensity of admiration with which you [Damage: agent: .] would look at the frescoes of Michael AngeloMichelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni | Born: 1475-03-06 in Caprese, Republic of Florence. Died: 1564-02-18 in Rome, Papal States.
Early-modern artist famous for sculptures, such as David and La Pieta, and frescoes, such as The Last Judgement and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.—ghb
& Happening to express something of this enthusiasm to a scholar of very great name he answered—"The PrometheusPrometheus Chained.
One of R. Potter’s eighteenth-century translations of Aeschylus’s plays, from his volume The Tragedies of Aeschylus.—ebb? Yes the PrometheusPrometheus Chained.
One of R. Potter’s eighteenth-century translations of Aeschylus’s plays, from his volume The Tragedies of Aeschylus.—ebb is rather pretty—prettyish— one of the prettiest!" Now what business has this man Robert Potter, Reverend | Born: 1771 in Podimore, Somerset, England. Died: 1804-08-09 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England.
While a clergyman in Scarning, Norfolk, and the Master of Seckar's School, he completed some of the earliest English translations, in blank verse, of Aeschylus in 1779, Euripides in 1783, and Sophocles in 1788. —ghb
to know Greek! And what business have I to be intruding so long on you?—Good bye my dear Sir My FatherGeorge Mitford, Esq., or: George Midford | Born: . Died: .
Father of Mary Rusell Mitford, George Mitford was the son of Francis Midford, surgeon, and Jane Graham. The family name is sometimes recorded as Midford. Immediate family called him by nicknames including Drum, Tod, and Dodo. He was a member of a minor branch of the Mitfords of Mitford Castle in Northumberland. Although later sources would suggest that he was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh medical school, there is no evidence that he obtained a medical degree and he did not generally refer to himself as Dr. Mitford, preferring to style himself Esq.. In 1784, he is listed in a Hampshire directory as surgeon (medicine) of Alresford. His father and grandfather worked as apothecary-surgeons and it seems likely that he served a medical apprenticeship with family members.
He married Mary Russell on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford; they later came to live at Broad Street in New Alresford. Their only child to live to adulthood, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. He assisted Mitford's literary career by representing her interests in London and elsewhere with theater owners and publishers. He was active in Whig politics and later served as a local magistrate. He coursed greyhounds with his friend James Webb.
—lmw & MotherMary Russell Mitford, or: Mrs. Mitford | Born: 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire, England. Died: 1830-01-02 in Three Mile Cross, parish of Shinfield, Berkshire, England.
Mary Russell was the youngest child of the Rev. Dr. Richard Russell and his second wife, Mary Dicker; she was born about 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire. (Her birth date is as yet unverified; period sources indicate that she was ten years older than her husband George, born in 1760.) Through the Russells, she was a distant relation of the Dukes of Bedford (sixth creation, 1694). She had two siblings, Charles William and Frances; both predeceased her and their parents, which resulted in Mary Russell inheriting her family’s entire estate upon her mother’s death in 1785. Her father’s rectory in Ashe was only a short distance from Steventon, and so she was acquainted with the young Jane Austen. She married George Mitford or Midford on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford. Their only daughter, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. Mary Russell died on January 2, 1830 at Three Mile Cross in the parish of Shinfield, Berkshire. Her obituary in the 1830 New Monthly Magazine gives New Year’s day as the date of her death.—ajc, lmw
join me in every kind remembrance & kinder wish to you & to Mrs HaydonMary Hyman Haydon
The daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Cobley, the Rector of Dodbrooke, Kingsbridge, Devon, she was widowed with two children when she married Benjamin Robert Haydon on 10 October 1821.—ghb.