The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to John Rickman, 30 January 1803
“. . . . . I am rich in books, considered as plain and
poor Robert Southey, and in foreign
books considered as
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| 200 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 28. |
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an Englishman; but, for my glutton appetite and healthy
digestion, my stock is but small, and the historian feels daily and hourly the
want of materials. I believe I must visit London for the sake of the Museum,
but not till the spring be far advanced, and warm enough to write with
tolerable comfort in their reading-room. My History of Monachism cannot be
complete without the Benedictine
History of Mabillon. There is
another book in the Museum, which must be noticed literally, or put in a
note,—the Book of the Conformities of St. Francis and Jesus Christ! I
have thirteen folios of Franciscan history in the house, and yet want the main
one. Wadding’s Seraphic Annual, which
contains the original bulls.
“Of the Beguines I have, as yet, found neither traces
nor tidings, except that I have seen the name certainly among the heretic list;
but my monastic knowledge is very far from complete. I know only the outline
for the two centuries between Francisco
and Luther, and nothing but Jesuit
history from that period.
“Do not suspect me of querulousness; labour is my
amusement, and nothing makes me growl, but that the kind of labour cannot be
wholly my own choice;—that I must lay aside old chronicles, and review
modern poems; instead of composing from a full head, that I must write like a
school-boy upon some idle theme. on which nothing can be said or ought to be
said. I believe the best thing will be as you hope, for, if I live and do well,
my History shall be done, and that will be a fortune to a man ![]()
| Ætat. 28. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 201 |
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economical from habit, and moderate in his wants and
wishes from feeling and principle.
“Coleridge is
with me at present; he talks of going abroad, for, poor fellow, he suffers
terribly from this climate. You bid me come with the swallows to London! I wish
I could go with the swallows in their winterly migration. . . . .
Yours affectionately,
R. S.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
English poet and philosopher who projected
Lyrical Ballads (1798)
with William Wordsworth; author of
Biographia Literaria (1817),
On the Constitution of the Church and State (1829) and other
works.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
German theologian and leader of the Protestant Reformation.
Jean Mabillon (1632-1707)
French monk and scholar whose studies of medieval literature contributed to the
development of paleography.
John Rickman (1771-1840)
Educated at Magdalen Hall and Lincoln College, Oxford, he was statistician and clerk to
the House of Commons and an early friend of Charles Lamb and Robert Southey.
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
Poet laureate and man of letters whose contemporary reputation depended upon his prose
works, among them the
Life of Nelson, 2 vols (1813),
History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (1823-32) and
The Doctor, 7 vols (1834-47).
William Taylor of Norwich (1765-1836)
Translator, poet, and essayist; he was a pupil of Anna Letitia Barbauld and correspondent
of Robert Southey who contributed to the
Monthly Magazine, the
Monthly Review, the
Critical Review, and
other periodicals.
Luke Wadding (1588-1657)
Born in Waterford, he was a Franciscan priest and historian who advocated for Irish
Catholics at Rome.
