Memoir of John Murray
Lady Caroline Lamb to John Murray, March 1823
Lady Morgan says, after the severe
castigation you gave her once, you must not refuse the first favour she has
asked you, but send her ‘Ada
Reis’ immediately. Now I wish you could come and see this
place in its full beauty; but I conclude you will not. Pray, did William send the draft
for Foscolo
of ten guineas? How is Gifford? Pray
send me some news and some books. Mrs.
Opie has sent me a very complimentary letter about ‘Ada Reis.’”
Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827)
Italian poet and critic who settled in London in 1816 where he contributed essays on
Italian literature to the
Edinburgh and
Quarterly
Reviews.
William Gifford (1756-1826)
Poet, scholar, and editor who began as a shoemaker's apprentice; after Oxford he
published
The Baviad (1794),
The Maeviad
(1795), and
The Satires of Juvenal translated (1802) before becoming
the founding editor of the
Quarterly Review (1809-24).
William Lamb, second viscount Melbourne (1779-1848)
English statesman, the son of Lady Melbourne (possibly by the third earl of Egremont) and
husband of Lady Caroline Lamb; he was a Whig MP, prime minister (1834-41), and counsellor
to Queen Victoria.
Amelia Opie [née Alderson] (1769-1853)
Quaker poet and novelist; in 1798 she married the painter John Opie (1761-1807); author
of
Father and Daughter (1801) and other novels and moral
fables.