Correspondence re Imaginary Conversations

  • Reference
    • GB 133 Eng MS 1238
  • Dates of Creation
    • c 1823-1829
  • Physical Description
    • various sizes. 1 volume (79 items); Binding: green cloth, lettered in gilt on spine Letters from Hare to Taylor About Landor's Conversation

Scope and Content

Correspondence concerning (with a few exceptions noted below) the publication of Walter Savage Landor's Imaginary conversations, comprising:

  • (a) numbers 1-60, letters (March 1823 - November 1828) from Julius Charles Hare, who supervised the publication for Landor while he was abroad, to Landor's publisher John Taylor (numbers 1-3, 5-40, 42-58, 60), to Taylor's partner James Augustus Hessey (numbers 4, 41), and to Robert Southey (number 59, imperfect); publications of Julius Hare and his brother Augustus William also form the subject matter of certain letters, notably the former's translation of Barthold Georg Niebuhr's History of Rome;
  • (b) numbers 61-62, 64-67, 69, 74-75, 77-78, drafts of letters (April 1823 - April 1825) from John Taylor to Julius Hare, Robert Southey and Walter Landor of Rugeley concerning the Conversations and his quarrel with Walter Savage Landor over its publication; number 65 is a copy in Taylor's hand of an abusive letter, addressed to him by Landor;
  • (c) numbers 63 and 68, letters (April 1825) from Walter Landor of Rugeley to Taylor & Hessey relating to the above quarrel;
  • (d) number 72, letter (n.d. [April 1825]) from James Augustus Hessey to John Taylor concerning the same;
  • (e) number 70, letter (1 March 1828) from John Taylor to Julius Hare, concerning the publication of the latter's translation of Niebuhr;
  • (f) numbers 71, 76 and 79, letters (1828-9) from Augustus Hare to John Taylor on personal matters and respecting publications of the former;
  • (g) number 73, a copy in Julius Hare's hand of a passage on poisoning which I found...; on one of Landor's last letters, which may be added at the end of the note [probably from a letter to Taylor].