Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1812 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 leaves
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Sara Fricker was brought up in Bristol and married the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge there in 1794. Their marriage was not happy and they spent long periods living apart, Sara bringing up their children in the household of her sister and brother-in-law, Edith and Robert Southey, in Keswick, Cumberland. Her youngest child, also called Sara, became a well-known writer.
Sara Coleridge was born in Keswick, Cumberland, and brought up by her mother (also Sara) in the household of her aunt and uncle, Edith and Robert Southey. As a child she met many of her family's literary friends and acquaintances, including William Wordsworth. Her first book, a translation from Latin of a work of anthropology, was published when she was 19. In subsequent years, Sara became reacquainted with her estranged father, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and later edited posthumous editions of his work. She married her cousin, Henry Nelson Coleridge (1798-1843), in 1829 but continued her literary work alongside her domestic responsibilities as a wife, mother, and later widow. She remained a prominent figure on the London literary scene until her death from cancer in 1852.
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Archival history
See archivist
GB 0096 AL298 1812 fonds 2 leaves Coleridge , Sara , 1770-1845 , nee Fricker , wife of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Coleridge , Sara , 1802-1852 , author , daughter of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Sara Fricker was brought up in Bristol and married the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge there in 1794. Their marriage was not happy and they spent long periods living apart, Sara bringing up their children in the household of her sister and brother-in-law, Edith and Robert Southey, in Keswick, Cumberland. Her youngest child, also called Sara, became a well-known writer.
Sara Coleridge was born in Keswick, Cumberland, and brought up by her mother (also Sara) in the household of her aunt and uncle, Edith and Robert Southey. As a child she met many of her family's literary friends and acquaintances, including William Wordsworth. Her first book, a translation from Latin of a work of anthropology, was published when she was 19. In subsequent years, Sara became reacquainted with her estranged father, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and later edited posthumous editions of his work. She married her cousin, Henry Nelson Coleridge (1798-1843), in 1829 but continued her literary work alongside her domestic responsibilities as a wife, mother, and later widow. She remained a prominent figure on the London literary scene until her death from cancer in 1852.
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Gift from Mr J W Peppitt, 1961.
Letter from Sara Coleridge of Keswick, Cumberland to [John] J Morgan Esq of 71 Berners Street, Oxford Street, London [a friend of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was staying with Morgan's family in London], 5 Sep 1812. '... to request the favor of you to use your influence with my husband to prevail on him to send me a few lines immediately, for I have been so long [since Apr 1812] waiting for a letter from him ... I will thank you to represent to him that I want a little money very much ... for my sister [Edith] Southey having lost 30 pounds by the failure of the Workington Bank, and having occasion for money at present more than is convenient for S [i.e. Robert Southey, Edith's husband] to draw for - I own I feel very uncomfortable at the thought of not being able to settle my accounts with him ... I have bought the books for the boys; I was obliged to send to London for them ... I have also been obliged to get all their school books bound, the Aeschylus among the rest which was coming to peices [sic]. Please also say that we have not been able to find at Grasmere that "Reynard the Fox" which C [her husband] designed for Southey, and that probably he has it with him in town ...'
Autograph, with signature. A note in the hand of her 9-year-old daughter, also Sara, appears at the end of the letter.
See hard copy catalogue.
Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Please contact the University Archivist for details. 24 hours notice is required for research visits.
Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.
English
Typescript catalogue available in the Library's Palaeography Room.
A typed transcript is filed with the original letter.
Compiled by Anya Turner.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Aug 2008 Coleridge , Sara , 1802-1852 , author , daughter of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Literary history Coleridge , Sara , 1770-1845 , nee Fricker , wife of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Information sciences Communications media Publications Books Debts Finance Financial resources Money London England UK Western Europe Europe Barnet Hertfordshire Keswick Cumberland Literature
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gift from Mr J W Peppitt, 1961.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Letter from Sara Coleridge of Keswick, Cumberland to [John] J Morgan Esq of 71 Berners Street, Oxford Street, London [a friend of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was staying with Morgan's family in London], 5 Sep 1812. '... to request the favor of you to use your influence with my husband to prevail on him to send me a few lines immediately, for I have been so long [since Apr 1812] waiting for a letter from him ... I will thank you to represent to him that I want a little money very much ... for my sister [Edith] Southey having lost 30 pounds by the failure of the Workington Bank, and having occasion for money at present more than is convenient for S [i.e. Robert Southey, Edith's husband] to draw for - I own I feel very uncomfortable at the thought of not being able to settle my accounts with him ... I have bought the books for the boys; I was obliged to send to London for them ... I have also been obliged to get all their school books bound, the Aeschylus among the rest which was coming to peices [sic]. Please also say that we have not been able to find at Grasmere that "Reynard the Fox" which C [her husband] designed for Southey, and that probably he has it with him in town ...'
Autograph, with signature. A note in the hand of her 9-year-old daughter, also Sara, appears at the end of the letter.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
See hard copy catalogue.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Please contact the University Archivist for details. 24 hours notice is required for research visits.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Typescript catalogue available in the Library's Palaeography Room.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
A typed transcript is filed with the original letter.
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Publication note
Notes area
Note
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Description control area
Description identifier
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Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English