Beschreibung:

SOUTHEY, Robert (1774-1843). Autograph manuscript Journal of A Tour in the Netherlands in the autumn of 1815 , with a title-page and introduction also by Southey, the entries dated 23 September to 28 October 1815.
SOUTHEY, Robert (1774-1843). Autograph manuscript Journal of A Tour in the Netherlands in the autumn of 1815 , with a title-page and introduction also by Southey, the entries dated 23 September to 28 October 1815. 190 pages, 4to, stitched, uncut, loosely sewn with silk thread into old straight-grained green morocco gilt covers (the binding present in 1864, according to letters included), rubbed ; the manuscript contains approximately 38,000 words, and is written in Southey's familiar practiced and very legible hand. On the evidence of a footnote at page 45 which refers to an event a year after those in the main text, the manuscript was possibly prepared for the private enjoyment of Southey's friends, as it was not published during his lifetime. Provenance : Mr. Charles C. Southey, son of the poet, sold through the bookseller D. Leitch in 1864 to; Mr. Robert Spence (name and address on paper wrapper protecting the binding, envelope laid in); sold Christie's London, 1 July 1970, lot 157; Dr. Gerald E Slater (sold Christie’s New York, 12 February 1982, lot 439). The introduction relates the circumstances of the journey: “it happened... a few weeks after the Battle of Waterloo, that my brother Henry, who was just married, asked me to join him in a bridal excursion... I prevailed... on my wife to accompany me... I persuaded myself that if any person had a valid cause or pretext for visiting the field of Waterloo, it was the Poet Laureate...”. The extensive journal follows the party's travels from Ostend to Bruges (“a bad place for finding books”) and Brussels, on to Waterloo (the relics of the very recent battles there are described in great detail), Namur, Liége, Louvain, Antwerp, Dunkirk and finally Calais. Southey describes the places visited, accommodations, architecture (especially of the cathedrals), and activities of the local populations; he spent much time searching for books, especially in Brussels and Ghent, and visiting collections of paintings. Southey's verse reflections on the Waterloo battlefield were published in 1816 as The Poet's Pilgrimage to Waterloo , with engraved illustrations by E. Nash, who accompanied the party for much of the trip. Accompanying the manuscript is: 1) 2 autograph letters signed from Charles Southey to D. Leitch, 27 September and 7 October 1864, 4 pages, 12mo, with envelopes , relating to the sale of the Journal. 2) A series of 9 autograph letters from the bookseller D. Leitch of Derwent Bank, Keswick, to Robert Spence of Newcastle on Tyne, from 25 August 1864 to 5 March 1865, 24 pages, 12mo, 8 in original envelopes , concerning the purchase of the “Journal” and other material related to Southey. 3) A copy of the sale of the contents of Lairthwaite Cottage, Keswick (“the property of the late Miss Southey”) 23 and 24 August 1864, in which many of Southey's effects were sold, although not, apparently, the present manuscript. 4) A copy of the published journal, Journal of a Tour in the Netherlands in the Autumn of 1815 . Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin 1902. 8°. Original quarter cloth, original box. LIMITED EDITION , number 356 of 519 copies. Southey’s letters at the end of 1815 frequently reference this journal, and it seems that posthumous publication of the journal was always his goal. In a 25 December 1815 letter to Grosvenor Charles Bedford, his friend since their days at Westminster School, Southey writes: “I shall put my journal in such order as to make a volume for posthumous publication; by which time it will have greatly increased in value; – that is to say it will be worth much more as a post-obit than as a bill at sight.” ACCORDING TO AUCTION RECORDS, THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SOUTHEY MANUSCRIPT TO EVER APPEAR ON THE MARKET .