Keats, John, 1795-1821; Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography
II. WOODHOUSE MSS. A. A common-place book in which Richard Woodhouse, the
friend of Keats and of his publishers Messrs Taylor and Hessey,
transcribed--as would appear from internal evidence, about midsummer
1819--the chief part of Keats's poems at that date unpublished. The
transcripts are in many cases made from early drafts of the poems: some
contain gaps which Woodhouse has filled up in pencil from later drafts: to
others are added corrections, or suggestions for corrections, some made in
the hand of Mr Taylor and some in that of Keats himself.
III. WOODHOUSE MSS. B. A note-book in which the same Woodhouse has
copied--evidently for Mr Taylor, at the time when that gentleman was
meditating a biography of the poet--a number of letters addressed by Keats
to Mr Taylor himself, to the transcriber, to Reynolds and his sisters, to
Rice, and Bailey. Three or four of these letters, as well as portions of a
few others, are unpublished.
Both the volumes last named were formerly the property of Mrs Taylor, a
niece by marriage of the publisher, and are now my own. A third note-book
by Woodhouse, containing personal notices and recollections of Keats, was
unluckily destroyed in the fire at Messrs Kegan Paul and Co's. premises in
1883. A copy of _Endymion_, annotated by the same hand, has been used by
Mr Forman in his edition (above, no. 15).
IV. SEVERN MSS. The papers and correspondence left by the late Joseph
Severn, containing materials for what should be a valuable biography, have
been put into the hands of Mr William Sharp, to be edited and published at
his discretion. In the meantime Mr Sharp has been so kind as to let me
have access to such parts of them as relate to Keats. The most important
single piece, an essay on 'The Vicissitudes of Keats's Fame,' has been
printed already in the _Atlantic Monthly_ (above, no. 8), but in the
remainder I have found many interesting details, particularly concerning
Keats's voyage to Italy and life at Rome.
V. _Rawlings v. Jennings._ When Keats's maternal grandfather, Mr John
Jennings, died in 1805, leaving property exceeding the amount of the
specific bequests under his will, it was thought necessary that his estate
should be administered by the Court of Chancery, and with that intent a
friendly suit was brought in the names of his daughter and her second
husband (Frances Jennings, _m._ 1st Thomas Keats, and 2nd William
Rawlings) against her mother and brother, who were the executors. The
proceedings in this suit are referred to under the above title. They are
complicated and voluminous, extending over a period of twenty years, and
my best thanks are due to Mr Ralph Thomas, of 27 Chancery Lane, for his
friendly pains in searching through and making abstracts of them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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