The Man Behind the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Life and Letters of Edward FitzGerald 9781350988903, 9781786730145

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Bill Martin and Sandra Mason maintain a longstanding interest in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, especially in the interpretation of these quatrains by Edward FitzGerald. They have a substantial library of the different editions of the Rubáiyát and associated materials, and have been actively involved in creating exhibitions and other projects related to FitzGerald and the Rubáiyát. They are the authors of a number of books, including The Art of Omar Khayyam: Illustrating FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat (I.B.Tauris, 2007) and Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: A Famous Poem and Its Influence (2011).

‘Now we have a reference guide to Edward FitzGerald’s life and letters that will add to his stature, a chronology/companion/compendium/concordance that gathers together and classifies his every utterance on a wide range of subjects. ... This miracle of excerption and cross-reference can now be used to trace the ramified thinking of an outstanding representative of Victorian culture and intellect.’ – Professor Anthony Briggs, editor of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Bird Parliament ‘This book is a golden shaft for students of Edward FitzGerald! Martin and Mason’s labour of love scrutinises FitzGerald’s voluminous correspondence and offers us, in his own words, his spontaneous voice on the Victorian age, his life, his work and his friends. Their new study is a zestful, scholarly and indispensable addition to our knowledge of FitzGerald.’ – Christine van Ruymbeke, Fellow of Darwin College, Soudavar Senior Lecturer of Persian, University of Cambridge ‘It has often been suggested that Omar Khayyám speaks to us through Edward FitzGerald. ... But Edward FitzGerald was also a man who, like all of us, lived his daily life. ... In this remarkable book the authors also picture a detailed and fascinating insight in the more down-to-earth daily affairs and routines of the man, based on the thousands of letters that he left behind.’ – Jos Coumans, Secretary of the Dutch Omar Khayyám Society ‘Never before have [his letters] ... been analysed so thoroughly, so lovingly – or so innovatively ... an erudite companion to one of the notable letter writers of the Victorian age.’ – Garry Garrard, author of A Book of Verse: The Biography of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Frontispiece. Two images of Edward FitzGerald As a young man in his twenties (above) and as the older ‘philosopher’ aged 64 (right).

The Man Behind the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám The Life and Letters of Edward FitzGerald

William H. Martin and Sandra Mason

Published in 2016 by I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd London • New York www.ibtauris.com Copyright © 2016 William H. Martin and Sandra Mason The right of William H. Martin and Sandra Mason to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions. References to websites were correct at the time of writing. ISBN: 978 1 78453 659 6 eISBN: 978 1 78672 014 6 ePDF: 978 1 78673 014 5 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available Typeset by Mach 3 Solutions Ltd (www.mach3solutions.co.uk)

Contents List of illustrations List of figures Acknowledgements Note on the quotations from the letters A chronology of the life of Edward FitzGerald

vii viii ix x xi

Introduction: the man behind the Rubáiyát

1

Part I FitzGerald from his own words: the relationships and events that shaped his life

5

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Edward FitzGerald: a man of letters FitzGerald’s early years: 1809–29 A young man on the move: 1830–40 Finding his feet as a writer: 1841–55 Creating the Rubáiyát amidst personal crises: 1856–9 New interests in East Anglian life: 1860–71 Renewal of literary pursuits and contacts: 1872–83 A new appreciation of Edward FitzGerald

7 11 16 20 25 30 36 44

Part II Insights into Victorian life and opinions from FitzGerald’s letters

9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

A window on the world of the nineteenth century Writing and reading The arts Family and friends Other interests and views

51

53 65 113 127 179

Part III Background information and additional analyses

201

Appendix 1: the people whom FitzGerald knew Appendix 2: the places where FitzGerald lived and stayed Appendix 3: FitzGerald’s library and literary remains Appendix 4: a statistical analysis of FitzGerald’s letters

203 221 226 230

Notes Bibliography

250 259

List of illustrations Frontispiece. Two images of Edward FitzGerald 1. Edward FitzGerald’s East Anglia. 2. An example of FitzGerald’s manuscript letters. 3. An example of FitzGerald’s multi-topic letters. 4. Portrait of FitzGerald’s mother. 5. Portrait of Edward Byles Cowell. 6. A view of the Deben Estuary. 7. Title page from the fourth edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. 8. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. 9. The chamber organ formerly in FitzGerald’s Woodbridge home. 10. Two literary giants who were close friends of FitzGerald. 11. Two of FitzGerald’s younger friends. 12. FitzGerald’s sailing boat, Scandal. 13. FitzGerald’s last home: Little Grange in Woodbridge.

ii xiii 6 8 12 22 33 70 98 118 146 172 189 199

Illustration 2 is reproduced from Wrentmore, C. Quaritch, ed., Letters from Edward FitzGerald to Bernard Quaritch, 1853–1883 (London: B. Quaritch, 1926), with acknowledgement to Bernard Quaritch Ltd. Illustration 3 is from Terhunes, Letters, III, 318. Illustration 9 is reproduced with the kind permission of Garry Garrard. Illustration 13 is a photograph by W. H. Martin in 2008. It is reproduced with acknowledgement to the present owners of Little Grange. The other illustrations are taken from material that is created by the authors, or believed to be out of copyright or in the public domain.

List of figures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

FitzGerald’s letters – a summary. Writing and reading – a summary of the letters. The arts – a summary of the letters. Family and friends – a summary of the letters. Other interests and views – a summary of the letters. The build-up of FitzGerald’s letter writing.

10 63 112 125 178 231

Acknowledgements Our main acknowledgement is to the work of Alfred and Annabelle Terhune, first in locating and transcribing the FitzGerald letters and then in editing them with exemplary details for the many references. Without their devoted efforts, we should never have embarked on our analysis. Indeed what we have done could be seen as taking the Terhunes’ work forward into the digital age, and making their scholarship more easily available to a modern audience. We hope they would have approved, and we dedicate our work to their memory. We are also very grateful to Princeton University Press, publishers of the Terhunes’ Letters, for their approval of our use of the content of their volumes in this study. We have attempted as far as possible to trace remaining copyright holders for certain of Edward FitzGerald’s letters and we shall be glad to hear from any of them whom we have failed to find. Other acknowledgements are due to those who have helped us with our research and analysis. They include librarians and archivists at the following organisations: the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge; Cambridge University Library; Suffolk Records Office in Ipswich; Ipswich Museum; Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries. Thanks are also due to friends and family with whom we have discussed the project, notably Lydia Lambert who read and commented on a late draft of the manuscript. We are very grateful to our collaborators at I.B.Tauris, particularly to David Stonestreet, our commissioning editor, who provoked us by asking probing questions, and stimulated important changes to the content of the book. Last but not least, we greatly value the input, comments and general support from other Rubáiyát and FitzGerald enthusiasts, notably Jos Coumans, Bob Forrest and Garry Garrard. We hope that they and other researchers in the field will find our work of use in carrying out their own studies.

Note on the quotations from the letters This book contains many quotations from FitzGerald’s letters, showing what he thought about things ‘in his own words’. These quotations are all taken from the Terhunes’ Letters. In Part I, references are given in the end notes. In Part II, they are shown in square brackets at the end of the quotation; [I, 400] indicates that the quotation is from Volume 1 of the Letters, in the letter which starts on page 400. In each case we have aimed to present the text with all FitzGerald’s idiosyncrasies of capitals, spelling and punctuation, as shown in the Letters. FitzGerald’s underlining has been rendered in italics as in the Letters. In a few cases, there are some spellings which we today see as American (e.g. theater). These could be the result of American proof-checking of the Letters. We have not attempted to check this theory against the original letters, and we have retained the Terhunes’ spellings in the quotations. FitzGerald did not generally underline the titles of the books that he mentioned. Other square brackets show editorial additions, intended to clarify references in the quotation. These have been kept to a minimum. Our editorial comments draw on the extensive notes to the Letters, as well as other information. Brief descriptions of key people and places mentioned are given in the appendices in Part III. Omissions of text within a quotation, designed to avoid some of FitzGerald’s complex digressions, are shown by three close dots (…). Three spaced dots (. . .) are copied from the letters as shown in the Terhunes’ text. For simplicity, most correspondents’ names are shown with initials and surname only. Female correspondents are indicated by including their full first names or married names. Other titles (e.g. Sir, Rev.) are given with the names of people in Appendix 1.

A chronology of the life of Edward FitzGerald The table summarises the main events of FitzGerald’s life. These are described in more detail in Part I and there are descriptions of specific people and places in Appendices 1 and 2.* Year

EFG age

1809 1816 1818

7 9

1826

17

1830 1831 1832 1835

21 23 25

1837 1838 1842

27 28 33

Event FitzGerald born at Bredfield, Suffolk. Moved with family to France. Returned to East Anglia. Sent as boarder to King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds, where he became friends with W. Airy, W. B. Donne, J. M. Kemble and J. Spedding. Went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he met key friends J. Allen, W. F. Pollock, W. H. Thompson and W. M. Thackeray. Graduated from University of Cambridge. Published first poem, The Meadows in Spring. Met W. K. Browne in South Wales. Became friends with A. Tennyson on visit to Spedding in Cumberland. FitzGerald family moved to Boulge Hall. EFG moved into Boulge Cottage. First letter to B. Barton of Woodbridge. Met T. Carlyle in London.

Year

EFG age

Event

1844 1848 1849 1851 1853

35 39 40 42 44

1855

46

1856

47

1857

48

1859

50

1860

51

1864 1867 1868

55 58 59

1869 1871 1873

60 62 64

1879 1880–1 1881–2 1883

70 71–2 72–3 74

Met E. B. Cowell at the Charlesworths’ home near Ipswich. FitzGerald’s father declared bankrupt. He died in 1852. Friend and neighbour B. Barton died. Published first book, Euphranor. Moved out of Boulge Cottage and into a room at Farlingay Hall, Woodbridge. FitzGerald’s mother died, making his financial position more secure. EBC found a manuscript of verses (rubáiyát) of Omar Khayyám in Bodleian Library, Oxford, and sent copy to EFG. Cowells departed for India where EBC took up academic post. EFG married Lucy Barton. EFG separated from Lucy Barton. Friend and neighbour G. Crabbe of Bredfield died. Young friend W. K. Browne died. Published Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (later editions in 1868, 1872, 1879, 1889). Moved to rooms on Market Hill, Woodbridge. Acquired boat on River Deben. Met Joseph (Posh) Fletcher, a young Lowestoft seaman. Set up fishing partnership with Posh Fletcher (dissolved 1870). Met W. A. Wright, then Librarian of Trinity College, Cambridge. Private printing of Agamemnon. First letter to Fanny Kemble, who became a key correspondent. First correspondence with C. E. Norton, American literary critic. Private printing of Readings in Crabbe, Tales of the Hall. Private printing of Oedipus plays. Deaths of friends – Carlyle, Spedding and Donne. EFG died at Merton in Norfolk.

* EFG indicates Edward FitzGerald; EBC indicates E. B. Cowell.

Illustration 1.  Edward FitzGerald’s East Anglia. An outline view of the location of key places in FitzGerald’s life.

THE WASH

Sheringham

Cromer

NORTH SEA

King’s Lynn

Norwich Peterborough

Lowestoft

Merton

Geldestone

Beccles

Thetford

Southwold

Ely Huntingdon Bury St Edmunds

Aldeburgh

Cambridge

Boulge

Woodbridge

Goldington

Ipswich

Bedford

Manningtree

Colchester 0

20 miles

Felixstowe

Introduction: the man behind the Rubáiyát

E

dward FitzGerald is worth studying for three reasons. First, he was the creator of one of the best-known poems in the world, the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, initially published in 1859 and never out of print since the mid1880s. Secondly, he was a remarkable writer, whose life and letters provide a fascinating case study of the Victorian intellectual. Thirdly, through his many letters, FitzGerald has left us a picture of his nineteenth-century world which throws light on the ways in which life has changed over the last couple of centuries. Our own interest in FitzGerald starts from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, which we have enjoyed and studied for many years, analysing its content, its fascinating origins and the subsequent history of its publication and embellishment.1 The year 2009 represented a high point in modern Rubáiyát studies as the world celebrated 150 years since the first publication of Edward FitzGerald’s poem. The year also marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of FitzGerald himself. The co-incidence of the two anniversaries led us to look more closely at Edward FitzGerald, going beyond the Rubáiyát to consider his letters and other ‘literary remains’ and what they tell us about the man himself and the times in which he lived. This book documents what we found from our further study. The investigation of Edward FitzGerald in the round has taken us both longer, and further afield, than we expected. It has left us with a considerable respect for FitzGerald the man as well as the poet, and a fascination with the Victorian era in which he lived.

ANALYSING FITZGERALD’S CORRESPONDENCE AND OTHER LITERARY REMAINS Much of the groundwork on FitzGerald’s letters had already been done by two earlier scholars, Alfred and Annabelle Terhune. Their edition of The Letters of Edward FitzGerald was published in 1980.2 In their four volumes, they brought together earlier collections of letters with previously unpublished material collected by them over many years. The letters, over 2,000 in total and arranged in chronological order, are clearly transcribed, with extensive references, footnotes and accompanying material including a chronology of FitzGerald’s life and biographies of key people. Having worked to a limited extent ourselves with the originals of the FitzGerald letters, we recognise the Terhunes’ volumes as a remarkable work of scholarship and a research resource that has not been fully exploited. Using the Terhunes’ volumes, we have created a digital database covering all the individual letters. The database includes basic information on each letter (when and where written, and to whom) together with an analysis of the main topics covered in the letter. Using this database, we have been able to study the importance of different periods, places, people and topics in FitzGerald’s letters, and to identify the main letters that are relevant to each subject. There is more information in Appendix 4 on the wide variety of analyses possible using our data. Our aim is to make the database available for consultation by other researchers in due course. In addition to the letters, there is useful evidence on FitzGerald’s thinking and interests in the form of his scrap books and commonplace books, and some of the other contents of his library which are preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge and the archives of Ipswich Museum.3 Other collections of FitzGerald’s letters provide further insights,4 as do the collected letters and biographies of certain key recipients of FitzGerald’s writing, such as J. Allen, T. Carlyle, E. B. Cowell, Fanny Kemble, A. Tennyson and W. M. Thackeray.5

WHAT SHAPED FITZGERALD’S LIFE, AND HIS PICTURE OF THE VICTORIAN WORLD The findings from our analyses are presented in three ways. First, in Part I of the book, we look at the key phases of FitzGerald’s life and the critical factors that shaped his actions. We examine especially his evolution in response to the new contacts he made, and to the places in which he lived at various stages. Finally, we highlight the key findings about FitzGerald’s life that our research reveals.

In Part II, we examine the insights that FitzGerald’s letters give us into different aspects of Victorian life and the way lifestyles have changed since then. This is followed by a detailed look at the subjects and people FitzGerald wrote about, and his views on them, presented under four main headings. The latter cover: writing and reading and literary matters generally; the arts and other cultural topics; FitzGerald’s family and friends; and various other subjects, such as religion, travel and nature. Specific topics range from what he thought about the work of his famous literary friends, including Alfred Tennyson and W. M. Thackeray, to his comments on his ill-judged marriage and his love of toasted cheese. For each subject, there is a selection of extracts from the letters to show what FitzGerald thought about the topic ‘in his own words’. A full listing of the topics covered is shown in Appendix 4. Part III contains appendices with more detailed information on specific matters, namely the people FitzGerald mentioned and with whom he corresponded; the places from which he wrote; his library of books and papers; and the specifications of our statistical database together with some further analyses from it. There is additional background material in the subsequent Notes and Bibliography. The presentations in Parts I and II include many excerpts from the FitzGerald letters. We particularly wanted to provide a picture of the man and his views ‘in his own words’, and to make his often trenchant and witty comments more readily available to a wider audience. Reading these quotations transports us into FitzGerald’s distinctive Victorian world, and allows us to follow his sharp mind and idiosyncratic humour as he reacts to people, places, books and events. All quotations are taken from the Terhunes’ edition of the Letters. There is a note on how we have handled the quotations on page x.

Pa r t I FitzGerald from his own words: the relationships and events that shaped his life

Illustration 2.  An example of FitzGerald’s manuscript letters. Letter to Bernard Quaritch in 1876 about the publication of FitzGerald’s Agamemnon.

1 

Edward FitzGerald: a man of letters MUCH MORE THAN THE RUBÁIYÁT

Edward FitzGerald is best known as the ‘translator’ of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.1 Beyond this, he has a reputation as an eccentric recluse. But there is much more to FitzGerald than either of these attributes suggests. In particular, he was also a convivial and supportive friend, a cultured man of letters and the arts, a fine poet and writer of more than the Rubáiyát, and a passionate lover of East Anglia. The support for these assertions lies primarily in FitzGerald’s own correspondence. FitzGerald’s letters have been studied previously by many researchers, especially for information about his work on the Rubáiyát, and for insights into his personal life and friendships.2 These earlier analyses notwithstanding, there is still much more to be learnt about FitzGerald from his letters, both as an interesting and generous person, and as a Victorian intellectual and communicator. In this part of the study, we aim to put the Rubáiyát in perspective in terms of FitzGerald’s life, as we examine what the available material tells us about FitzGerald’s principal relationships and the key events that shaped his life. In Part II, we explore his interests in and thoughts on many specific subjects, highlighting insights from the analysis into the nature and conventions of Victorian intellectual life, the changes in society and technology from the early 1800s, and the crucial role played by letters in the networking and personal contacts of the period.

Illustration 3.  An example of FitzGerald’s multi-topic letters.

To W. F. Pollock, a university friend and successful lawyer Woodbridge Dec 29, 1871 My dear Pollock, If you come here, come some very fine weather, when we look at our best inland, and you may take charge of my Boat on the River. I doubt I did my Eyes damage this Summer by steering in the Sun, and peering out for the Beacons that mark the Channel; but your Eyes are proof against this, and I shall resign the command to you, as you wrote that you liked it at Clovelly. Donne has sent me a Saturday with a pleasant Review (his own, I suppose) of the Westminster Play, and Terence in general. I dare say you assisted at this last Performance: a thing I have always wished, but have not seen, though you once were good enough to send me an Admission. I see the Review falls foul of the present Chancellor for some evasion of the Law – of his own Law too. He is a very good, and (I believe) able man: but I shall never be surprized at his doing a foolish thing: he has a touch of the Alderman in him: ‘Absolute Wisdom,’ as Collop called him. I also see in the Athenaeum an insane Panegyric on Browning’s last Grotesque. I had thought Beauty was the main object of the Arts: but these people, not having Genius, I suppose, to create any new forms of that, have recourse to the Ugly, and find their Worshippers in plenty. In Poetry, Music, and Painting, it seems to me the same. And people think all this finer than Mozart, Raffaelle, and Tennyson – as he was – but he never ceases to be noble and pure. There was a fine passage quoted from his Last Idyll: about a Wave spending itself away on a long sandy Shore: that was Lincolnshire, I know. Carlyle has written to remind me of putting up a Stone on the spot in Naseby field where I dug up the Dead for him thirty years ago. I will gladly have the Stone cut, and the Inscription he made for it engraved: but will I go again to Northamptonshire to see it set up? And perhaps the people there have forgotten all about the place, now that a whole Generation has passed away, and improved Farming has passed the Plough over the Ground. But we shall see. Ever yours E.FG.

BASIC FEATURES OF THE LETTERS The letters available to us cover virtually the whole of FitzGerald’s adult life. The first one found by the Terhunes was sent to his university friend John Allen in January 1830, when FitzGerald was aged only 20. The final letter was sent on 12 June 1883 from Woodbridge to Samuel Laurence the painter; this was just two days before FitzGerald’s death, aged 74, at the home of his friend George Crabbe at Merton in Norfolk. The number of surviving letters sent by FitzGerald built up fairly steadily from the 1840s. The main interruption to this progression was in the late 1850s when, as we shall see in Chapter 5, FitzGerald was preoccupied with troubles in his private life. His most active letter writing period was in the 1870s and the early 1880s. This probably reflects the fact that FitzGerald was no longer travelling round and visiting his friends as much as in earlier years. Writing became a substitute for direct personal contact in many cases. Throughout his life FitzGerald’s letters were very wide-ranging in their subject matter, and a single letter often contained references to a great variety of different topics, covering news about the author and his friends as well as enlightening comments on books or religion, and queries about abstruse issues of translation or East Anglian dialect. An example of a relatively short letter is given in illustration 3. Three-quarters of all FitzGerald’s letters contain some news of, or comments on, his friends, family or acquaintances, and more than two-thirds include references to what he himself was writing or reading. Other topics, such as the arts (theatre, music and pictures) and religion and current affairs, vary much more in importance depending on what was happening in FitzGerald’s life, and to whom he was writing, and they are much less significant overall. FitzGerald had over 100 direct correspondents for whom letters remain. Brief descriptions of them are given in Appendix 1. FitzGerald’s correspondents represent most aspects of his life. Very few letters to his family have survived, but there are representatives of his school and university friends, neighbours, artistic and literary contacts, and many others including local residents and tradespeople. The charts on page 10 provide a broad summary of the nature of FitzGerald’s surviving correspondence in statistical terms. Account must also be taken of the letters that are probably missing from the many that do survive. Our detailed analysis of the possible gaps in the correspondence is in Appendix 4. It is clear that the surviving letters of Edward FitzGerald do not form an unbiased sample of his total correspondence. As far as possible we have allowed for this in presenting our analysis of FitzGerald’s life and reaching our conclusions.

Figure 1.  FitzGerald’s letters – a summary. Main subjects mentioned in the letters All letters: total number = 2,134 Writing and reading The arts Family and friends Other interests and views 0

200

400

600

800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600

Number of letters

When letters were written All letters 35 30

% of total

25 20 15 10 5 0 1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Main correspondents All letters: total number = 2,134 Cowell, E. B. Wright, W. A. Kemble, Fanny Donne, W. B. Pollock, W. F. Barton, B. Quaritch, B. Cowell, Mrs E. B. Allen, J. Crabbe, G. (M.) 0

50

100

150

200

250

Number of letters person received

Source: see Appendix 4.

300

350

2 

FitzGerald’s early years: 1809–29 A WEALTHY VICTORIAN FAMILY

Edward FitzGerald was born on 31 March 1809, the sixth child of a very wealthy Anglo-Irish family.1 He had two older brothers, John and Peter, and five sisters. Mary Francis, the eldest sister, died aged 18 years, while Eleanor and Jane were both older than Edward, and Isabella and Andalusia younger. Edward was actually born Edward Purcell, but his father, John Purcell, and the rest of the family changed their surnames to FitzGerald in 1818, when Edward’s mother, Mary Frances FitzGerald, inherited a substantial fortune in property in England and Ireland from her father. She was then reputed to be the wealthiest commoner in England.2 The FitzGerald letters contain relatively few comments about Edward’s childhood and upbringing. Earlier biographies suggest that the family life mirrored the typical image of landowners of the Victorian era, with distant and disciplinarian parents. John FitzGerald, Edward’s father, was a country squire, who was also a Member of Parliament (for Sussex) and High Sheriff both of Suffolk and in County Cork in Ireland. Portraits from the time, including one by Thomas Lawrence, show that Edward’s mother was a beautiful woman; she was also clearly a strong and domineering character. The one substantial comment about Mrs FitzGerald in the letters is very doubleedged. Writing in 1872 when he was aged 63 to his friend Fanny Kemble, who had known his mother, FitzGerald commented: ‘My Mother used to come up sometimes [to the children’s nursery], and we Children were not much comforted. She was a remarkable woman, as you said in a former letter: and as I constantly believe in

outward Beauty as an Index of a beautiful Soul within, I used sometimes to wonder what feature in her fine face betrayed what was not so good in her Character.’3 Illustration 4.  Portrait of FitzGerald’s mother. Mrs Mary Frances FitzGerald.

Despite his rather austere family upbringing, FitzGerald developed quite a strong sense of responsibility for his large family. This is highlighted in the many mentions of family members in the letters, more of which are quoted in the FitzGerald family section in Chapter 12. He does not show any particular love for either of his parents, nor for his eldest brother John. But he seems to have got on quite well with his brother Peter and with all his sisters. He was especially fond of his elder sister Eleanor, with whose family he stayed often and whose children were his frequent companions in his later years. FitzGerald left his residual estate to be divided between these Kerrich nieces and nephews, excluding only the oldest son, who inherited his father’s estate.

EARLY EXPERIENCES OF EAST ANGLIA AND FRANCE FitzGerald’s birthplace was a small village called Bredfield, close to Woodbridge in Suffolk. His family had rented the White House in Bredfield, and they remained there for the next six years. The estuary of the Deben at Woodbridge was nearby, and some summer holidays were spent on the Suffolk coast at Aldeburgh, as FitzGerald recalled when revisiting the resort in 1882, the year before he died.4 This early experience of East Anglia was reinforced when the family returned to the area in 1818 after a two-year stay in France. FitzGerald was then sent with his brothers to school in Bury St Edmunds. It is not clear where in Suffolk the family lived between 1818 and 1826, but in the latter year, when FitzGerald was in his late teens, they rented another property at Wherstead near Ipswich. This house, with a beautiful view over the Orwell estuary, still exists, and the family remained there until 1835. They then moved into Boulge Hall, a property they already owned only a few miles from Bredfield and Woodbridge. Boulge would become an important location for FitzGerald in his adult life. It is clear from many of his letters that FitzGerald loved this part of England and felt comfortable there, particularly when in the Suffolk countryside or near the estuaries and coast. This love became an important factor in FitzGerald’s personal development and priorities. His early experience is reflected in his awareness of the changing seasons and beauty in the countryside, expressed in the letters (see under the Nature and countryside section in Chapter 13), as well as his love of the coast and sailing, which developed to the full in the 1860s. It was evident also in his first published poem, The Meadows in Spring, which appeared in two different magazines in 1831, when the author was only 22. The poem ends with the following three stanzas: Thus then live I, Till, breaking the gloom Of winter, the bold sun Is with me in the room! Shining, shining! Then the clouds part, Swallows soaring between: The spring is awake, And the meadows are green, ­–

I jump up like mad; Break the old pipe in twain; And away to the meadows, The meadows again!5 The two years that FitzGerald spent in France when he was aged 7–9 years also seem to have had a powerful impact on his later development. Although, as we see in Chapter 13, FitzGerald did not travel much abroad in adult life, he maintained a strong interest in things French, particularly the literature, and he read and wrote the language fluently.

KEY ROLE OF SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY FRIENDS In 1818, aged 9, FitzGerald, together with his two older brothers, was sent as a boarder to King Edward VI Grammar School in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. He left there in 1826, aged 17, to go up to Trinity College, Cambridge, from where he graduated shortly before his 21st birthday in 1830. These 12 years were to be crucial in shaping FitzGerald, not only in providing him with a good education and grounding in the literary subjects that were to dominate his interests, but also in giving him a nucleus of close friends who were to form the basis of his network of personal contacts and correspondence throughout his adult life. Four names stand out among the friends that FitzGerald made in Bury St Edmunds: William Airy, William Bodham Donne, John Mitchell Kemble and James Spedding. All four, at various stages, also attended Cambridge while FitzGerald was there. All except Kemble were important lifelong friends and correspondents of FitzGerald’s, and FitzGerald had a very regular exchange of letters with Kemble’s actress sister, Fanny Kemble, in later years. Airy subsequently became a clergyman, like many of FitzGerald’s other friends. Donne was a librarian and author, while Spedding, a civil servant and author, spent much of his life working on an edition of Bacon’s works, something that FitzGerald later bemoaned.6 Sadly, most of the letters to Airy and Spedding have not survived. In addition to these four men, FitzGerald’s key friends at Cambridge included John Allen (later a clergyman), William F. Pollock (who became a successful lawyer), William H. Thompson (afterwards an academic and master of Trinity College) and above all William Makepeace Thackeray (the novelist and artist). All of these figure among FitzGerald’s lifelong contacts as well as being people about whom he wrote to others; he generally also took great interest in their families. Thackeray’s daughters were especially dear to him, and Anne Ritchie (Thackeray)

became an important correspondent in later years. FitzGerald provided financial support to Thackeray in his early years as a struggling author, and he also promised to help the two girls. In a letter to their father in 1852, he said: ‘I am actually making a Will; and I will put your two daughters down for the magnificent sum of £1,000 ­– a mighty legacy! ­– but my property is already, and probably will be yet more, diminished greatly …’7 Many other figures who appear in FitzGerald’s letters came into his life in the Cambridge years. They include: Charles Merivale, Dean of Ely; Richard M. Milnes, author and later Lord Houghton; Savile Morton, a journalist; and Stephen Spring Rice, author and civil servant. In the period immediately after graduation, his friend Spedding was instrumental in introducing FitzGerald to Alfred Tennyson, the poet, who had a major impact on FitzGerald’s personal and literary life. It was a relationship that Tennyson also valued, as evidenced by his poem of 1883 To Edward FitzGerald, which contains the following lines, written shortly before his friend died: … one recalling gracious times, When in our younger London days, You found some merit in my rhymes, And I more pleasure in your praise.8

3 

A young man on the move: 1830–40 SOCIAL LIFE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS

FitzGerald left Cambridge in January 1830, having taken his final exams. The first surviving letter in the Terhunes’ collection is dated 29 January 1830 and was sent from Geldestone Hall, his sister Eleanor’s marital home near Beccles in Suffolk. The letter was addressed to FitzGerald’s friend John Allen, still in Cambridge, and, after asking Allen to send off various possessions, FitzGerald makes the following illuminating comment: ‘I do not know how long I may remain here. I have of course decided nothing of what I shall do: though my Father has decided something for me in reducing my allowance from £300 to £200 [annual payments, the lower figure being equivalent to some £20,000 today]. This wretched policy to induce me to succumb to my Mother defeats its own end: for it shows to what a stretch he is put to. I must certainly betake myself to France and live there on what I have.’1 In these few sentences, FitzGerald summarised the key factors that would shape his life over the next decade or so. Even on the lower level of allowance, he was a wealthy young man with no need to work for a living. But he was dependent on his family and to some degree at their beck and call; he was particularly in demand to replace his father as an escort for his mother and sisters in their London social life. At this stage, FitzGerald had little sense of what he might do with his life. When he could get away from the family, much of his time was spent with friends both in London and elsewhere. The letters from this period show the gradual expansion of his range of contacts and the emergence of his interest in the arts, as well as the literary and other concerns that preoccupied him.

MANY LOCATIONS AND NEW FRIENDS For much of the 1830s, FitzGerald did not have a home of his own. He spent time at the family homes in London and East Anglia, including his sister’s at Geldestone, where he clearly enjoyed the company of her children. He paid visits to many other parts of England and Wales, including a number of return visits to Cambridge to see friends who were still in the city. In 1830, as he promised Allen, he went for some months to Paris, and took pleasure in the presence there of Thackeray, to whom he was especially close in this period, and of other university friends. In 1839, and again in the early 1840s, FitzGerald made lengthy trips to Ireland, visiting his cousins and the family of his Cambridge friend Francis Edgeworth. Several of his trips led to new contacts that blossomed into influential long-term friendships. One of these, with Alfred Tennyson, was mentioned briefly on page 15. In 1835, FitzGerald travelled to Cumberland at the invitation of his school friend Spedding, whose family home was there. Another visitor was Alfred Tennyson, at that time a largely unknown and impecunious poet. The two men had overlapped in Cambridge, but had apparently not met there, though Terhune suggests that they may have become acquainted in 1833.2 In any event, they clearly got on well in Cumberland and the friendship deepened, with contacts in London and elsewhere, though there are few letters from FitzGerald to Tennyson extant from this period. The friendship expanded to include Alfred’s brother Frederick Tennyson, who became a more regular correspondent of FitzGerald, sharing interests particularly in music and literature. Several years earlier, in August 1832, a journey to South Wales had been the source of another important, but very different, friendship. Travelling to Tenby, to stay near cousins of his friend Allen, FitzGerald met and became friends with William Kenworthy Browne, then a boy of 16. It was a meeting of opposites, since, in addition to the difference in ages, Browne shared little of FitzGerald’s interest in literary or artistic matters. But the friendship developed over the years, and FitzGerald stayed often at the various homes that the Browne family occupied in the Bedford area. One further new friendship in this period deserves special mention. In April 1838, there appears in the correspondence the first letter from FitzGerald to the rather older Quaker poet Bernard Barton, who was then living in Woodbridge. It is probable that the two met several years earlier and became friendly after the FitzGerald family moved to Boulge Hall in 1835, and FitzGerald installed himself in the nearby Boulge Cottage (from 1837). Barton was to become one of FitzGerald’s most frequent and intimate correspondents in the decade that

followed, and it was to Barton’s daughter Lucy that FitzGerald made his unfortunate marriage in 1856.

DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL INTERESTS Following FitzGerald’s correspondence through the 1830s and early 1840s gives a clear picture of how his cultural interests were developing. From the early 1830s he was a frequent visitor to the London theatre. A letter to Allen in November 1832 refers to a visit to see Ben Jonson’s Every Man in his Humour, and, in 1836, he wrote from London to his university friend Donne that ‘I have been to the play nearly every night since I have been here: …’3 His taste was generally eclectic, ranging from Shakespeare and classical drama through to vaudeville, and he could be an unsparing critic, sometimes walking out of a performance halfway through if it didn’t meet his taste. FitzGerald was a good musician with wide musical interests, though these do not emerge strongly in his early correspondence. In a tribute to FitzGerald’s musical gifts, his friend and sometime neighbour R. H. Groome described him as ‘a true musician’.4 FitzGerald often played transcriptions of operas and oratorios by Beethoven and Handel on the piano and organ, and, when in London, he attended performances of the then relatively new music by composers such as Mendelssohn. From the late 1830s, his letters to his new correspondent, Frederick Tennyson, frequently contain references to his views on music. Pictures and drawings were also an early interest of FitzGerald’s, which developed through his twenties into an active involvement with commissioning and collecting paintings. Several letters from the early 1830s refer to visits to see picture collections at places as varied as Windsor, Luton Hoo, Woburn Abbey and Helmingham in Suffolk. In 1838 he met, through his school friend James Spedding, a young portrait painter named Samuel Laurence, with whom he struck up a friendship. FitzGerald soon commissioned Laurence to paint portraits of several of his friends, notably John Allen and Alfred Tennyson, and Laurence was later to paint FitzGerald’s sailor friend Posh Fletcher. Meanwhile, linked perhaps to his acquisition of a home base in Boulge Cottage, FitzGerald began to visit art galleries and auction houses with a view to buying pictures, both for himself and his friends. These purchases, often discussed in letters to Barton, were to form the basis of a considerable collection which he cherished and reorganised as he moved between homes in subsequent decades.

HISTORICAL DIVERSIONS AND RELIGIOUS CONCERNS To anticipate slightly, FitzGerald’s artistic contacts were to lead to the third of FitzGerald’s friendships with key literary figures of the Victorian period. In 1842, the portrait painter Samuel Laurence took FitzGerald to Chelsea to meet Thomas Carlyle, who already had a growing reputation as an essayist and historian. Carlyle was at this time working on his biography of Oliver Cromwell, and, learning that the FitzGerald family owned the Civil War battlefield at Naseby, Carlyle recruited the seemingly very willing Edward FitzGerald to carry out some field research for him. FitzGerald’s visits to Naseby resulted in a voluminous exchange of letters between the two men in September/October 1842, which included various sketches by FitzGerald of the Naseby area topography.5 The co-operation formed the basis for a lifelong relationship, and FitzGerald paid many later visits to Carlyle’s Chelsea home for long discussions with the famously cantankerous author.6 Throughout the 1830s and early 1840s, some of FitzGerald’s letters show him to have been quite preoccupied with religious issues. Such correspondence was mainly with his school and university friends, who were mostly strong believers and often ordained clergymen. His university friend John Allen was especially important in this regard, and the letters show both how concerned Allen was about his friend’s lack of a firm belief and how FitzGerald worried that their differences of view might disrupt the close friendship.7 From this and other correspondence, it appears that FitzGerald, while broadly supporting the position of the Anglican Church, had difficulty with some of the more dogmatic aspects of belief. These doubts were to become stronger over the years, as FitzGerald became more disenchanted with the organised Church; even so, he managed to retain his friendships with many Anglican clergymen. And he was evidently responsive to the oratory of a powerful preacher, as is shown by the following comment in a letter to Barton in 1844, written after a visit to his young friend Browne in Bedford: ‘I heard a man [Rev. T. R. Matthews, a non-conformist] preach at Bedford in a way that shook my soul. He described the crucifixion in a way that put the scene before his people …’8

4 

Finding his feet as a writer: 1841–55 GRADUAL MOVE AWAY FROM LONDON

After the family moved to Boulge Hall in 1835, FitzGerald gradually became more involved with the people and surroundings of the Woodbridge area. This reorientation of his life was reinforced by his own move into Boulge Cottage from 1837. In the years immediately following, he continued to visit London on a regular basis, but through the early 1840s he became more disenchanted with aspects of city life: ‘I cannot but think with a sort of horror of being in London now: …’ he wrote to Barton from Geldestone in 1845.1 Although FitzGerald still saw his London friends in these years, they were becoming more involved with their work and careers, and a number of them married in this period. So there were fewer of them available with whom to spend bachelor evenings, eating, drinking and smoking, and exchanging views on literature, philosophy and much more. Instead FitzGerald gradually became close friends with several local men, all rather older than him, who shared his interests and whose company he enjoyed. He wrote to the painter Laurence from Boulge in 1843: ‘On Saturday, I give supper to B. Barton and Churchyard [a local artist]. I wish you could be with us. We are the chief Wits of Woodbridge. And one man has said that he envies our conversations!’2 George Crabbe, the Vicar of the nearby Bredfield parish, made a fourth in this group and they were sometimes joined by visiting friends of FitzGerald’s such as Laurence and A. Tennyson. Throughout the 1840s FitzGerald continued to spend lengthy periods with his sister’s family at Geldestone, and he travelled to visit friends and relatives around

the British Isles, including in Ireland. He went frequently to Bedford to see his young friend Browne, though, following the latter’s marriage in 1844, his lodgings were often with Browne’s parents. These trips mostly included some time with a school and university friend, William Airy, who was then Vicar of Keysoe, a village near Bedford.

FAMILY AND PERSONAL CONCERNS FitzGerald’s letters from the 1840s and early 1850s are full of family concerns. He continued to be in demand to visit and escort his mother, as she maintained her social life in London, Brighton and later in Richmond, Surrey. There were worries about the marriages of his younger sisters. Andalusia’s fiancé, a brother of John Allen, died on a military expedition in West Africa in 1842, causing much family sadness.3 However, FitzGerald was able to report in 1844 that Lusia was engaged again, to the curate at Geldestone. Meanwhile, in 1843, his other younger sister, Isabella, married a man about whom FitzGerald had concerns because he was ‘… 1st an Italian. 2nd a converted Catholic Monk! 3rd is not all this enough without more?’4 Even more concerning for FitzGerald were the troubles in the family of his favourite sister Eleanor. Her husband, John Kerrich, had both financial and emotional problems. FitzGerald commented to Donne in 1847: ‘Kerrich has got into the same state of mind that made his Father and Grandfather put the pistol to their heads. Perhaps to do this would be best; he is miserable himself. His wife and children are very unhappy; he is not at all fit to manage them, or his affairs: and yet not ill enough to have that charge taken from him. Eleanor does wonders in attending to him, her children, and all.’5 As if these things were not enough, FitzGerald’s father got into serious financial difficulties in the later 1840s, losing virtually all his money on a mining venture near Manchester; he was declared bankrupt in 1848 and his property, including the furnishings at Boulge Hall, was sold to pay creditors. Edward FitzGerald was much involved with this whole process and used some of the money he received as a creditor to help others more needy. He refers to the fact that his own income was reduced as a result, but his mother’s extensive properties were not affected. FitzGerald’s parents separated formally in 1849 and his father died in 1852. On his mother’s death in 1855, FitzGerald’s finances became more secure again.

MEETING THE LINGUIST E. B. COWELL It was perhaps fortunate for FitzGerald’s sanity that a casual meeting with a much younger man called Edward Cowell late in 1844 provided the stimulus to unlock a whole new area of literary interest, an event that would lead to the translations from Persian for which FitzGerald is most famous. Aged then only 18 (FitzGerald was already 35), Cowell was already a fine linguist and he was to become a very respected orientalist and professor of Sanskrit at Cambridge. Among the FitzGerald letters that remain, he is the most important correspondent. Many letters date from the 1850s, reflecting the close relationship and working co-operation that the two men had in this period, when FitzGerald did most of his original writings and translations, including work on the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. But the two men became good friends from the middle 1840s and the correspondence continued through the rest of FitzGerald’s life. Illustration 5.  Portrait of Edward Byles Cowell. Close friend of FitzGerald and later Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Cambridge.

FitzGerald met Cowell at the home of the Charlesworths, local people with whom FitzGerald socialised in the early 1840s. The father, Rev. John Charlesworth, was Rector of Flowton, a village near Ipswich, and the two daughters were friends of FitzGerald’s sisters. It is believed that FitzGerald at one time thought of proposing marriage to Elizabeth Charlesworth. When in 1845 Elizabeth became engaged to Cowell, who was rather younger than her, FitzGerald is reported to have exclaimed ‘Why! You have taken my Lady!’6 It has been suggested that FitzGerald may earlier have proposed to another local young lady, Caroline Crabbe, the daughter of his friend George Crabbe, and that she refused him.7 Despite any possible jealousy, common intellectual interests brought FitzGerald and Cowell together in the years that followed. Starting with the Greek and Latin classics, Cowell drew his new friend into his wider linguistic interests, moving on first into Spanish translation and later into Persian. What started with reading foreign language texts together stimulated FitzGerald to try his hand at his own translations. It also encouraged him to work and publish in English on wider literary and philosophical subjects.

A CREATIVE AND PRODUCTIVE PERIOD The 1850s, particularly the early part, were undoubtedly the most creative and productive period of FitzGerald’s life. At the beginning of the decade he was aged 41, with his intellectual capacity and energies still strong and his opinions tested by much thought and discussion. He worked hard, publishing his first proper book, Euphranor, A Dialogue on Youth, in 1851. Polonius, A Collection of Wise Saws and Modern Instances, followed in 1852, and a free translation of Six Dramas of Calderon, a Spanish playwright, in 1853. Cowell had introduced FitzGerald to Persian poetry in translation as early as 1846, and in 1853 they started to study Persian together, with Cowell as master and FitzGerald as student. Despite some early doubts, FitzGerald became absorbed in the language. In 1854 he wrote to Cowell: ‘This Persian is really a great Amusement to me.’8 As discussed further in the next section, this ‘amusement’ led to the creation of the works for which FitzGerald is best known. It should be noted that publication of all these works was organised and paid for by FitzGerald himself, working closely with a publisher and printer, initially with William Pickering plus local printer Childs and later with the bookseller and publisher Bernard Quaritch. Only the Calderon translation actually had FitzGerald’s name on the title page, mainly because another version of Calderon appeared at about the same time. All the other works were anonymous publications. FitzGerald

appears to have had no interest in promoting his works to the general public, leaving this job to the publisher. He distributed the books among friends, and, though he was keen that people should know about his writing, he was often very diffident about its reception. His ambivalent feelings about his output are shown in a letter he wrote to his university friend Pollock in 1854: ‘I published the little Dialogue [Euphranor]; but not having (for several other reasons) any desire to appear Author, I only told it to three men whom I wanted to puff the little Book …’9

5 

Creating the Rubáiyát amidst personal crises: 1856–9 FOUR PIVOTAL YEARS The years 1856 to 1859 were crucial ones for FitzGerald. He had already moved out of Boulge Cottage late in 1853 and had rented a room in Farlingay Hall, a large house occupied by Job Smith and his family, as his Suffolk base. FitzGerald also spent much time at the Vicarage in Bredfield, home of his close friend George Crabbe and his family. In 1856 he went, with his Bedford friend Browne and Crabbe’s son (also George), on a longish trip to the continent, visiting Paris, Strasbourg and various places in Germany and Belgium; in Brussels he notably refused to join his two friends on a side trip to the battlefield at Waterloo. Despite a rather peripatetic existence in the middle 1850s, FitzGerald worked hard at his Persian translations, as is testified by the extensive correspondence with Cowell at this time, full of detailed questions and discussions about the texts on which he was working. In 1856 he published his version of Jámí’s poem Salámán and Absál, which he dedicated to Edward Cowell, ‘my Master in Persian’. Early in 1857 he also completed an initial, very free, version of Attár’s The Bird Parliament, though the final version of this poem was not published until after FitzGerald’s death. A critical event occurred in the spring of 1856, when Cowell, who was then working in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, found a Persian manuscript of the verses (rubáiyát) of Omar Khayyám.1 He copied this out and sent it to his friend FitzGerald, who responded quickly with a long list of queries about words and their meanings. However, in the same letter, FitzGerald remarked that ‘… all this have I written: but my Thoughts are often upon other Things in which you are concerned: of which

I less care to speak’.2 High among such other matters that were preoccupying him was the fact that the Cowells were about to depart for India, where Cowell had accepted an academic post. This was the first of three life-changing events which were to coincide with, and influence, FitzGerald’s work on the translation of the Rubáiyát.

COWELLS GO TO INDIA Looking back briefly over the decade following his meeting Cowell in 1844, FitzGerald had been closely in touch during that time with both Cowell and his wife. In addition to spending time together studying foreign languages, there were many exchanges of letters on different topics, including with Mrs Cowell, whose poems FitzGerald commented on, and partially rewrote. There were disagreements, notably about the idea that Cowell should move to Oxford to read for a degree, something to which FitzGerald objected vigorously. He later became reconciled to the idea; the friendly correspondence was resumed and FitzGerald paid the Cowells a number of visits in Oxford while Cowell studied there. The news that the Cowells were leaving to spend at least several years in India was a great blow to FitzGerald. He had clearly become very dependent on them, not only for personal friendship but also as a source of intellectual stimulus and companionship. FitzGerald feared that this link would be lost when they were so many thousands of miles away. In July 1856, in a letter to them both sent just before their departure, he wrote: ‘I think it is best for many reasons that I should not go to see you again –­ to say a Good-Bye that costs me so much. I shall very soon write to you; and hope to keep up something of Communion by such meagre Intercourse. Do you do the same to me. Farewell, Both!’3 In fact the correspondence continued in the next few years, with long letters from FitzGerald to India, containing a mixture of detailed questions about Persian translations, particularly the Rubáiyát on which he was working from early 1857, news of mutual friends, and comments on his own feelings and concerns. But it is noticeable that the tone and frequency of the correspondence with the Cowells changed gradually, and even when they returned to England in 1864 and later moved to Cambridge, the exchanges never seem to have been quite as free and easy as in the pre-India days.

A DISASTROUS MARRIAGE In October 1856, FitzGerald wrote to his university friend Stephen Spring Rice: ‘I am going to be married to Miss Barton –­ a very doubtful Experiment ­– long talked of –­ not fixt beyond all Cause and Impediment till lately ­– and now “Vogue la Galère!” [Come what may!] I shut my Eyes to Consequences, and read trash in Háfiz.’4 The bride was Lucy Barton, the only daughter of FitzGerald’s close friend Bernard Barton, who had died seven years earlier. There have been suggestions that FitzGerald had promised his friend on his deathbed to look after Lucy, and that there may have been some kind of understanding reached between them at that time.5 Certainly FitzGerald helped Lucy, who was left in serious financial straits after her father died, to realise all possible funds, including through an edition of Barton’s poems to which FitzGerald wrote an introductory memoir. However, FitzGerald himself was not in a financial state to contemplate marriage until after his mother’s death in 1855. Whatever the background, FitzGerald eventually proposed to Lucy and was accepted. The departure of the Cowells to India may have been a factor pushing him over the brink. But he was clearly unhappy about the prospect. Late in October 1856 he wrote to the author George Borrow: ‘… our united ages amount to 96! ­– a dangerous experiment on both sides’.6 The marriage took place some ten days later in Chichester. It is reported that FitzGerald behaved unsociably at the wedding and would not conform in terms of the dress expected of a bridegroom.7 Sadly, FitzGerald’s concerns about getting married were fully justified. He and Lucy attempted a life together first in Brighton and subsequently in London and then Norfolk. Already in January 1857, FitzGerald sent to Cowell a rather oblique description of his situation: ‘You know my opinion of a “Man of Taste” ­– never so dangerous as when tied down to daily Life Companionhood ­– and with one very differently complexioned and educated, and who might have been far far happier and usefuller [sic] untied to me. She wants a large Field to work on, and to bestow her Labour on a Field that will answer to Tillage ­– and I have only a little Garden of Tastes and Ideals, and a Heart very dead to better Regards!’8 After nine months of intermittent efforts to make life together work, the couple separated in August 1857. There was little contact between them in subsequent years, though FitzGerald continued to pay his wife a comfortable allowance. She survived him, living until 1898, and apparently retained a considerable affection for her estranged husband.9

THE DEATH OF BROWNE In the middle of the turmoil of his marriage, FitzGerald left his wife with the job of finding them summer lodgings in Norfolk and went to visit the Brownes in Bedford. In May 1857, he wrote to George Borrow: ‘… [I] have been reading it [Borrow’s The Romany Rye] under the best Circumstances: at such a Season –­ in the Fields as they now are –­ and in company with a Friend I love best in the world ­– who scarce ever reads a Book, but knows better than I do what they are made of from a hint.’10 Browne’s home on the edge of the countryside was something of a refuge to FitzGerald, as was his friendship with the handsome young man, now in the prime of life at just over 40. The company of Browne’s young children was also something that FitzGerald enjoyed.11 He returned to Goldington in September 1857, after his marriage break-up, and again in October that year, after another sad event, the death of his old friend George Crabbe, the clergyman at Bredfield. The relationship with the Brownes was shattered in January 1859 by the news that William Browne had been badly injured in a riding accident. Browne survived bed-ridden for some while, and FitzGerald visited him shortly before his death at the end of March, writing afterward to Crabbe’s son that he found ‘… the Blooming Lad, and resolute Man I remembered now stretcht out on a Bed, for eight weeks – a mere shattered carcase below; and above the Sheets, a Face like – something like – Charles I – after Death!’.12 The loss of Browne was a great blow to FitzGerald. Along with the absence of the Cowells, and the death of Crabbe and earlier of Barton, it left FitzGerald without nearby close friends to whom he could turn at a time when his personal life was in a great muddle. These bereavements and separations together combined to alter FitzGerald’s life pattern markedly over the next decade.

PUBLICATION OF THE RUBÁIYÁT Meanwhile, perhaps as an antidote to his troubles, FitzGerald continued with his Persian translations, particularly the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. In June 1857, he wrote to Cowell: ‘When in Bedfordshire I put away almost all Books except Omar Khayyám!, which I could not help looking over in a Paddock covered with Buttercups and brushed by a delicious Breeze …’13 At this stage he made an initial translation of some verses into Latin. He was waiting to receive a second Khayyám manuscript that Cowell had found in Calcutta and had had transcribed to send to his friend in England. Letters to Cowell show that FitzGerald was working on this and the earlier manuscript from the Bodleian

through the rest of the year. By December he was talking of sending some quatrains to Fraser’s Magazine for publication. The rest of the story of the publication has often been told.14 After hearing nothing from Fraser’s for many months, FitzGerald told Cowell in November 1858 that: ‘I really think I shall take it back; add some stanzas which I kept out for fear of being too strong: print fifty copies and give away; … it is most ingeniously tesselated into a sort of Epicurean Eclogue in a Persian Garden.’15 In the event, early in 1859, he put together a total of 75 four-line verses into a small book entitled Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, of which he had 250 copies privately printed at his own expense, but with no attribution to himself as ‘translator’ or instigator. He kept back 40 copies to give to his friends and sent the remainder for sale to the London bookseller Bernard Quaritch. All this happened at the time of Browne’s illness and death, and while FitzGerald was also busy sorting out the financial implications of his failed marriage. Nonetheless, several letters to Quaritch at the end of March show that he was clearly concerned that the new volume should be suitably publicised. In the first of these he wrote: ‘I have been so harried about in Mind and Body too by the Fatal Illness of a Friend, I have not had the opportunity to see, or write to you. Not that I had much to say – only I wished to ask you to Advertise Omar Khayyám in the Athenaeum and any other Paper you think good: sending Copies of course to the Spectator, etc.’16 For FitzGerald, there was no expression in letters to friends of pride of authorship or excitement at the completion of a major work. Indeed, a letter sent to Alfred Tennyson early in April 1859 contains no mention of the Rubáiyát; nor does one to young George Crabbe. To Cowell he wrote at the end of April, referring to the death of Browne: ‘I sent you poor old Omar who has his kind of Consolation for all these Things.’ In a later passage from the same letter, FitzGerald gives an illuminating summary of his attitude to publication, and his current feeling of isolation: ‘I hardly know why I print any of these things, which nobody buys; and I scarce now see the few I give them to. But when one has done one’s best, and is sure that the best is better than so many will take pains to do, though far from the best that might be done, one likes to make an end of the matter by Print. I suppose very few People have ever taken such Pains in Translation as I have: though certainly not to be literal.’17

6 

New interests in East Anglian life: 1860–71

FITZGERALD SHIFTS HIS FOCUS TO WOODBRIDGE AND LOWESTOFT After Browne’s death in March 1859, there seems to have been a sharp fall-off in FitzGerald’s letter writing. There are very few surviving letters between April and June that year, and none in the following quarter, one of the few blank periods in the correspondence after the early years. FitzGerald spent much time in the early summer that year at his sister’s home in Geldestone, and he moved later in the summer to lodgings at Lowestoft, a fishing port on the Suffolk coast where he remained for some time. When the correspondence resumes, in October 1859, for several months virtually all the letters come from a Lowestoft address. The letters written in the autumn of 1859 show that Browne’s death was still weighing heavily on FitzGerald. He spent time with Mrs Browne and her children when they were staying in Lowestoft that year, and her two elder sons stayed with him in Aldeburgh in August 1860. At this time, he wrote to Mrs Cowell: ‘I have never set foot in London since last March year … and W. Browne is too much connected with my old Taverns and Streets not to fling a sad Shadow over all.’1 Although Mrs Browne invited him to visit the family in Bedford, FitzGerald never went there again after Browne’s death, though he continued to correspond with Mrs Browne for a number of years.2 In fact, an earlier letter indicates that he did go to London for a few days in the summer of 1859 and saw some old friends there, as well as visiting another university friend in Dorset. But the focus of his life was clearly in the process of shifting.

Illnesses and deaths in the Smith family made Farlingay Hall less attractive as an East Anglian base, while Crabbe’s death had removed the pull of Bredfield. In 1860 FitzGerald found himself new lodgings in Market Hill, Woodbridge, over the gun shop owned by Sharman Berry. He moved there in December 1860, and he was to have his main bases there and in Lowestoft until the early 1870s.3

LITERARY AND CULTURAL INTERESTS OLD AND NEW From late 1859, FitzGerald gradually picked up his contacts with old friends, returning in his letters to his previous pattern of a mix of news about what he was reading and thinking, gossip about friends and local happenings, and reminiscences of past events. In just a few letters, written in October and November 1859, his comments cover a wide range of subjects, from Hakluyt’s Voyages to Tennyson’s new Idylls of the King, and from shipwrecks off Lowestoft to paintings and drawings by his friend Samuel Laurence. He even alludes this early on to the possibility of going back to his previous work on translations from Greek and Spanish, something to which he eventually returned in the following decades.4 Along with the resumption of old literary habits, FitzGerald also developed some new linguistic interests. His focus on East Anglia led him to the study of local dialects, their origins and meanings. The year 1860 saw the first of his numerous contributions on such subjects to the regional magazine East Anglian Notes and Queries. Later in the decade this study was widened to include the topic of Sea Words and Phrases, on which FitzGerald published a small booklet and became quite an authority. The subject was to remain one of FitzGerald’s interests until the end of his life. What is largely absent from FitzGerald’s correspondence through much of the 1860s is mention of his Persian ‘translations’. The topic of Attár’s Bird Parliament appears just a few times, and there are brief mentions of the Rubáiyát in letters from late 1861 to Cowell, still in India, and to a Cambridge friend, W. H. Thompson, who had guessed that FitzGerald might be the creator of the little book he found at Quaritch.5 But it was not until 1866 that FitzGerald brought up the possibility of a revision to the first edition of the Rubáiyát, an idea that saw fruition in 1868, after many further exchanges of letters with Cowell and Quaritch; publication of the second edition is discussed further in Chapter 7. Meanwhile, FitzGerald’s interest in the arts was shifting. The cutback in visits to London meant that there were fewer theatrical and musical performances to discuss with his friends. But he maintained an active concern about paintings, both those in his own possession and the ones he found in local art galleries. After

his move to the Market Hill lodgings he spent time renewing and re-hanging his own quite extensive collection. In 1862 he appears to have had one of his phases of reshaping the pictures into what he considered to be better forms: he reported to the younger Crabbe, now Rector of Merton in Norfolk, that: ‘I have been playing wonderful Tricks with the Pictures I have: have cut the Magi in two – making two very good Pictures, I assure you; and cutting off the dark corners of other Pictures with Gold Ovals – a shape I like within a Square …’6

BOAT OWNING AND FRIENDSHIP WITH POSH FLETCHER The other important theme of FitzGerald’s life through the 1860s was that of boating. This was not an entirely new interest; FitzGerald had enjoyed many visits to the coast since childhood, doubtless with some boat trips involved, and in 1855 he went on a cruise in the Channel with his Cambridge friend Spring Rice.7 However, in 1860 FitzGerald acquired a boat of his own on the River Deben, to be followed by other larger boats in due course. In the years that followed, much of his time was spent at the coast or on the water; there are two letters that are specifically headed as being ‘on board’, one being ‘on the mud’.8 He also entertained a number of his friends on board his larger boat, the Scandal, which was based at Lowestoft. FitzGerald enjoyed the experience of being out on the water. After their cruise in 1855, he wrote to Spring Rice of ‘… the delight of once more bowling before a Breeze unpolluted with Smoke, Grease and Smut’.9 But part of the attraction of the boating world was, to FitzGerald at this time, the company of the local sailors. This is highlighted in several letters, for example one to Spring Rice in April 1861: ‘My only Excursion, almost, is to old Aldeburgh, where I run over to have a Toss on the Sea, and a Smoke with the Sailors. We have Grog and Pipes in a little Tavern kitchen: and sometimes in a sort of Net-house; where (on a Saturday Night) we sing songs too!’10 Such company provided FitzGerald with much material for his study of East Anglian dialects. But it also helped to fill the gaps in his personal life. Much later, in 1867, he wrote, perhaps unexpectedly, to Browne’s wife: ‘. . . In 1859 (the autumn and winter of it) I lived here [in Lowestoft] and used to wander about the shore at night longing for some fellow to accost me who might give some promise of filing up a very vacant place in my heart …’ The same letter continues: ‘When I got acquainted with this captain [Posh Fletcher] … he was the very man I wanted, with, strangely enough, some resemblance in feature to a portrait of you may guess whom, and much in character also …’11

Illustration 6.  A view of the Deben Estuary. FitzGerald spent much time here, sailing and pottering.

The meeting with Posh Fletcher, a young Lowestoft seaman aged 24, actually took place in 1864. By 1867, he and FitzGerald were partners in a new herringlugger, of which Posh was captain and FitzGerald the owner. The boat was christened by FitzGerald the Meum and Tuum. Posh became something of an icon and obsession for FitzGerald. In 1866 the latter wrote to Cowell that ‘… a young Fellow comes here who looks exactly like one of the Phidian Marbles dressed in blue Trowsers and Guernsey Jacket: with a like grandeur of character to line this Outside; …’.12 Many other similar eulogies followed in letters to other friends. In 1870, FitzGerald commissioned his friend Laurence to produce a portrait of Posh. He was not entirely happy with the result, complaining to Pollock that ‘… the finer lines are not there: and the fine ruddy-brown complexion …’.13 By then also, some of the weaknesses in Posh’s character had become evident even to FitzGerald. In particular, Posh had a tendency to drink too much when on shore and he was very unreliable about money, racking up debts, something which concerned

FitzGerald considerably. FitzGerald wrote to Posh a good many times about his failings, and, after several awkward and financially unsuccessful years, the fishing partnership was dissolved in June 1870. However, Posh continued to receive financial support from FitzGerald until a more serious disagreement occurred in 1873. The last extant letter from FitzGerald to Posh is dated January 1874.

MORE FAMILY AND PERSONAL CONCERNS During the 1860s, FitzGerald’s extended family again became a source of concern for him. There were bereavements, about which he wrote to his closer friends such as Crabbe of Merton and the Tennysons. In 1862, his brother-in-law Wilkinson died, after which his widow Jane moved to Italy. The death of his sister Eleanor in 1863 caused FitzGerald particular distress and he was supportive to the family at Geldestone, though he would not go to her funeral.14 The next year his younger sister Isabella, who had also moved to Italy after her marriage, died of apoplexy. FitzGerald commented to Mrs A. Tennyson that ‘… I see Mourning, and hear Bells tolling, wherever I go’.15 There were financial problems for some of the family as well. In 1866, FitzGerald told his Cambridge friend Thompson: ‘A clerical Brother in law of mine [Lusia’s husband de Soyres] has lost his own whole Fortune in four of these Companies which have gone to smash. Nor his own only. For, having, when he married my Sister, insisted on having half her Income tied to him by Settlement, that half lies under Peril from “Calls” made upon him as Share-holder.’16 More positively, various letters from this time record FitzGerald’s developing relationships with his Kerrich nephews and nieces, which were to become much more important in his final years. He remained out of contact with his brother John, still living close by at Boulge Hall. But, in 1865, FitzGerald went on a sailing trip with his other brother Peter, even visiting Calais ‘… just to touch French Soil, and drink a Bottle of French Wine: …’.17 A year later he reported to a local friend Marietta Nursey the news about ‘… my Brother Peter, who, having lost his Wife in May or June, has married his House-keeper: and, in spite of what others say, may have done very wisely, more wisely, at any rate, than some of us have done …’.18 By the early 1870s FitzGerald’s active interest in sailing began to wane. In part this was because of trouble with his eyes, which became such a problem that he wrote to Quaritch in May 1871: ‘… I have not read a book these three months …’19 He sold his larger boat, the Scandal, in 1871, though he continued to use his smaller boat the Waveney on the Deben for several years. However, boating became a much lesser interest as FitzGerald moved into what was to be the final phase of his life.

The problem with his eyes was a long-term one, dating from the 1850s, and by the late 1860s it led him to employ local boys on a regular basis to read to him in the evenings. This was often to read reports of criminal trials from the newspapers as well as parts of the novels of Walter Scott and Dickens that FitzGerald loved; he also enjoyed, incidentally, the malapropisms that some of his readers produced.20

7 

Renewal of literary pursuits and contacts: 1872–83 FINAL MOVE INTO LITTLE GRANGE In 1874 FitzGerald finally moved into a home of his own. This was Grange Farm, soon to be known as Little Grange, situated on what were then the outskirts of the small market town of Woodbridge. The first letter from this location is dated January 1874, and in subsequent years FitzGerald sometimes signed himself Laird of Little Grange, or just Littlegrange. He also referred to the house as his Chateau. FitzGerald had actually bought the property that became Little Grange ten years earlier, in 1864. It needed considerable renovation and improvements, which he organised with the help of his younger Woodbridge friend, Frederick Spalding. FitzGerald first met Spalding in the early 1860s in connection with the establishment of a local militia troop in Woodbridge.1 The younger man was a local clerk, who had wide intellectual interests which appealed to FitzGerald. Spalding also helped with various administrative jobs, including the purchase of boats and payment of crew, as well as the arrangements at Little Grange. From 1862 onwards, there are many letters between them dealing with such matters. For several years FitzGerald provided Spalding with financial support for a local business, which eventually failed. From 1866, Little Grange was in a reasonable condition to live in, but FitzGerald refused to occupy the house, using it only for guests, notably his Kerrich nieces who visited regularly for long periods in the summers. It was only late in 1873, when he was given notice at his Market Hill rooms, that he finally faced up to the idea of

moving. His landlord at Market Hill, Mr Berry, had remarried and the new wife did not want lodgers, so FitzGerald had to go; this entertaining episode is described in the section on the Berry family in Chapter 12. Once FitzGerald was installed in part of Little Grange, the rest being still kept for his nieces and other visitors, he took a considerable interest in creating a garden to his taste. In 1875 he wrote to Anna Biddell, the sister of a neighbour: ‘My Garden is nearly done: and now I am told the Beds are so small there will be no room for larger Flowers. Today, the new Roses were got in, however.’2 He employed a local couple, John and Mary Howe, to look after him and his guests; their son Jack had been one of FitzGerald’s crew on his boat the Scandal. The letters show FitzGerald’s continuing concern for the Howes and their health in this period, something also evident in earlier letters that contain news about his staff at various stages in his life.

NEW FRIENDS AND NEW TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION During the 1870s, FitzGerald’s correspondence became yet more prolific; nearly half of the letters that exist were written after 1869. As FitzGerald spent less time on boating or travelling, literary discussions and the exchange of news with old friends by means of letters became a vital part of his intellectual and personal life. Many of these letters were sent to long-standing friends such as the Cowells, Pollock, Donne and the Tennysons. But the emergence of several important new or renewed contacts from the late 1860s onwards provided not just new people to ‘talk to’ in writing, but a stimulus to new topics for literary exchanges. Notable among these new correspondents were: W. Aldis Wright, a Cambridge don, Librarian and later Vice-Master of Trinity College; Fanny Kemble, the actress sister of FitzGerald’s school friend Jack Kemble; C. E. Norton, the American literary critic; and J. R. Lowell, also American and a literary critic, as well as an author and diplomat. FitzGerald met Wright sometime in 1868, possibly through Thompson, a Cambridge friend of FitzGerald’s who had become Master of Trinity College. The letters between the two men started in December that year, and they were immediately in detailed discussion about Seneca, Shakespeare, sea phrases and much more. There is even mention in the first letter of the possibility of FitzGerald’s ‘Works’ being deposited in the Trinity College Library, something which was eventually to happen under Wright’s auspices (see Appendix 3). Over the years, the exchanges were to become both deeper and more wide-ranging, with FitzGerald providing detailed comments on Wright’s editions of Shakespeare and other writings.

The correspondence with Fanny Kemble had a very different focus. FitzGerald had known Fanny Kemble from his youth, but there had been little direct contact, news coming via their mutual friend W. B. Donne. The first direct letter from FitzGerald dates from July 1871, and sets a rather inauspicious note, commenting that: ‘It is a shame that one should only have oneself to talk about; and yet that is all I have; so it shall be short.’3 However, the correspondence blossomed to include much comment on past theatrical events, on literary matters including Mrs Kemble’s writings about her life in the US, and on the lives of family members and mutual friends. It continued on a very regular basis until FitzGerald’s death; Mrs Kemble had strict rules about the exchange of letters to which they both conformed.4 FitzGerald never actually met either Norton or Lowell, but he had important literary friendships with both, starting from the middle 1870s. Contact with Norton was initiated a little earlier in 1873, as a result of Norton’s interest in FitzGerald’s version of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Norton had discovered the Rubáiyát through his friendship with the painter Burne-Jones and the historian Carlyle, and he was the person who finally conveyed John Ruskin’s famous letter of appreciation to ‘The Translator of Omar’.5 In 1869, Norton had written the first full review of the Rubáiyát in the US. The main exchange of letters between Norton and FitzGerald started with a request for the latter’s translation of the Agamemnon of Aeschylus, but it quickly widened to include many other works, including, after Carlyle’s death in 1881, Norton’s own work on some of Carlyle’s letters. They also discussed the works of J. R. Lowell, whom FitzGerald admired. This led to a period of direct correspondence with Lowell, who was a close friend of Norton.

AMBIVALENCE TOWARDS VISITORS FitzGerald and Lowell shared an interest in Spanish literature, particularly Cervantes’ Don Quixote, something they discussed on paper. When Lowell was appointed American ambassador to Spain, he came through London and proposed a short visit to see FitzGerald. The latter was evidently anxious that the author should not put himself out by coming to see him for only a short time. At the time of another proposed visit a few years later, FitzGerald wrote to Lowell: ‘It would really weigh upon me – the idea of your coming all this way, with so little time as you have to spare, only for such a purpose.’6 Although, as in the case of Lowell, FitzGerald could seem very reluctant to receive visitors, in other cases he welcomed his friends to Woodbridge and Little

Grange. Alfred Tennyson and his son paid a surprise visit in September 1876 and FitzGerald was clearly delighted to see his old friend.7 FitzGerald was also visited quite often by Wright and other new friends, including the painter Edwin Edwards and his wife, and Charles Keene, a friend of the Edwards’ and a painter and cartoonist. FitzGerald found Keene’s company particularly congenial. In May 1883, he wrote to Fanny Kemble: ‘And next week I am expecting my grave Friend Charles Keene, of Punch, to come here for a week – bringing with him his Bagpipes, and an ancient Viol, and a Book of Strathspeys and Madrigals; and our Archdeacon [Groome] will come to meet him, and to talk over ancient Music and Books: …’8

A RETURN TO TRANSLATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS FitzGerald had talked early in the 1860s about returning to some of his translations, and he was active in this field from the middle of that decade. In 1865 he published privately his version of two more plays of Calderon after discussing this work extensively with Cowell, who had returned from India in 1864. Following his work on Spanish, FitzGerald returned to Persian, prompted by the request from Quaritch for a new edition of the Rubáiyát and the publication of a new manuscript and prose translation in French by J.-B. Nicolas. This provoked FitzGerald to much further correspondence with Cowell and Quaritch, and the result was the addition of an extra section to his preface to the poem, as well as 35 extra verses, when the second edition of the Rubáiyát was published in 1868. Persian continued to be a theme in FitzGerald’s work through the 1870s, and he tinkered further with the Rubáiyát as it went through a third edition in 1872 and a fourth in 1879. There were further exchanges of letters with both Cowell and Quaritch on the subject. Although FitzGerald always deferred to Cowell’s linguistic expertise, he could be very insistent in his approach both to the poetry and to the presentation of his books. Typical of the latter is part of a letter to Quaritch in 1879 about the fourth edition, which he wanted printed together with his version of Jámí’s Salámán and Absál. He writes: ‘I want to stipulate – 1st That Omar, who is to stand first, be never reprinted separate from Jámí. 2ly That I should have Proof, and Revise, sent me … Alterations I make be strictly done. 3ly That my Name do not appear in any Advertisement, nor any notice of the Book added …’9 Along with the revival in interest in Spanish and Persian, FitzGerald began to pick up an even earlier interest in translations from the Greek classics. In 1869 he published privately his version of the Agamemnon of Aeschylus, which led to his important correspondence with the American critic Norton. Agamemnon was republished

in 1876 and more widely distributed among his friends and through Quaritch; in a letter to the latter, FitzGerald even raised the idea of a special edition for the American market.10 Later in the decade, partly at Norton’s instigation, FitzGerald revised his interpretations of Sophocles’ Oedipus plays, which were printed privately in 1880 and 1881. He discussed all this work on the classics with a wider range of friends than he did his Persian work, including with his old friend Pollock and with Wright, his newer Cambridge correspondent. Interspersed between Persian and the classics, FitzGerald produced several smaller pamphlets,11 and he began to work on a project that he had long cherished, the publication of an edition of the poems of George Crabbe, respectively the father and grandfather of his two friends with the same name. In 1869, he wrote to Alfred Tennyson: ‘I wish Murray would let me make a Volume of “Selections from Crabbe” – which I know I could do so that common readers would wish to read the whole original; which now scarce any one does; nor can one wonder they do not.’12 By 1879, his edition of Crabbe’s Tales of the Hall was in printing, though FitzGerald had become more worried about its interest to the public. A more general edition was published by Quaritch in 1882. FitzGerald’s final writing project was based on the letters of the French writer Madame de Sévigné, which had become a great favourite in his later years. In 1877, he put as a postscript to a letter to Fanny Kemble: ‘I am now going to make out a Dictionary-list of the People in my dear Sévigné, for my own use.’13 This personal project swelled into a more substantial introduction to de Sévigné and her letters, and the people and places she wrote about. But a mention in a letter to Keene in 1880 suggests that FitzGerald was finding the organisational side of the project very difficult.14 In the event FitzGerald left this work unfinished, and it was completed by his great-niece Mary Eleanor FitzGerald Kerrich in 1914.15 His working papers on de Sévigné were deposited, along with other papers, in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge.

CONTINUED CONCERN FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS Throughout FitzGerald’s last decades, his letters are full of references to his own family members and his old friends and their families. He conveyed the news of one family to others, recording births, marriages and deaths, and commenting on his own responses to different events. In his own family, there were further deaths; of his brother Peter in 1875 and brother John in 1879. He did not go to the latter’s funeral, although he lived only a few miles away. Of this, he wrote to Fanny Kemble: ‘[John and I] were very good

friends, of very different ways of thinking; I had not been within side his lawn gates (three miles off) these dozen years (no fault of his), and I did not enter them at his Funeral – which you will very likely – and properly – think wrong.’16 In 1879, he told Fanny Kemble that his sister Andalusia had died,17 but his remaining sister Jane outlived him, and FitzGerald records her visit from Italy in 1881.18 His Kerrich nieces continued to be enjoyable companions, staying with him often both at Little Grange and in Lowestoft. He reported in 1875 that one niece was on an adventurous visit to Italy ‘… where I read that the Railways are stopped with snow’.19 In 1880, he wrote to his old friend Frederick Tennyson: ‘I came here [Lowestoft] nearly three weeks ago for the purpose of being among six Nieces: one of whom is married to a Florentine, named Funajoli [Mary Kerrich], and is now come over with her Son of six years old to see Sisters and Kinsfolk.’20 FitzGerald was also saddened by the illnesses and deaths of several old friends. Carlyle died in 1881, and FitzGerald commented extensively on the biographies and editions of letters by him and his wife that appeared soon thereafter. He wrote to Fanny Kemble in 1882: ‘Yes; you must read Froude’s Carlyle above all things, and tell me if you do not feel as I do about it. … But how is it that I did not know that Carlyle was so good, grand, and even loveable, till I read the Letters which Froude now edits?’21 Much earlier, in 1867, he had been upset by the fact that he had sent his compliments to Mrs Carlyle, only to hear back from her husband that she had died the year before.22 Much more personally affecting was the death of his school and university friend James Spedding as a result of a road accident in London in 1881. Although virtually none of their correspondence remains, Spedding figures frequently in FitzGerald’s letters, particularly in the context of his lifelong work editing the writings of Francis Bacon, something that FitzGerald felt was a waste of Spedding’s abilities. Another early friend, W. B. Donne, died a year later. Many years earlier, when visiting Donne in Bury St Edmunds, FitzGerald had written to the younger George Crabbe: ‘… I shall spend my time here wholly with my dear Donne: who shares with Spedding my oldest and deepest love.’23 After their deaths, FitzGerald found some difficulty in expressing his feelings. Following Donne’s passing, he wrote to Fanny Kemble: ‘Of that Death I say nothing: as you may expect of me, and as I should expect of you also; if I may say so.’24 Through his later years, FitzGerald’s letters often included mention of happenings in his friends’ lives, and some of their children were also among his correspondents, particularly Anne Ritchie (Thackeray) and Donne’s children Mowbray and Valentia. He wrote to the latter in 1877, wishing her ‘all Happiness in your Marriage’ and saying that she should buy herself a wedding present with

the cheque he had sent to her father.25 He also took a keen interest in Fanny Kemble’s family, enquiring after her daughters and congratulating her on the birth of a grandson.26

A QUIET AND ORDERLY DEPARTURE By the early 1880s FitzGerald was evidently conscious of his advancing years. In February 1883, he wrote to Anna Biddell, the sister of a neighbour: ‘… certainly one should set one’s house in order when one is on the verge of 75 – an Age which none of my Family have over-stepped except my Sister Jane Wilkinson, who keeps herself as yet evergreen among the olive trees of Florence’.27 His own affairs were in pretty good order. Many years earlier, in 1866, he had set out the basic elements of his will in a letter to his Woodbridge lawyer, and the final version was not greatly changed.28 The will was supplemented by a letter sent in April 1883 to his niece Frances Kerrich, specifying various small bequests and annuities that he wished her to pay to a number of his old retainers after his death.29 In fact, FitzGerald’s death came only two months later. On 12 June 1883, he wrote the last letter in the Terhunes’ collection. Two of his nieces were staying with him at Little Grange. The next day he was due to go to George Crabbe’s in Merton, Norfolk for his annual visit. FitzGerald arrived at Merton the following evening and Crabbe thought he looked ‘tired and rather ill’.30 He was found dead the next morning, 14 June, at the age of 74. Five days later, on 19 June, FitzGerald was buried in Boulge churchyard. At his express wish, his simple grave lies in the open grass, beside, but not in, the family mausoleum where his brother John and other family members were buried. Near-contemporary sources record the attendance of friends from Cambridge and elsewhere, including E. B. Cowell, G. Crabbe and W. A. Wright, as well as many neighbours and local people.31 Later in the year, FitzGerald’s property was disposed of in accordance with his wishes, with major sales of items at auction in Woodbridge and London, and the transfer of many literary remains to the care of W. A. Wright in Trinity College, Cambridge.32 FitzGerald’s death was followed by many eulogies in the press and elsewhere of his literary and personal qualities. Two, from the immediate aftermath, provide graphic summaries. The anonymous Obituary writer in the Times of London reflected that: ‘With his strong literary taste was combined a literary faculty so remarkable that nothing but his absolute indifference to fame and dislike of publicity could have prevented him from taking rank among the first writers of his time. He rather preferred to be the interpreter of the thoughts of others than

the prophet of his own.’33 On a more personal note, his friend Alfred Tennyson, on hearing of FitzGerald’s death, added an epilogue to his poem, To E. FitzGerald, commenting that: The tolling of his funeral bell … made the rhymes, That miss’d his living welcome, seem Like would-be guests an hour too late, Who down the highway moving on With easy laughter find the gate Is bolted, and the master gone. Gone into darkness, that full light Of friendship ! …34

8 

A new appreciation of Edward FitzGerald

Our study of Edward FitzGerald’s letters reveals a complex man who was full of contradictions. As with most people, his life evolved through a number of radically different phases, influenced strongly by the people he was in contact with and the places in which he found himself, as well as his own self-motivation and his intellectual and other interests. He was by turns an active participant in London literary and artistic life, and someone for whom the countryside and the sea held greater attraction. He loved to spend time with friends, in deep discussions that were also full of laughter and conviviality. But he also disliked large groups and became uncomfortable about contact with people he didn’t already know. He spoke of himself as being lazy and lacking in real purpose, and yet, when his interest was really engaged, as with his many ‘translations’, he worked extremely hard, and was a stickler about details and determined that his work should be of the highest standard possible. Above all, the letters show that FitzGerald was a very warm and genuine person, who hated hypocrisy and show of any kind. He really loved his friends, and could react quite emotionally to life events. His views on literature and much more were always interesting and stimulating. He could be very sharp in his comments, but he was also generous with his support, both personal and financial. In this final section we highlight specific findings from our study, including those which enhance what is already known about FitzGerald, and other, sometimes surprising, insights into FitzGerald’s character, priorities and behaviour. The study also raises issues concerning the use of letters and related material as a basis for individual biographies and historical reports. In Part II, we present further findings that shed light on the Victorian world in which FitzGerald lived and the changes in lifestyles over the 200 years since FitzGerald was born.

THE LETTER WRITER AND LOYAL FRIEND To start with, there are important aspects of our analysis that enhance our understanding of what is already known about Edward FitzGerald. For example, the total of over 2,000 letters recorded in the Terhunes’ Letters show just how prolific a letter writer FitzGerald was. His output was not the most voluminous among the known Victorian letter writers; the published correspondence of Thomas and Jane Carlyle contains some 9,500 letters in 38 volumes.1 However, for a man who had no public position and was little known in his lifetime outside his own circle of friends, the number of FitzGerald’s letters still in existence is impressive. Looking more closely at the letters also supports the view of FitzGerald as a man who was very loyal to his friends, and sometimes both abrupt with and distrustful of those he did not know, particularly when gathered in larger social groups. At times he seems to have been very lacking in self-confidence in his relations with others, even his friends; this shows in his apologies about writing to friends and bothering them,2 and his reports to friends of his failure to visit them for various reasons.3 He also shows a somewhat ambivalent attitude to women and their roles, combining unfailing courtesy in his correspondence with female friends with some very misogynistic comments and behaviour at various times, notably during his short marriage to Lucy Barton.4 Much has been made in previous studies of FitzGerald’s obsession at various stages of his life with certain younger men.5 The most notable are Edward Cowell, the linguist and orientalist; William K. Browne, the country squire living near Bedford; and Joseph (Posh) Fletcher, the fisherman from Lowestoft. Our analysis of the letters fully confirms the degree of attraction that these young men exerted on FitzGerald in various ways and at different stages in his life.6 However, despite our study, we are no clearer about how far these relationships went beyond a combination of personal friendship, based on various common interests, and the admiration of an older man for the physical beauty and vitality of a younger person. The interpretation of these friendships is a matter of nuance and opinion. FitzGerald was obviously a lover of male beauty, a sensibility refined by his classical education, but that may have been as far as it went. In our view, his position was probably one of a homophile, rather than a homosexual. More generally, the language of the letters seems at times extraordinarily open and affectionate, especially for a correspondence between men. There is free use of words like ‘love’ and expressions of personal admiration that come as a contrast to the image of the mid-nineteenth century as a period when personal relations were straight-laced and buttoned-up.7

LITTLE INTEREST IN WIDER WORLD AFFAIRS FitzGerald’s letters show him very focused on his own activities, whether these were his travels and visits to theatres and art auctions in his earlier years, his writings or the books he was reading in later life. This is a natural consequence of his independence from any kind of public position; what he had to share with his friends were his activities, news of his other friends and his views. Our analysis confirms that he took surprising little interest in public affairs and key events of the time. Gossip on current criminal trials was evidently an interest in his later years, but major happenings, such as the Crimean War or the death of Prince Albert and subsequent worries about the monarchy, get little or no mention.8 Just occasionally his interest in the wider world was provoked, as for example by the influence of High Church factions and the Puseyites on the Anglican Church in the 1840s and 1850s.9 When he did voice his views, FitzGerald could be very opinionated and hard-hitting; this includes comments on his friends’ writings and actions, as well as on the behaviour of local landowners. At times the letters show FitzGerald’s basic dislike of the establishment and the social system within which he had been brought up, a consequence perhaps of the years spent escorting his rich mother in her quest to participate in London society.

A PERSON FOR WHOM CONTACTS WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS WERE IMPORTANT Our study also draws attention to some less well-recognised aspects of FitzGerald’s complicated and interesting personality. One thing that has surprised us is the continuing concern that FitzGerald expressed, throughout his life, about various members of his own family. He is sometimes portrayed as a reclusive man who did not like, and did not have much to do with, his relatives. But the letters suggest that this was far from true. He certainly wrote some sharp things both about his mother and father and about his elder brother John, but he shows continuing interest in his sisters and their families, and his other brother Peter. John’s sons also get a number of mentions, and in later life he had frequent contact with his many Kerrich nieces and nephews (children of his favourite sister Eleanor), who visited him at his Woodbridge home, Little Grange, and in Lowestoft. This awareness of family shows up also in his interest in the families of his friends as well as the friends themselves. A substantial part of FitzGerald’s letters is taken up with networking among his friends, particularly close friends based on school and university, including J. Allen, W. B. Donne, W. F. Pollock and Fanny

Kemble, together with key neighbours like B. Barton, E. B. Cowell and the Crabbes. FitzGerald is assiduous in reporting his contacts with and news of a set of friends to others who know them. Included in these communications is news of friends’ children and family, worries about illnesses and sadness at deaths. Another aspect of FitzGerald’s networking that has become more evident to us is the degree to which he was consciously linking up people whom he felt to be of interest to each other. Such networking goes beyond his very close friends and is often focused on common literary interests, for example his correspondence with the American writers C. E. Norton and J. R. Lowell, into which circle he brought Fanny Kemble, who had lived in and written about America. Some of his later letters to his Cambridge friends, such as E. B. Cowell, W. H. Thompson and W. A. Wright, show similar efforts at making contact.10

A SYMPATHETIC CHARACTER WITH MUCH PERSONAL OPENNESS In his concern for family and friends, FitzGerald comes over as a much more sympathetic character than he is sometimes presented. This also shows in his financial generosity to his friends and dependents. Some of this is well known, such as his support of both Thackeray and Tennyson in their early years. But there are frequent later mentions of support for various local pensioners and others, which show FitzGerald’s concern that his ‘duties’ in this regard should be fulfilled. He also took an unexpected degree of interest in local people and activities when they met with his approval, for example his support of various fishermen and Waterloo veterans, as well as the Suffolk Rifles and the Woodbridge Rifle Corp. In later life he allowed his home at Little Grange to be used for parties for local children.11 In line with the open expression of affection, mentioned on page 45, many of FitzGerald’s letters show a perhaps surprising openness on personal topics. In letters to his closer friends, he was willing to discuss his feelings on subjects ranging from his early troubles about religious beliefs and the difficulties of his marriage to his taste in food and drink. On the latter topic, he left us an engaging picture of a man who experimented with vegetarianism, but didn’t much like vegetables, and was a lover of toasted cheese. In 1842, in a letter to his friend Bernard Barton, he signed himself in classical fashion ‘Philocaseotostus’.12

HARD WORKING, VERY WELL READ, AND QUITE WELL TRAVELLED FitzGerald had very wide-ranging literary interests, and his reports on what he had been reading (or reading about – he was a great reader of magazine reviews) form a large element in the existing letters. His literary diet included contemporary novels, poetry and travel books, as well as the classics, Shakespeare, major European literature (especially French and Spanish) and much more.13 Despite his activities as a ‘translator’ of Persian poetry, he seems to have had no sustained interest in the ‘East’ except in so far as he needed information to help with his translations. For example, the notes to the Rubáiyát contain references to various histories and related studies, such as R. M. Binning’s report on his travels in Persia, but these works receive little or no mention in FitzGerald’s letters.14 What comes over very clearly is that FitzGerald was a very hard worker when his interest was aroused. The letters sent when he was working on his key publications, such as the various editions of the Rubáiyát and later his Greek translations, show an almost obsessive attention to the detail of his writings. And, although he chose to publish much of his work anonymously, he was a determined promoter of his own writings to his friends and those he felt would, or should, be interested in his work. He was similarly active in promoting the writings of his friends to others who might not be aware of them, often adding his own trenchant comments on the work in question. In some cases he took up the cause of friends whose literary activities he felt had not received the attention they deserved; these works included the sonnets of Charles Tennyson Turner and the letters of his university friend Savile Morton.15 FitzGerald travelled much more widely than is generally presented. This was especially the case in his earlier years, when he went on trips all round the British Isles, usually staying with friends for several days or more at a time. He visited Wales and Ireland, and went on various short trips to the continent, though he never managed to get to either Italy or Jersey to visit his friend F. Tennyson when the latter was living in these places. Even in later years, he spent much time staying away from home, often at the Suffolk coast or in Norfolk with the younger G. Crabbe. He also made a major trip to Scotland in 1874, travelling up to Edinburgh by boat and visiting Abbotsford, the home of his beloved Walter Scott; he returned to London by rail.

PITFALLS IN STUDYING A COMPLEX CHARACTER FROM HIS LETTERS Working closely with FitzGerald’s letters has led us to some more general conclusions about the uses of this type of material as a basis for historical and biographical research. Letters are some of the most immediate and detailed sources of data that we have about people in the past. But they have inherent limitations which need to be fully recognised. Firstly, letters have some obvious problems of reading difficult handwriting, and making a coherent picture out of a medium of communication which was not necessarily created in an orderly manner. Even where we can read the letters without problems, this is not an easy type of material to interpret. The content is all jumbled up, with references and allusions that may be very difficult to identify. The correspondence of someone like FitzGerald contains communications of many different kinds, sometimes combined within the same letter. There are mundane instructions about visits, gifts and journeys interspersed with serious analysis of points of translation or literary views. Probably even more important is that any set of letters from the past is inherently incomplete in its coverage. If the recipient was a collector by nature, letters of all forms were often carefully filed and we must be grateful for those who have left us such treasure troves. But we have only those letters that have been preserved, and they are likely to be both a restricted and biased sample of the total correspondence. In the case of FitzGerald, we have highlighted in Appendix 4 the people among his friends and family who are likely to have received letters from FitzGerald but where there is no surviving correspondence. This allows one to guess, but without very strong evidence, at some dimensions of the material that we may be missing. There is an interesting further study to be made of how some sets of letters get preserved and others do not, though in the present era of digital ephemera, this may no longer be a question of serious relevance. Finally, there is a qualitative distinction to be made between the objective information to be obtained from the letters and the subjective judgements, opinions and reports that they contain. It is comparatively easy to analyse when and where letters were written, to whom they were sent and how they relate to the known events of a person’s life and surroundings. But once one moves to the analysis of the content of the letters, the author him- or herself intrudes. A letter is a personal statement, and as such can be manipulated by the writer to present a certain image of themselves. This point is highlighted by R. B. Martin in the preface to his biography of FitzGerald.16 The image a person wants to present may vary through his or her life

and between the people being written to. In the ideal, but rare, situation where both sides of a correspondence exist, the two-way exchange can give insights into the general impression being made by the writers. However, in analysing any set of letters, the reader must recognise that the material shows the person in the way that, consciously or unconsciously, they wanted themselves to be seen. Other evidence, from personal reminiscences and contemporary records of behaviour, may conflict with what the letters show. With a complex character like Edward FitzGerald, this leaves the reader of the letters with a major and inescapable problem of interpretation. It also helps to explain the diverse images of the man who was Edward FitzGerald that remain to this day.

Pa r t II Insights into Victorian life and opinions from FitzGerald’s letters

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A window on the world of the nineteenth century

Edward FitzGerald’s letters do more than tell us about himself and the factors that shaped his life. They also give us unique insights into a particular kind of life in the Victorian period. Much that is written about this period focuses on the big events and the people who contributed to them, on the politicians, inventors, empire builders, major industrialists and literary figures. With FitzGerald, we are dealing with a very different kind of person, and a life that was led largely outside the public domain. Some major figures, particularly literary personalities such as Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Carlyle and William Makepeace Thackeray, do play a significant part in the correspondence. But the value of the FitzGerald letters in telling us about the Victorian period lies mainly in other directions. Three features of the letters stand out. The first stems from their sheer quantity. They cover a long period of time, with a continuous flow of over 50 years from 1830 to 1883. This not only gives plenty of opportunity for detailed analysis, but also allows for the possibility of highlighting changes in style and content over the period. Secondly, the letters are the product of a remarkable writer who had the skill both to convey depth of meaning and to engage and entertain the modern reader, as well as the original recipient of the correspondence. FitzGerald was not only a good letter writer; he was also a remarkably open communicator, allowing one to see into his world, even at the distance of nearly two centuries. The third feature of the letters is perhaps the most interesting and distinctive. Because FitzGerald was not a person whose life was led in the public domain, what he shows the modern reader is a picture of an ordinary life. Of course, this life was that of a person with a certain privileged position in society; FitzGerald was a

wealthy member of what we should now probably call the upper middle class, and someone who was well educated, with extensive literary and intellectual interests. However, through the letters we not only get a feel of what this life was like in the Victorian period; we also have frequent glimpses of other parts of society and the relationships between different social groups.

EXPLORING WHAT THE LETTERS SAY ABOUT LIFESTYLES As with our analysis of Edward FitzGerald’s own life, our starting point in looking at Victorian lifestyles as illuminated by FitzGerald’s letters has been the Terhunes’ four-volume edition. Using our digital database,1 we have analysed the content of the individual letters to see what they tell us about different aspects of the world in which FitzGerald lived. In making this analysis, our approach has been that of new readers of the letters, and students of social trends, looking back from the perspective of the twenty-first century. We are not experts in either the history or the literature of the Victorian period. What we have aimed to set out is a straightforward picture of what the letters tell us, using FitzGerald’s own words as far as possible. We have looked particularly for the things that surprise us in the letters, whether because they show a life that seems very different from today, or occasionally when it seems strange that so little has changed. We have not attempted to fit the picture that we have found from the letters into the extensive existing knowledge of the period. This would have been beyond the scope both of this book and of our expertise. But we hope that others more expert will look at our findings and tell us how far what FitzGerald shows us of his world is typical of other views of the period.2 In the rest of this chapter we summarise some of the key features of Victorian life, as presented by FitzGerald, that have struck us in our analysis of the letters. The following chapters provide backup for the analyses here and in Part I by exploring FitzGerald’s comments on particular topics, divided into four groups: writing and reading, the arts, family and friends, and other interests and views. Each chapter covers a series of sub-topics and contains a broad summary about the letters relating to the topic, together with a selection of quotations on each subject. The quotations have been chosen to highlight typical and interesting views, and they give a wider context for some of the quotations used in Part I; they are generally extracts from much longer, complex letters. Researchers seeking a more comprehensive view of what FitzGerald tells us on particular subjects will be able to find more information about his comments on each topic from our underlying database.

NETWORKING AND KEEPING IN TOUCH FitzGerald is a prime example of what in modern parlance is referred to as a networker. This is meant not in the narrow sense of a person who exploits personal contacts to further a career, but in the wider interpretation of someone for whom keeping in close contact with friends and family is an essential part of his lifestyle and personal identity. The study of FitzGerald’s letters shows immediately one way in which lifestyles have changed fundamentally over the past century and a half, that is, in the means of communication. In the mid-nineteenth century, letter writing still played a central role in everyday personal contacts and networking. Apart from face-toface contact, or oral messages, words written on paper were the only way of being in touch with other people. Even for the telegraph, which was coming into use for popular communications in FitzGerald’s lifetime, paper-based communication was still essential; there are mentions in the letters of him receiving some telegrams but there is no evidence that he actually sent one himself.3 Several consequences follow from the emphasis on writing as the basis for all but very local interactions. There was a necessary delay in all such contacts, since the transfer of the message took some time. This allowed more time for reflection, though another feature shown by FitzGerald’s letters is the apparent quality of the postal service in the mid-nineteenth century. The ‘Penny Post’ was introduced in 1840, and there is a clear expectation that local letters would arrive by the next day, despite the fact that travel between, say, Suffolk and Bedford was much slower than today. A further consequence is that, in contrast to most modern-day phone or text messages, the paper communication itself was often preserved. Today’s e-mails and text messages do not normally survive so long,4 nor do they usually contain as much serious analysis and discussion as did the communications of 150 years ago. More fundamentally, although the technology that is used for communications has changed, the letters remind us of how the basic human needs and concerns that are communicated remain very much the same. In his correspondence, FitzGerald was heavily preoccupied with the relationships, health and happiness of his family and friends. A glance through the quotations in Chapter 12 shows how he shared the delights and sorrows of his contacts in a manner that is little different in essence from the way we might do today. The form of expression is naturally very different, and the letters provide a fascinating basis for studying the ways in which social manners and etiquette in writing have changed over two centuries. They also show the evolution of modes of address in FitzGerald’s time as a relationship developed, moving from the completely formal ‘Dear Sir’ through various gradations to reach,

for example, the relaxed ‘My dear Wright’. It was extremely rare for FitzGerald to address any of his male friends by their first names, though he did this more often with his long-standing female correspondents such as Mrs E. B. (Elizabeth) Cowell.

MANAGING EVERYDAY LIFE We highlighted earlier the fact that FitzGerald’s correspondence covers a wide range of subjects, from the meanings and derivations of abstruse words in different languages, to everyday matters of housing, health and more. Some of the more generally interesting aspects of the letters are to be found in the picture FitzGerald left us of everyday life as an affluent provincial gentleman; specific quotations are given mainly in Chapter 13, particularly under Personal matters, Nature and countryside and Food and drink. Here again, there are many things that resonate with the concerns of FitzGerald’s equivalents in the modern world. His comments on the purchase and renovation of his final home, Little Grange in Woodbridge, are full of issues that would apply equally to the house purchaser today. There are troubles with builders, the need to go searching for furnishings of various kinds and other practical issues. Remarks about the creation of gardens both at Boulge Cottage and later at Little Grange, such as the need for new spring plants and the fact that the existing flower beds are too small, echo things that we ourselves have said in similar circumstances. In terms of housing, the picture of Victorian life shown by FitzGerald’s earlier years is rather more idiosyncratic. It is not clear whether his lack of a home base of his own as a young man was typical for the period; his way of life was perhaps not so different from the peripatetic existence, from sofa to floor of friends, or from one flat share to the next, seen among today’s youth. FitzGerald was probably unusual in accepting rather cramped and uncomfortable lodging in his middle years, such as the rooms in Farlingay and Market Hill in Woodbridge. But he also gave us descriptions of more normal family living, including that of his sister Eleanor (see under FitzGerald family in Chapter 12). And at one point he even refers to the problems of visiting Alfred Tennyson and his family because they were having the house painted.5 Money is another practical everyday theme in FitzGerald’s letters. The first extant letter complaining about the cuts in his allowance (see page 16) has quite a modern ring to it. Other letters give us pictures of both family members and friends who have lost significant sums of money from investing in business ventures that have failed. The experience of FitzGerald’s father, who lost his fortune in a mining venture, provides a vignette of the experience and troubles of bankruptcy in this

period. From time to time, FitzGerald consulted with his London-based friends on the options for investing his capital. He also left evidence of his real concern for the people he called his ‘pensioners’, showing how charitable giving at the time was on a more personal and local level than it is today. Two further everyday topics about which we can learn in the letters are health, and eating and drinking. As he grew older, FitzGerald naturally commented more on both his own health and that of his friends. Some of the comments seem very familiar; there are the obvious complaints about colds and bad throats, and, specific to FitzGerald, troubles with his eyes. Other remarks, about the serious illnesses of friends, remind us of how much medical diagnoses and treatments have changed and improved over the years. There are a variety of such comments in Chapter 12 on Family and friends. In some ways FitzGerald was very modern in his view of food and drink, particularly in his practical exploration of vegetarianism and dietary issues. But today’s dieticians would not approve of some of his meals in later life, notably his emphasis on bread, cheese and potatoes. The letters, together with comments by FitzGerald’s friends, give some graphic pictures of the food and drink offered at various entertainments. It is also clear that gifts of food to friends, including local fish and game, were a regular part of the social ritual.

TRAVEL AND THE DISPERSION OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS Insights into the role of travel in FitzGerald’s life are covered in a special section in Chapter 13. Two general points deserve some additional comment. Firstly, we have been surprised by the extent to which FitzGerald’s family and friends were dispersed in geographical terms. There is a tendency to think of the geographical split-up of families and social networks as a modern, twentieth-century phenomenon. However, for the social group to which FitzGerald belonged, his contacts were already quite widely distributed around the UK and even abroad. Two of his sisters lived for years in Italy, as did his friend Frederick Tennyson, and FitzGerald travelled quite extensively to visit friends in the UK. He also went on a few tourist trips to the continent, though he never got to Italy. Our second point relates to an area of difference in travel patterns compared with the norm today, that is, the much longer time that FitzGerald tended to spend when he went to stay with friends and family. Visits of several weeks were not uncommon, with the visitor clearly becoming a part of normal family life rather than having a special programme of meals and activities, as tends to be the case with today’s social visits. Here we probably see the impact of technological change over

the period, with friends staying longer because of the greater travel time involved, as well as the relatively more relaxed lives of people in FitzGerald’s social group. FitzGerald’s comments on his travels around the UK also highlight the changing modes of transport over his adult life. In early years he would have gone from Woodbridge to London either by road, probably in a stagecoach, or by boat round the coast; a steamboat service from Ipswich to London started in the 1820s. Woodbridge was linked to London by the railway in 1859 and, as mentioned, FitzGerald used this new means of travel for his return from Edinburgh in 1874.6

GENDER ROLES AND CAREER PATTERNS Women play a significant role in FitzGerald’s correspondence, both as recipients of his letters and as subjects for comment. We indicated earlier that his attitudes to women appear to be very mixed, and that he could at times be quite misogynistic (see page 45). However, he had many long-standing friendships with women, notably among the wives and relatives of his neighbours and school and university friends. These are evident in the quotations from the letters in the following chapters, especially Chapter 12. Fanny Kemble, the sister of his school friend Jack Kemble, was a major correspondent of FitzGerald’s latter years, and there are many letters to Mrs E. B. Cowell and Mrs A. Tennyson, as well as to Anne Ritchie, the daughter of his friend Thackeray. The women that FitzGerald writes to, or mentions, in his letters played very varied roles in society. A few had independent lives, mainly as writers or artists, such as Fanny Kemble and Anne Ritchie. Some correspondents, such as Mrs Cowell and Mrs Tennyson, clearly played an important role in supporting their husbands’ professional lives, and FitzGerald comments on his sister Eleanor’s need to take over all aspects of family management at a time when her husband was ill (see page 21). But many more of the women who figure in the letters focused on their roles as wives, mothers and household managers. In this respect, the lives of FitzGerald’s female contacts, as well as his own attitudes, reflect the mixed position of women in Victorian society. One notable difference from the present in the picture of women given by FitzGerald’s letters is in the lives of unmarried daughters. Among the families of close friends, such as the Crabbes and the Churchyards, as well as his own nieces (the children of his sister Eleanor), there are groups of spinsters who remain at home, or live together after the deaths of their parents. Sometimes there is clearly a need for these women to bring in some kind of income, but any such ‘work’ is normally home based or very local, there being few other opportunities considered

suitable. One alternative, that of being a companion or governess, was the route taken by Lucy Barton, the impoverished daughter of his friend Bernard Barton and the lady to whom FitzGerald was later briefly married. The career paths of FitzGerald’s many friends from school and university show how, for men also, the options in terms of lifetime activities were apparently more limited than they would be today. Virtually all the men whom FitzGerald knew well became either clergymen, civil servants, lawyers or writers/academics. W. K. Browne, FitzGerald’s young friend from Bedford, was unusual in being more of a squire and landowner, though he for a time was in the army, another acceptable career path. Various local friends were landowners or farmers, but the social class divides seem to have inhibited most people in FitzGerald’s social group from taking anything more than a limited, investment-based, interest in the burgeoning world of Victorian business.

A RICH INTELLECTUAL LIFE The analysis in Chapter 10 gives a detailed picture of what FitzGerald and his friends were reading and what they thought about the contemporary literary scene. As today, there were evident differences of opinion about ‘modern writers’, covering the field of poetry and novels, as well as religious and scientific controversies. Darwin’s writings enter the correspondence, as do the works of major Victorian novelists still famous today, such as Jane Austen, George Eliot and Anthony Trollope. In this particular literary circle, biographies of recently deceased writers, often personal friends, were especially popular. The biography and letters of Thomas Carlyle form notable examples, and the discussion of the biographer’s use of his sources, and the ethics of publishing certain items (e.g. Mrs Carlyle’s letters) has quite a modern tone. Literary magazines, such as the Athenaeum and the Gentleman’s Magazine, were an important stimulus to discussions about books, and to their purchase, based on the detailed reviews of new works. These magazines also contained regular columns on general literary and social matters, which bear some resemblance in form, though not in content, to the writings by well-known journalists and others in today’s newspapers and magazines. FitzGerald was particularly fond of these comments and collected them for many years. In place of our modern photocopies or electronic extracts, he would either cut out the relevant articles and have them bound together in books, or write or paste extracts in a commonplace or scrap book of some kind. The collection of such compilations, made by FitzGerald over many years, provides a unique insight into the way in which the mind of a particular Victorian intellectual ranged and developed. Some more details of these volumes are given in Appendix 3.

An interesting sidelight on Victorian publishing relationships is shown by the surviving correspondence between FitzGerald and Bernard Quaritch; the latter published the Rubáiyát and most of FitzGerald’s later works. The Terhunes’ volumes include a number of Quaritch’s letters as well as FitzGerald’s.7 These exchanges contain much that will be familiar to modern authors and their publishers: discussions about print runs and pricing, worries about the process of checking proofs and so on. Quaritch was especially concerned about meeting the demand from the US for copies of the Rubáiyát and pre-empting the potential competition from pirate editions, a topic that also has resonance today. FitzGerald’s letters illustrate some important changes in the nature of the book and other reading matter during his lifetime. Whereas, in the early part of the nineteenth century, printing of books was a laborious and expensive business, by the middle of the century, cheap mass editions of more popular books had made their appearance.8 Even for a rich man like FitzGerald, this made the purchase of new books much more possible, though, for many of the older editions that he wanted, dealers such as Quaritch and others were important. The emergence of lending libraries also made new books more widely available, and FitzGerald mentions a number of times his use of the postal-based library Mudie’s, established in 1842, as a source of some of his less serious reading.9

A LIFESTYLE IN WHICH THE ARTS WERE IMPORTANT FitzGerald lived in a social world in which the arts, that is theatre, music and pictures, were all important. It was expected that casual references to artists, composers and playwrights would be understood immediately by the recipient of the letter, in the same way as would the equivalent casual literary references. In this sense, there was a common cultural literacy in the period; today such cultural literacy may be more fragmented, given the much wider range of artistic and literary offerings immediately available in our world. The letters provide an interesting picture of the style and locations of the London artistic life, particularly in the 1830s and 1840s. There are comments on visits to theatres and concerts, art galleries, auctions and exhibitions. We have been surprised by the significant role played by operas in the general mix of theatrical production. Covent Garden is mentioned as a place for both straight theatre and musical works. There is also a view of local theatre, with the occasional visits of travelling companies to the market town of Woodbridge. As an affluent young man, FitzGerald had plenty of time and freedom to take part in the artistic world. However, the letters show that others with less financial

freedom were also keenly concerned with the arts. Many of FitzGerald’s comments about the arts generally, and painting in particular, were sent to his much less affluent friend Bernard Barton, who worked in a bank in Woodbridge. He also often discussed the paintings he viewed or bought with Thomas Churchyard, a local solicitor and artist, who was one of FitzGerald’s inner circle of ‘Woodbridge Wits’. The role of the private patron was clearly very important in this period. FitzGerald did much to help the young portraitist Samuel Laurence and also supported various local Suffolk artists. FitzGerald lived well before the era of easy colour printing and the coffee-table book, but in his later years he valued other ways of being reminded of the pictures and artistic events that he had seen. The letters refer in several places to collections of prints of artistic figures, and several of his scrap books contain examples of such illustrations as well as copies of various sets of architectural prints. FitzGerald was also interested in some new art forms, including the emerging field of photography. In 1873, he allowed himself to be photographed, and the letters contain his advice to Fanny Kemble about getting the best out of the process, as well as references to photographs of other friends; see quotations under Personal matters in Chapter 13.

IGNORING THE WIDER WORLD The lifestyle presented by FitzGerald’s letters is one rich in intellectual and artistic experiences as well as close personal relationships. Everyday issues and problems are evident, as are local events and concerns about actions, such as those of local landowners, that would affect the local area. However, what is very largely lacking in the correspondence is any real concern for the so-called big issues of the day, such as political changes, wars, economic ups and downs, or the position of the royal family. We have commented on this feature in our conclusions in Chapter 8 about FitzGerald as a person. It appears that he himself did not find these national topics of particular interest; past history was in some ways more alive for him than the world of current affairs. But it has been surprising to us that the letters contain so few references to what was going on in the wider world; one might have expected more passing comment in reply to topical observations from friends, especially those in London. Current criminal trials, notably the Tichborne case, are among the very few exceptions on which FitzGerald dwells; see further comments and quotations under Religion and Current affairs in Chapter 13. It seems possible that this lack of comment on national affairs reflects more than just the limited horizons of Edward FitzGerald. Changes in communications, provoking a different attitude to the wider national scene, may also be of

significance. In the mid-nineteenth century, the speed of communications and the spread of news was mostly much slower than it is today, with our 24-hour news services and instant social media. This meant not only that it took time for national events to filter through to the general population, but also that, by the time the news arrived, some of its significance and impact was defused. Learning about an overseas disaster (say, the Indian mutiny in 1857), or the resignation of a prime minister and the fall of a government, seems somehow less personally significant if you find out about it several days or weeks after the event. More subtly, it can be argued that the obsession with ‘news’ in the twenty-first century is, for the majority of people, more in the nature of following a national soap opera, made available through the media, rather than a real interest in what is happening. This suggests that the apparent neglect of national and international events in FitzGerald’s world is at least partly a consequence of the less pervasive role of the media at that time. Apart from the criminal trials and major social scandals, there was not the same kind of information on political personalities or celebrities on which letter writers might comment. Hence, it may only have been in the ‘Westminster bubble’ of the Victorian period that current affairs would have been an important feature of discussion and correspondence.

Figure 2.  Writing and reading – a summary of the letters. Main subjects mentioned in the letters Writing and reading: total number = 1,457 FitzGerald's own writing Contemporary poetry Contemporary novels Other contemporary writing Greek and Latin classics Shakespeare Other English classics French, Italian and German lit. Spanish literature Persian literature, etc Writings by FitzGerald's friends Miscellaneous writings

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Number of letters

When letters were written Writing and reading All letters

% of total for topic

50 40 30 20 10 0 1830s

1840s

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Main correspondents Writing and reading: total number = 1,457 Cowell, E. B. Wright, W. A. Kemble, Fanny Pollock, W. F. Quaritch, B. Donne, W. B. Cowell, Mrs E. B. Tennyson, F. Allen, J. Norton, C. E. 0

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Number of letters person received on this topic

Source: see Appendix 4.

300

10 

Writing and reading

AN AVID READER, FROM THE CLASSICS TO ‘MODERN’ FICTION Throughout his life, Edward FitzGerald was an avid reader of all kinds of writing, from classical works in many languages to newspaper reports on murder trials. He is quoted as describing his books as his ‘Friends on the Shelf’.1 He also produced a wide range of his own literary works, going far beyond the Rubáiyát for which he is best known. These extensive literary interests are a dominant feature of his correspondence; there are mentions of what he had been reading or writing in over two-thirds of his letters. Literary exchanges were one of the main ways FitzGerald chose to keep in touch with his network of friends. He made frequent mention of writings by friends such as A. Tennyson, W. M. Thackeray, T. Carlyle and J. Spedding, often promoting them to other contacts, as well giving mild ‘puffs’ for his own work. There are more quotations about his personal friendships with these and other literary figures in Chapter 12. Despite FitzGerald’s failing eyesight, the exchange of views on literary matters became a more important element in his correspondence from the 1870s onwards. Nearly one-fifth of FitzGerald’s letters about books and literature were sent to his younger friend Edward Cowell. This correspondence was especially significant in the decades from the 1840s to the 1860s. In later years, W. A. Wright and Fanny Kemble became very important as recipients of FitzGerald’s views on literary topics. Throughout his life he also exchanged many letters on these subjects with old friends from his youth, such as W. F. Pollock, W. B. Donne and F. Tennyson. The range of authors and literary subject matter mentioned in FitzGerald’s letters is very wide, and he had strong views about what he did and did not like.

His reading included contemporary fiction and biography, poetry, travel books and much more. The Greek and Latin classics and many French, German, Spanish and Persian books feature in the letters, very often read in the original language.

Contents of this chapter Quotations from FitzGerald’s literary comments are presented under the following headings. • FitzGerald’s own writings – Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, other Persian poets, Calderon plays, Selections from G. Crabbe, Euphranor, Greek plays, other writings. • Contemporary poetry – J. Keats, A. Tennyson, W. Wordsworth, other contemporary poets. • Contemporary novels – C. Dickens, W. Scott, W. M. Thackeray, other contemporary novelists. • Other contemporary writing – T. Carlyle, C. Lamb, other contemporary authors. • Greek and Latin classics. • Shakespeare – general comments, works on Shakespeare by W. A. Wright and J. Spedding. • Other English classics – F. Bacon (including works by J. Spedding), S. Richardson, other English classical authors. • French, Italian and German literature. • Spanish literature. • Persian literature and other oriental works. • Writings by FitzGerald’s friends – Savile Morton, Frederick Tennyson and Charles Tennyson Turner, other friends. • Miscellaneous writings – English language (including East Anglian words), travel, other miscellaneous subjects. Some references to writers could potentially be included under more than one heading. Examples are Southey and Lamb, who were contemporary authors of both poetry and prose works. Southey is included under Contemporary poetry, Lamb under Other contemporary writing. A full list of the writers and topics included in individual sections is shown in Appendix 4.

FITZGERALD’S OWN WRITINGS About much more than just the Rubáiyát Around a quarter of FitzGerald’s letters contain references to his own writings and publications. These references cover the full range of his works, from the well known such as the Rubáiyát to the obscure such as The Two Generals, a pamphlet comprising a ‘translation’ from Livy and an extract from the Memoirs of Sir Charles Napier. The Rubáiyát in its various editions is the most frequently mentioned, followed by his work on Crabbe’s Tales from the Hall and various Greek plays, the latter mainly from the 1870s. Much space is also devoted to his translations from Spanish of Calderon’s plays. Mentions of his writings grew rapidly in number in the letters through the 1850s, which was a key decade for his literary activities, culminating in the publication of the first edition of the Rubáiyát in 1859. There was a renewed emphasis on such self-references in the 1870s, when, in addition to further editions of the Rubáiyát, FitzGerald was preparing various other translations, from Greek and Spanish as well as Persian. Although FitzGerald tended to play down his own abilities, he was often very energetic in making sure that those friends whose opinion he valued had copies of his latest works. Edward Cowell was the person who received the largest number of FitzGerald’s letters about his own writings, especially in the 1850s, reflecting the detailed help that Cowell gave to FitzGerald in his translations from Spanish and Persian. There are also many letters to Bernard Quaritch, showing the latter’s important role in the publication of FitzGerald’s works. Other significant people with whom FitzGerald discussed his own writings were W. A. Wright, Fanny Kemble and the US literary critic C. E. Norton.

In his own words Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám This is the work for which FitzGerald is best known. It is a long poem based on a set of Persian four-line verses (or rubái), attributed to the eleventh/twelfth-century astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyám. FitzGerald’s first version, a free translation of the original, was published in 1859, with later editions in 1868, 1872, 1879 and 1889.

7/5/1857 to E. B. Cowell. ‘When in Bedfordshire I put away almost all Books except Omar Khayyám!, which I could not help looking over in a Paddock covered with Buttercups and brushed by a delicious Breeze …’ [II, 270]

8/12/1857 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I had again taken up my rough Sketch of a Translation, which, such as it is, might easily be finisht [sic]. But it is in truth no Translation: but only the Paraphrase of a Syllabus of the Poem: quite unlike the original in Style too: but it would give, I think, a fair proportionate Account of the Scheme of the Poem. If ever I finish it, I will send it you.’ [II, 304] 8/12/1857 to E. B. Cowell. ‘And now about old Omar. You talked of sending a Paper about him to Fraser [Fraser’s Magazine] and I told you, if you did, I would stop it till I had made my Comments. … But in truth I take old Omar rather more as my property than yours: he and I are more akin, are we not?’ [II, 304] 3/9/1858 to E. B. Cowell. ‘As to my Omar: I gave it to Parker in January, I think: he saying Fraser was agreeable to take it. Since then I have heard no more; so as, I suppose, they don’t care about it: …’ [II, 317] 2/11/1858 to E. B. Cowell. ‘As to Omar, I hear and see nothing of it in Fraser yet: … I really think I shall take it back; add some stanzas which I kept out for fear of being too strong: print fifty copies and give away; … it is most ingeniously tesselated into a sort of Epicurean Eclogue in a Persian Garden.’ [II, 322] 7/12/1861 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I doubt I have given but a very one-sided version of Omar: but what I do only comes up as a Bubble to the Surface, and breaks: whereas you, with exact Scholarship, might make a lasting impression of such an Author.’ [II, 415] 9/12/1861 to W. H. Thompson. ‘As to my own Peccadilloes in Verse – which never pretend to be original – this is the story of Rubáiyát. I had translated them partly for Cowell: young Parker asked me some years ago for something for Fraser, and I gave him the less wicked of these to use if he chose. … as I saw he didn’t want them I printed some copies with Quaritch …’ [II, 418] 19/3/1862 to W. H. Thompson. ‘Now, I really do feel ashamed when you ask about my Persian Translations, though they are all very well: only very little affairs. I really have not the face to send to Milnes direct: but I send you four copies which I have found in a drawer here to do as you will with. This will save Milnes, or any one else, the bore of writing to me to acknowledge it.’ [II, 432] 14/10/1867 to B. Quaritch. ‘You thought a small Edition of my Omar would sell in time. I had always wished to add some twenty or thirty more Stanzas to it [the 1859 edition of his Rubáiyát] and some additional matter: but it seemed absurd to reprint a thing for that alone; …’ [III, 50]

17/12/1867 to E. B. Cowell ‘As to my making Omar worse than he is in that Stanza about Forgiveness – you know I have translated none literally, and have generally mashed up two – or more – into one.’ [Refers particularly to quatrain 58 in the first edition.] [III, 68] 17/4/1873 to C. E. Norton. ‘Two days ago Mr. Carlyle sent me your Note, enclosing one from Mr. Ruskin “to the Translator of Omar Khayyám.” You will be a little surprized to hear that Mr. Ruskin’s Note is dated September 1863: all but ten years ago! I dare say he has forgotten all about it long before this: however, I write him a Note of Thanks for the good – too good – message he sent me …’ [III, 418] 23/11/1875 to T. S. Perry. ‘I am sure I ought to be grateful to America for the favour she has shown my old Omar, and to yourself for doing what you have done for me, and now taking the trouble to ask for more of my handy work.’ [III, 621] Feb. 1877 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘A man named Watson [identified by Terhunes as Col. James Watson of Columbus, Ohio] … wrote to tell me [he] had printed fifty Copies of the Second Edition of my old Omar for the benefit of himself and his Friends, who found Quaritch’s Edition too dear.’ [IV, 10] 17/12/1878 to B. Quaritch. ‘About your proposal I will say: 1st That an Edition of 1000 copies would – at the rate I sell at – amount to a final Edition – for my Life assuredly. 2nd I still demure at the quarto size you propose. I suppose, the same as previous Omars.’ [IV, 164] 16/1/1879 to B. Quaritch. ‘I prefer the smaller page (which I enclose) … I want to stipulate – 1st That Omar, who is to stand first, be never reprinted separate from Jámí. 2ly That I should have Proof, and Revise, sent me … Alterations I make be strictly done. 3ly That my Name do not appear in any Advertisement, nor any notice of the Book added …’ [Refers to the fourth edition of the Rubáiyát, which contained also a version of Jámí’s Salámán and Absál.] [IV, 174] Other Persian poets FitzGerald made free translations of two major Persian poems, Jámí’s Salámán and Absál and Attár’s Bird Parliament; the latter was only published after his death. He also studied the poems of the famous Persian poet Háfiz.

10/1/1855 to E. B. Cowell. ‘In looking over my Salámán [Jámí’s Salámán and Absál] I think I see how that could be compressed into a very readable form: and should like to manage it with you. You have brought all the Scholarship, and really the Intellect: perhaps I may have the tact to dish up the poem neatly: I mean in shape:

… for what I propose is a very little affair, and I hate any of my dabblings to make me seem to set up Author.’ [II, 153] Illustration 7.  Title page from the fourth edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. FitzGerald insisted that this edition be published together with his Salámán and Absál.

9/2/1855 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I send you by this post a metrical Abstract of Salámán – more, mind you, for the sake of the Form of the Story, than for its Verse. All the better parts would be better in such measured prose as you did Háfiz in; …’ [II, 154]

4/4/1856 to E. B. Cowell. ‘So, continuing to like old Jámí more and more, I must try my hand upon him; and here is my reduced Version of a small Original [Salámán and Absál]. What Scholarship it has is yours, my Master in Persian, and so much beside; …’ [Followed by a long commentary by FitzGerald on poems and their structures.] [II, 216] 2/11/1858 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I have nearly finisht [sic] a metrical Paraphrase and Epitome of the Mantic [Attár’s Bird Parliament]: but you would scarce like it, and who else would? It has amused me to give a “Bird’s Eye” View of the Bird Poem …’ [II, 322] Calderon plays Calderon was a Spanish playwright of the seventeenth century. FitzGerald studied his works with his friend E. B. Cowell, and published two sets of very free translations, in 1853 and 1865. They were not a critical success.

15/8/1850 to F. Tennyson. ‘I have begun to nibble at Spanish: at their old Ballads: which are fine things – like our, or rather the North Country, old Ballads. I have also bounced through a play of Calderón with the help of a friend [E. B. Cowell] – a very fine play of its kind.’ [I, 676] 13/6/1851 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I mean to take up my Spanish Grammar again, and have a shot at Calderón; …’ [II, 31] 4/4/1853 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I think I told you I kept on translating Calderon at odd times: and shall put up some five or six plays into a small Volume I think. But I want Cowell for some passages: and my Translation would be so free as to be rather a dangerous Experiment.’ [II, 85] 12/9/1853 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I enclose you a scrap from The Leader as you like to see criticisms on my Calderon. I suppose your Sisters will send you the Athenaeum in which you will see a more determined spit at me. … I believe those who read the Book, without troubling themselves about whether it is a free Translation or not, like it: but Critics must be supposed to know all, and it is safe to condemn.’ [II, 101] 11/11/1864 to E. B. Cowell. ‘… but I have caught up a long ago begun Version of my dear old Mágico, and have so recast it that scarce a Plank remains of the original! Pretty impudence: This I sha’n’t [sic] publish: so say (pray!) nothing of it at all …’ [II, 532]

Selections from G. Crabbe The poet George Crabbe was one of FitzGerald’s favourite writers and for a long time he had the ambition to make Crabbe’s long poems more accessible to the general reader. In 1879, he finally produced a shortened version of Crabbe’s Tales from the Hall.

3/11/1869 to A. Tennyson. ‘I wish Murray would let me make a Volume of “Selections from Crabbe” – which I know I could do so that common readers would wish to read the whole original; which now scarce any one does; nor can one wonder they do not.’ [III, 162] Dec. 1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘[I] am even now on my Magnum Opus of Crabbe which will never get beyond me, I suppose, unless you look it over. It is a Good Work, I know – worth all my other little Concerns put together.’ [IV, 91] 16/3/1879 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Then – my Crabbe is printing – Hurrah, Boys! And will make a neat little something 8vo Volume, of some 250 pages, which but few would read if they got it for thanks, and much fewer would pay for.’ [IV, 188] 18/5/1879 to Fanny Kemble. ‘By this Post you ought to receive my Crabbe Book, about which I want your Opinion – not as to your own liking, which I doubt not will be more than it deserves: but about whether it is best confined to Friends, who will like it, as you do, more or less out of private prejudice – Two points in particular I want you to tell me; …’ [FitzGerald continues with some detailed questions]’ [IV, 209] 18/2/1883 to B. Quaritch. ‘As you consented to undertake the very unprofitable charge of publishing my Crabbe – I send you up some forty-seven Copies which, with all due deductions for Museums, etc., I honestly think you will scarce get rid of.’ [IV, 551] Euphranor This short book was FitzGerald’s first major publication. It is a discussion of the contemporary education system in Britain, couched in the form of a Platonic dialogue between some Cambridge students and an older companion. It was first published in 1851, with a second edition in 1855.

7/5/1847 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I have not seen Phidippus [Euphranor] since you saw him; … As to publishing: I doubt if the good it would do would be a set off to my own private inconvenience. I feel strongly on the subject: …’ [I, 558] 10/2/1851 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I must speak of Euphanor now – out of shame. I am certain of one thing; I should not have asked you and Spedding to write even honest

praise but that I have it [at] heart the Book should be read; drop though it be to sprinkle on the wide world! It is all I can say: …’ [II, 8] 15/3/1854 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I published the little Dialogue [Euphranor]; but not having (for several other reasons) any desire to appear Author, I only told it to three men whom I wanted to puff the little Book …’ [II, 123] 21/8/1855 to S. Spring Rice. ‘My sending you herewith a Copy of a new Version (rather than new Edition) of that smallest Book [Euphranor] may seem ill of a piece with my protested diffidence on the subject. It is not so, however; since this new Version was made mainly for the purpose of reducing the didactic pretence of the former, and casting all in a yet lighter mould.’ [II, 175] 17/12/1868 to E. B. Cowell. ‘If you have the first Edition of “Euphranor,” I wish you would send it me; for I can’t find one. You say it is much better than the second; in some respects it is, I doubt not; but I think in others not. I think I could much improve the Second by reforming one sheet: …’ [III, 120] Greek plays FitzGerald studied the classics at school and university, and read them closely in the 1840s with his friend E. B. Cowell. He made various translations around that time to which he returned in the 1860s and 1870s, publishing versions of Agamemnon by Aeschylus and the Oedipus plays by Sophocles.

26/4/1870 to W. B. Donne. ‘As to “Agamemnon” – I did it twelve years (or more) ago, after a conversation with her [Mrs Kemble] … about the Greek Drama … The Dialogue is, I think, good – and some of it very good; …’ [III, 217] 9/10/1878 to W. W. Goodwin. ‘I have had the Choephori, and Sophocles’ two Oedipuses (!) lying by me these ten years, I believe, wrought into such shape as Agamemnon.’ [IV, 149] Mar. 1881 to C. E. Norton. ‘Some while ago you asked me to complete a version of the Oedipus Tyrannus and Coloneus of Sophocles, which had been lying by me some years. Here they are at last, the two Tragedies united into one Drama under the ponderous alliteration which figures on the Title-page.’ [IV, 405] Other writings by FitzGerald The quotations highlight FitzGerald’s rather mixed views on his own gifts as a writer, and some other elements in his literary legacy. Apart from his major works, he produced analyses of East

Anglian sea slang, a variety of poems and shorter works such his Calendar of Events in the Life of Charles Lamb. 10/10/1831 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘Behold these verses, they are the fruits, for they never came into my head before: but the wind was blowing hard at the windows and I somehow began to think of Will Thackeray: so the cockles of my heart were warmed, and up spouted the following: …’ [There follow six verses on their relationship.] [I, 103] Jan. 1851 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have what Goethe calls the “Barber’s talent” of easy narrative of easy things – can tell of Barton, and Chesterton Inn, but not of Atreus, and the Alps. Nor do I pretend to do so.’ [II, 3] 22/11/1852 to J. Allen. ‘I should suppose Pickering has lost my Fuller: which I shall be sorry for.’ [Refers to extracts from Fuller’s Wit and Wisdom, which FitzGerald had compiled.] [II, 81] 11/12/1868 to W. A. Wright. ‘Your “Master” [W. H. Thompson] wrote me word the other day, among other things, that you as well as he wished for my own noble Works in your Library. I quite understand that this is on the ground of my being a Trinity man.’ [III, 118] 17/11/1869 to W. H. Thompson. ‘What I can do – namely, to put some other man’s much better, but looser, work into Shape, by help of scissors and paste – that no one will let me do. Which is a cruel Shame.’ [See also comments on S. Richardson in Other English classics.] [III, 168] 30/1/1870 to T. Woolner. ‘I don’t know which of my Persian things you mean. There are two … I will send you both; … I now post you my Sea Words – a work more fitted to my hands; …’ [III, 196] Jan. 1871 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I am always, as you know, sending my Friends, what the Public would not buy if published [A Capfull of Sea-Slang for Christmas].’ [III, 263] 17/11/1874 to T. Constable. ‘I will tell you that I wrote that little Memoir of my old friend B. Barton which you gave a word of Praise to in your Book.’ [III, 530] Oct. 1877 to J. R. Lowell. ‘I do not pretend to the level of an original Writer like yourself: only as Reader of Taste … I am accredited with the Aphorism, “Taste is the Feminine of Genius.”’ [IV, 79]

14/3/1878 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have sent you many works: none better than the enclosed [A Calendar of Events in the Life of Charles Lamb], though it may not be exactly accurate …’ [IV, 107] 1/5/1883 to W. A. Wright. ‘I do not suppose it likely that any of my works should be reprinted after my Death. Possibly the three Plays from the Greek, and Calderon’s Mágico: which have a certain merit in the Form they are cast into, and also in the Versification.’ [IV, 578]

CONTEMPORARY POETRY Some decided views, even about his friends For the purposes of our analysis, contemporary authors are defined as those alive and working during the nineteenth century, whose lives would have overlapped with FitzGerald’s. From his early adult years, FitzGerald had quite a wide awareness of, and interest in, the poets of his time, and he frequently shared these views with his friends. FitzGerald’s interest in contemporary poetry was further stimulated by his close friendship with Alfred Tennyson, the future Poet Laureate, whose name crops up very often in the correspondence; the poet and his wife were direct recipients of FitzGerald’s comments, as was the poet’s brother Frederick Tennyson. FitzGerald did not hide his critical views of some of Alfred Tennyson’s works; as the quotes below show, he preferred the poet’s earlier writings, and he described Tennyson’s In Memoriam as ‘tiresome and unwholesome’.2 FitzGerald also took a great interest in the poet George Crabbe, whose family he came to know well, and whose work he tried to republish. Other writers he generally liked include Byron, Southey and Wordsworth. But the frequent mentions of Robert Browning and similarly ‘modern’ poets are usually combined with negative comments on their work, especially in comparison with his favourites. He was a staunch supporter of the work of his close friend and neighbour Bernard Barton, and his liking for the poetry of John Keats comes out in his comments on the life of the poet produced by FitzGerald’s friend R. M. Milnes (Lord Houghton) in 1848.

In his own words J. Keats

The romantic poet John Keats, 1795–1821, was a writer whom FitzGerald generally admired, certainly in comparison with many of the later poets. But FitzGerald was not always uncritical in his comments. 12/5/1870 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Keats has failed in Endymion, I think.’ [III, 221] 7/4/1872 to A. Tennyson. ‘I have been again reading Lord Houghton’s Life of Keats – whose hastiest doggerel should show Browning, Morris and Co. that they are not what the newspapers tell them they are.’ [III, 342] 14/2/1878 to C. E. Norton. ‘Just as I shut up Catullus, I opened Keats’ Love Letters just published; and really felt no shock of change between the one Poet and the other … Mr. Lowell who justly writes (in his Keats) that there is much in a Name, will wish Keats’ mistress went by some other [name] than “Fanny Brawne,” which I cannot digest.’ [IV, 96] 30/4/1878 to R. M. Milnes. ‘What a fuss the Cockneys [the London public] make about Shelley just now – not worth Keats’s little finger.’ [IV, 122] A. Tennyson The future Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1809–92, was a close personal friend of FitzGerald’s from shortly after their university years. FitzGerald had very mixed views about his friend’s writings, which he expressed quite openly.

4/5/1848 to F. Tennyson. ‘I had a note from Alfred [Tennyson] three months ago … but [he] is now in Ireland, I think, adding to his new poem, the Princess. Have you seen it? I am considered a great heretic for abusing it; it seems to me a wretched waste of power at a time of life when a man ought to be doing his best; and I almost feel hopeless about Alfred now.’ [I, 603] 15/10/1859 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘Have Tennyson’s King’s Idylls reached you yet? It seems to me they might almost [have] been written by Matthew Arnold: but I shouldn’t dare say so within fifty miles of London.’ [II, 340] 23/7/1862 to E. B. Cowell. ‘… Old Alfred [Tennyson]: whom I do not the less recognise as The Great Man from Head to Foot though I think he has fallen short of himself in his later Works.’ [II, 446] 12/4/1874 to R. M. Milnes. ‘I mourn over him [A. Tennyson] as over a Great Man lost – that is, not risen to the Greatness that was in him – for he has done enough to out-last all others of his time, I think – up to 1842.’ [III, 487]

Jan. 1881 to F. Tennyson. ‘Alfred [Tennyson] sent me his last Volume, which, to say the most of it, did not in my opinion add anything to what he had done before, and so (as I think) might as well have remained unpublished. For so much of inferior work seems to me to hang as a weight on all that better part which Posterity will want to preserve. And now there is a new Play [The Cup] to be added to the freight.’ [IV, 388] W. Wordsworth FitzGerald enjoyed much of the poetry of William Wordsworth, 1770–1850, particularly in his earlier years. But he also had typically trenchant criticism of some of the poet’s work.

7/12/1832 to J. Allen. ‘I have been poring over Wordsworth lately: which has had much effect in bettering my Blue Devils: for his philosophy does not abjure melancholy, but puts a pleasant countenance upon it, and connects it with humanity.’ [I, 126] 4/7/1835 to J. Allen. ‘What you say of Tennyson and Wordsworth is not, I think, wholly just. I don’t think that a man can turn himself so directly to the service of morality, unless naturally inclined: I think Wordsworth’s is a natural bias that way. … Wordsworth is first in the craft: but Tennyson does no little by raising and filling the brain with noble images and thoughts, which … purify and cleanse us from mean and vicious objects, and so prepare and fit us for the reception of the higher philosophy.’ [I, 167] 7/2/1876 to C. E. Norton. ‘It is this Conceit that diminishes Wordsworth’s Stature among us, in spite of the Mountain Mists he lived among. Also, a little Stinginess; not like Sir Walter [Scott] in that!’ [III, 654] 29/12/1876 to Anna Biddell. ‘I was trying again to read Wordsworth’s Excursion – written in his Prime, and considered by him as his great Monument. But I can only like his early Ballads and pastoral Pieces.’ [III, 734] Other contemporary poets These quotations illustrate both the range of FitzGerald’s reading of contemporary poetry and his very different views on the quality of the writing. He was particularly at odds with the adulation given by many critics to the work of Robert Browning, 1812–89, and William Morris, 1834–96. His comment on Mrs Browning’s death has an unkind and misogynistic tone quite rare for FitzGerald.

4/7/1835 to J. Allen. ‘A man might forsake a drunken party to read Byron’s Corsair: and Byron’s Corsair for Shelley’s Alastor: …’ [I, 167]

23/11/1839 to B. Barton. ‘Your verses on Assington Hall I had not only seen and read – but even bought.’ [I, 238] 23/11/1839 to B. Barton. ‘I asked young Spring Rice about your Dream verses – he believes that his Father [Chancellor of the Exchequer] shewed them to the Queen. R. M. Milnes, Esq., M.P. sent her a Sonnet, which she said she was very much obliged to him for, but she couldn’t understand it.’ [I, 238] 15/7/1861 to W. H. Thompson. ‘Mrs. Browning’s Death is rather a relief to me, I must say: no more Aurora Leighs, thank God! A Woman of real Genius, I know: but what is the upshot of it all? She and her Sex had better mind the Kitchen and their Children; and perhaps the Poor: except in such things as little Novels, they only devote themselves to what Men do much better, leaving that which Men do worse or not at all.’ [An accompanying note in Terhunes’ Letters describes how Robert Browning reacted strongly when he read this comment after FitzGerald’s death.] [II, 407] Jan. 1865 to W. B. Donne. ‘Thank me one day for the Verses I enclose; surely among some of Byron’s best – and justest.’ [FitzGerald had printed copies of Byron’s satire ‘On Sam Rogers’ for his friends.] [II, 540] Apr. 1869 to A. Tennyson. ‘I have been thinking of you so much for the last two or three days, while the first volume of Browning’s Poem has been on my table, and I have been trying in vain to read it, and yet the Athenaeum tells me it is wonderfully fine.’ [III, 138] 25/4/1869 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I have tried several times to read Volume I of Browning, but cannot. It seems to me a most impudent piece of Cockneyism. I have tried to read Morris’ Jason: but can’t either: one sees the Talent; but not Genius enough to relate such a Story in so slipshod a way.’ [III, 139] 3/11/1869 to A. Tennyson. ‘Frederick [Tennyson] sent me some months ago a piece of a Mrs. Brotherton’s mind, going so far as to say that the Poem [by Browning, recently published] was not only disagreeable, but “nasty,” and equally indignant with me about these Critics letting his Shadow obscure you – for a little – a very little while.’ [III, 162] 29/12/1871 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I also see in the Athenaeum an insane Panegyric on Browning’s last Grotesque. I had thought Beauty was the main object of the Arts: but these people, not having Genius, I suppose, to create any new forms of that,

have recourse to the Ugly, and find their Worshippers in plenty. In Poetry, Music, and Painting, it seems to me the same.’ [III, 318] Nov. 1873 to Mrs A. Tennyson. ‘I believe I am becoming a Bore with my eternal Crabbe [the poet]; and I believe my recommendation will set Alfred against him.’ [III, 456] 1/2/1877 to C. E. Norton. ‘I only want to have Crabbe [the poet] read more than he is. … Your Mother’s Recollection of him is, I am sure, the just one: Crabbe never showed himself in Company, unless to a very close and experienced observer: his Company manner was exactly the reverse of his Books: almost, as Moore says, “doucereux”; …’ [IV, 5] July 1877 to J. Allen. ‘Pray read Southey’s Life of him [Wesley] again … it does not presumptuously guess at Qualities and Motives which are not to be found in Wesley: …’ [IV, 55] May 1878 to J. R. Lowell. ‘Shelley is now the rage in Cockayne [London]; but he is too unsubstantial for me.’ [IV, 125] 26/3/1883 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Not only no good line, but (as seems to me in so much of Browning) nothing to be called a “Poem” in Conception, or Execution. Are we then all wrong …’ [Comment refers to Browning’s Jocoseria.] [IV, 566] May 1883 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I love all Southey, and all that he does; and love that Correspondence of his with Caroline Bowles.’ [IV, 584]

CONTEMPORARY NOVELS Fiction an important element in FitzGerald’s literary diet FitzGerald read widely among the works of the nineteenth-century novelists. In his letters he comments, inter alia, on now well-known authors such as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope and Walter Scott, as well as on more ephemeral fiction, often borrowed from Mudie’s Lending Library. He also read and discussed the works of his great friend W. M. Thackeray. Typically FitzGerald expressed strong views on all these authors, and he was not uncritical of Thackeray’s work, though he enjoyed Vanity Fair. Dickens and Scott were special favourites of FitzGerald’s and, as the quotes show, he re-read them frequently. He also liked the Wilkie Collins mystery novels, perhaps linked to his interest in contemporary criminal trials. But the more

domestic novels of Jane Austen and George Eliot did not meet with his approval. The key period of FitzGerald’s novel reading was in the 1870s; in these later years, when his eyes were failing, his young readers would take on the reading job. Perhaps surprisingly, it was his university friend W. F. Pollock, a leading lawyer with wide cultural interests, to whom FitzGerald wrote most frequently about his reading of contemporary novels, followed by two of his prime correspondents, E. B. Cowell and Fanny Kemble.

In his own words C. Dickens FitzGerald read and re-read the novels of Charles Dickens, 1812–70, and he admired them unreservedly. He met the author once, in 1843, and he enjoyed Forster’s biography of Dickens which appeared shortly after the novelist’s death.

Mar. 1873 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I feel quite sorry I did not know all the Man’s [Dickens’] Goodness the only time I ever was in his Company: that was about 1843 – when Thackeray took me to dinner at D[ickens]’s house – and Tennyson.’ [III, 406] 25/4/1879 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I maintain it [Dickens’ David Copperfield] – a little Shakespeare – a Cockney Shakespeare, if you will: but as distinct, if not so great, a piece of pure Genius as was born in Stratford.’ [IV, 202] 22/9/1879 to S. Laurence. ‘I am here re-reading Forster’s Life of Dickens, which seems to me a very good Book, though people say, I believe, there is too much Forster in it. At any rate, there is enough to show the wonderful Daemonic Dickens; as pure an instance of Genius as ever lived; and, it seems to me, a Man I can love also.’ [IV, 259] W. Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1771–1832, was FitzGerald’s favourite contemporary novelist, and the books provided great solace to FitzGerald in his later years; they were often read to him by his boy readers. He frequently used examples of characters from Scott to illustrate quite unrelated comments in the letters.

14/12/1862 to A. Tennyson. ‘I look at my Row of Sir Walter Scott [27 volumes] and think with comfort that I can always go to him of a Winter Evening, when no other Book comes to hand.’ [II, 470]

23/6/1877 to Fanny Kemble. ‘But when the fuliginous and Spasmodic Carlyle and Co. talk of Scott’s delineating his Characters from without to within – why, he seems to have had a pretty good Staple of the inner Man of David, and Jeanie Deans …’ [IV, 47] 28/2/1878 to J. R. Lowell. ‘I have had read to me of nights some of Sir Walter [Scott]’s Scotch Novels; … eking them out as charily as I may. For I feel, in parting with each, as parting with an old Friend whom I may never see again.’ [IV, 102] 21/6/1879 to F. Tennyson. ‘I have got through Sir Walter [Scott]’s Scotch Novels: and now am with Dickens, who delights me almost as much in a very different way.’ [IV, 227] W. M. Thackeray The novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, 1811–63, was a very close friend of FitzGerald’s at university and in the years immediately following. FitzGerald followed his friend’s writing career, but he did not enjoy Thackeray’s later novels, as he commented below to Thackeray’s elder daughter, Anne Ritchie.

Jan. 1847 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘I see your Perkins [Thackeray’s first Christmas Book, Mrs Perkin’s Ball] greatly extolled in Spectator and Athenaeum.’ [I, 554] 4/5/1848 to F. Tennyson. ‘Thackeray is progressing greatly in his line: he publishes a Novel in numbers – Vanity Fair – which began dull, I thought: but gets better every number, and has some very fine things indeed in it.’ [I, 603] Jan. 1874 to Anne Ritchie [Thackeray]. ‘… and I sincerely think I must be wrong in being utterly unable to relish G[eorge] Eliot … [Your Father’s Novels] hang up in my Memory like Great Cartoons, I declare: rather terrible, I must say, and I rather think he got to frighten me a little himself latterly.’ [III, 473] Other contemporary novelists These examples illustrate FitzGerald’s distinctive views about various contemporary writers, especially his enjoyment of the stories of provincial England by Anthony Trollope, 1815–82, and the mystery novels of Wilkie Collins, 1824–89. He had typically forthright comments on one of Thomas Hardy’s best-known novels (see final quotation).

2/3/1860 to S. Spring Rice. ‘Trollope’s [novels] are very good, I think: not perfect, but better than a narrower Compass of Perfection like Miss Austen’s.’ [II, 354]

3/1/1861 to W. F. Pollock. ‘The “Woman in White” comforted me with its Absurdities: a good Romance!’ [FitzGerald read Collins’ novel three times in successive winters.] [II, 381] 1/7/1873 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Tichborne [a criminal trial] and Trollope’s Eustace Diamonds are my Evening’s Entertainment just now.’ [III, 427] 24/11/1873 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I still purpose to read Miss Evans [George Eliot, author of Middlemarch]: but my Instincts are against her – I mean, her Books.’ [III, 455] 30/12/1875 to S. Laurence. ‘… I cannot get on with Books about the Daily Life which I find insufferable in practice about me. I never could read Miss Austen, nor (later) the famous George Eliot. Give me People, Places, and Things, which I don’t and can’t see; … As to Thackeray’s, they are terrible; I really look at them on the shelf, and am half afraid to touch them.’ [III, 642] 10/2/1877 to Anna Biddell. ‘Then I got one of Trollope’s, “Phineas Redux,” and have been glad to be back with him – a clever, and right-hearted, Man of the World. It is a Political Novel: much better than D’Israeli’s, I think: …’ [IV, 8] 21/9/1878 to W. A. Wright. ‘An incomprehensible Novel, “Far from the Madding Crowd” [by Thomas Hardy] (I tried it on the strength of the title), contains some good Country Life: do you know in what part of England the Shepherd calls, “Ovey, ovey, ovey!” after his sheep?’ [IV, 146]

OTHER CONTEMPORARY WRITING Carlyle and Lamb were main preoccupations FitzGerald took a close interest in some major nineteenth-century writers of nonfiction, notably Thomas Carlyle who became a good friend. The early mentions of the latter in the 1840s cover a period when FitzGerald undertook field research for Carlyle in connection with the Battle of Naseby, to help the historian who was working on his study of Cromwell. The many references to Carlyle in the 1880s relate to the biography of the writer by Froude, and various editions of his letters. Another well-known author mentioned quite often was C. Lamb, particularly when FitzGerald was working on a calendar of his life and further biographical material in the 1870s. FitzGerald admired Lamb’s poetry as well as his prose, both of which are covered in this section.

The works of fellow East Anglian and friend G. Borrow received some trenchant comment from FitzGerald, but the letters contain only very limited mention of the work of other Victorian notables such as C. Darwin and J. Ruskin. W. A. Wright, the Cambridge academic, was FitzGerald’s principal correspondent on contemporary non-fiction, especially in the latter part of his life: the American critic C. E. Norton also received many letters in that period, notably dealing with Carlyle and his correspondence.

In his own words T. Carlyle FitzGerald met the essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle, 1795–1881, when the latter was already an established literary figure. The letters contain many comments, generally favourable, on Carlyle’s works during his lifetime, and on the biographies and letters published after the author’s death.

20/10/1839 to B. Barton. ‘You have bought Carlyle’s Miscellanies, have you not? I long to get them: …’ [I, 235] 12/6/1845 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Carlyle is very busy and in a great muddle with editing his Cromwell Letters. He meant to have illustrated them but by a few words of his own to each letter; but he finds he cannot say a little on matters so near his heart; …’ [I, 496] 13/1/1848 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I suppose you have seen Carlyle’s thirty-five Cromwell letters in Fraser. I see the Athenaeum is picking holes with them too; … But I am sure, both from the general matter of the letters, and from Squire’s own bodily presence, that he did not forge them.’ [Refers to 35 Cromwell Letters given to Carlyle by William Squire – see Terhunes II, 565.] [I, 591] 24/6/1882 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I am now reading Froude’s Carlyle, which seems to me well done. Insomuch, that I sent him all the Letters I had kept of Carlyle’s, to use or not as he pleased, etc. I do not think they will be needed among the thousand others he has: …’ [Carlyle died 5 February 1881.] [IV, 512] July 1882 to W. F. Pollock. ‘The Book which has really, and deeply, interested me – and quite against Expectation – is Froude’s Carlyle Biography; which has (quite contrary to expectation also) not only made me honour Carlyle more, but even love him, which I had never taken into account before.’ [IV, 517]

13/7/1882 to C. E. Norton. ‘… when Froude has done what he wants with my Carlyle Papers, you shall have them to do the like. … His publication of Carlyle’s “Reminiscences” I could not, and do not, understand. But as little can I understand your ill opinion of what has yet appeared of the “Biography.”’ [IV, 519] 1/9/1882 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Yes; you must read Froude’s Carlyle above all things, and tell me if you do not feel as I do about it. … But how is it that I did not know that Carlyle was so good, grand, and even loveable, till I read the Letters which Froude now edits?’ [IV, 529] 26/3/1883 to E. B. Cowell. ‘He [W. A. Wright] is here reading the Emerson– Carlyle Correspondence which Professor Norton, the Editor, sent me. You will, I think, be interested in it, chiefly perhaps on Emerson’s account, who shows himself so devoted a friend; Carlyle also is at his amiablest.’ [IV, 566] C. Lamb Charles Lamb, poet and essayist, 1775–1834, was a friend of FitzGerald’s older Woodbridge friend Bernard Barton. FitzGerald evidently read Lamb’s work with pleasure, and also enjoyed the publications about Lamb after his death. He compiled his own Calendar of Events in the Life of Charles Lamb (see pages 73–74) and left a closely annotated edition of Lamb’s works among his papers.

5/2/1835 to W. B. Donne. ‘To fill up my letter I send you a sonnet of C. Lamb’s – out of his Album Verses – please to like it …’ [The poem is C. Lamb’s Leisure.] [I, 157] 15/8/1848 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Also read if you can the final Memorials of C. Lamb. Really his life was heroic and sublime – a living martyrdom – tempered by brandyand-water, poor fellow; but let no one grudge him one defect amid trials supported in a way which few tee-total hermits and saints could equal.’ [I, 611] 18/3/1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘I brought here the Lettres Inédites of my blessed Sévigné – very carefully edited now: and have lately got down what is called the Complete Edition of blessed Charles Lamb – so far as his Life and Letters go: …’ [IV, 19] Other contemporary authors FitzGerald was clearly provoked by the seminal books of Charles Darwin, 1809–82, who was almost his exact contemporary. But his correspondence about Darwin’s theories was not extensive. George Borrow, 1803–81, was a neighbour and acquaintance of FitzGerald’s, and the latter’s comments show that he had mixed reactions to Borrow’s wide-ranging writings.

24/5/1857 to G. Borrow. ‘Your Book [The Romany Rye] was put into my hands a week ago just as I was leaving London; … I have been travelling along with you to Horncastle, etc., – in a very delightful way for the most part; something as I have travelled, and love to travel, with Fielding, Cervantes, and Robinson Crusoe … And in the parts I least like, I am yet thankful for honest, daring, and original Thought and Speech such as one hardly gets in these mealy-mouthed days. It was very kind of you to send me your book.’ [II, 276] 2/3/1860 to S. Spring Rice. ‘Darwin’s Species [The Origin of Species, published 1859] bring one back to the old Vestiges of Creation [book by Robert Chambers, published anonymously in 1844, which caused a sensation]: which I always had a leaning to, though Sedgwick and the Big Wigs don’d it down as impious and impudent: which it may be.’ [II, 354] 25/4/1871 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘What does the Professor say to Darwin’s Descent of Man?’ [published 1871] [III, 283] July 1873 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Max Müller’s Darwin Paper reminded me of an Observation in Bacon’s Sylva; that Apes and Monkeys, with Organs of Speech so much like Man’s, have never been taught to speak an Articulate word: whereas Parrots and Starlings, with organs so unlike Man’s, are easily taught to do so. Do you know if Darwin, or any of his Followers or Antagonists, advert to this?’ [III, 430] 28/3/1880 to C. Keene. ‘Borrow, I believe, is very inaccurate in his Welch [sic] as in his Gipsy Sanscrit; but he is a Man of individual Genius.’ [IV, 306]

GREEK AND LATIN CLASSICS A lifelong source of interest and study FitzGerald had a lifetime interest in the Greek and Latin classics. He was widely read in this field and, as was typical of a well-educated man of his period, he could read the authors in their original languages. FitzGerald’s interest in the classics was reinforced by his friendship with E. B. Cowell from the 1840s. Some of the works mentioned frequently are ones of which FitzGerald subsequently made ‘translations’ of his own, notably the Agamemnon of Aeschylus and later the Oedipus plays by Sophocles, versions of which he published for his friends. Other classical authors of particular interest to him included Lucretius, Homer and Virgil; it is notable that

Cowell wrote in 1858 of the similarity of thinking between Lucretius and Omar Khayyám.3 More than one-third of all FitzGerald’s letters that mention the ancient classics were to E. B. Cowell, with FitzGerald’s school friend W. B. Donne and the Cambridge academic W. A. Wright being key among others with whom he shared this literary love. In contrast to FitzGerald’s mixed views on contemporary writers, he generally expressed positive views on the classical authors that he was reading.

In his own words FitzGerald’s comments on the Greek and Latin classics cover histories, plays and poetry. He returned, with evident pleasure, to major authors such as Homer, and he often read the classics when in the country or at sea on his boat. Later letters refer to translations and commentaries done by his friends, including W. H. Thompson, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, on which he provided well-informed criticisms. 1/1/1837 to J. Allen. ‘I am very deep in my Aristophanes, and find the Edition I bought quite sufficient for my wants. One requires a translation of him less than of any of the Greeks I have read, because his construction is so clear and beautiful.’ [I, 186] 12/2/1837 to J. Allen. ‘I am reading Plutarch’s Lives, which is one of the most delightful books I ever read.’ [I, 192] 20/10/1839 to B. Barton. ‘I have gone through Homer’s Iliad – sorry to have finished it. The accounts of the Zoolu people, with Dingarn their king, etc., give one a very good idea of the Homeric heroes, who were great brutes: but superior to the Gods who governed them: …’ [I, 235] 12/7/1840 to J. Allen. ‘I have got hold of Herodotus now: the most interesting of all Historians. But I find the disadvantage of being so ill-grounded and bad a scholar: I can get at the broad sense: but all the delicacies … escape me sadly.’ [I, 253] 18/2/1841 to W. H. Thompson. ‘Gibbon might elegantly compare my retirement from the cares and splendours of the world to that of Diocletian.’ [FitzGerald was then aged 31.] [I, 267] Aug. 1842 to J. Allen. ‘I have been reading Stobaeus’ Anthology as I saunter in the fields: a pretty collection of Greek aphorisms in verse and prose. The bits of Menander and the comic poets are very acceptable.’ [I, 334]

20/9/1842 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Here I am reading Virgil’s delightful Georgics for the first time. They really attune perfectly well with the plains and climate of Naseby.’ [I, 349] 24/2/1844 to F. Tennyson. ‘You must begin to read Seneca, whose letters I have been reading: else, when you come back to England, you will be no companion to a man who despises wealth, death, etc. What are pictures but paintings – what are auctions but sales! All is vanity.’ [I, 422] 28/1/1845 to E. B. Cowell. ‘… and I know not if I shall have time or patience in future to keep up a serviceable amount of Latin and Greek. And yet how easy to read Homer every year: and three or four Greek Plays: and some Plato – some Tacitus; all Virgil’s Georgics!’ [I, 475] 8/2/1847 to T. Carlyle. ‘I have begun to read Thucydides, which I never read before … though I can’t say I care much for the Greeks and their peddling quarrels; one must go to Rome for wars.’ [I, 556] 24/7/1847 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I am only got half way in the third book of Thucydides: but I go on with pleasure; with as much pleasure as I used to read a novel. I have also again taken up my Homer.’ [I, 565] 25/5/1849 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I cannot doubt that Aristotle is a great man; but surely your friend must err in calling his Ethics the Pagan Bible. Surely the Phaedo, the Crito, and other dialogues of Plato, are more that. One day I mean to read the Nicomachean Ethics.’ [I, 637] July 1854 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Thompson at Ely made me read the Swineherd’s account of himself in the fifteenth Odyssey – his being carried off when a Child by the Phoenician. If you have not this Greek in your mind, pray turn to it as one of the purest Idylls I know.’ [W. H. Thompson was then Canon of Ely and Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge.] [II, 133] 5/11/1866 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I scarce know why it is that I always get back to Greek (and Virgil) when in my Ship: but so it is. Sophocles has been a sort of Craze to me this Summer.’ [II, 607] 27/8/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘… I had finished Oedipus Coloneus again: going over it more carefully with the Wunder you sent me. Wunder is just what you told me; the best edition … My Nephew Maurice has published a Volume of Translations; Euripides’ Hippolytus, some Idylls of Theocritus, etc.’ [III, 42]

17/12/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Thompson has sent me the proof of a really excellently written Excursus on Plato’s Phaedrus; I am scarce qualified to judge of the Argument – of Love – the Composition of the Soul, etc., of which so much may be said on many sides about such a Writer as Plato.’ [III, 68] 1/2/1871 to W. H. Thompson. ‘The Gorgias duly came last week, thank you: and I write rather earlier than I should otherwise have done to satisfy you on that point. Otherwise, I say, I should have waited awhile till I had gone over all the Notes more carefully – with some of the sweet-looking Text belonging to them; which would have taken some time, as my Eyes have not been in good trim of late.’ [Refers to Thompson’s edition of Plato’s Gorgias.] [III, 272] 23/6/1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘I have been regaling myself … with Mr. Munro’s admirable Lucretius. Surely, it must be one of the most admirable Editions of a Classic ever made! I don’t understand the Latin punctuation, but I daresay there is good reason for it.’ [IV, 48] 14/2/1878 to C. E. Norton. ‘I have been rubbing up a little Latin from some “Criticisms and Elucidations of Catullus,” by H. Munro, who edited Lucretius so capitally.’ [IV, 96]

SHAKESPEARE Interest provoked by the theatre, and his friends’ works Although FitzGerald clearly read Shakespeare throughout his life, the plays only became a topic of special importance in his letters in his last two decades. Early in FitzGerald’s adult life, discussion of Shakespeare was mainly stimulated by his visits to see the plays live in the London theatre. In later years, reminiscences of these visits, and the actors involved, recur in correspondence with close friends, especially with Fanny Kemble, herself an actress in earlier years (see also comments on Theatre in Chapter 11). In the 1870s and 1880s, FitzGerald had many exchanges about the works on Shakespeare that a number of his friends, notably J. Spedding and W. A. Wright, were producing as critics or editors. This correspondence includes discussions about the Shakespearean language and its meanings, as well as comments on characters from specific plays. Nearly half of all the letters mentioning Shakespeare in this period went to Wright, often in response to the drafts or editions that FitzGerald had received.

In his own words General comments These quotations show how FitzGerald’s interest in Shakespeare, 1564–1616, ranged over Shakespearian critical studies and the history of publication of the plays, as well as their language and content. His correspondence generally presumes that his friends have an equivalent depth of knowledge to his own.

10/10/1831 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘I have not read Shakespeare for a long time. I will tell you why. I found that his manner stuck so in my head that I was always trying to think in his way; I mean with his quaint words, etc. – this I don’t wish. I don’t think I’ve read him for a year.’ [I, 103] 27/11/1832 to J. Allen. ‘I have truly been lapped [enfolded] in these [Shakespeare] Sonnets for some time: they seem all stuck about my heart, like the ballads that used to be on the walls of London. I have put a great many into my Paradise …’ [Paradise was one of FitzGerald’s commonplace books.] [I, 121] 5/2/1835 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have been buying two Shakespeares – a second and third Folio – the second Folio pleases me much: and I can read him with a greater zest now.’ [I, 157] 24/10/1859 to S. Spring Rice. ‘I have no Account to give of Reading – so little have I read. Some Chaucer and Shakespeare with great Wonder and Some Pleasure: …’ [II, 343] 3/4/1863 to W. H. Thompson. ‘I shall certainly buy the new Shakespeare you tell me of, if the Volumes aren’t bulky; which destroys my pleasure in the use of a book.’ [Refers to the Cambridge edition of Shakespeare, 9 volumes, 1863–6.] [II, 476]. 22/12/1871 to W. A. Wright. ‘I had not opened Shakespeare since I last wrote you till today: when I opened Bowdler’s S[hakespeare] at page 1; and read “Down with the Topmast: Yare: lower, lower; bring her to try with main course.” Being myself a nautical Genius, who had heard of “Try-sails” in hard weather, I looked for a Note on the word “try”, but found none …’ [III, 314] 26/1/1872 to W. A. Wright. ‘As to Shakespeare’s names, his Genius instinctively led him to those which somehow musically expressed the Characters: whether he invented, or (as more probable) adopted them.’ [III, 325] Apr. 1873 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Gervinus’ Theory of Hamlet is very striking. Perhaps Shakespeare himself would have admitted, without ever having expressly

designed, it. I always said with regard to the Explanation of Hamlet’s Madness or Sanity, that Shakespeare himself might not have known the Truth any more than we understand the seeming Discords we see in People we know best.’ [III, 412] Dec. 1873 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Somebody sent me a Prospectus of some new Shakespeare Society, under Mr. Furnivall’s Auspices, and with the hope of the Poet Laureate as Patron. But I think enough has been done about Shakespeare; …:’ [FitzGerald became a member in 1878.] [III, 461] 31/8/1876 to W. A. Wright. ‘I was at Dunwich for 2 Days in company with Edwards the Painter, who had V. Hugo’s son’s Prose Translation of Shakespeare. I was astonished how well Henry IV came out, both Hotspur and Falstaff: it made me see Shakespeare in a new light, as large as Life, and as alive.’ [III, 696] Works on Shakespeare by W. A. Wright and J. Spedding W. A. Wright, the Librarian and later Vice-Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, edited a major series of Shakespeare plays, and FitzGerald provided meticulous comments on the content and language of these works. FitzGerald’s school friend James Spedding also produced a number of essays on the plays, published in various journals, which FitzGerald clearly enjoyed, though there are no surviving letters to Spedding on this topic.

19/11/1873 to W. A. Wright. ‘The Tempest? I suppose that is the Play you are busy about for the “Select” – is it? I wish I could help you if you want help: but I suppose you thought I might from my Queries about Trysails. But there I stop.’ [See also quotation in previous section from letter to Wright 22/12/1871.] [III, 454] 1/4/1875 to W. A. Wright. ‘… I send you a few very learned remarks on the Tempest in your capital Series’. [Then follow detailed comments on the Tempest.] [III, 564] 7/4/1875 to W. A. Wright. ‘Your Edition sent me off looking over the three Plays as well as the Notes; …’ [Then follow remarks on Macbeth, Merchant of Venice and ‘Gimblet: Prince of Dunkirk’.] [III, 566] 9/4/1875 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I have been looking over four of Shakespeare’s Plays, edited by Clark and Wright: editors of the “Cambridge Shakespeare.” These “Select Plays” are very well done, I think: Text, and Notes; although with somewhat too much of the latter.’ [III, 574] 22/4/1875 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I have been looking over Wright’s Select Shakespeare: good on the whole, I think. I must say he is right in Bowdlerizing somewhat: that is, cutting out …’ [III, 579]

30/7/1875 to W. A. Wright. ‘Does your Shakespeare go on? Spedding has (as you know) a delicious little Paper about the Merchant of Venice in July Fraser: but I think he is wrong in subordinating Shylock to the Comedy Part.’ [III, 590] Autumn 1875 to W. A. Wright. ‘I like your Lear very much indeed, Preface, and Note: especially about Aesthetic; … But don’t you put your own foot a little way into it by calling K. L. [King Lear] “the greatest Tragic Picture”?’ [FitzGerald then continues at considerable length on this subject.] [III, 615]

OTHER ENGLISH CLASSICS Poets, novelists, historians and Francis Bacon This heading covers the major pre-nineteenth-century English writers of importance to FitzGerald, other than Shakespeare. Among them are major poets such as Chaucer, Dryden, Gray and Milton, as well as early novelists, notably Richardson and Fielding, and non-fiction writers, such as Dr Johnson, Pepys and Walpole. But the most significant of these earlier authors for FitzGerald was Francis Bacon, primarily due to the work on the sixteenth-/seventeenth-century author by FitzGerald’s school and university friend James Spedding. The latter, who worked for a while as a civil servant, put much of his life’s effort into preparing a new edition of Bacon’s works, something FitzGerald thought was a waste of his friend’s talents. Despite these reservations, FitzGerald was active in promoting Spedding’s works as they appeared. Among other writers, FitzGerald particularly enjoyed Thomas Gray’s famous Elegy, and he re-read Richardson’s Clarissa a number of times, and felt he could cut it down into a better and more manageable work. Apart from E. B. Cowell and W. A. Wright, here as well as elsewhere the most frequent recipients of FitzGerald’s literary comments, his views on other English classics were often shared with school or university friends, such as W. B. Donne and W. F. Pollock.

In his own words F. Bacon (including works by J. Spedding) Francis Bacon, 1561–1626, wrote widely on philosophical, scientific and other subjects. Although FitzGerald took some interest in Bacon’s works, his main comments on the author relate to the long labour of love by his school friend James Spedding to produce a new edition of Bacon’s works.

21/3/1836 to W. B. Donne. ‘We were all talking the other night of Basil Montagu’s new Life of Bacon – have you read it? It is said to be very elaborate and tedious. A good life of Bacon is much wanted.’ [I, 180] 4/5/1853 to S. Spring Rice. ‘I suppose that Old Serpent [Spedding] has got Ellis’ share of Bacon to edit now. I say I wish he had done with Bacon, and would set about an Edition of Shakespeare.’ [R. L. Ellis was to be an editor of Bacon with Spedding, but withdrew from the project.] [II, 88] 22/1/1857 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Spedding’s first volume of Bacon is out; some seven hundred pages; and the Reviews already begin to think it is over-commentaried.’ [II, 244] 23/2/1858 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Spedding has been a little ill: but is now well: and goes on with the fourth Volume of his Bacon. He will die, I believe, with that “Hog in Armour” on him – to how little good! … Surely Bacon’s Books were already well enough edited not to need the whole sacrifice of Spedding’s life in re-editing.’ [This is in a postscript to a letter to Mrs E. B. Cowell.] [II, 310] 3/4/1863 to W. H. Thompson. ‘I always look upon old Spedding’s as one of the most wasted Lives I know: and he is a wise Man! Twenty years ago I told him that he should knock old Bacon off – I don’t mean give him up, but wind him up at far less sacrifice of Time and Labour; and edit Shakespeare.’ [II, 476] 29/1/1867 to F. Tennyson. ‘Old Spedding has written a Pamphlet about “Authors and Publishers”; showing up, or striving to show up, the Publisher’s system. He adduces his own Edition of Bacon as a sample of their mis-management, in respect of too bulky Volumes, etc. …’ [III, 8] 11/12/1868 to W. A. Wright. ‘When R. Groome was with me a month ago, I was speaking to him of having found some Bacon in Montaigne: and R.G. told me that you had observed the same, and were indeed collecting some instances; I think, quotations from Seneca, so employed as to prove that Bacon had them from the Frenchman.’ [III, 118] 24/8/1874 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Spedding has sent me the concluding Volume of his Bacon: the final summing up simple, noble, deeply pathetic – rather on Spedding’s own Account than his Hero’s, for whose Vindication so little has been done by the sacrifice of forty years of such a Life as Spedding’s.’ [III, 511]

3/11/1874 to T. Carlyle. ‘Come; he [Sir Walter Scott] is at least as good as old Bacon, whom Spedding has consumed near forty years in whitewashing. I declare that is a Tragedy: …’ [III, 520] 9/11/1874 to W. H. Thompson. ‘I can indeed fully assent to Carlyle’s Admiration of Spedding’s History of the Times, as well as of the Hero who lived in them. But the Question still remains – was it worth forty years of such a life as Spedding’s to write even so good an Account of a few, not the most critical, Years of English History …’ [III, 524] [Carlyle’s letter to FitzGerald 6/11/1874 [III, 522] gives a long and detailed view of Bacon and Spedding’s work on him.] S. Richardson Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady is a very long novel by the eighteenth-century writer Samuel Richardson, 1689–1761. Much of it is in the form of letters, and it was first published in eight volumes. FitzGerald greatly enjoyed the work, but even he felt it was over long.

18/9/1862 to S. Spring Rice. ‘And I am now reading – Clarissa! – for about the fifth time. It is, I admit, as dull – as Life itself – a Book of Original Genius. I am sure I could make it readable; by cutting out about one third: but no one would believe me.’ [II, 453] 3/4/1865 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Clarissa Harlowe! There’s a Work of Genius indeed, wearisome and aggravating as it is: I could make that a readable Book with a Pair of Scissors, I believe; and I wish some Bookseller would let me try: …’ [II, 547] 3/4/1865 to W. E. Crowfoot. ‘I suppose you never read that aggravating Book, Clarissa Harlowe? Now, with a pair of Scissors, I could make that a readable Book; …’ [II, 548] Other English classical authors FitzGerald was clearly very well read in English classical literature and he made many perceptive comments on the works and on comparisons between them. His interests included historical writers (such as Horace Walpole, 1717–97) and early novelists (such as Henry Fielding, 1707– 54), as well the famous poets including Thomas Gray, 1716–71, and John Milton, 1616–74.

22/4/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I am now reading some of Fielding: very good, as far as it goes; but he does not sound the Depths, or reach the Heights.’ [III, 23] 15/1/1869 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Here I have got to read Walpole’s Memoirs of the Reigns of George II and III. I can’t read all; but I doubt if I could any such Diaries of

Politics by any other man. One sees he has his hates and likings (much more of the first than of the last), and that he likes to write Epigram.’ [III, 122] 20/1/1872 to W. A. Wright. ‘I have been looking into Andrew Marvell, an old favourite of mine – who led the way for Dryden in Verse, and Swift in Prose.’ [III, 322] 22/12/1876 to C. E. Norton. ‘I feel sure that Gray’s Elegy, pieced and patched together so laboriously by a Man of almost as little Genius as abundant Taste, will outlive all these hasty Abortions [verse by Morris, Browning and Swinburne].’ [III, 730] Oct. 1877 to J. R. Lowell. ‘You should get Dryden’s Prefaces published separately in America – with your own remarks on them … I think that to me Dryden’s Prose quoad Prose, is the finest Style of all. So Gray, I believe, thought: that man of Taste, very far removed … from the Man he admired.’ [IV, 79] 21/6/1879 to F. Tennyson. ‘Mr. Lowell lately observed in a Letter to me what a Pity that so few were of Gray’s mind in seeing how much better was too little than too much. But I fancy Gray would have written and published more had his ideas been more copious …’ [IV, 227] 20/3/1880 to W. A. Wright. ‘There seem to me some fine things in Milton’s Latin Verses “Ad Patrem,” written I suppose before leaving College.’ [IV, 300]

FRENCH, ITALIAN AND GERMAN LITERATURE Learning French as a child opened literary doors FitzGerald spoke fluent French primarily as a result of the family’s stay in France in 1816–18 when he was 7–9 years old. He even wrote some of his letters in French, notably to G. Crabbe of Merton. He enjoyed reading French literature in the original and was especially attracted by Madame de Sévigné’s descriptions of French life in the seventeenth century, and the collected Causeries du Lundi articles of St Beuve which were being published in the mid-nineteenth century. This interest in topical comment and ‘gossip’ ties in with FitzGerald’s extensive reading and collecting of English literary journals such as the Gentleman’s Magazine and the Athenaeum. FitzGerald’s Italian and German were less fluent, but nonetheless he was able to appreciate Dante and Goethe in their original languages. Most of the comments on these foreign classics date from the 1870s and 1880s, FitzGerald’s peak years of literary correspondence. Apart from correspondence with E. B. Cowell, W. A.

Wright and Fanny Kemble, there were significant exchanges with the bookseller Bernard Quaritch, mainly about various foreign books that FitzGerald wanted to obtain or to sell.

In his own words French FitzGerald did not comment much on French poetry, plays or novels, but the extracts show how he especially enjoyed various non-fiction works in French, notably series of letters and general social comments relating to French life in different periods. His favourites included works by Charles-Augustin Sainte Beuve, 1804–69, Madame Marie de Sévigné, 1626–96, and the essayist Michel E. Montaigne, 1533–92.

20/11/1861 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I am extremely pleased with Sainte Beuve’s “Causeries du Lundi,” which I get from the London Library: and try to make the most and longest of its twelve Volumes!’ [II, 411] 27/1/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘At Lowestoft I have twice had Montaigne for Company; … I read a great deal of him over and over.’ [III, 6] 10/12/1872 to W. A. Wright. ‘Looking into a little “Pocket” Volume of Aphorisms from Montaigne, 1783, I happened on – “Les arondelles que nous voyons au retour du Printemps fureter tous les coins de nos maisons, cherchent-elles sans jugement,” etc.’ [FitzGerald continues with comments on the derivations of certain French words.] [III, 386] Mar. 1873 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I suppose you never read Béranger’s Letters: there are four thick Volumes of these, of which I have as yet only seen the Second and Third: and they are well worth reading.’ [III, 402] 29/12/1874 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I am making another shot at Gil Blas [novel by A.-R. Lesage] – which I never could read … I am also once more trying La Fontaine’s Fables: which I suppose scarce any Englishman can thoroughly appreciate, the merit consisting so much in the nicety of French Diction.’ [III, 540] Aug. 1875 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Did you ever read Madame de Sévigné? I never did till this summer, rather repelled by her perpetual harping on her Daughter. … Ste Beuve says she has something of Montaigne, of Molière, and even of Rabelais in her. All those she loves, as also Corneille …’ [III, 592]

Italian Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron are two classics of Italian literature which FitzGerald praised highly. He read Dante, 1265–1321, from early in his adult life, and he returned often to the writer. Boccaccio, 1313–75, was an author he came to only in later life.

20/7/1839 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Morton recommended me to read Alfieri’s Life of Himself. So I bought it in London and have been reading it by bits ever since. It is in very easy Italian, and is entertaining, as far as I have read: just half. He was a very fine fellow, was Alfieri: …’ [I, 226] 8/8/1841 to B. Barton. ‘I have read nothing except some novels since I saw you: and a little Dante, who goes well with these black mountain tops.’ [FitzGerald was in Ireland near the Wicklow Mountains.] [I, 283] 5/8/1863 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I took Dante by way of slow Digestion: not having looked at him for some years: but I am glad to find I relish him as much as ever: he atones with the Sea; …’ [II, 491] 24/9/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I have taken up Boccaccio: which is almost as delightful as Don Quixote.’ [III, 45] 1/3/1882 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I was so much interested in what I saw of Musurus Pasha [Ottoman ambassador in London] in the Academy that I have bought his Dante: … Your Version [Pollock’s Dante of 1854] always seemed to me the best, though I still love some of Cary [1814] – now ridiculed, I believe.’ [IV, 490] German There are comparatively few mentions of German literature in FitzGerald’s letters. What there are refer mainly to the two great figures of the late eighteenth/early nineteenth centuries, Johann von Goethe, 1749–1832, and Johann von Schiller, 1759–1805. Sometimes, as shown below, his comments deal with their lesser works, or books about them, rather than their bestknown plays or poetry.

14/3/1833 to J. Allen. ‘Whenever I open Undine [German fairy romance by Baron Fouqué published in 1811], I become very tender and loving: …’ [I, 134] 22/8/1839 to W. B. Donne. ‘… I stumbled upon a Review by Carlyle on some German Memoirs of a certain Rahel Von Ense … there is an account of Jean Paul [Richter] in his little home at Baireuth – a very beautiful account of a very noble simple fellow …’ [I, 233]

7/6/1840 to F. Tennyson. ‘… a book which I have just been reading: Eastlake’s translation of Goethe’s Theory of Colours. I recommend it to you, when you can get hold of it.’ [I, 250] 15/9/1879 to Fanny Kemble. ‘… Eckermann’s Goethe – almost as repeatedly to be read as Boswell’s Johnson – a German Johnson – and (as with Boswell) more interesting to me in Eckermann’s Diary than in all his own famous works.’ [IV, 255] 18/1/1882 to C. E. Norton. ‘I find the Correspondence between Goethe and Schiller from 1790 to 1805 (translated by Dora Schmitz) extremely worth reading – in part, at least: for I do not understand, nor try to understand, all the Aesthetic.’ [IV, 473]

SPANISH LITERATURE Don Quixote, a man after his own heart? Spanish was the first of the new languages that FitzGerald took up as a result of his friendship with the young E. B. Cowell. From the late 1840s, they began to read Don Quixote and Calderon together. This produced a series of exchanges of letters discussing the merits of the works and led to FitzGerald’s work on his own ‘translation’ of several of Calderon’s plays. The first set of these was published in 1853, and was not a critical success. FitzGerald took up again with his Spanish reading and translating from the 1860s onward, this time especially focusing on Don Quixote. From the 1870s, the correspondence on Spanish literature widened to include Fanny Kemble, W. A. Wright and new US contacts, the critic C. E. Norton and the writer J. R. Lowell who was at the time US ambassador in Spain. The letters show that Don Quixote was one of FitzGerald’s long-term literary loves. In a letter, E. B. Cowell commented to his sister, ‘It is curious to see how very fond he [FitzGerald] is of that book. He never seems to tire of it. … He reads every book of travel he can get hold of about Spain, and cuts them up into volumes, pasted together and bound up, to illustrate Don Quixote.’4 One can speculate as to whether FitzGerald saw something of himself in the figure of the lanky Don, tilting at the windmills of established social conventions.

In his own words The comments highlight FitzGerald’s great love for two famous Spanish writers, the dramatist Pedro Calderon de la Barca, 1600–81, and the author of Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes

Saavedra, 1547–1616. The quotations show how absorbed FitzGerald could become in an author, once his interest was attracted. 21/7/1852 to E. B. and Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I have been reading the Cid Romances so as to get up a smattering of Spanish, and so as to read a play of Calderon with Mr. Plus et minus [sic – reference is probably to E. B. Cowell]. I wanted very much to begin “Il Magico” the other day, but have reserved it that we may fall to together.’ [II, 62] 3/10/1852 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Thank you for the Calderon: … Are you sure it is a complete Edition – warranted? I have read … [1.] the Cisma d’Inghilterra … 2. Las Cadenas del Demonio … 3. Un Castigo en Tres Venganzas. 4. Las Tres Justicias en Una … 5. La Desdicha de la Voz … And, lastly, the Pintor de su Deshonra – a very grand play.’ [II, 64] Illustration 8.  Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Illustration by Gustave Doré, first published in 1863.

11/10/1852 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I am translating all the “Pintor”! But the truth is, it is a domestic tragedy: of no great lyrical flight …’ [FitzGerald also mentions four other plays.] [II, 66] 9/11/1852 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘Tell Cowell that “Luis Pérez, el Gallego” is a capital play: a sort of Spanish Rob Roy: … I am now translating the Alcalde de Zalamea into prose: …’ [II, 72] 1/12/1853 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I have begun Don Q[uixote] – the Spanish – and very pleasant it is.’ [II, 116] 29/4/1856 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘If you see Trench’s new Book about Calderon you will see he has dealt very handsomely with me.’ [Trench praised FitzGerald’s translations of Calderon’s plays.] [II, 225] 9/10/1866 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I do not believe that Don Q[uixote] can be translated into English: the Gravity and Stateliness of the Spanish Language is, in this case, part of the Subject.’ [II, 604] 22/1/1871 to W. F. Pollock. ‘My acquaintance with Spanish, as with other Literature, is almost confined to its Fiction; and of that I have read nothing to care about except Don Quixote and Calderon. The first is well worth learning Spanish for.’ [Pollock’s wife and eldest son were learning Spanish and he had asked FitzGerald for book recommendations.] [III, 267] 20/8/1879 to J. R. Lowell. ‘[Cowell] and I are reading the Second Part of Don Quixote together, as we used to read together thirty years ago; he always the Teacher, and I the Pupil. Although he is quite unaware of that Relation between us; …’ [Letter sent during a holiday in Lowestoft.] [IV, 247]

PERSIAN LITERATURE AND OTHER ORIENTAL WORKS A blaze of interest in the 1850s Most of FitzGerald’s letters concerning a range of Persian authors were written in the 1850s and directed to E. B. Cowell, his mentor on the language. In the period up to 1856, before FitzGerald started serious work on the Rubáiyát, he was reading and discussing writers such as Háfiz, Jámí, Attár and Sa’dí. He went on to produce translations of Attár’s Bird Parliament and Jámí’s Salámán and Absál in this period. After the production of the first edition of the Rubáiyát in 1859, FitzGerald’s

interest in Persian authors waned; meanwhile, on his return from India in 1864, E. B. Cowell had moved on to focus on his Sanskrit studies. Publication of FitzGerald’s further editions of the Rubáiyát in 1868, 1872 and 1879 rekindled some of his interest in Persian literature, and the topic of Persian authors recurred from time to time in the later correspondence between FitzGerald and Cowell, as did other people’s work on the Rubáiyát, notably the versions by Nicolas, Whinfield and Mrs Cadell. Apart from the mentions of his own work on the Rubáiyát, FitzGerald seldom referred to his Persian literary interests to anyone other than Cowell, or occasionally his wife Elizabeth.

In his own words The letters document clearly the way in which FitzGerald’s interest in Persian developed from the late 1840s, starting with some of the famous poets, and moving through the, initially rather reluctant, study of the language, to an almost obsessive involvement in the minutiae of translation. FitzGerald’s attention to detail is also evident in the letters dealing with his own writings from the Persian (see pages 67–71). Summer 1846 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Your Háfiz is fine: and his tavern world is a sad and just idea.’ [Terhunes note that this is the first letter in which FitzGerald mentions Persian literature.] [I, 538] 22/8/1847 to W. B. Donne. ‘I see that Cowell has stept into the Westminster Review with an article on Persian Poetry. … His article is quite unaffected; he writes at present without a style; which is a good feature in a young writer, I think. … But Cowell seems only to wish to say what he knows; and has thought more about knowing than telling.’ [I, 572] 25/1/1848 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I liked your paper on the Mesnaví [of Rumi] very much – both your criticism and your Mosaic legend. That I may not seem to give you careless and undistinguishing praise, I will tell you that I could not quite hook on the latter part of Moses to the former; did you leave out any necessary link of the chain in the hiatus you made? Or is the inconsequence only in my brains?’ [I, 594] 7/10/1853 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I am not sure of even wanting either [an edition of Firdusi and a Persian dictionary]: for I am not greatly impressed with the desire to poke out even a smatter of Persian: …’ [II, 110] 5/1/1854 to E. B. Cowell. ‘This Persian is really a great Amusement to me. I find my Dictionary very necessary to supply some words Eastwick omits. As to Jones’ Grammar, I have a Sort of Love for it!’ [II, 118]

24/1/1854 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘Tell Cowell I get on famously (as I think) with Sádí, whom I like much: he is just one of the Writers who can’t be seen in a Translation: …’ [II, 119] 8/6/1854 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Tennyson and I have been trying at some Háfiz in Sir W. Jones’ Poeseos. Will you correct and send back the enclosed as soon as you can – giving us the metre and sound of any words very necessary to the music …’ [II, 131] Sep. 1854 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I can’t help transcribing for you a little Ode of Jámí’s quoted by De Sacy – “d’un charme inexprimable” he truly says.’ [In this long letter FitzGerald mentions several other Persian poets and other items including Háfiz’s Odes, Nakhshabi’s Tales of a Parrot, W. Ouseley’s Travels in Persia, Malcolm’s Sketches of Persia, the game of Chaugan (Polo) et al.] [II, 139] 17/9/1854 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I am looking over Malcolm’s Persia which seems well done; by a Soldier and one who knew the Country he wrote about. I can’t take much interest in the History itself: but I wished just to know where some of the Poetic Kings come in.’ [II, 142] Mid-Feb. 1855 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I am afraid you think me still too hasty and harsh a Critic about your own Papers, since you don’t tell me of them till they are printed and abroad. I saw Parker, and bought the new Magazine last week: not only for your Paper, but also for one on Whewell’s Book which I want to send to Crabbe [of Bredfield?].’ [II, 155] 4/9/1855 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I like the Háfiz Ode you sent me translated; though that should be weeded of some Idioms not only European, but Drawing-room-European. All is lost if one does not keep as near as possible to the Antique and Oriental simple forms of Grammar which the Bible Translation has prepared us for …’ [II, 180] 23/2/1857 to E. B. Cowell. ‘… I have made acquaintance by Letter with Garcin de Tassy; whose Analysis of the “Mantic” is Capital …’ [FitzGerald adds a long analysis of Attár’s Mantiq-ut-Tayr or Bird Parliament.] [II, 252] 14/10/1867 to B. Quaritch. ‘Please to post me 9244 [catalogue reference] Nicolas’ Omar Khayyám …’ [III, 50] 28/10/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I have been nearly all day looking into the new Omar K[hayyám] [Nicolas’ French version]. A note near the Beginning tells us that the French Editor studied it with a Súfí; who perhaps turned all to his own mystical Sense. No doubt, some of the Quatrains refer to a mystical Wine and Wine pourer: others would puzzle anyone to be so understood.’ [III, 55]

17/12/1870 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘But now that Cowell himself is got back for a time to Persian, tell him he must do what is to be done with the Mesnavi.’ [III, 256] 17/6/1877 to F. Hall. ‘There was a notice in the Athenaeum some months ago that some Lady was about a literal Translation of Omar K[hayyám] with the advice and assistance of some very great Oriental Scholar, whose name I forget, as also hers.’ [The ‘Lady’ was Jessie E. Cadell and the Scholar was Dr Hermann Ethe. In 1899, 144 of her translated quatrains were published.] [IV, 45]

WRITINGS BY FITZGERALD’S FRIENDS A loyal friend, helping to improve and promote others’ works Part of FitzGerald’s loyalty to his friends shows in the fact that he frequently wrote about their works and shared his views with other correspondents, usually helping to promote his friends’ interests. Examples of this literary networking have been discussed under other categories, for example J. Spedding’s edition of Bacon, A. Tennyson’s poems, W. M. Thackeray’s novels, works by and on T. Carlyle, and W. A. Wright’s editions of Shakespeare. Other less significant works by friends also appear with some frequency in the correspondence. Sometimes FitzGerald is offering practical comment to authors; this includes critical suggestions regarding Mrs E. B. Cowell’s poems in the 1850s, and textual comment on W. H. Thompson’s translations of classics in the 1870s. In the last couple of decades of his life, FitzGerald often commented on volumes of memoirs or letters concerning people that he knew, such as Fanny Kemble’s reminiscences and C. E. Norton’s collections of the Carlyle/Emerson letters. He also promoted the works by friends that he admired and felt should be published, such as the poems by Frederick Tennyson and Charles Tennyson Turner (brothers of the Poet Laureate) and the letters of his wild and artistic university friend Savile Morton. Fanny Kemble and F. Tennyson were important recipients of such comments, not only with regard to their own writings, but also those of other mutual friends from university and London days.

In his own words Savile Morton Savile Morton was a university friend of FitzGerald’s, whom the latter described as ‘my wild Irishman’. He led a rather chaotic life, spending much time in Italy and elsewhere abroad, and

was murdered, aged 41, in 1852. FitzGerald tried unsuccessfully to get some of Morton’s letters published. 4/7/1872 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Mowbray Donne wrote me that he sent you the Fragments I had saved and transcribed of Morton’s Letters – the best part having been lost by Blackwood’s People thirty years ago, as I believe I told you. But don’t you think what remains capital? I wish you would get them put into some Magazine, just for the sake of some of our Day getting them in Print.’ [III, 359] 30/12/1872 to A. Tennyson. ‘To make amends for the audacious remarks I made at Christmas, I transcribe what poor Morton wrote to me. Plymouth, March 1845. “When I look into Alfred’s poems, I am astonished at the size of the Words and Thoughts. No man clothes an Idea in Language at once so apt, and so full of Strength, Music and Dignity …”’ [III, 392] Frederick Tennyson and Charles Tennyson Turner These are two brothers of the Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and they were also both poets. Various works by both of them were published during their lifetimes, and FitzGerald was an active promoter of Charles Tennyson Turner’s collected works, published after the latter’s death.

31/12/1850 to F. Tennyson. ‘I beg you very much to send me your poems, the very first opportunity; as I want them very much. … Send your poems to Spedding to advise on.’ [I, 694] 7/5/1854 to F. Tennyson. ‘By the bye, about your Book [Days and Hours] – which of course you wish me to say something about. … If you believe my word, you already know my Estimation of so much that is in it: … the few people I have seen are very much pleased with it – the Cowells at Oxford delighted.’ [II, 127] Feb. 1871 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Frederick Tennyson has sent me an unpublished Volume of Poems, full of fine thoughts, fine lines, and fine paragraphs; which, if published, will be a store for future Poets to write from.’ [III, 275] 7/5/1879 to W. A. Wright. ‘I see by Athenaeum that Charles Tennyson (Turner) is dead. Now people will begin to talk of his beautiful Sonnets: small, but original, things, as well as beautiful.’ [IV, 207] 20/10/1880 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Now, lose not a day in providing yourself with Charles Tennyson Turner’s Sonnets, published by Kegan Paul. There is a book for you to keep on your table, at your elbow. Very many of the Sonnets I do not care for:

mostly because of the Subject: but there is pretty sure to be some beautiful line or expression in all; and all pure, tender, noble, and – original.’ [IV, 368] 15/12/1880 to W. H. Thompson. ‘I hope you have Charles Tennyson’s Sonnets – three times too many, and some rather puerile: but scarce one but with something good in Thought or Expression: all original: and some delightful: …’ [IV, 378] Other friends The first two examples illustrate how FitzGerald could be quite critical of his friends’ writing, here talking about works by his university contemporaries R. M. Milnes and R. C. Trench. Sometimes, as with Mrs E. B. Cowell, his criticism involved constructive rewriting. But he could also be full of praise for his friends’ efforts, here shown by comments on work by his school friend W. B. Donne in 1852, and later on the writing of the American author J. R. Lowell.

21/3/1841 to F. Tennyson. ‘So Milnes’ Epics crepitate [make a crackling noise] in Sonnets. All I ask of you is to write no Sonnets on what you see or hear – no sonnets can sound well after Daddy Wordsworth, Milnes, etc., who have now succeeded in quite spoiling one’s pleasure in Milton’s – and they are heavy things.’ [I, 271] 26/3/1842 to B. Barton. ‘Trench’s book is out [Poems from Eastern Sources]: seemingly a very tiresome affair. If I could have written it I should have had too much wit to publish it.’ [I, 316] 15/1/1851 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I have for the last two days been looking at your poem inclosed. I like it, and have ever liked it, so much, that I want to see it better than it is. Which is chiefly to be done by cutting out, as I think … when you are idle, compare what I send with the original. I am sure the compression is right: …’ [II, 4] 19/4/1852 to C. E. Donne. ‘Of Tennyson I hear nothing. As to the Song [author not identified] you sent me from that Nottingham Paper: I do think it very good – not because of any poetry or point – but because of its honest go – which reminds me of some of Burns’: …’ [II, 52] 9/11/1852 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘Order and Buy “Old Roads and New Roads” 1s. – A Railway book by Donne: which he wrote, he says, at odd moments on the backs of odd Letters: and which is consequently the best thing he has done, and quite a delightful little book.’ [II, 72] 10/11/1852 to W. B. Donne. ‘I must write a line to say how delighted I am with your Book [Old Roads and New Roads]. … This little Book shows you have now got easy use of all your good material; a freedom (of language at least) which I used to think you missed in some earlier writings.’ [II, 73]

23/6/1864 to S. Spring Rice. ‘Did you not like Mrs. Kemble’s Book [ Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation]? A very honest, courageous, and eloquent one I thought it.’ [II, 524] 3/2/1867 to W. B. Donne. ‘I duly received your Book [Correspondence of King George III with Lord North], and should have thanked you before for sending me so costly a Present: but I would read a considerable Part of it first, so as to be able to tell you sincerely how I liked it. … I can’t help thinking this last Thing I have seen of yours is of your best, and I do not want a more readable Commentary.’ [III, 9] 3/2/1867 to W. B. Donne. ‘Think of the sincere pleasure I had, on the other hand, in telling Old Spedding I didn’t at all like his elaborate, and lapidary, Eulogium on Ellis, in his Pamphlet; more like Dr. Parr than old Jem. The beauty of his Writing used to be that the Words all seemed to come to him: whereas in this case he has been picking Words; which culminate in “sublime.”’ [III, 9] 2/4/1867 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I am very glad you like Annie Thackeray’s Novel. There were several sentences I should have liked omitted in the course of it, as I remember: I told her I thought she sometimes fell into Reflections, something as her Father did, which one didn’t want …’ [III, 22] 11/2/1875 to W. F. Pollock. ‘What does Annie Thackeray make of her Angelica Kauffman [a novel Miss Angel, based on the painter’s life]? I love her (AT) well enough to be prejudiced in favour of all she writes; but I have not been able to get through any of her Books, full of beautiful things as they are – since her Village, which was all beauty.’ [III, 549] 22/12/1876 to C. E. Norton. ‘In the last Atlantic Monthly was, as you know, an Ode by Mr. Lowell; lofty in Thought and Expression: too uniformly lofty, I think, for Ode. Do you, would Mr. Lowell, agree? I should not say so, did I not admire the Work very much.’ [III, 730] 17/10/1878 to J. R. Lowell. ‘I sent Frederic Tennyson, eldest Brother of the Laureate, your Study Windows: and now you see what he says about it. He is a Poet too, as indeed all the Brethren more or less are; and is a Poet: only with (I think) a somewhat monotonous Lyre.’ [IV, 152] Oct. 1878 to F. Tennyson. ‘I post you another Volume of Lowell: which very likely you will not like so well as the first: but much of it you will like, notwithstanding. My pencil-marks in it are not marks of Admiration, but the contrary, I think; sometimes at words, sometimes at whole Sentences of “Fine Writing.”’ [IV, 153]

26/3/1883 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Then friendly, useful, and clever Milnes is called a “Robinredbreast” of a man, etc. Such words (are) very well in a private letter but not to be published by an Editor, especially when Lord Houghton [Milnes] [is] alive.’ [Refers to a comment by T. Carlyle in the Emerson Carlyle Correspondence edited by FitzGerald’s friend C. E. Norton.] [IV, 566]

MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS A reader of ephemera as well as biographies and travel books FitzGerald read voraciously and widely, and he commented extensively on his less obvious choices as well as the well-known items identified in previous sections. There are almost 480 letters, one-third of all those with literary references, which include comments on lesser-known works. These range from modern ‘popular’ novels to books about travel in France and Spain, some borrowed from Mudie’s Lending Library. His comments also covered review articles from the various journals that he enjoyed reading such as the Gentleman’s Magazine and the Athenaeum. His library contained many volumes of articles that had interested him and which he had extracted from such journals and had bound together; other items and anecdotes were copied into his commonplace books. FitzGerald was an avid consumer of biographies, both of his contemporaries and of historical characters. In addition to the lives of Lamb, Carlyle and others already mentioned, he read about many less well-known people of his own and earlier times. The only period when this type of casual reading appears to have lapsed was in the 1850s when he was very busy with his own writings, especially his translations, and his readings were more directed toward this work. In later years, W. A. Wright was the prime recipient of FitzGerald’s miscellaneous comments and references; these included some abstruse discussions relating to the origins and meanings of East Anglian words, subjects close to FitzGerald’s heart from the 1860s onwards. Letters to E. B. Cowell, W. F. Pollock and Fanny Kemble also contain many spontaneous reviews and recommendations, based on FitzGerald’s varied reading.

In his own words English language, including East Anglian words FitzGerald’s comments on different aspects of the English language show his deep interest in the subject, and how meticulous he could be about the detail of meanings and origins, something

that also shows in his earlier work on Persian and Spanish. His work on East Anglian Sea Slang is still quoted today. 24/11/1869 to W. A. Wright. ‘I am adding a few hints of Derivation from the only Book I have – Haldorsen’s Icelandic Dictionary – to illustrate Forby [author of Vocabulary of East Anglia].’ [III, 174] 26/1/1872 to W. A. Wright. ‘Mr. Spalding finds “Hewell” in Bewick [History of British Birds] – “Hew-hold” – and he says, “May ‘Holtseltster’ – be ‘Upholsterer’!” – which word has, I believe, been a puzzle to Lexicographers.’ [III, 325] 18/3/1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘I happened on our word “limb” … in a pleasant Quotation … A Country Actress is blowing up her Daughter, “I’ll tell you what, Ma’am – if you contradict me I’ll fell you at my Feet, Ma’am, for you’re a Limb, Ma’am, your Father on his Deathbed told me you were a Limb.” And again, “What an infernal Limb of an Actress you’ll be!”’ [‘Limb’ has a number of derogatory meanings, e.g. wench, strumpet.] [IV, 19] 24/6/1877 to F. Hall. ‘I have run through your Ability [book on English adjectives] again, since I sent it to Wright: but as I before said (I believe) am not a competent Critic. I know that I coincide (unless I misconstrue) with your Canons laid down at pp.162, etc. I am for all words that are smooth, or strong (as the meaning requires) which have proved their worth by general admission into the Language.’ [IV, 50] 7/12/1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘R. G[roome] brought me his Book of the new E.A. [East Anglian] Notes and Queries: very good very many of them, I thought. The two Suffolk Letters he had himself written seemed to me excellent: and I was glad to be able honestly to say so.’ [IV, 90] 26/7/1880 to W. W. Goodwin. ‘I know nothing of English Schools now, but I wish the young Gentlemen did not talk slang (as I hear they do), “Awful – Jolly – beastly,” etc. – but leave that to the young Ladies, whom I hear of – but do not hear – as abounding in that way.’ [IV, 350] Travel Although FitzGerald did not travel abroad very much (see section on Travel in Chapter 13), he clearly enjoyed travel writing. He read a good many contemporary books on the subject, as well as earlier travel classics such as the books on round-the-world voyages in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by William Dampier, 1651–1715, and Captain James Cook, 1728–79.

5/7/1860 to A. Tennyson. ‘I have been very much pleased indeed reading Mr. Weld’s Excursions to Brittany and the Pyrenees – so sensible, Scholarly, and Gentlemanly …’ [II, 361] 25/9/1861 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘Oh, there is a Book of Travel by a Lady Charlotte Pepys, incredible for its inanity, and I dare say much admired by the Sir Leicester Dedlocks [a Dickens character]. It is called “From Kiev to Eaux-bonnes,” and is almost worth buying too, though only in two Volumes.’ [II, 409] Feb. 1862 to Mrs A. Tennyson. ‘I have been almost tempted to write you out some morsels of Dampier’s Voyages which I copied out for myself: so fine as they are in their way I think, but they would be no use unless AT fell upon them by chance: for, of all horses, Pegasus least likes to be dragged to drink. I love Captain Cook too: what fine English his, in the Johnsonian days!’ [II, 427] 5/9/1865 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Read Lady Duff Gordon’s Letters from Egypt: which you won’t like, because of some latitude in Religious thought, and also because of some vulgar slang, such as Schoolboys, and American Women use …’ [II, 560] 7/12/1868 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I have lately read what seems to me a capital book on the subject, “Table-talk in America,” or some such name, by one Zincke, Vicar of a Parish near Ipswich.’ [Refers to Table Talk Collected during a Tour, by F. Barham Zincke, Vicar of Wherstead.] [III, 114] Apr. 1877 to H. Schutz Wilson. ‘The Mountain came to Mahomet – as near as he wishes such a Mountain to come. You yourself can’t help looking at that Matterhorn without a sort of distrust, though you have been up him.’ [Refers to an article on Climbing the Matterhorn without Guides which Wilson had sent to FitzGerald.] [IV, 23] 24/4/1877 to W. B. Donne. ‘The Narrative of Manning’s Journey reached me this morning.’ [Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet and of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa, which Donne had asked Manning’s nephew to send to FitzGerald.] [IV, 26] Other miscellaneous subjects Many aspects of FitzGerald’s wide reading are illustrated here, including his regular perusal of literary magazines, as well as books on topics as varied as vegetarianism and William Blake’s poetry. Books on recent history, including Waterloo and the Crimean War, were part of FitzGerald’s literary diet, and he purchased many collections of essays, sayings and biographies. A number of these were evident in the books offered for sale after his death (see Appendix 3).

21/11/1832 to J. Allen. ‘I have been about to divers Bookshops and have bought several books – a Bacon’s Essays, Evelyn’s Sylva, Browne’s Religio Medici, Hazlitt’s Poets, etc.’ [I, 117] 24/2/1833 to J. Allen. ‘There is a bookseller there [Bloomsbury Square], who had a little blackletter Stowe’s Chronicles, very dirty and burnt bound in vellum: … if he has it now pray get it for me, if it only costs three shillings or so, as I believe it does: …’ [I, 132] 25/10/1833 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have lately bought a little pamphlet which is very difficult to be got, called The Songs of Innocence, written and adorned with drawings by W. Blake (if you know his name) who was quite mad, but of a madness that was really the elements of great genius ill-sorted: in fact, a genius with a screw loose, as we used to say.’ [I, 139] 8/11/1833 to J. Allen. ‘… I found a very good secondhand octavo copy [of Phineas Fletcher’s The Purple Island], with notes … The Purple Island does not mean the Heart alone, but the whole Body: and two cantos are taken up in describing it allegorically and anatomically.’ [I, 142] 19/11/1833 to W. B. Donne. ‘I do not think Stark is an instance of vegetable diet: consider how many things he tried grossly animal: lard, and butter, and fat: besides thwarting Nature in every way by eating when he wanted not to eat, and the contrary.’ [Stark was a medical writer who experimented on diet.] [I, 144] 4/4/1840 to J. Allen. ‘The Bookseller here [Woodbridge] cannot get me a copy of Digby’s Godefridus [on Christian chivalry] – which I want.’ [I, 246] 11/5/1842 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I have just been reading the great Library of Athanasius [The Library of Useless Knowledge by Athanasius Gasker]. Certainly only you and I and Thackeray understand it.’ [I, 322] 1/5/1845 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I set no high value on Selden [Table Talk]. His merit is, the putting a discretionary commonsense policy into lively figure. It is not a book fitted for the young – perhaps not for any age!’ [I, 488] 12/6/1845 to E. B. Cowell. ‘There are good phrases in Richard Cobbold’s Valentine Verses; which is a wonderful book too.’ [I, 496] 4/3/1850 to J. Allen. ‘I have also bought Emerson’s “Representative Men,” a shilling book of Bohn’s: with very good scattered thoughts in it: … I have also bought a little posthumous Volume of Eb[enezer] Elliott which is sure to have fine things in it.’ [I, 662]

27/10/1856 to G. Borrow. ‘It is I who sent you the new Turkish Dictionary Redhouse’s Turkish and English Dictionary which ought to go by this Post; my reasons being that I bought it really only for the purpose of doing that little good to the spirited Publisher [Quaritch] …’ [II, 240] 27/11/1859 to W. H. Thompson. ‘I have just spent 1s. [shilling] on Macmillan’s Magazine: but somehow don’t care to meddle much with it. Lushington and Venables [writers in Macmillan’s] are pleasant: but somehow always just fail of nicking the Point.’ [II, 347] 20/11/1861 to A. Tennyson. ‘I see advertised a Collection of English Poems [The Golden Treasury] by Mr. Palgrave: and I have heard it is a very good one. So I will have it down and see if any one will buy it hereabout.’ [II, 412] 10/3/1862 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I have been in my glory tearing up twenty Volumes of the Gentleman’s Magazine to get out Scraps of Mitford and Green’s Diary, of which I make Volumes, and then call them my Works.’ [Some of these volumes are today in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge.] [II, 431] 17/7/1864 to W. B. Donne. ‘Have you read Newman’s “Apologia”? A deeply interesting Book, I think; very honest, it seems to me, and with some very fine things in it …’ [II, 526] 3/2/1867 to W. B. Donne. ‘Can you recommend me a good and concise English Biography: I mean, like Chalmers’ Lives, etc., only compacter and perhaps better.’ [Refers to A. Chalmers, The General Biographical Dictionary, 32 volumes.] [III, 9] Spring 1870 to H. Biddell. ‘My Eyes have turned so rusty of late that I know it will be long before they can tackle Kinglake’s four Volumes [Invasion of the Crimea].’ [III, 213] 17/3/1872 to W. A. Wright. ‘Where is my Green’s Diary? If you should be coming into these Parts this Easter, Oh! bring me back my Green!’ [Refers to FitzGerald’s collection of articles from the Gentleman’s Magazine, see quotation in this section from letter to G. Crabbe [Merton] 10/3/1862.] [III, 334] 4/7/1872 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Then I have bought three volumes of the Ladies Magazine for 1750–3 by “Jasper Goodwill” who died at Vol. IV. It contains the Trials and Executions (16 men at a time) of the time – Miss Blandy above all – and such delightful Essays, Poems, and Enigmas, for Ladies!’ [Mary Blandy murdered her father in 1751.] [III, 359]

1/4/1873 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I was not at all surprized [sic] by the Romilly Article in the Echo which you sent me. The Whigs have always been famous for that sort of thing.’ [Terhunes indicate that the Echo was London’s first halfpenny newspaper, founded in 1868.] [III, 408] 17/12/1874 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I have just bought a Sudbury Pocket Book – for Auld Lang Syne’s [sake] and shall make all the party at Lowestoft guess the riddles over the fire.’ [III, 537] 10/6/1876 to C. E. Norton. ‘There is also a favorable [sic] account of a meeting between Wordsworth and Foscolo [an Italian poet] in an otherwise rather valueless Memoir of Bewick the Painter [by T. Landseer].’ [III, 680] 21/6/1877 to H. Schutz Wilson. ‘… I was just thinking I had no more need of the Atlantic [monthly magazine]; and yet I like to see some American Notices of English Works … Some little while ago I read a Volume of Matterhorn ascents, ending with that fatal one: very unaffectedly and well written, I thought; …’ [IV, 46] 1/8/1879 to W. A. Wright. ‘You should annotate Ellacombe’s Book [The Plant Lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare], so as John De Soyres (to whom it belongs) may show it to him.’ [IV, 239] 8/1/1880 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I find some good Stuff in Bagehot’s Essays, in spite of his name, which is simply “Bagot,” as men call it. Also I find Hayward’s Select Essays so agreeable that I suppose they are very superficial.’ [IV, 283] 20/3/1880 to W. A. Wright. ‘Brooke lent me a short Book on Waterloo by one Kennedy who was there, and who divided the Battle for me into five Acts, which I began to comprehend. But le Capitaine [Brooke] is to come one day and explain all to me.’ [IV, 300] 15/4/1880 to C. E. Norton, ‘Cowell tells me that there is scarce any Scholarship at his Cambridge except eternal Philology, in the narrowest sense of the word: very unlike his own.’ [IV, 313] June 1880 to F. Tennyson. ‘I did not send you the last Musical Times, because it seemed to me less interesting than others which I had sent you before. But yesterday it turned up again from a heap of discarded “paperasses,” and I think it may as well be posted to you …’ [IV, 334]

Figure 3.  The arts – a summary of the letters. Main subjects mentioned in the letters All arts: total number = 357

Theatre

Music

Pictures and artworks

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Number of letters

When letters were written All arts

All letters

40

% of total for topic

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Main correspondents All arts: total number = 357 Barton, B. Pollock, W. F. Kemble, Fanny Tennyson, F. Crabbe, G. (M.) Donne, W. B. Wright, W. A. Cowell, E. B. Laurence, S. Tennyson, A. 0

10

20

30

40

Number of letters person received on this topic

Source: see Appendix 4.

50

11 

The arts

A LIFELONG INTEREST, AND VERY DEFINITE VIEWS Throughout his life, FitzGerald took an active interest in the arts of all kinds. In total, one in six of his letters deals with artistic topics. In his early years he was a serious buyer and seller of paintings, as well as commissioning portraits from his friend the young painter Samuel Laurence. He was also a frequent spectator at the theatre, opera and concerts in London on his many visits to the capital in the 1830s and 1840s. His often idiosyncratic views on what he had seen or bought are well expressed in the letters, particularly those to B. Barton and F. Tennyson. Such letters provide an interesting picture of what London cultural life was like in the middle of the nineteenth century. From the 1860s, FitzGerald gave up most of his visits to theatres and concerts, and his attendance at picture auctions and shows, but he continued to discuss current as well as past performances with his correspondents. His letters to Fanny Kemble contain many reminiscences about past theatrical experiences. FitzGerald also remained concerned about the condition, arrangement and disposal of the artworks that he owned. Indeed, some of his last letters covered issues of this kind.

Contents of this chapter Quotations from FitzGerald’s comments on the arts are presented under the following headings. • Theatre. • Music. • Pictures and artworks. Further information on the topics covered under each heading is shown in Appendix 4.

THEATRE Visits in the early years, later discussed with old friends FitzGerald had an early introduction to the theatrical world through his mother’s friendship with the Kembles, a family of London-based actor managers; Jack Kemble was a school friend at Bury St Edmunds. FitzGerald’s adult interest in the theatre can be divided into two phases. The break point follows his personal problems in the later 1850s, including his disastrous marriage in 1856 and the death of his friend W. K. Browne in 1859. These events prompted FitzGerald largely to give up going to London for the purpose of pleasure; he had by then reached the age of 50. In the 1830s and 1840s, FitzGerald would frequently go to London to be with his friends, and to visit the theatre with them; Drury Lane and Covent Garden were evidently popular venues. He subsequently recounted these visits to other old friends, notably W. B. Donne and F. Tennyson. Later in life, FitzGerald’s interest in the theatre often took the form of commentary on past and reported performances by specific actors, with views exchanged especially with Fanny Kemble and W. F. Pollock. He also collected pictures (mostly prints) of famous actors shown in their key roles; there is a set of such theatrical portraits in one of his personal scrap books.1 His taste in performance was quite wide-ranging. Shakespeare was in the forefront, but he also appreciated Greek plays and opera (the latter is covered under Music).

In his own words The letters show the frequency and wide range of FitzGerald’s early theatre going, when he saw performances by some of the great actors of the period such as William Macready, Charles

Kemble and Charles Kean. His comments in later life show that he still took an interest in what his friends were telling him about the London theatre scene, though he could be very critical of the occasional performance he saw, such as Henry Irving’s Hamlet. 21/11/1832 to J. Allen. ‘I went to the theater [sic] last week to see Jonson’s Every Man in his Humour. It is a good but over rated play. It was tolerably well done: but does not tempt me to the theater a second time.’ [I, 117] 25/10/1833 to W. B. Donne. ‘We saw an awful Hamlet the other night – a Mr. Serle – and a very good Wolsey, in Macready: and a very bad Queen Catherine, in Mrs. Sloman, whom you must remember. I am going tonight to see Macready in Macbeth: I have seen him before in it …’ [I, 139] 23/10/1836 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have been to the play nearly every night since I have been here [in London]: … I have seen King John, and Othello, there [at Covent Garden]. Charles Kemble has lost all his lightness in Falconbridge and Cassio: and is become very burdensome on the stage, I think. Vandenhoff really plays Iago very well: not so well as Young, to my taste.’ [I, 183] 17/2/1840 to B. Barton. ‘I went last Saturday night to see a new play by poor Leigh Hunt, who has at last done something to put a few pounds into his pocket. His Play is very pretty, though not so dramatic as to ensure any long success on the stage: it is very well acted.’ [I, 245] 8/3/1846 to W. B. Donne. ‘We have actors now at Woodbridge. A Mr. Gill who was low comedian in the Norwich [company] now manages a troop of his own here. His wife was a Miss Vining; she is a pretty woman, and a lively pleasant actress, not vulgar.’ [I, 526] 17/1/1850 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have been but to one play: to see the Hypocrite, and Tom Taylor’s burlesque at the Strand Theatre. It was dreadfully cold in the pit: and I thought dull: Farren almost unintelligible: Mrs. Glover good in a disagreeable part.’ [I, 660] 27/2/1851 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘Donne came up for a day to see as to the morality of the “Prodigal Son” at Drury Lane, which the Bishop of London complained of. Donne is deputy Licenser for Jack Kemble. I went to see it with him; it was only stupid and gaudy.’ [II, 18] 15/3/1854 to W. F. Pollock. ‘You may tell Spedding I saw Kean’s Richard III twice; and liked his Dress very much as King. Such very good colours.’ [II, 123]

31/12/1867 to M. Donne. ’I should like to see a Westminster Play [by Westminster School in Latin]: but I never could care for Terence [Terentius]. Very easy, elegant, and sensible: but no Devil.’ [III, 75] 4/3/1868 to W. B. Donne. ‘Looking over these [theatrical prints by De Wilde] is my way of going to the Play: seeing such Actors as now are not to be seen, and some of them in such Plays as not now to be seen either.’ [See also further quote from same letter under Pictures and artworks.] [III, 83] 29/9/1872 to F. Spalding. ‘[Posh Fletcher] went with me to the Theatre afterwards, where he admired the “Gays,” as he called the Scenes; but fell asleep before Shylock had wetted his knife in the Merchant of Venice …’ [III, 375] 16/5/1875 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Spedding says that Irving’s Hamlet is simply – hideous – a strong expression for Spedding to use. But – (lest I should think his condemnation was only the Old Man’s fault of depreciating all that is new), he extols Miss Ellen Terry’s Portia as simply a perfect Performance: remembering (he says) all the while how fine was Fanny Kemble’s.’ [III, 582] 24/11/1875 to Blanche Donne. ‘I have no desire to see him [Irving], or anyone, unless Jefferson [an American actor, very successful in London], nor to hear any of the new Music. But that is simply – growing Old …’ [III, 623] 4/6/1876 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I fear I get more and more interested in your “Gossip,” as you approach the Theatre. … I love it, and reading of it, now as much as ever I cared to see it: …’ [III, 679] 15/12/1878 to C. Merivale. ‘… especially as you in some measure ask me about Mrs. Kemble. I did not see much of her acting, nor hear much of her reading, for in truth I did not much admire either. She herself admits she had no liking for the stage, and (in a capital paper in some magazine) that she had not a Theatrical gift, though she had, she thinks, a Dramatic, a distinction which I leave for herself to explain.’ [IV, 163] 23/3/1879 to Anna Biddell. ‘I went for an hour to see a bit of Mr. Irving’s Hamlet; incomparably the worst I ever saw in my Life – and I have seen Hamlet in a Barn.’ [IV, 190] 23/2/1880 to W. A. Wright. ‘The only Theatre I looked into [on a visit to London] was that of the Aquarium … “As You Like It” being played by Housemaids and Cooks, it seemed to me; a wonder to me, who yet had been apprized of what Shakespeare had fallen to.’ [IV, 295]

22/7/1880 to W. A. Wright. ‘I lighted on a story. One of the Paris troupe of Actors who was supposed to have a “mechante” disease, was spoken of as about to marry; on which another man of the troupe said to him, “Pray do not marry, or we shall all of us have it.”’ [IV, 346]

MUSIC A concert and opera goer, with strong likes and dislikes Music was a significant subsidiary interest for FitzGerald, especially in his earlier years when he was a frequent visitor to concerts, opera and other performances in London. He would then send his views of what he had seen and heard to his friends. Such active interest in music seems to have dropped off later on, notably in the 1860s (his boating years), though musical comments and reminiscences become more common again in his correspondence in the 1870s. Frederick Tennyson was the main person with whom FitzGerald shared his musical interest; W. B. Donne was also a recipient of some early comments, together with W. F. Pollock and Fanny Kemble in later years. Many of his references to music in his correspondence concern his opinions of composers, notably his most favoured such as Handel, Mozart and Beethoven. Opera was important to him, but he seemed to be happy to leave a performance halfway through. He had a liking of folk songs, with Burns his favourite. Although he was a talented pianist and organist, and also a composer, he only rarely referred to his own music making.2

In his own words FitzGerald’s letters contain comments about the many performances and artists that he saw in his early years, including new music by composers such as Mendelssohn, and famous singers such as Jenny Lind and Giuditta Pasta. There are also interesting references to his involvement with local amateur music making in East Anglia, and his continuing love of more popular songs and vaudeville. Richard Wagner even gets some late, rather ambiguous, mentions. 15/9/1841 to F. Tennyson. ‘When shall you and I go to an Opera again, or hear one of Beethoven’s Symphonies together?’ [I, 286] 16/1/1842 to F. Tennyson. ‘So I am tired of reading and smoking and playing bits of Fidelio on what “the Miseries of Human Life” [Terhunes suggest this may refer to A. Tennyson] used to call “a strung tub [piano]” …’ [I, 295]

Illustration 9.  The chamber organ formerly in FitzGerald’s Woodbridge home. This organ is now in St Mary’s Church in Saffron Walden, Essex.

6/2/1842 to F. Tennyson. ‘Last night I went to see Acis and Galatea brought out, with Handel’s music, and Stanfield’s scenery: really the best done thing I have seen for many a year.’ [I, 303] 31/3/1842 to F. Tennyson. ‘Mozart, I agree with you, is the most universal musical genius: Beethoven has been too analytical and erudite: but his inspiration is nevertheless true.’ [I, 316] 16/8/1842 to F. Tennyson. ‘I hear there is a fine new Symphony by Mendelssohn, who is by far our best writer now, and in some measure combines Beethoven and Handel.’ [I, 331] 11/1/1845 to B. Barton. ‘Last night I went to hear Handel’s Messiah – nobly done. But here again I was glad to get into the street before it was half over.’ [I, 472] 14/5/1845 to B. Barton. ‘Last night I appeared at the Opera, and shall do so twice a week till further notice.’ [I, 489] 12/6/1845 to F. Tennyson. ‘I have nothing new to tell you of Music. The Operas were the same old affair; … Now Beethoven, you see by your own experience, has a depth not to be reached all at once. I admit with you that he is too bizarre, and, I think, morbid; but he is original, majestic, and profound. Such music thinks; so it is with Gluck; and with Mendelssohn.’ [I, 493] 5/11/1847 to W. B. Donne. ‘As to Jenny Lind, I don’t care what I say about her. I cannot endure that she should clutch more money on the strength of her good character than the Italian whores ever stand out for. At Norwich I hear she got £12,000 [Terhunes note that FitzGerald may have meant £1,200] and gave back £200 [to a local charity] …’ [I, 585] 4/5/1848 to F. Tennyson. ‘But we cannot get tired of what has been done in Oratorios more than we can get tired of Raffaelle. Mendelssohn is really original and beautiful in romantic music: witness his Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Fingal’s Cave.’ [I, 603] Dec. 1848 to J. Allen. ‘As all the world turns Author, so have I; in the shape of the piece of music which I send to you … the words are really fine, and the music is not inappropriate, I think. You may give it, if you like, to the organist of Lichfield Cathedral, to make his men and boys shout it in a stately solid English way.’ [Letter is signed The Composer!] [I, 627] 9/11/1849 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Somehow I think the Vaudeville songs are the most amiable part of the French character. I always did think so; and I retain no

impression of France and the French so agreeable as the remembrance of the groups collected round an organ under the trees in the Boulevards on some sunny evening, joining chorus with the organ from some little books of songs they had bought from the organ man.’ [I, 655] 31/12/1850 to F. Tennyson. ‘I hear little music but what I make myself, or help to make with my Parson’s son and daughter. We, with not a voice among us, go through Handel’s Coronation Anthems! Laughable it may seem; yet it is not quite so; … Sometimes too, I go over to a place elegantly called Bungay, where a Printer lives who drills the young folks of a manufactory there to sing in Chorus once a week …’ [I, 694] 13/2/1851 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I was sitting at breakfast alone, and reading some of Moore’s songs, and thinking to myself how it was fame enough to have written but one song … [which should] be taken up into the life of England! No doubt “The Last Rose of Summer” [lyrics by Thomas Moore] will accomplish this.’ [II, 11] 11/8/1851 to S. Spring Rice. ‘I am dilettanteing it over Purcell’s King Arthur; helping to put it in trim to be trumpeted by some manufacturers at Bungay!’ [Refers to the printer Charles Child’s chorus – see quotation in this section from letter to F. Tennyson 31/12/1850.] [II, 34] 8/6/1852 to F. Tennyson. ‘I also went once to the pit of the Covent Garden Italian Opera, to hear Meyerbeer’s Huguenots, of which I had only heard bits on the Pianoforte. But the first Act was so noisy, and ugly, that I came away, unable to wait for the better part, that, I am told, follows. Meyerbeer is a man of Genius: and works up dramatic Music: but he has scarce any melody …’ [II, 55] 11/11/1867 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Are you overrun in London with “Champagne Charlie is my Name?”. A brutal Thing; nearly worthless – the Tune, I mean – but yet not quite – else it would not become so great a Bore. No: I can see, to my Sorrow, that it has some Go – which Mendelssohn had not. But Mozart, Rossini, and Handel had. I can’t help thinking that Opera will have to die for a time: …’ [III, 62] 15/11/1870 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Ah, I should like to hear Fidelio again, often as I have heard it. I do not find so much “Melody” in it as you do: understanding by Melody that which asserts itself independently of Harmony – as Mozart’s Airs do.’ [III, 249] Apr. 1873 to Fanny Kemble. ‘… about Burns and Béranger, I was thinking of them “which was the Greater Genius?” – I can’t say; but, with all my Admiration for

about a score of the Frenchman’s almost perfect Songs, I would give all of them up for a Score of Burns’ couplets, standards, or single lines’. [III, 409] 23/8/1875 to B. Quaritch. ‘Can you get and send me these three musical works – 1 Berlioz Soirées de l’Orchestre 2 Halévy’s Origines de l’Opéra 3 Adolphe Adam’s Souvenir d’un Musicien.’ [III, 594] 1/10/1875 to W. A. Wright. ‘There is an Opera of Macbeth – by a French Composer, Chélard: which was played one night at Dublin Theatre. The sleepwalking scene opened, with Doctor and Nurse, mute: and so long and mysterious a Symphony before Lady M. came on, that a Voice from the Gallery called out to the Leader of the Band (Levey) – “Ah now, Levey my dear, just tell us, is it a Boy or a Girl?”’ [III, 606] 30/11/1880 to Anna Biddell. ‘I went into my old Opera House in the Haymarket, where I remembered the very place where Pasta stood as Medea on the Stage … and the several Boxes in which sat the several Ranks and Beauties of forty and fifty years ago: my Mother’s Box on the third Tier … The Audience all changed much for the worse, I thought: … The opera by a Frenchman [Bizet’s Carmen] on the Wagner plan: excellent instrumentation, but not one new or melodious idea through the whole.’ [IV, 376] 5/3/1882 to F. Tennyson. ‘I had meant to hear some one opera of Wagner then playing at my old Opera House: but my three nights came and went without my doing so. I dare say I should not have stay’d out half … but I should have heard The Music of the Future …’ [IV, 492] 15/6/1882 to F. Tennyson. ‘You have heard more of Wagner than I: who, indeed, have heard but one piece (not the March) from Tannhäuser, played by the Brass Band on Lowestoft Pier.’ [IV, 511]

PICTURES AND ARTWORKS An active collector, and ‘improver’, especially in the 1840s FitzGerald was an active collector of pictures and other artworks, and in his earlier years he was a frequent visitor to art galleries and auctions, notably in London. Many of the earlier letters which mention pictures were sent from London, from where FitzGerald was reporting what he had seen and purchased on his visits. The subject of pictures is particularly prominent in correspondence sent during the 1840s, and again in the 1860s. In the second of these periods, the letters came from his later lodgings in Market Hill, Woodbridge, where he talks about the way

in which his rooms were crowded with pictures. The topic seems to have become of lesser interest in his older years, when most references are to pictures that he had owned or still possessed, and their safe disposal; he was especially concerned about the portraits of his close friends. As well as buying for his own pleasure, FitzGerald sometimes bought to give away to friends. He was also something of a dealer, especially when he felt a painting could be treated to improve it by cutting it up or touching it up; this is illustrated in several of the quotes below. Bernard Barton, the older Quaker poet, was the person with whom FitzGerald shared many of his early artistic enthusiasms. After Barton’s death, other important correspondents on the topic were W. F. Pollock and G. Crabbe of Merton. It is notable that he did not discuss the subject of pictures much with his prime correspondent, E. B. Cowell.

In his own words The quotations illustrate FitzGerald’s taste for landscapes and portraits, and for making practical ‘improvements’ to the pictures he owned. His affluence allowed him to buy the work of some well-known near-contemporary artists such as John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough, and to commission work from the young portraitist Samuel Laurence, who became quite a close friend of FitzGerald. 19/2/1842 to B. Barton. ‘What I gain by buying pictures for my friends is the keeping those pictures for a time in my room, and then seeing them from time to time afterward. Besides, the pride of making a good purchase and shewing one’s taste: all that contributes to health and long life.’ [I, 306] 5/3/1842 to B. Barton. ‘You need not envy me my purchases, which are imprudent ones: both because I can’t well afford them, and because I have no house to put them. And yet all this gives a sense of stolen enjoyment to them.’ [I, 312] 31/3/1842 to F. Tennyson. ‘My Constable is a delightful picture, and my sketch gives you a very poor idea of it. I have lately bought for a very few pounds an early Venetian picture, which pleases me greatly: …’ [I, 316] 22/5/1842 to S. Laurence. ‘My Constable has been greatly admired, and is reckoned quite genuine by our great judge, Mr. Churchyard. Mr. C. paints himself: (not in body colours, as you waggishly insinuate) and nicely too …’ [I, 325] 19/6/1842 to S. Laurence. ‘Have you been to any auction-rooms? I have forgot all about them: and can live very well without pictures. I believe one loses all one’s tastes in the country: and one is not the less happy.’ [I, 328]

21/10/1843 to B. Barton. ‘I have just returned from Norwich, where I assisted (a French phrase) at a Ball and a Concert. Also bought a picture of course – a fine head, either by Giorgione, or a Flemish copyist. But as I am not particular, I call it Giorgione: and shall sell it to old Rogers at a vast profit.’ [I, 406] 22/8/1844 to B. Barton. ‘I also saw Geldart [a Norfolk artist] at Norwich. He paints, and is deep in religious thoughts also: he has besides the finest English good sense about him: …’ [I, 450] 24/9/1846 to B. Barton. ‘Tell Churchyard I will be glad to buy his picture for the sum he names: because W. Browne, with whom I now am, would be very much delighted with it in case I should not desire to keep it.’ [I, 544] 15/3/1856 to A. Tennyson. ‘They have bought a disgraceful P. Veronese for the National Gallery.’ [This purchase caused considerable public controversy about the merits of the picture.] [II, 211] 15/7/1856 to A. Tennyson. ‘I forget if you like Rubens’s “Descent” at Antwerp – which did not disappoint me. Yet one would rather have Titian’s Ages of Man perhaps: or even one of his best Portraits.’ [FitzGerald had recently returned from a visit to the Continent.] [II, 233] 31/1/1862 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I have not yet hung up my Pictures, which are now got back to the Room they were outed from: but the Truth is they look so much better on the Floor. I have cleaned and put a thick coat of Varnish on the Secretary [picture not identified]; this fills up some cracks, though it makes him a little too glossy.’ [II, 425] 16/7/1862 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘… but the last (Gilman) [a Norwich picture framer] had a Crome Sketch of the River which I bought. Gilman thought little of it: … He also sent for a Gainsbro [sic] Cows in a Landscape: … the Cows admirably drawn and expressed: but the Landscape in that hasty and (I think) heavy style which G[ainsborough] dealt in when he came to copy himself rather than nature. So I am going to send it back; …’ [II, 445] 9/11/1862 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I have been playing wonderful Tricks with the Pictures I have: have cut the Magi in two – making two very good Pictures, I assure you; and cutting off the dark corners of other Pictures with Gold Ovals – a shape I like within a Square …’ [II, 459]

19/11/1862 to W. B. Donne. ‘… Evans has sent me such a Portfolio of old Theatrical Prints … I am going to keep many of them; … when ever you come again we will have a Prose [chat] over them.’ [II, 460] 20/12/1862 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I have just bought an Early Gainsboro, which Churchyard has had for years: I bought it because it was light, bright, cheerful, and making a good figure in my Room. I now have made almost the best I can of such Pictures as I have, and sit and survey my handywork with considerable Pleasure.’ [II, 471] 13/12/1867 to J. Read. ‘I received the Portrait of the Founder of Exeter College. Is it certain there should be no more Portraits of Founders at Oxford? Ackerman’s [sic] Cambridge has a Dozen or more. I can’t say I care for them; …’ [Refers to Ackermann’s Histories of the two universities.] [III, 67] 4/3/1868 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have just had down a whole lot of old Theatrical Prints – almost all from De Wilde’s Portraits – always good, however small and rough. De Wilde was an Artist of Genius …’ [III, 83] 13/7/1870 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Laurence has sent me down the Life-size Sketch of my Captain [Posh Fletcher]: better than I expected: a fair general Likeness, seen at a proper distance, and with not too much light. But the finer lines are not there: and the fine ruddy-brown complexion … ill exchanged for a rather inky paleness, which will duly grow black in time, as Laurence’s pictures do.’ [III, 233] Dec. 1874 to Anne Ritchie [Thackeray]. ‘Apropos of A.K. (Guess her Name) [Angelica Kauffmann] do you remember her Picture at the N[ational] G[allery] of some Allegorical Virtues? AT (guess him) [Alfred Tennyson] one day looking at it thro’ his Eyeglass – some 30 years ago – said to me – “The Virtues in white Muslin.”’ [III, 533] 31/5/1881 to W. A. Wright. ‘I know of no other portrait of A[lfred] T[ennyson] by S L[aurence] except that which I bought of him some forty years ago, and gave to Mrs. T[ennyson] as being one that she might be glad of – young, and beardless. It was the only one of A T[ennyson] that I ever cared to have; …’ [IV, 434]

Figure 4.  Family and friends – a summary of the letters. Main subjects mentioned in the letters Family and friends: total number = 1,608 Family School friends University friends Neighbours Literary friends Artistic friends Other friends & acquaintances 0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Number of letters

When letters were written Family and friends

All letters

40

% of total for topic

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Main correspondents Family and friends: total number = 1,608 Cowell, E. B. Wright, W. A. Kemble, Fanny Donne, W. B. Pollock, W. F. Barton, B. Cowell, Mrs E. B. Tennyson, F. Allen, J. Crabbe, G. (M.) 0

50

100

150

200

Number of letters person received on this topic

Source: see Appendix 4.

250

12 

Family and friends

FITZGERALD WAS AN ACTIVE SOCIAL NETWORKER Three-quarters of FitzGerald’s correspondence contains news about other people who are either known to the recipient or likely to be of interest to them. Such networking was a fundamental element in FitzGerald’s letter writing throughout his life, especially early on in the 1830s and in his last decade. The reports on personal contacts were in addition to FitzGerald’s extensive comments on the writings of his many literary friends. The latter are covered in Chapter 10 on Writing and reading, though there are frequently personal and literary references in the same letter which can be difficult to disentangle. Personal mentions include all the different categories of FitzGerald’s network of family, friends and acquaintances, and one letter may refer to a dozen or more different people. In this way, the correspondence provides a fascinating view of the art of networking in an earlier era. FitzGerald often passed on news about his friends and family that had been sent to him in letters from others, or told of his visits to or from one or more of his contacts. There are frequent repetitions of such news items, almost word for word, in letters sent to different friends around the same time. Names of neighbours and old school and university friends (including their families) appear frequently in the correspondence; these people formed the core of FitzGerald’s personal network. Literary and artistic friends are mentioned more often in FitzGerald’s later years, while members of his family remained a topic of communication throughout his life.1

Contents of this chapter Quotations from FitzGerald’s comments on his family and friends are presented under the following headings. • FitzGerald family – father and mother FitzGerald, brother John FitzGerald and family, brother Peter FitzGerald and family, sister Eleanor Kerrich and family, sister Jane Wilkinson and family, sister Isabella Vignati and family, sister Andalusia de Soyres and family. • School friends – Donne family, Kemble family, Spedding family. • University friends – J. Allen, W. F. Pollock, S. Spring Rice, A. Tennyson, F. Tennyson, W. M. Thackeray, Anne Ritchie (Thackeray), W. H. Thompson. • Neighbours – B. Barton, Lucy Barton, Biddell family, Captain F. C. Brooke, Charlesworth family, Churchyard family, Cowell family, Crabbe family, Groome family, J. Smith and family, F. Spalding. • Literary friends – T. Carlyle, J. R. Lowell, C. E. Norton, B. Quaritch, R. C. Trench, W. A. Wright. • Artistic friends – Edwards family, C. Keene, S. Laurence. • Other friends and acquaintances – Browne family, Fletcher family, Berry family, Howe family, Newson family, T. West. These categories are the same as those used generally to analyse the recipients of FitzGerald’s letters. The people covered in each sector are shown in Appendix 1, together with short descriptions of them.

FITZGERALD FAMILY A life-time concern about family members Very few letters from FitzGerald to members of his own family have survived. However, it seems likely that he did write many such letters that were not kept by their recipients. Certainly it is clear from the surviving correspondence with his friends that FitzGerald had frequent contacts with family members and paid considerable attention to what was going on in his family’s life. More than one in ten of all letters mention a family member, and these include not only close relatives such as his father, mother and siblings, but also the wider family of nieces, nephews and cousins, including those in Ireland.

In his earlier correspondence, FitzGerald was preoccupied with news of his father and mother, including references to their difficult relationship and his father’s financial problems. Later in life, FitzGerald was quite closely involved with the younger members of his family, particularly his Kerrich nieces, whom he had seen often as children at Geldestone and who visited him frequently at Little Grange and Lowestoft. He was also concerned throughout his life about the position of his four surviving sisters, including Isabella and Jane who spent much time in Italy, as well as Eleanor (his favourite) and Andalusia, the youngest. Family news was communi­ cated especially to his long-standing friends such as the Cowells, Bernard Barton and Fanny Kemble, who had known the FitzGerald household. FitzGerald was very frank about his uneasy relationship with his very religious brother John, but he took a more understanding view of his other brother Peter, with whom he occasionally went sailing.

In his own words Father and Mother FitzGerald FitzGerald’s mother was a very wealthy and rather dominating woman who enjoyed social life and required her youngest son to act as escort to her. His father was more of a country squire, who eventually lost all his money on a bad investment and went bankrupt. FitzGerald was involved in sorting out his father’s affairs. John FitzGerald died in 1852, and Mrs FitzGerald in 1855.

12/11/1831 to J. Allen. ‘… but my mother wants a gentleman at Brighton – so I shall be forced to give up my projected stay at Cambridge’. [Terhunes note that FitzGerald called Brighton ‘that hatefullest of all places’.] [I, 111] Apr. 1843 to W. K. Browne. ‘To-night I go with my mamma to the Opera. We get on very well together, by help of meeting very little …’ [I, 388] 1/10/1847 to J. Allen. ‘I have just returned from Naseby: where I went to meet my Father and Mother. … I know not if I shall not have to go up to London for some days next week – to stay with my Mother.’ [I, 582] 13/9/1848 to B. Barton. ‘My Father has protection at least as far as all the debts contained in the Schedule are – more I know not. … I have disposed of my own Bond to the best advantage I can for three creditors, who, I thought, most needed it; and I am determined to draw the line there.’ [FitzGerald’s father had been declared bankrupt earlier in the year.] [I, 615]

25/4/1849 to J. Allen. ‘My Father and Mother are separated – both living in London.’ [I, 635] 22/10/1849 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘If my Mother should remain at this place [Richmond] you must one day come and see her and it with me. … Today my Mother’s four old black horses are sold at Tattersall’s. Two of them should have been shot instead.’ [I, 649] 10/8/1852 to W. B. Donne. ‘I am much obliged to you also for taking the trouble to go and see my Mother. You may rely on it she feels as pleased with your company as she says she is: I do not know any one who has the power of being so agreeable to her as yourself.’ [II, 63] 9/2/1855 to E. B. Cowell. ‘But since that my Time has been occupied with staying out at Stutton and returning to Boulge to attend my Mother’s Funeral. She died very suddenly, and quite easily, last Tuesday week.’ [II, 154] 27/2/1872 to Fanny Kemble. ‘My Mother used to come up sometimes [to the children’s nursery], and we Children were not much comforted. She was a remarkable woman, as you said in a former letter: and as I constantly believe in outward Beauty as an Index of a beautiful Soul within, I used sometimes to wonder what feature in her fine face betrayed what was not so good in her Character.’ [III, 331] Brother John FitzGerald and family Edward FitzGerald’s eldest brother was called John, after his father. He was very religious and became an evangelical lay preacher. He and Edward had very different views and did not meet often, even though John took over the family home at Boulge Hall, very close to Edward’s various lodgings in the area. John was married twice and had two sons.

4/7/1835 to J. Allen. ‘My brother John’s wife, always delicate, has had an attack this year, which she can never get over; and while we are all living in this house [Wherstead] cheerfully, she lives in separate rooms, can scarcely speak to us, or see us: and bears upon her cheeks the marks of death.’ [I, 167] 12/9/1843 to B. Barton. ‘When I got home I found my brother [John] married and come down here. These little surprises are common in our family. She seems a decent woman. [John’s first wife died in 1837.] [I, 400] 25/4/1849 to J. Allen. ‘John has had a bilious fever that has almost cleared his head of the little good sense he ever had – and so we go on.’ [I, 635]

1/4/1873 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘Gerald here [John’s son] has been breaking out into Drink: which I told him was disgraceful: he has been here today to exculpate himself; but, like so many of his habits, he can’t be relied on for Memory. Poor John has been made unhappy; but his own Stupidity has done all.’ [III, 408] 2/2/1876 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Some days ago I was talking to my Brother John … of what you had said of my Family in your Gossip. He was extremely interested: and wished much that I [would] convey you his old hereditary remembrances. But, beside that, he wished you to have a Miniature of your Mother, which my Mother had till she died.’ [III, 652] 7/12/1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘My Brother’s younger Son is dying of diseased Bowel: his elder son, not dying, but paralytic in Ireland. They were to have been Models.’ [IV, 90] 3/4/1879 to Fanny Kemble. ‘My elder – and now only – Brother, John, has been shut up with Doctor and Nurse these two months – Aet. 76; his Wife Aet. 80 all but dead awhile ago, now sufficiently recovered to keep her room in tolerable ease: …’ [IV, 195] 7/5/1879 to W. A. Wright. ‘My Brother [John] died peacefully on Sunday afternoon – 7 p.m. He had not suffered – or but little for the last ten days of his Life, and lay much dozing.’ [IV, 207] 11/5/1879 to W. A. Wright. ‘My Brother was buried yesterday. I suppose I ought to feel ashamed that I did not go. I should have done so had there not been Kerriches and DeSoyres to represent me, and more than me.’ [IV, 208] 18/5/1879 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I say but little of my Brother’s Death. We were very good friends, of very different ways of thinking; I had not been within side his lawn gates (three miles off) these dozen years (no fault of his), and I did not enter them at his Funeral – which you will very likely – and properly – think wrong.’ [IV, 209] 24/9/1879 to Mrs E. Edwards. ‘I hope you did not take amiss my not going to your Husband’s Funeral: you may know that I was not at my Brother’s, close by, a few months ago: nor at that of my Sister Kerrich whom I should indeed have followed to the Grave, if any one!’ [IV, 261] Brother Peter FitzGerald and family Peter was Edward FitzGerald’s second older brother, and they got on quite well together. They had a shared interest in sailing. Peter was married twice, but had no children.

19/10/1853 to S. Spring Rice. ‘… [I] came on here [Richmond, Surrey] to see my Brother Peter, who is just recovering (as we hope) of a most dangerous irruption of water on the Spine’. [II, 111] 27/8/1865 to W. B. Donne. ‘Your letter found me here [Ramsgate] where I have been a week cruising about with my old Brother Peter. Tomorrow we leave – for Calais, as we propose; just to touch French Soil, and drink a Bottle of French Wine in the old Town: …’ [II, 558] Dec. 1866 to Marietta Nursey. ‘… and my Brother Peter, who, having lost his Wife in May or June, has married his House-keeper: and, in spite of what others say, may have done very wisely, more wisely, at any rate, than some of us have done …’ [II, 615] 16/2/1875 to R. H. Groome. ‘You may have heard that my Brother Peter is dead, of Bronchitis, at Bournemouth. He was taken seriously ill on Thursday last and died on Saturday without pain; and I am told that his last murmured words were my name – thrice repeated.’ [III, 552] Sister Eleanor Kerrich and family Edward FitzGerald’s oldest surviving sister, Eleanor, was his favourite among his siblings. He spent much time in his earlier years staying at her family home at Geldestone in Norfolk, and he enjoyed the company of her 12 children, both then and later when many of them stayed with him as adults in Woodbridge and Lowestoft.

31/3/1847 to B. Barton. ‘Kerrich is gone with his brother to London for a while [Kerrich had financial and emotional problems]: Eleanor [Kerrich’s wife and FitzGerald’s sister] has acted, and acts, with great sagacity and firmness. She has to learn to put off the yoke of submission to which she has so happily subjected herself for twenty years, and to be the Master: for a time at least: …’ [I, 557] 7/5/1847 to B. Barton. ‘I am not yet clear about future Geldestone [the Kerrich home in Norfolk] arrangements: but at present Kerrich and Eleanor are at Holbrook [home of FitzGerald’s sister Jane]; he something better, they think.’ [I, 560] 22/8/1847 to W. B. Donne. ‘Over that house [Geldestone, the Kerrich home] hangs a black cloud; and I see no symptom of its clearing away. Kerrich has got into the same state of mind that made his Father and Grandfather put the pistol to their heads. Perhaps to do this would be best; he is miserable himself. His wife and children are very unhappy; he is not at all fit to manage them, or his affairs: and yet not ill enough to have that charge taken from him. Eleanor does wonders in attending to him, her children, and all.’ [I, 572]

25/4/1849 to J. Allen. ‘Kerrich is just as ever – an insane man, now in good spirits – in half a year he will be in bad [spirits]. His wife has almost lost her health, and almost (but not) her reason in living with him, and attending him – she suffers from an hysterical affection of the head – always.’ [I, 635] 21/4/1857 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘But I want to get within reach of the Kerriches who are good for both of us.’ [The ‘us’ refers to Lucy Barton, whom he had recently married – see under Neighbours.] [II, 269] 26/5/1858 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I came up here [London] yesterday in order to catch in one clutch a large company of Kinsfolk – Kerriches, DeSoyres, etc.’ [II, 316] 2/5/1863 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘… as I shall go to Gelson [Geldestone] when they wish me. Only to the sad Funeral [of his sister Eleanor] I do not go.’ [II, 480] 16/8/1863 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘There is now a large Party at Boulge: But I keep well out of the way. Kerrich has been over with his Son Walter to look for a house hereabout for Walter, who is made Adjutant to the Rifles. I hope he won’t settle too near, for he is a great Bore.’ [II, 494] 30/9/1866 to W. B. Donne. ‘The Kerriches were here a month: and my Brother Peter for two Visits; during all which this Lowestoft has been my Head Quarters: …’ [II, 601] 31/12/1867 to M. Donne. ‘Edmund Kerrich [FitzGerald’s nephew] and Wife are here [Lowestoft] for a while: after which they go to Boulge, and then perhaps to My Chateau at Woodbridge. My Brother [John] told them he expected Gerald [John’s son] at Boulge.’ [III, 75] 2/4/1868 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Edmund Kerrich (whom you met here) and his wife are living at my Chateau here, and I see a good deal of them in an out-of-door way. He is trying to exchange his Indian Service … for English; … He is a very honourable, spirited, and good hearted Fellow: … His Wife is a good, generous, and loyal Woman.’ [III, 87] 1/2/1871 to W. H. Thompson. ‘Lusia [Kerrich, FitzGerald’s niece] is a fine Creature – a noble Creature, I may say, in all ways, Head and Heart: but I think she is less at home in such Society [Cambridge academia, where she had been staying], though she sees and appreciates all.’ [III, 272] 21/12/1875 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘Think of poor dear little Annie K[errich] [FitzGerald’s niece], now travelling to Italy, where I read that the Railways are

stopped with snow. My Sister Andalusia’s younger Daughter is dying, I believe – of Decline; and my Sister’s own Health is broken.’ [III, 636] 20/8/1880 to F. Tennyson. ‘I came here [Lowestoft] nearly three weeks ago for the purpose of being among six Nieces: one of whom is married to a Florentine, named Funajoli [Mary Kerrich], and is now come over with her Son of six years old to see Sisters and Kinsfolk.’ [IV, 357] Sister Jane Wilkinson and family Jane was Edward FitzGerald’s second-oldest sister. The relationship between them seems to have been quite good if a little distant. Jane’s husband died quite young (in 1862) and she moved to live in Florence, visiting England only rarely. She was the only sibling to outlive Edward.

31/5/1832 to J. Allen. ‘I got in [in] time to see my sister married on Tuesday morning: the ceremony is impressive: especially to the bride and bridegroom, as one might imagine would be the case.’ [FitzGerald’s sister Jane married Rev. J. B. Wilkinson, Rector of Holbrook.] [I, 112] Jan. 1856 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I am just back from Richmond (my Brother [Peter]’s). Wilkinson and Jane are here in London too: …’ [II, 197] 23/6/1862 to A. Tennyson. ‘This Letter ought to be on a black-edged Paper in a black-edged Cover: for I have just lost a Brother in law – one of the best of men.’ [Jane’s husband J. B. Wilkinson.] [II, 441] 8/1/1880 to Fanny Kemble. ‘She [FitzGerald’s niece reporting from Florence] says that my sister Jane (your old Friend) is fairly well in health, but very low in Spirits after that other Sister [Isabella]’s Death.’ [IV, 283] Sep. 1881 to F. Tennyson. ‘Since then a Sister of mine [Jane] who has lived in Florence for the last twenty years, has been over here, along with two of my Nieces: and went away homeward (viz., to Italy) a week ago.’ [IV, 446] 20/2/1883 to Anna Biddell. ‘… certainly one should set one’s house in order when one is on the verge of 75 [FitzGerald was then 73] – an Age which none of my Family have over-stepped except my Sister Jane Wilkinson, who keeps herself as yet evergreen among the olive trees of Florence’. [IV, 553] Sister Isabella Vignati and family Isabella and Andalusia were both younger than Edward and, as a young man, he escorted them when they were coming out into society. Isabella married an Italian (see first quotation) and

went to live in Italy. There does not seem to have been much contact with, or news of, her after this. She died quite young, aged 54. 15/10/1843 to F. Tennyson. ‘My sister [Isabella] (not the one you saw) has made a desperate match, which is to be solemnized perhaps next Tuesday at St. Martin’s Church. I could not be present: … The Man she has chosen [Gaetano Vignati] is – 1st an Italian. 2nd a converted Catholic Monk! 3rd is not all this enough without more?’ [These fears were unfounded; the marriage was a happy one and FitzGerald grew to like his brother-in-law.] [I, 404] 22/11/1845 to B. Barton. ‘I am just going off to Kensington to see poor Isabella, who is in all sorts of troubles.’ [I, 516] 5/6/1848 to J. Allen. ‘Isabella and her husband still reside here [Boulge Hall] – the Wilkinsons [FitzGerald’s sister Jane and her husband] are gone to Cheltenham for a fortnight.’ [I, 608] 4/11/1848 to B. Barton. ‘Thank you for your little view of Albro [Aldeburgh]. Isabella is now located there; I saw the Signor (Isabella’s husband) in London just before his departure hence to join her.’ [I, 621] 24/4/1864 to Mrs A. Tennyson. ‘I have just lost a Sister [Isabella Vignati] by Apoplexy – and I see Mourning, and hear Bells tolling, wherever I go.’ [II, 517] Sister Andalusia de Soyres and family Andalusia was Edward FitzGerald’s youngest sibling, and he seems to have had a good relationship with her and her clergyman husband. She married the latter after a sad end to her initial engagement (see first quotation). She and her family lived near Bath and Edward visited them on various occasions.

16/1/1842 to B. Barton. ‘We have had trouble at home. Captain Allen, Lusia’s betrothed lover, is dead with nearly all his crew on the shores of the fatal Niger. He wrote to her in good health and spirits the day before he was taken ill … You may imagine it was a sad thing to break this to poor Lusia …’ [I, 298] 4/2/1844 to J. Allen. ‘I am now staying at this place [Holbrook] with Lusia who has told you she has engaged herself to be married.’ [To Rev. Francis de Soyres, Curate at Geldestone.] [I, 420] 4/7/1845 to J. Allen. ‘Lusia and her husband are at the Hall [Boulge], to which my cottage is but a lawn-lodge. She yet bears up well; and walks and drives about.’ [Lusia was pregnant.] [I, 500]

27/7/1866 to W. H. Thompson. ‘A clerical Brother in law of mine [Lusia’s husband de Soyres] has lost his own whole Fortune in four of these Companies which have gone to smash. Nor his own only. For, having, when he married my Sister, insisted on having half her Income tied to him by Settlement, that half lies under Peril from “Calls” made upon him as Share-holder.’ [II, 589] 10/12/1879 to Fanny Kemble. ‘… but by this noon’s post comes a note from my Brother-in-law, De Soyres, telling me that his wife Andalusia died yesterday. She had somewhile suffered with a weak Heart …’ [IV, 277]

SCHOOL FRIENDS Keeping close contact with school friends and their families FitzGerald’s friends from his time at King Edward VI Grammar School in Bury St Edmunds are very significant in his correspondence; the most important are W. Airy, W. B. Donne, J. Kemble and J. Spedding. Of these, the last three, together with their families, are frequently mentioned in FitzGerald’s letters throughout his life. Spedding is the person who is most often discussed; this is in addition to the many references to Spedding’s writings on Bacon, Shakespeare and other topics. FitzGerald was clearly concerned that Spedding’s evident literary gifts had been wasted on some of the material he chose to study. FitzGerald also kept closely in touch with both the Donne and Kemble families; in the latter case, his main contact was with Jack Kemble’s sister Fanny, who was one of his most important correspondents in later years. Letters about this group of people contain news of births, marriages, illnesses and deaths, as well as reminiscences about past events, notably the theatrical appearances of many in the Kemble family. FitzGerald often reports to the friends themselves on his contacts with members of their families, and the reverse, especially with the Donne children and Fanny Kemble’s family. Close friends and neighbours such as the Cowells are often also included in these exchanges of news.

In his own words Donne family William Donne came from a Norfolk family and was at school and university with FitzGerald, becoming one of his closest friends. Donne made a career in writing on many subjects; he was also variously Librarian at the London Library and Examiner of Plays (an official censorship

role). The letters show that FitzGerald was very close also to Donne’s five children, with whom he corresponded directly. 17/6/1841 to B. Barton. ‘How did I get here? [Lowestoft] Why I left Geldestone yesterday to go to Norwich: when I expected Donne to carry me back to Mattishall: no Donne came: so, after sitting seven hours in the commercial Room I got up on the Coach by which I had set out, and vowed in desperation that I would not descend from it till it stopped. It stopped here at the sea. I was satisfied: …’ [I, 279] 22/8/1844 to B. Barton. ‘I spent four pleasant days with Donne: who looks pale and thin, and in whose face the grey is creeping up from those once flourishing whiskers to the skull. It is doing so with me.’ [I, 450] 29/3/1857 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I suppose I told you Donne leaves the London Library: and we try to get the place for a Mr. Woodward, friend of the Bungay Childs. Well, and scarce has Donne Quitted his old Post, and done all he can to get Mr. W. in, than our old Schoolfellow, Jack Kemble the Saxon, suddenly dies, leaving vacant his Post of Play-Licensor, in which Donne had so long helped him, and now we so want Donne to get it!’ [II, 264] 5/8/1863 to E. B. Cowell. ‘… Donne, who tells me his Son Mowbray is to be married to Edith Salmon; about whom and whose, your Wife, I am sure, will know all. Mrs. Salmon (the Mother) was a Worship of Yarmouth: and the Donnes and Worships have been intimate – for a Century almost, I believe.’ [II, 491] 17/11/1871 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Donne, you know, is pleased with Everybody, and with Everything that Anybody does for him. You must take his Praises of Woodbridge with this grain of salt to season them.’ [III, 308] 21/1/1872 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I suppose Donne is bothered about his Censorship, which will be done away with in time, I doubt not – for better or worse. I suppose that, reading such a heap of trash as he reads, he stumbles at a word, and sometimes slips over it.’ [III, 324] 20/3/1877 to Valentia Donne. ‘You will not doubt that I wish you all Happiness in your Marriage. It must be somewhat dimmed by quitting your Father: that must be – let it be the worst! You know one makes little Presents to Friends on such occasions; … Were I in London, I could find something to my own Taste: as I am not, nor likely to be, will you find something to your own Taste with the Cheque I enclose to your Father?’ [IV, 22]

Nov. 1881 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Mowbray Donne wrote me a month ago that his Father was very feeble: one cannot expect but that he will continue to become more and more so. I should run up to London to see him, if I thought my doing so would be any real comfort to him: but that only his Family can be to him: and I think he may as little wish to exhibit his Decay to an old Friend …’ [IV, 457] 24/6/1882 to Fanny Kemble. ‘You wrote me that you had bidden Blanche to let you know about her Father: and this I conclude that she, or some of her family have done. Nevertheless, I will make assurance doubly sure by enclosing you the letters I received from Mowbray, according to their dates: … Of that Death I say nothing: as you may expect of me, and as I should expect of you also; if I may say so.’ [IV, 512] July 1882 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Mowbray Donne sent me a “Saturday” with that Article on Donne [Donne’s obituary] – much like others of the sort.’ [IV, 517] Kemble family The Kembles were a well-known family of actors and theatrical managers (see further under Theatre in Chapter 11). Jack (J. M.) Kemble overlapped with FitzGerald at school and university and FitzGerald also knew Jack’s sister Fanny from contact between their mothers. Fanny was an actor, a Shakespearean reader and later a writer. She lived for a while in the US, and became a very regular correspondent of FitzGerald’s in later years.

10/10/1831 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘Last night I was seized all of a sudden with a tune I heard Fanny Kemble sing to – the fit remained on me all the evening, and on coming up to bed I made some verses to it. I send you them and the tune, which you may get your Mammy to play for you.’ [I, 103] 20/10/1852 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘… it was only two days ago that I myself knew what play Mrs. K[emble] would read: a question to which you also wanted an answer. Richard III. Not the play I should have chosen: nor one, I think, likely to draw. But so it falls to us in her routine; and, were it even of any use to ask her to alter it, I hardly would bother her.’ [II, 67] 3/1/1864 to W. B. Donne. ‘Last night I wrote to Mrs. Kemble … and told her how sincerely well I liked her Play. As to her Stage Criticism, perhaps I don’t understand her Definitions: I should have thought that “intuitive” and “intellectual” would have served well enough to distinguish the styles.’ [II, 503] 7/12/1868 to W. B. Donne. ‘I heard from Mrs. Kemble a few days ago – a letter so crossed on thin paper, I could scarce read her MS, and am not sure that I have

deciphered all exactly. She speaks of her present course of Readings as her last; and having, she says, vowed that it is to be so, so I daresay [sic] it will be.’ [III, 115] 13/11/1874 to W. B. Donne. ‘Her letter [from Fanny Kemble] was chiefly to tell me of a creditable Anecdote of Macready and her Father, in their days of Rivalry: Macready coming to Charles Kemble confessing his Jealousy (about some Part in a Play at Covent Garden) and asking to shake hands after his Confession. She had written that she wished Pollock knew of this, so wrote it to me, and I have lost the letter.’ [III, 525] 28/2/1878 to Anna Biddell. ‘I am very glad you like Mrs. Kemble: you being quite an unprepossesst [sic] Witness. It is one true and lofty Soul recognising another. … Mrs. K. is one of the few who exceed in Loyalty not only to their own Friends, but to their Brother’s School-fellows; …’ [IV, 104] June 1878 to W. B. Donne. ‘Mrs. Kemble only writes to me when I write to her, and then as you know, she feels it a “Conscience” to reply. Some while ago she said her Book was to be published by Bentley – which I shall be glad of – with some omissions. I advised several more.’ [IV, 132] 19/10/1879 to F. Tennyson. ‘Well, I had not seen Mrs. Kemble for over twenty years; and she wished once more, she said, to see an old Friend of herself and her Family. So I went, and was four days in London …’ [IV, 267] 4/11/1879 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I need not tell you that I am very glad of the news your note of Sunday tells me: and I take it as a pledge of old Regard that you told it me so soon: even but an hour after that other Kemble [Pierce Butler Leigh, Mrs Kemble’s grandson] was born.’ [IV, 269] Spedding family James Spedding came from a Cumbrian family but was sent to school in Bury St Edmunds, where he became a close friend of FitzGerald’s. Their friendship continued at Cambridge and through the rest of their lives. Spedding was at heart a scholar, and, after some time working in various civil service jobs, he devoted much of his life to editing the works of Francis Bacon and other literary writing. The letters show clearly FitzGerald’s affection and respect for his old friend.

21/3/1836 to W. B. Donne. ‘Spedding is just now furnishing chambers in Lincoln’s Inn Fields: so that we may look on him as a fixture in London. He and I went to dine with Tennant at Blackheath last Thursday: there we met Edgeworth, who has got a large house at Eltham …’ [I, 180]

29/11/1838 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘When you see Spedding pray remember to tell him that I did write him a letter, which I put into the fire because it was pert: and got nearly through another lately which I abandoned because it was all about nothing.’ [I, 219] 15/2/1841 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Tell Spedding I have treasured up a small note out of Gibbon for him – it is too beastly to insert in a letter to you.’ [I, 266] 16/1/1842 to F. Tennyson. ‘Thackeray and I occasionally amuse ourselves with the idea of Spedding’s forehead: we find it somehow or other in all things, just peering out of all things: you see it in a milestone, Thackeray says. He also draws the forehead rising with a sober light over Mont Blanc, and reflected in the Lake of Geneva.’ [I, 295] May 1844 to S. Laurence. ‘W. Browne and Spedding are with me, good representatives one of the Vita Contemplativa, the other of the Vita Attiva. Spedding, if you tell him this, will not allow that he has not the elements of Action in him: nor has he not: nor has not the other those of contemplation: …’ [I, 438] June 1848 to W. B. Donne. ‘I saw most of the wise and good when I was in London – Spedding, who is both, I saw much of: to my great profit. I went with him to hear Lind: and was – disappointed in all ways! Here is another point on which Spedding sets me down as a one-eyed man – and so will you, I dare say …’ [I, 609] 31/12/1850 to F. Tennyson. ‘I have not seen any one you know since I last wrote; nor heard from any one: except dear old Spedding, who really came down and spent two days with us, me and that Scholar and his Wife in their Village [the Cowells who lived then in Bramford], in their delightful little house … Old Spedding was delicious there; always leaving a mark … a sort of Platonic perfume.’ [I, 694] 22/12/1862 to S. Spring Rice. ‘I heard from Spedding yesterday that you had taken to Homeopathy … As to old Spedding, I think I shall scarce dare to write to him again: he replies with such sardonic disinclination. Yet I know he would be glad to see me if I went up to him: …’ [II, 472] 17/12/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Age, as Spedding says, has not “done the only thing it is fit to do – calmed the extravagance of Youth.” No; I always told Spedding it would not do so in Carlyle: that he would rather grow to insanity than otherwise.’ [III, 68] 17/11/1869 to W. H. Thompson. ‘By the by, old Spedding wrote me a long and very kind Letter a week ago: soon after his arrival in London. I think I would

enclose it to you; only to do so involves your returning it with a word from yourself; so I won’t. You know the Man, and how he writes: as no one else does, I think.’ [III, 168] Dec. 1873 to W. F. Pollock. ‘And Spedding has finished his forty years’ task! – “In Whitewashendo Bacone.” And the Echo won’t come home to him at least.’ [III, 459] 1/1/1879 to E. B. Cowell. ‘To my astonishment, old Spedding said he should be “delighted” to read over my proofs [of FitzGerald’s volume of Readings in Crabbe, Tales of the Hall]: I had merely hinted at such a piece of Good Fortune without much expectation of meeting with it.’ [IV, 170] 4/3/1881 to W. A. Wright. ‘You tell me the first I have heard of my dear Spedding’s Disaster. I should go up to London at once – not to see him, but to ask about him – if (with all these Eyes which will not endure even Woodbridge Lamps) I could learn any tidings but such as one Post will bring me.’ [Spedding was mortally injured when he was run down by a cab on 1 March 1881.] [IV, 399] 20/3/1881 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I have let the Full Moon pass because I thought you had written to me so lately, and so kindly, about our lost Spedding, that I would not call on you too soon again. Of him I will say nothing except that his Death has made me recall very many passages in his Life in which I was partly concerned. In particular, staying at his Cumberland Home along with Tennyson in the May of 1835.’ [IV, 413] Mar. 1881 to W. F. Pollock. ‘If Spedding’s Letters – or parts of them – would not suit the Public, they would surely be a very welcome treasure to his Friends. Two or three pages of Biography would be enough to introduce them to those who knew him less long and less intimately than ourselves: and all who read would be the better, and the happier, for reading them.’ [IV, 417]

UNIVERSITY FRIENDS Personal and literary networks derived from Cambridge A large part of FitzGerald’s correspondence network is based on the contacts he made at university and immediately thereafter. These include his fellow students, such as J. Allen, W. F. Pollock, W. M. Thackeray and W. H. Thompson, as well as key people that he met through school or university friends just after coming down from university, notably Frederick and Alfred Tennyson. Other university contacts are R. M. Milnes (later Lord Houghton) and S. Spring Rice. As with his friends

from school, many of the mentions of individuals relate to family events (marriages, births and deaths), and the correspondence sometimes included direct exchanges with the wives and children of friends. As might be expected, mentions of university friends were most frequent in the first two decades after FitzGerald left Cambridge. Much of the correspondence intermingles personal comments with remarks on literary or artistic matters. This is particularly true of the letters mentioning the Tennysons and Thackeray, though much personal detail about them is recounted as well. Mentions of Thompson and his family become more frequent in later years, when the latter became Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and FitzGerald was in frequent contact with W. A. Wright and E. B. Cowell, both Cambridge dons in the period.

In his own words J. Allen 2 FitzGerald got to know John Allen at Cambridge and they met and corresponded frequently in the years immediately following. Allen was ordained a clergyman, and much of their early correspondence concerns religious beliefs. In later years, when Allen lived in Shropshire, they did not meet often, but remained in occasional contact by letter.

17/9/1844 to J. Barton. ‘My friend, John Allen, goes school inspecting in Hampshire next week: beginning with Havant next Tuesday. I am sure you would like him: and I am sure he would like you: and therefore I write to ask if you would choose to entertain him for an afternoon – namely, that of Tuesday.’ [I, 452] 4/1/1845 to B. Barton. ‘And yesterday I dined with my dear old John Allen who remains whole and intact of the world in the heart of London. He dined some while ago at Lambeth, and the Lady next him asked the Archbishop if he read Punch. Allen thought this was a misplaced question: …’ [I, 471] 27/2/1851 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘We have been bothering for the last five weeks about releasing Archdeacon Allen from being co-trustee with me in my sister Lusia’s affairs; … I feel strongly tempted to make Allen’s secession from his Trustee-ship an excuse for my secession from Prees [village in Shropshire, where Allen now lived].’ [II, 18] 13/4/1852 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘I was for a fortnight with dear old Allen in Shropshire. He wears a Shovel Hat, it is true: but is as much of a Boy under it (almost) as he used to be twenty-four years ago – when I first knew him: and just before I knew you.’ [II, 50]

12/7/1860 to Mrs A. Tennyson. ‘As I knew that Mrs. Allen had not a better Portrait of her husband (my old Friend John Allen) I have sent it to her, for good and all; one that Laurence made over twenty years ago.’ [II, 363] 22/3/1881 to Mrs A. Tennyson. ‘Archdeacon Allen sent me the other day a Letter about Darwin’s Philosophy, so wise, so true, so far as I could judge, and, though written off, all fit to go as it was into Print, and do all the World good.’ [IV, 415] W. F. Pollock William Frederick Pollock was at Cambridge a little later than FitzGerald, and they met through mutual Cambridge friends. Pollock became a very successful lawyer in London, but, despite his career rise, his friendship and correspondence with FitzGerald persisted throughout their lives. Their exchanges on literary and theatrical matters were clearly valued by FitzGerald.

21/3/1841 to F. Tennyson. ‘Pollock and the Lawyer tribe travel to and fro between their Chambers in the Temple and Westminster Hall: occasionally varying their travels, when the Chancellor chooses, to the Courts in Lincoln’s Inn.’ [I, 271] Mar. 1866 to W. H. Thompson. ‘Yes, for I had gone to London (first Appearance there these two years) by early Train to look out some Goods for my House, and was tearing up Holborn, when he – Pollock – very kindly arrested me in his Progress to Chancery Lane, and (as I was in a hurry) walked back some way with me, and told me a little of him and his, and you, and Spedding, and Donne …’ [II, 577] Feb. 1871 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Pollock writes me that his Wife and eldest Son are studying Spanish, and asks me – what Books? I reply that I know of none but Calderon, Don Quixote, and some of the Ballads.’ [III, 275] 4/10/1874 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Do, pray, write your Macready (Thackeray used to say “Megreedy”) Story to Pollock: Sir F. 59 Montagu Square. I rather think he was to be going to Press with his Megreedy about this time: …’ [III, 515] 7/10/1879 to Fanny Kemble. ‘… no Book-binding [is] surviving under the pressure of Bad Times in little Woodbridge. “My dear Fitz, there is no Future for little Country towns,” said Pollock to me when he came here some years ago.’ [IV, 264] S. Spring Rice Stephen Spring Rice was another of the friends that FitzGerald made on visits to Cambridge after he himself had graduated. Spring Rice became a government servant, particularly involved with the Board of Customs. He and FitzGerald shared interests in boating as well as music and the theatre. Spring Rice died relatively young in 1865.

17/3/1842 to B. Barton. ‘I went for two days to see my friend Spring Rice at Lewisham: the fresh air made me a new man, but my return to London has knocked me up again.’ [I, 314] 14/9/1855 to T. Carlyle. ‘I finished my jaunt by a delightful little Cruise with S[pring] Rice in his Government Cutter – really delighted to sail the salt seas once more before a Breeze unpolluted with Smoke and Grease. We touched at Boulogne and Brighton.’ [II, 181] 5/12/1870 to W. F. Pollock. ‘In talking one day about different Quotations which get abroad without people always knowing whence they are derived, I could have sworn that I remember Spring Rice mentioning one that he himself had invented, and had been amused at seeing quoted here and there – Coldly correct and critically dull. Now only last night I happened to see the Line quoted in the Preface to Frederick Reynolds’ (the Playwright’s) stupid Memoirs, published in 1827 – some time before Spring Rice would have thought of such things, I suppose. And, as he was not given to brag, or lie (though a Paddy) I suppose my Memory was at fault.’ [III, 250] A. Tennyson3 FitzGerald became friendly with the future Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in 1835 on a visit to Cumberland to stay at the home of his school and university friend James Spedding. They exchanged many visits and letters in the following decade, and FitzGerald helped the young poet financially. Despite Tennyson’s subsequent fame, they remained good friends to the end of FitzGerald’s life.

23/5/1835 to J. Allen. ‘Alfred Tennyson staid [sic] with me at Ambleside: … I will say no more of Tennyson than that the more I have seen of him, the more cause I have to think him great. His little humours and grumpinesses were so droll, that I was always laughing: …’ [I, 162] Apr. 1838 to B. Barton. ‘We have had Alfred Tennyson here; very droll, and very wayward: and much sitting up of nights till two and three in the morning with pipes in our mouths: at which good hour we would get Alfred to give us some of his magic music, which he does between growling and smoking; and so to bed.’ [I, 211] 22/5/1842 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Alfred [Tennyson], whatever he may think, cannot trifle – many are the disputes we have had about his powers of badinage, compliment, waltzing, etc. His smile is rather a grim one …’ [I, 323]

10/12/1843 to F. Tennyson. ‘Alfred [Tennyson] came up “in transitu” from Boxley to Cheltenham: he looked, and said he was, ill: I have never seen him so hopeless: and I am really anxious to know how he is.’ [I, 407] 8/12/1844 to F. Tennyson. ‘I heard from Carlyle that he (Alfred [Tennyson]) had passed an evening at Chelsea much to C.’s delight; who has opened the gates of his Valhalla to let Alfred in.’ [I, 464] 5/5/1846 to B. Barton. ‘Tomorrow Tennyson and I are going to get a pint or two of fresh air at Richmond: and we are to wind up our day at Carlyle’s by way of a refreshing evening’s entertainment.’ [I, 533] 2/12/1848 to B. Barton. ‘Edward Cowell proposes to be in London about the same time, when I am to shew him two literary lions, in the persons of A. Tennyson, and Carlyle – the latter of whom is more rabid than ever.’ [I, 624] 31/12/1850 to F. Tennyson. ‘It is the cursed inactivity (very pleasant to me who am no Hero) of this nineteenth century which has spoiled Alfred, I mean spoiled him for the great work he ought now to be entering upon; the lovely and noble things he has done must remain. It is dangerous work this prophesying about great Men …’ [I, 694] 12/4/1874 to R. M. Milnes. ‘I used to tell Tennyson thirty years ago that he should be a Dragoon, or in some active Employment that would keep his soul stirring, instead of revolving in itself in idleness and Tobacco smoke. And now he has sunk into Coterie-worship, and (I tremble to say it) in the sympathy of his most Ladylike, gentle, Wife.’ [III, 487] 19/9/1876 to Anna Biddell. ‘The Story is that on Thursday I was thinking of George Crabbe when a Card was brought in to “Old Fitz” from A T[ennyson] and his Son. And immediately it was as if we had parted only twenty days instead of twenty years: with our old Jokes, Banter, Comparisons of Taste, etc. … He looked as well as I had ever seen him, and was in all other ways unaltered.’ [III, 705] 24/10/1876 to Fanny Kemble. ‘When Tennyson was with me, whose Portrait hangs in my house in company with those of Thackeray and this Man [Posh Fletcher] (the three greatest men I have known), I thought that both Tennyson and Thackeray were inferior to him [Posh], in respect of Thinking of Themselves.’ [III, 714]

Illustration 10.  Two literary giants who were close friends of FitzGerald. Alfred Lord Tennyson (left) and William Makepeace Thackeray (right).

F. Tennyson Frederick Tennyson was the Poet Laureate’s eldest brother, and he too became a close friend and correspondent of FitzGerald’s. They did not meet very often, since Frederick Tennyson lived for long periods out of the country, first in Italy and then in Jersey. However, in their correspondence they shared their joint interests in literature, music and the theatre.

29/8/1842 to J. Allen. ‘I also receive letters from Morton and F. Tennyson full of fine accounts of Italy – finer than any I have ever read. They came all of a sudden on Cicero’s villa … [with] a little fountain as old as Augustan age bubbling up as fresh,

Tennyson says, “as when its silver sounds mixed with the deep voice of the orator as he sate there in the stillness of the noon day, devoting the siesta-hours to study.”’ [I, 336] 20/9/1848 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have scarce seen [Alfred] Tennyson this year: have not the least idea where he is. Frederic T. was over here a fortnight ago: as usual giving me no information of his presence till it was too late.’ [I, 616] 19/10/1853 to S. Spring Rice. ‘Fred. T[ennyson] is not yet gone after all; having had a summons to go again to Lincolnshire to meet that fellow D’Eyncourt who will be sure to bamboozle him anew.’ [II, 111] 24/11/1859 to Mrs A. Tennyson. ‘Parker, the disagreeable young bookseller, told me Frederick was going to live in Jersey or Guernsey. He (Frederick) has cut me, or has never had the three or four Letters I have written him.’ [II, 346] 22/5/1861 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Frederic T[ennyson] is settled at Jersey. I cannot make up my mind to go to see any of these good, noble men: I only hope they believe I do not forget, or cease to regard them.’ [A. Tennyson, T. Carlyle and J. Spedding are among the friends mentioned in this letter.] [II, 400] 27/7/1863 to S. Spring Rice. ‘Then I have had a Letter from “Grimsby” [F. Tennyson] who is deep in Spiritualism at Jersey: and, sitting one day with a Pen in his hand, felt it driven over the Paper by an unknown force – first designing Landscapes, then Sentences half nonsense, half sublime Sense …’ [II, 486] 4/10/1863 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘… but [I] am come back here to entertain Frederic Tennyson, who very kindly proposes a Visit to me. He now lives in Jersey: we have not met for some ten years.’ [II, 497] 15/10/1863 to S. Spring Rice. ‘Frederick Tennyson has been staying three Days with me here: and he wants to have a Copy of that same Photograph of yourself which you sent me. I mean, one with hand in Trouser pocket, and Bookcase behind: very good indeed.’ [II, 500] May 1865 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘What you tell of the Music in the Air at your Father’s death – Oh, how Frederic Tennyson would open all his Eyes at this! For he lives in a World of Spirits – Swedenborg’s World, which you would not approve; which I cannot sympathise with: …’ [II, 554] W. M. Thackeray FitzGerald shared a Cambridge tutor with William Makepeace Thackeray, subsequently famous as novelist and artist, and they had similar artistic interests and a common sense of fun. They spent much time together in the 1830s, notably in London and Paris. FitzGerald supported the struggling writer financially, and they remained personally close despite Thackeray’s later public success. Thackeray died in 1863.

21/4/1830 to J. Allen. ‘Thackeray came unexpectedly to Paris, and is unexpectedly gone. … But Thackeray came: and turned all my sorrow to joy: for I was really delighted to see him. He is now off for London.’ [I, 82] 21/5/1830 to J. Allen. ‘Tell Thackeray that he is never to invite me to his house, as I intend never to go: not that I would not go out there rather than any place perhaps, but I cannot stand seeing new faces in the polite circles.’ [I, 87]

31/10/1835 to J. Allen. ‘What do you think! Thackeray has engaged himself to be married to a young Lady at Paris – a Miss Shawe. I have had two rapturous letters from him about it. He tells me not to divulge this abroad: …’ [I, 175] 15/11/1852 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘Meanwhile, I truly believe there is no Man alive loves you (in his own way of love) more than I do. Now you are gone out [of] England, I can feel something of what I should feel if you were dead: … I was relieved to have a note from you: for I had begun to think you were disgusted with me. Donne told me you couldn’t write. I dreamt so of you the other night. I wish you would tell me your girls’ address in Paris: I should like to write to them, and hear from them.’ [II, 75] 7/8/1853 to S. Spring Rice. ‘I caught a glimpse of old Thackeray on his return from America – quite well, rich, and happy: and about to start on a Swiss tour with his Girls.’ [II, 97] 1/1/1864 to Anne Ritchie [Thackeray]. ‘I hope it won’t distress or annoy you if I write a very few lines to say that I don’t forget you or him; never have forgot, though my Way of Life has kept me apart. And, though I don’t wish you to write now, I wish you wouldn’t wholly forget me neither …’ [Thackeray died 24 December 1863.] [II, 503] 29/4/1870 to W. F. Pollock. ‘… I have bought and have been looking over the first twelve Volumes of Punch: only for the sake of recovering some of Thackeray’s first Papers there: which I remember his doing when I was staying with him in what he used to call Joram Street’. [III, 217] Dec. 1874 to Anne Ritchie [Thackeray]. ‘What I now want to say is only what I meant to say before – that one good reason, I think, for such a Halbim [Album?] of your Father’s Drawings is, that you might select them from his graver and more graceful works, almost leaving out all Caricature …’ [III, 535] Anne Ritchie [Thackeray] Annie Thackeray was the elder daughter of the novelist, and she became a fairly frequent correspondent of FitzGerald’s in the years following her father’s death. She too was a writer, mainly of novels, which FitzGerald did not greatly enjoy (see page 81).

13/4/1852 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘I am actually making a Will; and I will put your two daughters down for the magnificent sum of £1,000 – a mighty legacy! – but my property is already, and probably will be yet more, diminished greatly: …’ [II, 50]

Dec. 1864 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Annie Thackeray had just written, to say they were got to live at 8 Onslow Gardens; her Letter very genuine and very humorous (as she always was and must be) under real Sorrow. She talks honestly of turning a Penny by “little Articles,” for which she has got “a little Room” to herself.’ [II, 537] 18/7/1872 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Just as I was going out [from the Royal Academy], who should come up to me but Annie Thackeray, who took my hands as really glad to see her Father’s old friend. I am sure she was; and I was taken aback somehow; and, out of sheer awkwardness, began to tell her that I didn’t care for her new Novel! And then, after she had left her Party to come to me, I ran off! It is true … I reflected when I had got halfway down Piccadilly: and so ran back, and went into the Academy again: but could not find A.T. I have been so vext with myself …’ [III, 361] W. H. Thompson William Thompson was a contemporary of FitzGerald’s at Cambridge who went on to become an academic at Trinity College in Cambridge as well as an ordained clergyman. The two were friends at Cambridge, but their contacts flourished particularly in later years when Thompson was Master of Trinity. They shared mutual friends, particularly W. A. Wright and E. B. Cowell, and also a deep interest in the classics.

27/7/1863 to S. Spring Rice. ‘I saw Thompson for a whole long Day at Ely some six weeks since. About this time he was to be free of his Canonical Duty: … He was well; and we talked much of you and Spedding and one or two more.’ [II, 486] 19/3/1866 to J. Allen. ‘He [R. H. Groome] wrote me the other day to announce that Thompson was Master of Trinity; an Honour quite unexpected by Thompson himself …’ [II, 575] 12/6/1867 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I wrote, however, to thank Thompson for any such share of Attention as he may have paid to Cowell on my Account: … Thompson knew from other Authority that Cowell was the proper Man for the Office [Chair of Sanskrit at Cambridge]: …’ [III, 35] 23/8/1881 to W. A. Wright. ‘In the meanwhile I rejoice to hear from you that he [Thompson] has returned all the better for his German Tour: please to give him my Love and Duty, as well as all due regard to Mrs. Thompson, who I am very glad to hear is all the better also.’ [IV, 445]

NEIGHBOURS Suffolk provided close friends, and many contacts The neighbours mentioned frequently in FitzGerald’s letters form a rather disparate group. Most important among them are the Crabbe family and E. B. Cowell and his wife Elizabeth Charlesworth and her family. Bernard Barton, his daughter Lucy (who became FitzGerald’s wife), and the painter Thomas Churchyard and his daughter were also close local contacts. George Crabbe the elder (son of the poet Crabbe and Vicar of the nearby parish of Bredfield), plus Barton and Churchyard, were members of the so-called ‘Woodbridge Wits’, with whom FitzGerald met frequently in the 1840s and 1850s when he was living at Boulge Cottage. The letters contain references to these enjoyable meetings as well as to his developing friendships first with Elizabeth Charlesworth and her family, and subsequently with E. B. Cowell. The Smith family, with whom FitzGerald lived at Farlingay Hall in the 1850s, also appear in the correspondence. Among the Crabbes, mentions include the younger George Crabbe, Rector of Merton in Norfolk, who became a very close friend of FitzGerald’s from the 1850s onwards, and Crabbe’s sisters, who moved from Bredfield following their father’s death. In the later letters, FitzGerald’s Woodbridge friend and assistant F. Spalding appears quite often; FitzGerald tried to help Spalding to establish himself in business, without much success. Among the people living outside the area who often received letters with mentions of local contacts are FitzGerald’s Cambridge friend of later years W. A. Wright and his school friend W. B. Donne.

In his own words B. Barton FitzGerald got to know the older Quaker poet Bernard Barton when the FitzGerald family moved to Boulge, near Woodbridge where Barton lived. Barton became a member of FitzGerald’s close circle of ‘Woodbridge Wits’, and they shared literary, artistic and other interests. Barton died in 1849.

20/11/1841 to B. Barton. ‘My Father tells me that you were not well enough to dine with him last week. Now this is not as it should be. Your sound heart should have a sound body to dwell in, Mr. Barton: and in short it is not proper that you should be ill. Seriously, you should take exercise: walk even half an hour in your garden up and down, with a book, or (better still) with a pipe as a companion: …’ [I, 289]

29/1/1845 to W. B. Donne. ‘Barton comes and sups with me tomorrow, and George Crabbe, son of the poet, a capital fellow. We shall smoke and drink and tell dirty stories.’ [I, 477] 29/1/1846 to W. B. Donne. ‘Your Speech, and your letter, came in due order. I liked many parts of the Speech much; Barton and some Woodbridge people were so charmed with it that they all determined to devote their sixpences toward the possession of it.’ [I, 522] 22/8/1847 to W. B. Donne. ‘Barton’s portrait is a faithful one, but not, I think, a happy view of his face. Laurence made him sit high; so as to foreshorten the nose; a thing which few English faces will bear.’ [I, 572] 9/3/1849 to W. B. Donne. ‘Our good friend Barton has died leaving very little worldly goods behind him; and we do not yet know what Miss B. will have or what else she is to do with herself. I (who was to have gone to Norfolk a fortnight ago) have waited here, looking over his papers, letters, etc., more because it amused her, poor thing, to turn over all these things …’ [I, 632] 25/4/1849 to J. Allen. ‘My old friend Barton died in February: I am now helping to get up a volume of Selections from his poems and Letters for the benefit of his Daughter, who is left with scarce anything I doubt.’ [I, 635] Lucy Barton Lucy was Bernard Barton’s daughter, and FitzGerald saw her often at her father’s house. It has been suggested that Barton asked FitzGerald to ‘look after’ his daughter following his death. FitzGerald married Lucy in 1856, but they separated after a very difficult nine months. FitzGerald continued to support Lucy financially with an annuity. Jan. 1846 to B. Barton. ‘I send a book for Miss Barton. I have marked with a bit of brown paper where, I think, her subject begins. It is a fine book altogether: but then it is a quarto! … Beg Miss Barton to mark with pencil in this and other books good passages, etc.’ [I, 523]

4/4/1849 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have tried what I can to make Miss B[arton] undertake the whole editorial responsibility [for her father’s papers]: a thing she is well fitted for, and which the world will expect her to do. She will perhaps yield about the general Editorship: but has so strong a dislike to writing any Memoir of her father, that I have agreed to do so much.’ [I, 634] 15/8/1849 to J. Allen. ‘I have been here since I saw you in London – correcting proof of this little Book. For Miss B[arton] is so bothered and bewildered she has

scarce time or thought to bestow on it. She has been selling all her furniture by auction, poor thing: and is going to take a situation as Governess – at Mrs. Hudson Gurney’s, I believe.’ [I, 648] 21/10/1856 to S. Spring Rice. ‘I am going to be married to Miss Barton – a very doubtful Experiment – long talked of – not fixt beyond all Cause and Impediment till lately – and now “Vogue la Galère!” [Come what may!] I shut my Eyes to Consequences, and read trash in Háfiz …’ [II, 239] 11/11/1856 to Anna Ling. ‘This day week we were married at Chichester.’ [Terhunes report the story that at the wedding breakfast, when offered blancmange, FitzGerald waved it away, muttering, ‘Ugh, congealed bridesmaid’.] [II, 241] 29/5/1857 to G. Crabbe [Bredfield]. ‘. . . I doubt you whom I do care about will, with others I don’t care about, think me a bad fellow [for breaking with his wife]. Perhaps we may talk the matter over one day, for I do very decidedly desire to sit at your Table … if you will have me … I pay in sorrow for my own Follies. I have really read nothing for weeks, only looking from time to time at a poor little Persian Epicurean who sings … “Let us make the best of To-day, – who can answer for To-morrow!”’ [II, 277] 19/3/1858 to Mrs A. Tennyson. ‘My married Life has come to an end: I am back again in old Quarters, living as for the last thirty years – only so much older, sadder, uglier, and worse! If People want to go further for the cause of all this Blunder than the fact of two People of very determined habits and Temper, first trying to change them at close on fifty – they may lay nine tenths of the Blame on me. I don’t want to talk more of the matter, but one must say something.’ [II, 313] 15/2/1865 to Mrs W. K. Browne. ‘No doubt I was all to blame in not trying to make the best of the marriage, but can anyone say but that we are both of us better as we are? Marriages between very unequal ages are bad, but it was reserved for me to make a stupider: of two elderly people very determined in their own distinct ways of life.’ [II, 542] 11/7/1865 to Mrs W. K. Browne. ‘She [Lucy Barton] has little to blame herself for except in fancying she knew both me and herself better than I had over and over again told her was the truth before marriage. Well I won’t say more. I think you will admit that she is far better off than she was, and as I feel sure, ever would have been living with me.’ [II, 556]

Biddell family The Biddells were a local family with whom FitzGerald was happy to socialise; they were relatives of his school friend William Airy. Herman Biddell was a gentleman farmer, and also an artist. His sister, Anna Biddell, was well educated and she became a friend and correspondent of FitzGerald’s on literary matters in his later years. The quotations illustrate FitzGerald’s concerns for, and kindnesses to, his friends.

2/3/1870 to H. Biddell. ‘You write me that your Sisters are going to reside in Woodbridge for awhile. Have they found a House to reside in? If not, why won’t they go to mine till they find one, at any rate. They may have it “all for love;” nay I should be glad if some one would make use of it.’ [III, 205] Spring 1870 to H. Biddell. ‘Alfred Smith told me that you made a good Fight against Tomline, the Scoundrel at Ipswich. Fight on against him, and all his Tribe; don’t let them cajole or flatter you into acquiescence or excuse; and then one day we will send you to Parliament.’ [III, 213] 22/2/1871 to W. A. Wright. ‘Airy’s Cousins, the Biddells, tell me he is married – to a Woman of good Property too: but much to the disapproval of his Observatory kinsfolk.’ [Airy’s brother Sir George Biddell Airy was Astronomer Royal.] [III, 278] 20/3/1874 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I want you and EBC to call on the women Biddells who (I am sorry to say) are leaving Woodbridge, and go to live somewhere in Henley Road, Ipswich. You know all about the Family, I am sure: … the third is my friend, Anna Biddell: an original, remarkable, person (very good also) whom I want you both to know – and to help her to like Ipswich.’ [III, 484] Captain F. C. Brooke Captain Brooke was another of FitzGerald’s neighbours in Woodbridge with whom he was willing to be friendly. They exchanged visits and Brooke, who was wealthy, had a fine library. He was also a friend of FitzGerald’s schoolfellow W. B. Donne.

23/6/1849 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I have civil notes from Captain Brooke and Donaldson: both which I enclose. You can now decide whether you like to come over here on Monday, while Brooke is out, or wait till he returns etc. Do as you like.’ [I, 644] 5/12/1851 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I must tell you while it flies across my brain that Captain Brooke is going to be married – to a Miss Duff, a niece of Lord Rendlesham’s – sister, I think, of Mrs. Tollemache’s.’ [Terhunes identify Miss Duff as a step-daughter, not a niece, of Lord Rendlesham.] [II, 43]

Dec. 1873 to W. B. Donne. ‘I saw Brooke Today – in a Tandem not drawn by the old Greys, however. He looks much younger than ever. I told him you were better: and I really think he has more regard for you than for anyone else I know.’ [III, 465] 28/3/1880 to C. Keene. ‘… I lent Stubbes [refers to a book entitled Anatomy of Abuses, 1583] to our great Captain Brooke, who, I think, might like to own it: but it is yours. If ever you come here, you shall go over to Brooke’s to see his Library which is especially rich, I believe, in Topography.’ [IV, 306] Dec. 1881 to Blanche Donne. ‘My Xmas company has consisted of Aldis Wright and Arthur Charlesworth, with an occasional Day-visitor, such as Brooke, who is young as ever, and rides a black Charger, and makes himself happy and agreeable enough when he comes.’ [IV, 467] Charlesworth family Rev. John Charlesworth was Rector of a parish near Ipswich and he and his family were friends of the FitzGeralds, possibly from when the latter lived at Wherstead, also near Ipswich. It is thought that FitzGerald may have considered proposing marriage to the elder daughter Elizabeth, who eventually married his friend Edward Cowell (see page 23). These extracts relate to the Charlesworth son Arthur, for whom FitzGerald often expressed his concern and care.

10/8/1872 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘Yes. Arthur came to me this day week and stayed till Wednesday. He looked more like a Boy – really not more than a Boy of twelve or thirteen – than two years ago: …’ [Arthur Charlesworth was Mrs Cowell’s brother.] [III, 368] 9/11/1878 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I have just had a letter from poor Arthur who is in great trouble about his Brother (John?), the arrival of whose Ship has been long overdue, and he says she is almost given over at Lloyd’s. His Mother and Sisters are in a worse Suspense than he …’ [IV, 156] Churchyard family Thomas Churchyard was a local solicitor and artist who was a member of FitzGerald’s circle of ‘Woodbridge Wits’. The quotations show something of the conviviality of this group, as well as FitzGerald’s care for Churchyard’s family.

21/12/1843 to S. Laurence. ‘On Saturday I give supper to B. Barton and Churchyard. I wish you could be with us. We are the chief Wits of Woodbridge. And one man has said that he envies our conversations! So we flatter each other in the country.’ [I, 411]

20/6/1847 to S. Laurence. ‘At Woodbridge too is my little friend Churchyard, with whom we shall sup off toasted cheese and porter. Then, last and not least, the sweet retirement of Boulge: …’ [I, 561] Dec. 1866 to Marietta Nursey. ‘Mrs. Churchyard died a month ago. The Daughters go on as before: doing all for their house, but I don’t think preparing for other work. The worst is, the younger Son, Charley: who, having been brought up to be idle, is now not only idle, but dissipated; and will wring all their money out of them.’ [II, 615] Cowell family FitzGerald first met Edward Cowell at the home of the Charlesworths (see page 154) in the winter of 1844–5. Cowell, then only 18 years old, was already a fine linguist, and was to become well known as a specialist in oriental languages. He became a close friend and frequent correspondent of FitzGerald’s, and was responsible for the latter’s interest in both Spanish and Persian. Cowell and his wife, the former Elizabeth Charlesworth, remained good friends with FitzGerald throughout his life.

4/10/1845 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I have received both your letters, for which I ought to thank you, written on such an occasion. You are a happy man and [I envy you].’ [Cowell had just become engaged to Elizabeth Charlesworth. Terhunes note that she was the woman to whom FitzGerald had considered proposing in 1835 (see letter to Thackeray 29/7/1835). According to George Cowell, in Life & Letters of E B Cowell 1904, when Cowell announced his engagement, FitzGerald is reported as saying, ‘The deuce you are! Why! You have taken my Lady!’] [I, 512] 31/12/1850 to F. Tennyson. ‘The delightful lady . . . is going to leave this neighbourhood and carry her young Husband to Oxford, there to get him some Oriental Professorship one day. He is a delightful fellow, and, I say, will, if he live, be the best Scholar in England.’ [I, 694] 24/12/1851 to Mrs A. Tennyson. ‘And, more than that, I want to bring down with me to dine with you Saturday my friends Edward Cowell and his wife: the first of whom is known to Alfred – the second (who was a Miss Charlesworth, connected with a Lincoln family) knows by report something of you.’ [II, 45] 27/12/1853 to F. Tennyson. ‘I also amuse myself with poking out some Persian which E. Cowell would inaugurate me with: I go on with it because it is a point in common with him, and enables us to study a little together.’ [II, 116]

28/7/1856 to E. B. and Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I think it is best for many reasons that I should not go to see you again – to say a Good-Bye that costs me so much. I shall very soon write to you; and hope to keep up something of Communion by such meagre Intercourse. Do you do the same to me. Farewell, Both!’ [The Cowells sailed for India on 1 August 1856.] [II, 236] 8/5/1867 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Unless you are predestined to vote for a German to fill the chair of Sanskrit to be set up at Cambridge, do vote, and get those you can to vote, for Edward Cowell.’ [III, 25] 10/6/1867 to W. H. Thompson. ‘Elizabeth Cowell sends me a Telegram that EBC is elected by a good Majority. I know you wouldn’t have proposed any but a good Candidate for your own University, irrespective of any personal Regard to him or his Friends. Still, I will take upon myself to thank you for the Kindness you have shown Cowell; …’ [III, 35] 1/11/1870 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Do you know Edward Cowell the Professor? He was for two months at Lowestoft with me and went sailing when he could – leaving all his Philology at Cambridge. He told me that your eldest Son was one of his most hopeful Scholars in Sanscrit.’ [III, 247] 3/9/1879 to C. E. Norton. ‘Now, you would like to be here along with me and my delightful Cowell, when we read the Second Part of Don Quixote together of a morning. This we have been doing for three weeks; and shall continue to do for some ten days more, I suppose: …’ [IV, 250] 11/9/1879 to W. A. Wright. ‘Yesterday this mad Professor [Cowell] was seized with a wish to talk Welsh with George Borrow: and, as he would not venture otherwise, I gave him a Note of Introduction, and off he went, and had an hour with the old Boy …’ [IV, 253] Crabbe family FitzGerald had links with three men called George Crabbe, who were three generations of the same family. First there was the poet, whose work FitzGerald condensed and published (see page 72); then his son, Vicar of Bredfield, near Woodbridge, who was a friend, and a ‘Woodbridge Wit’; and finally Crabbe of Bredfield’s son, Crabbe of Merton, also a clergyman and a close friend of FitzGerald from the 1850s onwards. The quotations show, inter alia, FitzGerald’s concern for the daughters of Crabbe of Bredfield.

20/11/1844 to B. Barton. ‘I have had a long letter from Crabbe [of Bredfield], all written with the freshness of one of twenty-five – nay of one yet younger. I believe

he would go with us today to Beccles, and look into the shops with as much interest as the rest of us. He was sixty some days ago.’ [I, 461] 28/5/1845 to B. Barton. ‘I have been hoaxing Crabbe [of Bredfield] with letters artfully contrived; but which he has defeated by the simple means of not reading what seemed not intended for his eyes. Deuce take him.’ [I, 491] 15/8/1845 to B. Barton. ‘I had a queer hyppish note from Crabbe [of Bredfield]; lamenting that he could only interest himself in one subject, which would not interest me, viz, the truth of the Evangelical doctrine; and still harping on my pride etc.’ [I, 503] 2/12/1848 to B. Barton. ‘And who should walk into my rooms on Thursday night but George Crabbe [of Merton] – to whom I have also given bed and board (such as it was) till today: when he returns to his parish duties. I have enjoyed his visit much; and, odd to say, felt a twinge at his going away.’ [I, 624] 21/1/1849 to W. B. Donne. ‘I manage to keep on the windy side of care. Crabbe [of Bredfield] has lost his youngest son of consumption: but I am going tonight to console him with an account of Mr. Layard’s Assyrians, which will make [him] snap his fingers at Moses.’ [I, 629] 23/6/1851 to W. B. Donne. ‘I may yet have to go to G. Crabbe [of Merton]’s Wedding if, at the eleventh hour, I have a very determined remonstrance against my absence; and, even if I do not go then, I scarce like to run away to the more agreeable engagement with you. For I mortally hate these wedding festivities; a very large company – hot rooms, speeches, etc.’ [II, 32] 17/10/1857 to Anna Ling. ‘It was indeed very sad to me to attend dear Crabbe [of Bredfield]’s Funeral, although I did not wish him to live on as he was. … I spent the Evenings with the Crabbes to whom I hope I was of some little Comfort. Miss Crabbe bears all as one might expect of her: …’ [II, 302] Spring 1858 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I must tell you how much my Brother’s People and the Pollocks liked you – they did indeed – and Margaret Purcell [a cousin of FitzGerald] was really delighted with your candid talk with her.’ [II, 314] 3/9/1858 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I must tell you also that I have been down into Warwickshire purposely to visit Miss Crabbe and her Sister Mary, who for the present live with their Cousin … and take care of his Orphan Baby.’ [II, 317] 10/6/1867 to W. H. Thompson. ‘When some fifteen or twenty years ago I brought him [Cowell] and my old George Crabbe [of Bredfield] together, I was

afraid that Crabbe, who hated Reserve, would mistake Cowell’s Shyness: but, after a Day and a Dinner on the Water, he shouted out – “Reserve, Sir! Why, he’s a great Boy!”’ [III, 35] 19/12/1875 to T. Carlyle. ‘A Letter from Miss Crabbe this morning … says what a Pleasure it has always been to remember you at her Father’s Vicarage at Bredfield. You were struck by her quiet unpretence – “Simplex munditiis” you quoted about her.’ [III, 635] 18/8/1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘But now – George Crabbe [of Merton], most amiable, intelligent, and agreeable Divine, comes to me here next Tuesday to stay till the end of the week, I suppose … you will like G.C. very much, and agree with him about Church policies, etc.’ [IV, 66] Groome family Robert Groome was Rector of Monk Soham, a parish near Woodbridge. FitzGerald may have met him earlier in Cambridge, and they shared an interest in music as well as in Suffolk dialects. Groome later became Archdeacon of Suffolk, and often visited FitzGerald in Woodbridge. His son Francis, also a specialist in Suffolk dialect, wrote a memoir of both FitzGerald and his father.4

4/10/1850 to W. B. Donne. ‘[R.] H. Groome came over and dined with me on Wednesday: and Crabbe [of Bredfield] came to meet him: but the latter had no hearty smoker to keep him in countenance, and was not quite comfortable. H. Groome improves: his poetical and etymological ambitions begin to pale away before years that bring the philosophic mind, and before a rising family.’ [I, 682] 13/11/1868 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Robert Groome came to me on Tuesday, and went away yesterday: very well and merry. He told me he had spent three very delightful days with you … I have heard nothing from Trinity Lodge lately: but Groome tells me that the Master [W. H. Thompson] is relieved of his Vice Chancellorship.’ [III, 110] 15/6/1874 to W. B. Donne. ‘I may have told Mowbray that R. Groome called on me after holding forth in our Church at his visitation. How little he looks altered in Body, or Mind these thirty or forty years!’ [III, 499] 18/3/1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘Groome’s Gipsy Son is editing some East Anglian Notes and Queries in our Ipswich Journal, I believe: if you can help him, do; …’ [IV, 19] 29/7/1880 to W. Tate. ‘I was very sorry to hear some while ago that you were going to leave us: … You will have one pleasant neighbour at any rate near where

you are going to: Archdeacon Groome – as amiable, well read, and agreeable a man as I know.’ [IV, 353] J. Smith and family Job Smith was a tenant farmer on the Boulge estate who moved to live in Farlingay Hall, just outside Woodbridge. FitzGerald had a base at Farlingay Hall from 1854 to 1860. The quotations illustrate FitzGerald’s involvement with the local farming people.

25/10/1851 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘The Smiths are gone; and tomorrow I shall miss them in their accustomed place [in] Church. I have had half a dozen people here already complaining of the loss of them, and of the employment they gave.’ [II, 39] 9/11/1852 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘Anna Smith’s wedding was the only really pleasant wedding I ever was at. All was cheerful, liberal, and peaceful. At eight o’clock Crabbe [of Merton] and I started in a fly to Farlingay: each of us in his best clothes, with as gay a nosegay as the gardens afforded: arrived at Farlingay, we took up the Bridegroom and Mrs. Smith (the Bride going on with Anna Biddell and Phoebe Knight as Bridesmaids in another carriage before) and so trundled … to Otley …’ [II, 72] 20/2/1858 to Anna Ling. ‘Tell Alfred [Anna Ling’s brother, Alfred Smith] I am going to send him a Harrow one day of a kind that a Man I know has patented. I have so long been wanting to make A. a little present for his new Farm: …’ [II, 310] 5/3/1860 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have just parted with the only Company I have had these five months – Alfred Smith and his Brother in law Ling (Mowbray remembers him at Otley Hall) who both came on Saturday and went off to their Homes and Callings today, leaving my Room very smokey indeed. Alfred is quite a good Fellow: and Ling has his humour.’ [II, 356] F. Spalding FitzGerald probably met Frederick Spalding when he moved to live in Woodbridge in 1860. The younger man, a local clerk with wide literary and other interests, became an assistant to FitzGerald, as well as a friend. The examples illustrate both the practical help that Spalding gave FitzGerald and their common interest in the local usage of language.

Spring 1868 to H. Biddell. ‘Yesterday Mr. Spalding had proposed walking round to you: but there was some Drill at night which prevented him. I saw him Today and gave him your Message. I dare say he will stride over ere long. On my word, I would go too, if I went anywhere.’ [III, 84]

1/2/1870 to Posh Fletcher. ‘Mr. Spalding was with me last night; and I asked him if I was justified in the scolding I gave you about buying the Lugger and Nets too; telling him the particulars. He would not go so far as to say I was wrong; but he thought that you were not to blame either. Therefore I consider that I was wrong; and, as I told you, I am very glad to find myself wrong …’ [III, 197] 30/1/1874 to W. Tate. ‘Mr. Spalding told me last night that you were nominated to Bredfield and Petistree. I have written off this really good piece of News to my old friend Miss Crabbe, Daughter of the last Vicar before old Dufton; …’ [III, 474] Apr. 1874 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I mentioned your “Sarsomine” to Professor Spalding here; to whom it is very familiar: only generally preceded by “Dear” – “Dear Sarsomine!” which he always looked on as meaning “Dear Sirs o’mine,” which you are familiar enough with Suffolk to know is pronounced “Sars”.’ [III, 489] 31/8/1876 to W. A. Wright. ‘Mr. Spalding is still here, but I cannot learn that his Future is yet provided for. Meanwhile, he seems happy to talk of Coins, Celts, Birds, Egg [sic], Pictures, etc. … He has really accurate knowledge, as well as real Taste and Liking, in such matters: and is more-over a very amiable and civilised Man.’ [III, 696]

LITERARY FRIENDS Literary contacts valued as people as well as writers FitzGerald’s literary friends cover those people whom he met in the post-university period with whom the main point of contact was common literary interests. Major literary figures such as A. Tennyson and W. M. Thackeray are discussed elsewhere, since they come under the heading of FitzGerald’s university friends. Key figures in the group of later literary friends are Thomas Carlyle, whom FitzGerald met in the 1840s; W. A. Wright, his close Cambridge contact from the 1860s (and subsequently editor of his literary remains); B. Quaritch, the bookseller and publisher; and two American literary contacts, J. R. Lowell and C. E. Norton. In all cases, the mention of personal matters concerning these people in the letters is closely mingled with comments on their writing and other literary references; to the extent possible, the latter are given in Chapter 10. In his letters to other friends, FitzGerald frequently mentions his exchanges and meetings with Carlyle, whom he greatly admired. In the 1840s, he helped Carlyle with research relating to the Battle of Naseby, the site of which was on land owned

by the FitzGerald family. Later on, there is an exchange of news about his two American literary friends and other transatlantic contacts, and references to them are frequently made in letters to Fanny Kemble, who had lived and married in the United States. Cowell and Wright are the people to whom FitzGerald wrote most often about his other literary friends, and this aspect of his networking became of special importance in the last years of FitzGerald’s life, when his discussion of literary matters also generally expanded.

In his own words T. Carlyle FitzGerald’s early contacts with the writer and historian Thomas Carlyle occurred when the latter was working on his book about the seventeenth-century Puritan and parliamentarian Oliver Cromwell. FitzGerald helped Carlyle with his research, and he got on well with the writer, who was not the easiest of men with whom to be friends.

20/9/1842 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I am afraid Carlyle will make a mad mess of Cromwell and his Times: what a poor figure Fairfax will cut!’ [I, 349] 22/9/1842 to B. Barton. ‘In the mean while here I am as before [at Naseby]: but having received a long and interesting letter from Carlyle asking information about this Battlefield, I have trotted about rather more to ascertain names of places, positions, etc. After all he will make a mad book.’ [I, 351] 11/4/1844 to B. Barton. ‘I smoked a pipe with Carlyle yesterday. We ascended from his dining room carrying pipes and tobacco up through two stories of his house, and got into a little dressing room near the roof: there we sat down: …’ [I, 431] 11/1/1845 to B. Barton. ‘I spent one evening with Carlyle, but was very dull somehow, and delighted to get out into the street. An organ was playing a polka even so late in the street: and Carlyle was rather amazed to see me polka down the pavement. He shut his street door – to which he always accompanies you – with a kind of groan.’ [I, 472] 5/5/1846 to B. Barton. ‘I met C[arlyle] last night at Tennyson’s; and they two discussed the merits of this world, and the next, till I wished myself out of this, at any rate. Carlyle gets more wild, savage, and unreasonable every day; and, I do believe, will turn mad.’ [I, 533]

20/11/1849 to G. Crabbe [Bredfield]. ‘As to the “great Scotchman” [Carlyle], I spent an evening with him in London: and told him exactly your experiences of his writings; how you detested his German jargon, but how his Burns and Johnson made you laugh and cry alternately.’ [I, 656] 17/4/1850 to F. Tennyson. ‘Do you see Carlyle’s “Latter Day Pamphlets”? They make the world laugh, and his friends rather sorry for him … There is a bottom of truth in Carlyle’s wildest rhapsodies.’ [I, 667] 27/1/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I wrote my yearly Letter to Carlyle two months ago, begging my Compliments to Mrs. C. He replies that she died last April: and I am told that the Newspapers gave the particulars at the time.’ [III, 6] 5/5/1873 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Carlyle seems well. I am really vext that I have as yet got no farther with his Naseby Stone, after writing to Estate Agents, Estate Lawyers, etc., all in vain, for permission to erect the stone.’ [III, 423] 13/11/1874 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have had a long (dictated) letter from Carlyle in reply to my yearly, or half yearly inquiry, in which I also told him of my Edinburgh journey. He does not so much disapprove of my Pilgrimage to Abbotsford considering that I admire Edinburgh so well – as I really do … But the main of Carlyle’s letter is a rhapsody about Spedding’s Bacon; …’ [III, 525] 18/1/1875 to Anna Biddell. ‘I am sending you a Treat. The old Athenaeum told me there was a Paper by “Mr. Carlyle” in this month’s Magazine; and never did I lay out 2[s].6[p]. better. And you shall have the Benefit of it, if you will. Why, Carlyle’s Wine, so far from weak evaporation, is only grown better by Age: losing some of its former fierceness, and grown mellow without losing Strength.’ [III, 545] 3/5/1883 to W. A. Wright. ‘I am reading Jane Carlyle with his “Elucidations” – deeply interesting both in their several ways; but whether such Lifelong Suffering on one Side, and Repentance at having overlooked it on the other, be quite proper for the public Eye, is another Question. But – Brave old Carlyle!’ [IV, 579] 5/5/1883 to Mrs E. Edwards. ‘I am reading Jane Carlyle’s Letters – which constantly remind me of Ruth Edwards – much such a woman, though not with such a Husband to deal with. Not that I join at all in throwing all the blame on poor T.C.: he has done bravely too in publishing what will tell so of himself in the World’s Eye; …’ [IV, 581]

J. R. Lowell James Lowell was an American writer, critic and diplomat with whom FitzGerald had contact through Charles Norton, another American (see next section). The two writers shared a common interest in Spain, where Lowell was US ambassador, as well as in general literary topics. They never actually met, despite a number of attempts.

20/7/1877 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘… send me Lowell’s Book, “Among my Books,” before you flit for Wales. I have wanted to lend it to two or three others (Guilty Creatures that you are!) and I now want it at once, in case I have to show it to the Author himself, who is coming …’ [IV, 58] 23/11/1879 to W. W. Goodwin. ‘I want to know how Mrs. Lowell is, and have taken the dangerous step of asking about her from himself. I had meant to ask Mr. Norton rather: …’ [IV, 276] 29/6/1881 to J. R. Lowell. ‘Oh, my dear Sir, come if you will some future day when, if you care to see my ancient Self at all, you can see somewhat more of it than in that hurried Handshake of Welcome and Adieu! It would really weigh upon me – the idea of your coming all this way, with so little time as you have to spare, only for such a purpose.’ [IV, 437] C. E. Norton FitzGerald was first in contact with the American literary critic Charles Norton in connection with the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (see first quotation and description on page 38). They exchanged many letters on a wide range of literary topics, including FitzGerald’s Greek plays (see page 73) and Norton’s own writings. As in the case of James Lowell, Norton and FitzGerald never actually met.

15/4/1873 to T. Carlyle. ‘Thank you for enclosing Mr. Norton’s Letter: and will you thank him for his enclosure of Mr. Ruskin’s? It is lucky for both R. and me that you did not read his Note; a sudden fit of Fancy, I suppose, which he is subject to.’ [Refers to Ruskin’s letter praising the anonymous translator of the Rubáiyát – see under Writing and reading, FitzGerald’s own writings.] [III, 417] 7/12/1875 to B. Quaritch. ‘I have had to send off two Agamemnons to America – one to a Mr. Perry of Boston; another to Mr. Norton who writes to Carlyle about it.’ [III, 629] 28/2/1878 to J. R. Lowell. ‘I had a kind letter lately from Mr. Norton: and have just posted him some Carlyle letters about that Squire business. If you return to

America before very long you will find them there.’ [See letter 13/1/1848 to E. B. Cowell, under T. Carlyle in Writing and reading, Other contemporary writing.] [IV, 102] Aug. 1882 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Indeed Mr. Norton wrote to me that he looked on Froude as something of an Iago towards his Hero [T. Carlyle, whose biography and letters Froude had published] in respect of all he has done for him. … But Iago must have bungled in his work so far as I, for one, am concerned … So I tell Mr. Norton; who is about to edit Carlyle’s Letters to Emerson, and whom I should not like to see going to his work with such an “Animus” toward his Fellow-Editor.’ [FitzGerald had recently read Froude’s biography of Carlyle and found it ‘one of the most interesting of books’.] [IV, 524] B. Quaritch Bernard Quaritch was a London bookseller who acted as publisher and distributor of the first edition of FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in 1859, and handled most of FitzGerald’s subsequent publications. FitzGerald also bought and sold books through Quaritch. The examples show that their relationship was not always very smooth, and FitzGerald was clearly an author who was very demanding of his publisher.

28/12/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I don’t think I told you about Garcin de Tassy. … [I] said I had been lately busy with another countryman of his, Monsr Nicolas, with his Omar Khayyám. On which De Tassy writes back by return of post to ask “Where I got my copy of Nicolas? He had not been able to get one in all Paris!” So I wrote to Quaritch: who told me the Book was to be had of Maisonneuve, or any Oriental Bookseller in Paris; …’ [III, 73] 1/10/1875 to W. A. Wright. ‘Little Quaritch sent £5 from “Omar” to your friend (I think) Mr. Magnusson, for the benefit of the poor Icelanders. But Quaritch writes me word he had as yet no Acknowledgement. I do not doubt his good faith in the matter: …’ [III, 606] 21/12/1875 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘The History of it [an edition of Agamemnon] being – that, three or four Americans having written to Quaritch for Copies of this Play, I sent him half a dozen to give to any other Americans who asked, and to save the trouble of writing between us. And now he does this: publishing my Name which I had always forbidden.’ [III, 636] 21/12/1875 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I wrote to reprimand Quaritch for putting up my three penny Gift books to 7s.6d. He professed contrition: and in a few days wrote

to offer me 20s. for four copies! Is it not amazing, his thinking of such little Gains, a man who deals in £200 Books.’ [III, 638] 18/8/1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘Now for Quaritch. I never wanted a popular, but a much cheaper Edition of any of “my works”; for it seemed to me a sort of Impudence to charge 7/6 (I believe) for such things. … as to my own profit, I have only taken £10 for the last two Editions which I gave to my poor little Icelanders, and some Persian Famine.’ [IV, 66] 26/11/1878 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Quaritch has written to me three or four times in the last few months to let him reprint Omar. I replied there was enough of Omar for the present. At the end of last Week came another Epistle very urgent – “American Pirates, etc.” I then replied that I did not care to have Omar alone any more; that, as you had wished for Salámán , I would communicate with you on the subject when your Holiday came: and Today comes a letter that Q. will put Salámán and Omar – and anything else I please – together, etc., quite a pathetic piece of – humbug.’ [IV, 159] 17/12/1878 to W. A. Wright. ‘Quaritch sent me several Letters asking to reprint Omar – which I declined. At last, after a humbugging Letter of his about “his Customers” – “twenty years connection,” etc., I replied that I would refer to Cowell if he still wished Salámán to be reprinted: …’ [IV, 165] R. C. Trench FitzGerald was at Cambridge at the same time as Richard Chevenix Trench, but they did not meet until rather later. Trench became a clergyman and rose to a high level in the Anglican Church. FitzGerald followed Trench’s career, and the two men had spasmodic contact on literary matters.

Oct. 1856 to J. Allen. ‘I am very glad Trench was not made a Bishop, and am rather sorry he is a Dean. I don’t think we want mere Scholars for such Posts – certainly not the first – and we did want Trench to keep in his Study and write us good Books. He is a fine Fellow.’ [II, 237] 15/7/1861 to W. H. Thompson. ‘Trench was good enough to send me a little unpublished Journal by his Mother; a very pretty thing indeed. I suppose he did this in return for one or two Papers on Oriental Literature, which Cowell had sent me from India, and which I thought might interest Trench.’ [II, 407]

W. A. Wright William Aldis Wright was Librarian of Trinity College, Cambridge, at the time that he and FitzGerald met, probably through the auspices of FitzGerald’s university friend W. H. Thompson, then Master of Trinity. Wright and FitzGerald shared common interests in many literary matters including East Anglian dialect and Shakespeare (see Chapter 10), and they became frequent correspondents and good friends.

8/3/1869 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I have struck up a pleasant Acquaintance, by Letter only, with Aldis Wright of Trinity. We are both East Anglians; his Father a very respectable, and even venerable, old Dissenting Minister at Beccles … So Wright and I exchange a little gossip about Suffolk words.’ [III, 133] 29/9/1870 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Perhaps you have seen Aldis Wright before this: and he may have told you how he and M. Donne met at Lowestoft Fishmarket, and how we spent the day together – very agreeable to me. Mowbray went off on the next day: …’ [III, 239] 11/5/1871 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Aldis Wright was here [Woodbridge] for two days. He wanted to see the Rector of a Village near here with whom he had some Bursary business: but he did not find his Rector, and lunched with me on bottled Porter and Bread and Cheese at Village Inn instead.’ [III, 285] 31/8/1880 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Who do you think is sitting beside me here? Aldis Wright – who came with me yesterday in order that he might become acquainted with George Crabbe, Rector of this Place [Merton], and one of the most amiable and agreeable of men. Today they are to go to see two Churches – all through Harvest and Sunshine: …’ [IV, 359] Apr. 1881 to Fanny Kemble. ‘If you have that copy of Plays revised by John the Great [J. P. Kemble, actor and theatrical manager] which I sent, or brought, you, I wish you would … send it by Rail duly directed to me. I have a wish to show it to Aldis Wright, who takes an Interest in your Family, as in your Prophet.’ [IV, 426] 8/5/1881 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Aldis Wright stayed with me a whole week at Easter: and we did very well. Much Shakespeare – especially concerning that curious Question about the Quarto and Folio Hamlets which people are now trying to solve by Action as well as by Discussion.’ [IV, 427] Dec. 1881 to W. H. Thompson. ‘Tell Wright that I am now going to sit down to Rabisha’s Cookery Book, often referred to in that Country Life Book which I gave him, and which I hope to master before Christmas Festivities begin … My book has lost its Title page but dates, I believe, 1682.’ [IV, 463]

20/12/1882 to C. E. Norton. ‘… tomorrow [I] am expecting Aldis Wright and another to spend Xmas week with me. Wright, who is a capital Reader, will bring his Shakespeare, and find something from among my worthless Medley of Books, and we shall make as merry as we can.’ [IV, 546]

ARTISTIC FRIENDS Artistic interests introduced new friendships in later years Three people and their families make up the main artistic friends that FitzGerald mentioned in his letters. These are Samuel Laurence, the portrait painter whom FitzGerald commissioned a number of times to paint his friends, especially in the 1840s, and some younger painter friends from later years, Mr and Mrs Edwin Edwards and Charles Keene. FitzGerald met the Edwards and Keene through his neighbour F. Spalding, and he got to know them during their holidays in Woodbridge and on the Suffolk coast in the 1870s. He became close friends with them all. FitzGerald’s letters, particularly to W. A. Wright, describe the growth of these friendships and FitzGerald’s extensive support to the Edwards during and after the husband’s illness and subsequent death. With Keene, FitzGerald shared musical as well as artistic interests, and there were clearly some convivial evenings together in Woodbridge. FitzGerald’s interest in Laurence and his work continued right up to his own death. In later life, he was concerned that the portraits the artist had painted in earlier years should be settled ‘in a good home’.

In his own words Edwards family Edwin Edwards was a London-based painter and etcher, whom FitzGerald met in Woodbridge in the early 1870s. FitzGerald enjoyed the company of Edwards and his wife, and they stayed in his house, Little Grange, several times in subsequent years. Edwards became very ill, dying in 1879, and the extracts highlight FitzGerald’s support of him and his widow.

3/12/1871 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘An Artist and his Wife [Mr and Mrs Edwards, whom FitzGerald met through F. Spalding] have been occupying my house for some six weeks; very pleasant people, with whom I used to spend many a cheerful hour.’ [III, 310] 1/12/1876 to W. B. Donne. ‘Mr. Edwards whom you and Valentia saw at my house here, tells me that you promised him the sight of some MS of yours relating

(I think) to old English Domestic Life and Manners. Will you send it to him at 15 Cockspur Street? Nay more, will you call upon him your-self there?’ [III, 725] 14/10/1877 to F. Spalding. ‘I went three or four times to Dunwich while the Edwards were there: … I can scarce say how he is: still far from well. … I think his disappointments in Art have had great Effect on his Body: but he does not speak of it; courageous and generous as before.’ [IV, 78] July 1878 to W. A. Wright. ‘Edwards seems pretty well, and has Pictures of Walberswick at the Academy; sky-high.’ [IV, 136] 5/9/1878 to W. A. Wright. ‘Well, I left Dunwich the day after you went, all preparations being made for Edwardses to leave on the day after I went. Which, accordingly, (as I hear from her) they did: … She spoke to me very seriously and sadly of his condition; she is almost assured of softening of the Brain; …’ [IV, 144] 16/9/1879 to H. Biddell. ‘This morning’s post brought me word of my poor Edwards’ Death – at last! – at 1 a.m. yesterday. I have long expected it: for more than a year indeed I have known it to be inevitable, unless merged into the yet worse fate of Imbecility.’ [IV, 256] 17/11/1879 to W. A. Wright. ‘I wrote Mrs. Edwards your word about the Burlington Rooms. But she had already engaged and hung a Room in Bond St. where, at the private view on Saturday last, over £300 worth of the work was sold, which will pay all expenses, and leave what else comes in for profit. She finished her work on the Thursday before that Saturday; felt ill; worse on Friday; worse yet on the Saturday, when her Maid told the Doctor she was dying. “No,” said he …’ [IV, 274] C. Keene FitzGerald met Charles Keene only in 1877, through his recent friends the Edwards (see previous section) when they were all visiting Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. Keene was an illustrator and cartoonist who worked for Punch, and he and FitzGerald shared a common sense of humour as well as musical and other tastes. Keene was a welcome and frequent visitor to Little Grange in FitzGerald’s last years.

6/9/1877 to W. A. Wright. ‘C. Keene is a very good Fellow, original, unaffected, and unprofessional, a great reader of old, quaint, Books. He went about the sands playing on a Scotch Bagpipe he carries about with him.’ [IV, 75] 26/9/1881 to W. A. Wright. ‘Charles Keene left me this Noon – just when the weather cleared. He indulged himself in Sausage and Marmalade while he was here, and, I think, has almost persuaded Loder to try to do likewise.’ [IV, 450]

4/6/1882 to W. A. Wright. ‘Charles Keene came here on Thursday before Whitsun; and left me two days ago. We went by carriage on several days to Aldeburgh (where he saw what remains of the ancient Dane dug up on Snape heath), to Orford, and to Shingle Street – which is no misnomer.’ [IV, 507] 25/6/1882 to W. A. Wright. ‘C. Keene has had his ten remaining teeth-stumps taken out – in one minute – under the influence of some anaesthetic; and he is now abiding the Time of a new set of “Dominoes,” he calls them and making “more or less mendacious Excuses” for declining Invitations to Dinner.’ [IV, 513] May 1883 to Fanny Kemble. ‘And next week I am expecting my grave Friend Charles Keene, of Punch, to come here for a week – bringing with him his Bagpipes, and an ancient Viol, and a Book of Strathspeys and Madrigals; and our Archdeacon [Groome] will come to meet him, and to talk over ancient Music and Books: …’ [IV, 584] S. Laurence Samuel Laurence was an artist specialising in portraits whom FitzGerald met in the late 1830s. Laurence was a friend of James Spedding, FitzGerald’s close friend from school, and he and FitzGerald got on well. In the immediately following years, FitzGerald commissioned the painter to do portraits of several of his friends, and, much later, he asked him to paint his sailor friend, Posh Fletcher. The examples show that FitzGerald was not uncritical of his friend’s abilities.

20/1/1842 to B. Barton. ‘About my second (that is, smaller) Constable, I can say nothing, because my friend Laurence has in a manner secured the first refusal of it … Laurence it was who made me buy it: in fact, he would have bought it himself had £7 been lying useless in his pocket.’ [I, 300] 4/10/1850 to W. B. Donne. ‘… I was much pleased with Laurence’s sketch of you, which he exhibited to me in a transitory way some weeks ago. Has he been to Bury again?’ [I, 682] 13/10/1859 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I doubt if Laurence should be encouraged in Painting: which he seems to me to do worse than twenty years ago. Mrs. Kemble says the Americans like his Drawings, but won’t have his Oil at any Price.’ [II, 339] 4/10/1863 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘Laurence, the Painter, has been at Boulge: but I missed seeing him. He seems to get very little to do: and I don’t think ever will make his Bread by Portraits.’ [II, 497] 29/4/1870 to W. F. Pollock. ‘Laurence has been down with me; he wishing, and I wishing him, to paint a sketch of my grand Lugger man [Posh Fletcher] from a

Photograph which he admired. So Captain and Painter met at my Chateau in Easter Week. But all ended in nothing.’ [III, 217]

OTHER FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES Two important younger friends, and many other contacts The residual group of people whom FitzGerald mentioned in his letters cover some 200 names and a wide range of types of people. They include two very important younger friends, W. K. Browne and Joseph (Posh) Fletcher, as well as local contacts from sailing activities and his life in Woodbridge; among the latter were the Berrys (his landlords on Market Hill), Newson (the captain of his boat the Scandal) and the Howe family (with whom there were both sailing and later domestic links). W. K. Browne, the young man who was FitzGerald’s friend from the early 1830s, was frequently mentioned to other friends, notably because FitzGerald spent much time up to the late 1850s staying with the Browne family. After Browne’s death in 1859, FitzGerald shared his grief with other close friends. The development of FitzGerald’s relationship with the sailor Posh Fletcher, which preoccupied him much in the 1860s, is similarly shared, moving from evidently strong initial admiration, through their co-operation in a fishing venture, to the breakdown in relations due to problems with Posh’s behaviour. Many other letters in this group mention aspects of FitzGerald’s personal life and living arrangements, notably the eventual purchase of and move to Little Grange, and his concern for the Howes and other people who worked for him

In his own words Browne family The first quotation tells of how FitzGerald came to meet the young (16-year-old) William Browne on a trip to Tenby in Wales. They became close friends, and from then until the late 1850s FitzGerald spent many happy weeks staying at Browne’s family homes in Bedfordshire. The younger man’s good looks and active lifestyle were a source of admiration from FitzGerald, and the latter was desolated by Browne’s death in 1859 as the result of a riding accident.

25/5/1834 to J. Allen. ‘… but I have previously pledged myself to go and spend a week near Bedford with a young man whom I formed an acquaintance with in the steam packet to Tenby. I think I must go there as I have promised very deeply: and he has put off other engagements to serve me.’ [I, 146]

Spring 1839 to B. Barton. ‘I have been more idle than usual for the last fortnight, having had my Venator [hunter], W. Browne, with me. He has shot at rooks and rabbits and trained horses and dogs; and I – have looked at him: and well I may while I can, for his like is not to be seen.’ [I, 225] 22/12/1855 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I sent off your Note to W. B[rowne] yesterday as soon as received; … W. B. has instantaneous Decision, and knows of more People and Probabilities by a Guess than I do by Years of personal Acquaintance. He comes here for a Day – supplies me with Sense and Courage – then goes away and I feel like a “Billy boy” [a clumsy East Coast sailing barge] ashore.’ [II, 189] 24/5/1857 to G. Borrow. ‘… [I] have been reading it [Borrow’s The Romany Rye] under the best Circumstances: at such a Season – in the Fields as they now are – and in company with a Friend I love best in the world – who scarce ever reads a Book, but knows better than I do what they are made of from a hint’. [This letter was written from Browne’s home, Goldington Hall.] [II, 276] 29/3/1859 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘On Wednesday I was called to Goldington – saw WB on Thursday – death in his Face and Voice – the Blooming Lad, and resolute Man I remembered now stretcht out on a Bed, for eight weeks – a mere shattered carcase below; and above the Sheets, a Face like – something like – Charles I – after Death! [Browne had been crushed by his horse falling on him.] [II, 329] 21/8/1860 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I have never set foot in London since last March year [since Browne’s death, see previous quotation] … and W. Browne is too much connected with my old Taverns and Streets not to fling a sad Shadow over all.’ [II, 370] 5/6/1864 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘Mrs. Browne wants me to release a little Lot of Ground which she has given to build a school on at Goldington: which was bought for £350, and which was thrown in with some others to help the House and its 36 acres to cover the £6500 I advanced.’ [FitzGerald had earlier loaned the Brownes money to help with their house purchase.] [II, 521] Fletcher family Joseph (Posh) Fletcher was a young seaman based in Lowestoft whom FitzGerald got to know in the early 1860s, when he was still feeling very bereft after the death of W. K. Browne (see extract from letter to Mrs W. K. Browne 10/8/1867, and comments on page 32–33). The letters show how FitzGerald became almost obsessive about Posh’s qualities, and the two went into partnership in the ownership of a fishing boat, a venture that was not successful.

FitzGerald deplored Posh’s drinking and general unreliability, and the friendship ended in the 1870s. Illustration 11.  Two of FitzGerald’s younger friends. William Kenworthy Browne (left) and Joseph (Posh) Fletcher (right).

1/3/1866 to J. Fletcher Sr. ‘Your little boy Posh came here yesterday, and is going tomorrow with Newson to Felixstow [sic] Ferry, for a day or two.’ [Terhunes note that FitzGerald met the Fletchers at Felixstowe Ferry in 1864.] [II, 573]

Sep. 1866 to Posh Fletcher. ‘My dear Posh, I write all this to you, knowing you are as honest a fellow as lives: but I never cease hammering into everybody’s head Remember your Debts, Remember your Debts.’ [II, 601] 9/10/1866 to E. B. Cowell. ‘… a young Fellow [Posh Fletcher] comes here who looks exactly like one of the Phidian Marbles dressed in blue Trowsers and Guernsey Jacket: with a like grandeur of character to line this Outside; …’ [II, 604] 10/1/1867 to Posh Fletcher. ‘My Lawyer can easily manage the Assignment of the Lugger to me … I think you will believe that I shall propose, and agree to, nothing which is not for your good. … And now, Poshy, I mean to read you a short Sermon, which you can keep till Sunday to read. You know I told you of one danger – and I do think, the only one – you are liable to – Drink. [This is followed by a long reproof to Posh on the evils of too much drink.] [III, 4] 10/6/1867 to Posh Fletcher. ‘As to your share in the Property, and what is due to you for your present work in her, we will settle it when I next go to Lowestoft: … I wish that you and Newson [captain on the Scandal] would talk it over together.’ [III, 34] 10/8/1867 to Mrs W. K. Browne. ‘. . . In 1859 (the autumn and winter of it) I lived here [in Lowestoft] and used to wander about the shore at night longing for some fellow to accost me who might give some promise of filling up a very vacant place in my heart … When I got acquainted with this captain [Posh Fletcher] … he was the very man I wanted, with, strangely enough, some resemblance in feature to a portrait of you may guess whom, and much in character also …’ [The reference seems to be to W. K. Browne, who died in March 1859.] [III, 40] 4/9/1869 to F. Spalding. ‘I said there must now be an end of Confidence between us [FitzGerald and Posh], so far as that [refers to Posh’s drinking] was concerned, and I would so far trouble myself about him no more. … But there is no use talking: unless I part company wholly, I suppose I must take the evil with the good.’ [III, 155] 16/1/1870 to W. J. Burgess. ‘So, for the first time these three years, we have paid all our Debts … And now that the stage is clear, I think I shall retire from a Business which, while it has amused me, has also caused me great Anxiety about all the People’s lives, for which I felt partly responsible.’ [III, 187] 10/5/1870 to A. Tennyson. ‘And, by the way, I am no longer a Fishmonger, having devolved the whole Concern on him [Posh Fletcher] – as he wished rather than I.’ [III, 220] 29/9/1870 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Just before I came, I had a long talk with a great friend of his – Dickymilk – a very good fellow, to whom I told the Story. He says that Posh has made great Efforts to abstain … [Posh] says (as indeed he has shown) that he will often leave these good and bad Friends to come over to me. Here it all rests.’ [III, 239] 17/5/1877 to W. H. Thompson. ‘And Tuum [Posh] … has been for three months converted from his Goddess of Beer – in his own Time – at his own Volition – for no one else’s Advice had any effect but that of rather obdurating him in his bad habit. The Great Man – as he is – must go his own way: …’ [IV, 32]

Berry family Sharman Berry was FitzGerald’s landlord from 1860–74 when the latter lived in Market Hill, Woodbridge, in rooms above Berry’s gun shop. Mentions of Berry in the letters give an idea of FitzGerald’s everyday lifestyle at the time, as well as illustrating his relationship with, and concerns for, the people who served him.

28/12/1860 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘Thank you for asking about me. Yes, I do very well here: the Lodging cheerful, warm, and convenient (only the Privy quite public) the People quiet, honest, careful, and old-fashioned.’ [FitzGerald now had rooms with the Berrys on Market Hill, Woodbridge.] [II, 379] 4/8/1866 to F. Spalding. ‘I wish you would let Mr. Berry know [when Spalding was going to see FitzGerald in Lowestoft], who will give you a little Hamper to carry: and Cooper [a sailor on FitzGerald’s boat] will be at the station to carry it hither.’ [II, 591] 28/11/1866 to F. Spalding. ‘There is a second Volume of Herodotus on the table by the Bow-window of my “Chateau” which I wish you could send to Mr. Berry who will pack it to me, I hope, with a little Butter, a decanted Bottle of Port Wine, and a small packet of that Will’s Bristol Birds Eye Tobacco, which he can get for me at Gross’s.’ [II, 611] Mar. 1867 to Posh Fletcher. ‘I have asked Mr. Berry to forward me any Letters because I thought you might write to say the Lugger was planked. But now you tell me it is no such thing: …’ [III, 15] 18/1/1870 to Posh Fletcher. ‘Mrs. Berry was delivered herself – from this trouble-some world, where she would probably never have been well or easy again. And that is perhaps the best Deliverance after all.’ [III, 190] 15/2/1870 to H. Biddell. ‘Mr. Berry gradually recovers from his Sorrow, which was sincere. No one could have done his Duty better by an ailing Wife, several years older than himself; and I doubt not that he will console himself with another (younger) in due time.’ [III, 201] The Terhunes recount the story, preserved by F. H. Groome in ‘Two Suffolk Friends’,5 of the consequence for FitzGerald of Berry’s eventual remarriage. Berry was a small man and his new wife was a buxom 14 stone and was too ‘genteel’ to have a lodger. FitzGerald told the story of receiving a timid rap on his door and hearing a deep voice from below: ‘“Now Berry, be firm”; followed by Berry’s “Yes, my dear;” and Berry appeared on the threshold. Hesitatingly he explained that “Mrs. Berry, you know, sir

– really extremely sorry – but not used, sir,” etc. etc. Then from the rear, a deep “And you’ve got to tell him about Old Gooseberry, Berry;” a deprecatory “Certainly, my love;” and poor Berry stammered forth, “And I am told, sir, that you said – you said – I had long been Old Berry; but now – now – you should call me Old Gooseberry.”’ [III, 475] Howe family The Howes were a local Woodbridge family whose members helped FitzGerald in his later years in a variety of ways. The son, Jack, was one of FitzGerald’s crew on his yacht, the Scandal. His father, John, had been proprietor of a local inn, and then, with his wife, Mary, worked for FitzGerald at his house, Little Grange. Mary was the housekeeper.

2/3/1870 to H. Biddell. ‘There is an elderly couple [at FitzGerald’s house, Little Grange], very honest, civil, clean, people now there, who will do (as they now do) all the main business; …’ [John and Mary Howe, the couple in question, were formerly proprietors of the Boat Inn, Woodbridge.] [III, 205] 8/4/1870 to F. Spalding. ‘Please to tell Howe and Mrs. H. to see about getting the rooms all ready for us; the two Bedrooms will be enough; as I can sleep at Mr. Berry’s. I told them to engage John [Jack] Howe’s Wife to come and cook for us; if she can’t, they must get … someone else.’ [III, 213] 3/1/1871 to A. Pasifull. ‘I consider Jack [Howe] – as Jack considers himself – absolutely your Mate: whether I go sailing or not. It is very much most likely that I shall not go; …’ [III, 262] 29/8/1871 to Posh Fletcher. ‘Ablett [Pasifull] and Jack [Howe] got more and more uncomfortable with their new Owner, who is a Fool as well as a Screw. At last Ablett told him that he himself and Jack had almost been on the point of leaving him; and that, I think, will bring him to his senses, if anything can.’ [III, 299] 18/3/1876 to Collector of Customs, Woodbridge. ‘I hereby attest that I have known John [Jack] Howe for fourteen Years: and always known him for a very sober, honest, truthful, and peaceably-minded, Man: quite domestic in his habits and given to no bad habit whatsoever, so far as I know of myself or have heard from general report. He is one that I should entirely trust myself …’ [III, 666] 17/10/1882 to Fanny Kemble. ‘My old Housekeeper here [Mrs Howe] has been bedded for this last month, an illness which has caused her great pain, and at one time seemed about to make an End of her. So it may do still: but for the last few days she has suffered less pain, and so we – hope.’ [IV, 534]

20/2/1883 to Anna Biddell. ‘… she [Mrs Howe] had one trouble on her mind, she said – namely, that, in case of “anything happening suddenly” to me, what should she do with noone [sic] of my Family in the house to see that all was duly safe in it? I told her, as you may imagine, that she herself, and old True-penny, her husband, were as good as any, or all, of the “Family” in such a Dilemma.’ [IV, 553] Newson family Tom Newson was the skipper of FitzGerald’s boat, the Scandal, and thus a key figure in FitzGerald’s sailing activities in the 1860s. The extracts give insights into the detail of a seaman’s life (see also under Leisure activities in Chapter 13), and further reveal FitzGerald’s real care for the people who worked for him.

7/10/1866 to F. Spalding. ‘I am amused to see Newson’s devotion to his younger Friend [not identified, possibly Posh Fletcher]: he won’t leave him a moment if possible: was the first to see him come in yesterday: and has just watched him out of sight.’ [II, 603] Nov. 1867 to Posh Fletcher. ‘Newson and Jack have been up here this week, bringing up their Smack which is now put on the ways for repair. And there they have left her till the repairs be done.’ [Tom Newson and Jack Howe were crew of the Scandal.] [III, 58] 16/6/1868 to F. Spalding. ‘I have told Newson to set sail and run home any Day, Hour, or Minute, when he wishes to see his Wife and Family. But at present he seems contented to eat Fish here: …’ [III, 98] Feb. 1870 to Posh Fletcher. ‘When I paid the Landlady of the Boat Inn for Newson and Jack she asked me if you had explained to me about the Grog business. I said you could not understand it at first, but afterwards supposed that others might have been treated at night. She said – Yes; drinking rum-flip till two in the morning. She says it was Newson’s doing …’ [III, 200] 16/12/1870 to A. Pasifull. ‘I have said nothing of the chance of my not going sailing next year, either to Newson or Jack [Howe], except so far as they know I should sell the yacht for the sum I say. As to Newson (who also does as well for me as anyone could do) I suppose he could not get another Berth whether I went or not; if you think he might, I should tell him at once.’ [III, 255] 3/1/1871 to A. Pasifull. ‘Mr. Berry comes up to tell me that Harry Newson [brother of Tom Newson] was drowned out of his boat at Ramsholt yesterday …’ [III, 262]

12/2/1871 to A. Pasifull. ‘Newson was up here ten days ago, but I could not make out that Jack [Howe] had told him anything of his engagement to you; therefore I thought better to say nothing myself.’ [III, 276] Mar. 1871 to A. Pasifull. ‘I wrote to Newson a fortnight ago to say it was not likely I should sail this year. … With Newson, I have no such mis-givings [about Newson becoming captain of a larger vessel]: for I know that he is not likely to have a better place; …’ [III, 281] Dec. 1875 to Anna Biddell. ‘I believe I told you that my Captain Newson and his Nephew, my trusty Jack [Howe], went in the Snow to the Norfolk Coast, by Cromer to find Newson’s Boy. They found him, what remained of him, in a Barn there: brought him home through the Snow by Rail thus far: and through the Snow by boat to Felixstow [sic], where he is to lie among his Brothers and Sisters, to the Peace of his Father’s Heart.’ [III, 640] T. West Ted West was captain of one of the first of FitzGerald’s boats, a riverboat on the Deben called the Waveney. This poignant quotation shows FitzGerald’s emotional side, and his real fondness for some of his local sailing companions.

17/5/1877 to E. B. Cowell. ‘The Bell of the little St. John’s Church near me is just beginning to toll for my poor old Boatman West (not Newson) whom I found ill soon after my return from Lowestoft. I shall scarce have heart to prowl about our River again, after fourteen years of his Company: and I wanted no other.’ [IV, 31]

Figure 5.  Other interests and views – a summary of the letters. Main subjects mentioned in the letters Other interests and views: total number = 591 Current affairs Religion Travel Leisure activities Nature Food and drink Other personal 0

50

100

150

200

Number of letters

When letters were written Other interests and views

All letters

40

% of total for topic

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Main correspondents Other interests and views: total number = 591 Cowell, E. B. Barton, B. Allen, J. Wright, W. A. Tennyson, F. Pollock, W. F. Donne, W. B. Carlyle, T. Crabbe, G. (M.) Spring Rice, S. 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Number of letters person received on this topic

Source: see Appendix 4.

70

13 

Other interests and views

FROM THE PUSEYITES TO TOASTED CHEESE The bulk of FitzGerald’s correspondence is concerned with literary matters or with his important network of friends. But hidden among the letters are many comments on other topics of both wider and more personal interest. When writing to his friends, FitzGerald occasionally spoke of items of current general interest, including religious disputes, though he did not demonstrate great interest in what was going on in the political sphere. FitzGerald also wrote about his own travels and leisure activities, most notably the large amount of time he spent boating in the 1860s and early 1870s. His strong, and often distinctive, views about his natural surroundings received mentions from time to time, and he clearly loved the East Anglian countryside in which he spent much of his life. FitzGerald was willing to discuss more personal matters in his letters as well, ranging from his likes and dislikes in eating and drinking to concerns about his health and lifestyle; the latter were mentioned mainly in exchanges with his closer contacts such as the Cowells and his various university friends.

Contents of this chapter Quotations relating to FitzGerald’s other interests and views are presented under the following headings. • • • • • • •

Current affairs. Religion. Travel. Leisure activities. Nature and countryside. Food and drink. Personal matters.

There is more information on the subjects covered under each heading in Appendix 4.

CURRENT AFFAIRS Topical issues and criminal cases discussed from time to time Topical issues in the field of general current affairs do not appear very often in FitzGerald’s correspondence. There are mentions of some important home events, such as the introduction of the Penny Post in 1840 and the Great Exhibition of 1851; of the activities of a few political leaders; and of events from the recent past, such as the celebration and aftermath of Waterloo. But FitzGerald showed only a little interest in foreign happenings, other than in the affairs of Ireland; for instance, events in India receive only passing mentions even though his friends the Cowells were in that country during the mutiny of 1857. He also hardly mentions events or concerns relating to Queen Victoria or her family. New scientific developments were something that interested FitzGerald, especially in his younger years. Crime was also a popular subject for him, and some of his scrap books contain vivid portraits of various criminals. There are many comments in the letters on the gossip about the notorious Tichborne case in the 1860s and 1870s, and on other trials in the news. E. B. Cowell and his wife, W. F. Pollock and S. Spring Rice were among the main people to whom FitzGerald addressed his comments and questions on all kinds of topical subjects.

In his own words These extracts show both FitzGerald’s general disengagement with the world of politics and public affairs, and his rather idiosyncratic views on various of Britain’s foreign adventures, notably conflicts with the new American state. He could be very sharp about the French, despite his love of their literature. In the letters about current criminal trials, FitzGerald was clearly caught up with the detail of, and gossip about, the cases. 24/7/1847 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Yes, as I often think, it is not the poetical imagination, but bare Science that every day more and more unrolls a greater Epic than the Iliad – the history of the World, the infinitudes of Space and Time! I never take up a book of Geology or Astronomy, but this strikes me.’ [I, 565] 4/5/1848 to F. Tennyson. ‘As to public affairs, they are so wonderful that one does not know where to begin. If England maintains her own this year, she must have the elements of long lasting in her. I think People begin to wish we had no more to do with Ireland: …’ [I, 603] 3/7/1857 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I say nothing about these Indian Army Revolts, because I know nothing. The Daily News reported Calcutta in a State of Siege. You will believe I think of you and her.’ [II, 285] 7/12/1861 to E. B. Cowell. ‘One Day we are all in Arms about France. Today we are doubting if Tomorrow we may not be at War to the Knife with America! I say still, as I used, we have too much Property, Honour, etc., on our Hands: … The World, I think, may justly resent our being and interfering all over the Globe. Once more I say, would we were a little, peaceful, unambitious, trading, Nation, like – the Dutch!’ [II, 415] 12/12/1861 to S. Spring Rice. ‘As to Politics – I turn away from them as much as I can, but now they will be heard by the deafest Adder. I don’t quite understand you, or the Press, about America. Is it so certain they meant to insult us, etc., They are savage Snobs, and wanted to seize suspected Traitors … They are a bad set – really, a Continent of Pirates …’ [Terhunes note that these comments refer to the stopping of a British mail ship by a US naval vessel.] [II, 419] May 1865 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I don’t believe the English Rule will hold in India: but meanwhile, a good Man may think he must do what Good he can there, come what may of it. There is also Good to be done in England?’ [II, 554] 3/12/1865 to J. Allen. ‘I have a wonderful Museum of such Scraps of Portrait [prints of notorious people kept in FitzGerald’s scrap books]; … my chief Article

is Murderers; and I am now having a Newgate Calendar from London. I don’t ever wish to see and hear these things tried; but, when they are in print, I like to sit in Court then, and see the Judges, Counsel, Prisoners, Crowd: …’ [II, 568] 25/3/1867 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I believe it is very wrong and selfish to take no Interest in Public Affairs: but I have long ceased to do so: never read a Newspaper: and even deprecate any verbal News from Friends. I have long believed all was going down-hill; and I couldn’t help to stop it.’ [III, 21] 1/11/1870 to W. F. Pollock. ‘But I believe it would be a good thing if the rest of Europe would take possession of France itself, and rule it for better or worse, leaving the French themselves to amuse and enlighten the world by their Books, Plays, Songs, Bon Mots, and all the Arts and Sciences which they are so ingenious in.’ [III, 247] 1/7/1871 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘I wonder what Cowell says of the Tichborne case which I cannot help being somewhat interested in.’ [III, 292] [Terhunes give a long description of the case, III, 294–5.] 23/12/1871 to E. B. Cowell. ‘I believe I have heard every word of Tichborne since he reopened in November; the Boy who reads to me taking so much interest in it as to get over the ground pretty glibly. … this Trial has at last come to interest me more than much better things. I feel myself in Court – though happily not as one of the Jury, who has to decide the case.’ [III, 315] 21/1/1872 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I think his case [that of Watson, a classics scholar accused of murdering his wife] will be one step in abolishing Capital Punishment altogether – for better or worse.’ [III, 324] 10/5/1880 to R. M. Milnes. ‘… I have nothing to tell, except that I have just entered on a Military Career insofar as having become much interested in – the Battle of Waterloo! Which I just remember a year after it was fought, when a solemn Anniversary took [place] in a neighbouring Parish where I was born …’ [IV, 323] Jan. 1882 to C. E. Donne. ‘Wright has also been hunting up the Veritable History of Margaret Catchpole; … About a Lady [in] whom I cannot feel the slightest Interest, great as my Sympathy is with Great Criminals.’ [Margaret Catchpole was a Suffolk girl whose love for a smuggler led to her deportation to Australia.] [IV, 470]

RELIGION An early concern, but importance waned in older years Religion was a topic that seems to have preoccupied FitzGerald mainly in his younger years. In later life, he commented on it to only a modest degree. The principal subjects covered in the letters are his personal beliefs and attendances at church, and the disputes between various factions within the Anglican Church, provoked by the opinions of the Puseyites and the writings and actions of Dr (later Cardinal) Newman.1 The latter disputes even provoked FitzGerald to a rare display of public action, when he composed a petition to the then Prime Minister, Lord John Russell (see quote, late 1850). There is limited mention of other religions, mainly Islam, plus some philosophising about beliefs, and comments, often humorous, on more trivial aspects of religion. In his earlier years following university, FitzGerald was evidently concerned with the working out of his own religious position, notably in exchanges with J. Allen, a university friend and later himself a clergyman.2 Religious topics were also often discussed with the Quaker poet B. Barton and with E. B. Cowell. However, such matters were seldom mentioned to FitzGerald’s more casual correspondents. In his later years, FitzGerald appears to have attended church rarely, and to have become somewhat more non-conformist in his views. In the 1895 memoir Two Suffolk Friends, Francis Groome recounts the following anecdote: ‘The Rector of Woodbridge called on FitzGerald to express his regret that he never saw him at church. “Sir,” said FitzGerald, “You might have conceived that a man has not come to my years of life without thinking much of these things. I believe I may say that I have reflected on them fully as much as yourself. You need not repeat this visit.”’3

In his own words The evolution of FitzGerald’s own faith and beliefs can be clearly followed in the letters. He started out his adult life being bothered by various aspects of Anglican dogma, but grew gradually to be worried also about the direction in which the Church was going, and the role of organised religion. This ties in with his interest in the new scientific ideas of the period, and chimes with the agnosticism of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. 31/1/1830 to J. Allen. ‘I have not got on with Jeremy Taylor [writer on religion], as I don’t like it much. I do not like subdivisions of virtue, making a separate article of each particular virtue or crime: I much more like the general, and artless, commands of our Saviour.’ [I, 80]

10/10/1831 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘I had got over all doubts as to Christianity (that is to say thoroughly disbelieved in it) except the Miracles – but I think the evidence of them is to be doubted. … Religious people are very angry with one for doubting: and say “You come to the question determined to doubt, not to be convinced.”’ [I, 103] 4/2/1833 to J. Allen. ‘… I do not wish to convince you, nor anyone else: and I am afraid I cannot be convinced. I wish that the not being happy without the prospect of Heaven were a proof of Religion: but alas!’ [This follows a passage showing FitzGerald’s concern that his doubts about religion would distance him from his friend.] [I, 130] 10/12/1843 to F. Tennyson. ‘… I await the morning Church in humble hope. … I always put on my thickest great-coat to go to our Church in: as fungi grow in great numbers about the communion table.’ [I, 407] 7/4/1844 to B. Barton. ‘I heard a man [Rev. T. R. Matthews, a non-conformist] preach at Bedford in a way that shook my soul. He described the crucifixion in a way that put the scene before his people …’ [I, 430] 28/1/1845 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Your man Sallust [Roman historian] I had never heard of. His Quotation is good: but does it tell you much? That it is the nature of God to be God – that he cannot help being God – etc. This I dare say comes from the Hindoos – perhaps through earlier Greeks – as does probably the passage about Dreams from Rabelais: which is Plato’s, I think.’ [I, 475] 30/7/1847 to E. B. Cowell. ‘As to my Epic theory [set out in letter of 24/7/1847 to E. B. Cowell], I do not say that the duration of the bodily fabric of the world is a greater interest than the Soul of man; but that it is of greater interest than most other subjects in the Soul of Man. … We have not only tradition (Religious and other) but positive scientific demonstration that Man’s foot did not walk this Earth for yogas and yogas [a Hindu unit of time], while Great Nature was as it were trying her prentice hand on large and blundering shapes of creatures …’ [I, 568] 20/9/1847 to T. Carlyle. ‘I thought the Exeter Hall war-cry [by evangelical groups] of “The Bible – the whole Bible – and nothing but the Bible” a good cry: … Yet our Established Parsons (when quiet and in their senses) make good country gentlemen, and magistrates; and I am glad to secure one man of means and education in each parish of England: the people can always resort to Wesley, Bunyan, and Baxter, if they want stronger food than the old Liturgy, and the orthodox Discourse.’ [I, 580]

2/11/1849 to W. B. Donne. ‘My dear old Crabbe [Vicar of Bredfield] has published a volume on God, etc. I am more vext than I can tell you about it; for I am sure he will be disappointed in all ways. It seems to me a sad mistake – the dotage of logic – terms misapplied, inconsequent arguments, etc. Crabbe had not the advantage of good logical training, and he scarce knows how the world has got on of late.’ [I, 650] Late 1850 draft petition to Lord John Russell. ‘We, the undersigned, being deeply attached to the Protestant Faith, have seen with sorrow the Pope’s recent creation of a Roman Hierarchy in England.’ [Terhunes suggest that this petition was never sent to the Prime Minister.] [I, 692] Jan. 1851 to W. B. Donne. ‘The little Book [Euphranor] is no sudden push at Authordom: it was written some years ago: but with-held [from publication] because Puseyism and Catholicism were ascendant, and I would not help even by a f – – t to fill their sails.’ [II, 3] 2/10/1853 to F. Tennyson. ‘The Bell is now tolling for Mr. Field’s morning Service: to which I do not go, wanting to write to you instead. With all my infidelity (with which I am ashamed to confront your true and availing faith) I assure you I can heartily congratulate you upon that Faith, and wish myself like you!’ [II, 109] 3/12/1862 to W. B. Donne. ‘[Robert Groome] has been here with me this morning, after preaching an Occasional Sermon here (I mean, at the Church) last Night. I did not venture inside the sacred Edifice: but I looked through a Glass Door in the Porch and saw R.G. and heard his Voice (not the Words) …’ [II, 469] 13/10/1879 to W. A. Wright. ‘… I remember to have told you that Elizabeth Cowell could be “vindictive” – which is not the word at all: but I mean implacable when once she has taken a dislike. … So it was with my Brother, who, she thought, alienated me from the Good Faith, by not doing all he jawed about, though a good deal, poor Fellow.’ [IV, 266]

TRAVEL Much travelling as a younger man FitzGerald’s references to travel relate both to the journeys that he himself was on or planning, and to travel possibilities which he mostly rejected, such as visits to see friends in India or Italy. Overall the subject was significantly more important in the first three decades of his adult life, especially the 1840s, when FitzGerald was travelling around either with, or to visit, friends. As well as making many trips to

London, either at his family’s behest or to go to the theatre or galleries, he frequently visited his friend Browne in Bedford and stayed in Geldestone, home of his sister Eleanor and her family. He also corresponded with Carlyle about research trips to Naseby on Carlyle’s behalf, and there are references to travelling more widely in the UK including Ireland and Scotland, and to a few journeys to the continent, including some boating trips. After the death of Browne in 1859, FitzGerald’s life became more focused on East Anglia, with travel mainly to the coast, especially Lowestoft, for boating and holidays, and to family and friends in Norfolk and Suffolk. Most of FitzGerald’s mentions of his travels are in letters to his close friends and neighbours, notably to E. B. Cowell, B. Barton, G. Crabbe of Merton and F. Tennyson. W. A. Wright is the only one of his important later correspondents with whom the issue of travel occurs relatively frequently, relating both to FitzGerald’s visits to Cambridge to see Wright, Thompson, Cowell and other friends, and Wright’s trips to Suffolk. The letters show also how FitzGerald lived through the years of dramatic change in the modes of travel, with the countrywide development of the railways and the introduction of steamers. In his early life, land travel still meant going by coach or horseback and sea travel was by sailboat, for example between London and Ipswich. In later years, FitzGerald travelled both by rail and by steamboat.

In his own words The letters convey a feeling that FitzGerald enjoyed the idea of travelling and was interested in aspects of life in other countries, but that actual travel often seemed to be too effortful for him. Once he began to make his base in East Anglia, from the late 1830s, he generally needed to have the stimulus of going to visit friends, or travelling with them, to push him into moving long distances. His trip to Scotland, in 1874, was a rare individual expedition in his later years. 24/2/1833 to J. Allen. ‘You see by the top of my paper that I am at Manchester … Manchester is a horridly illiterate place, and there are no books to be got.’ [I, 132] 21/3/1841 to F. Tennyson. ‘If anything I had seen in my short travels had given me any new ideas worth having I should travel more: as it is, I see your Italian lakes and cities in the Picturesque Annuals as well as I should in the reality. You have a more energetic, stirring, acquisitive, and capacious soul. I mean all this seriously, believe me: but I won’t say any more about it.’ [I, 271] 8/8/1841 to B. Barton. ‘We are now staying at this very pretty place: it is ten miles from Dublin … I am half inclined to travel into the West of Ireland – Galway and Connemara …’ [I, 283]

15/10/1842 to B. Barton. ‘Tomorrow the most amiable of his sex [FitzGerald] will put himself on the top of the Blue Coach, and he trusts reach Woodbridge rather late at night: …’ [Terhunes comment that the trip from London took five hours and the fare was ten shillings.] [I, 380] 24/9/1846 to B. Barton. ‘I had intended to go and visit some Cities in the West, where I yet look one day to reside. A reason, I assure you, beyond love of change, draws me, or will one day draw me (if I have the resolution to move) beyond Suffolk.’ [I, 544] 5/11/1852 to S. Spring Rice. ‘What you wrote to me about the Spanish Women dancing, and also some things I have been reading in Calderon give me a sort of desire to go to Spain – where however I probably never shall go. I would certainly rather see it than Italy.’ [II, 71] 23/8/1853 to F. Tennyson. ‘I can meet you at Ipswich, whether at Rail or Steamboat, and convoy [sic] you home hither to the delights of a Suffolk Sunday.’ [II, 100] 19/6/1856 to G. Crabbe [Bredfield]. [Letter written from Brussels] ‘I am bad at describing Travel: … Yesterday week we got to Paris: … and on Saturday went a journey of eight hours to Strasbourg; … [on Sunday] we travelled to Heidelberg … On Monday we railed to Frankfurt: … and on Tuesday descended the famous Rhine: … Well – we at last got to Cologne … George [Crabbe of Merton] and my Friend [W. K. Browne] … are just set off on a Coach to visit – Waterloo – a thing I have declined … Little as I really love Travel, I really look with a sort of Terror now that the Hour approaches for the Dissolution of a little Partnership … To-night we are to go to Antwerp: and … talk of crossing by night from Ostend to London; …’ [II, 231] 12/12/1861 to S. Spring Rice. ‘The only excursion I have made this summer … I must needs go from London to Berwick on Tweed in what they call a “Clipper Schooner” – such as used once to be Clipper Cutters, called Berwick Smacks … When I got on shore, I ought to have gone on by rail to Edinburgh, which was but two hours off: but the next Train was – homeward! – and home I came – like an Ass …’ [II, 419] 17/5/1862 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘What is a good “Route” to Dresden? You went it some two years ago, I think. I also am thinking of it this Summer, perhaps, thinking that the Continent may be less crowded, now while our Exhibition [the Great London Exposition of 1862] goes on.’ [II, 438]

31/7/1864 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I returned yesterday from a Ten Days’ Cruise to the Sussex Coast: which was pleasant enough. Tomorrow I talk of Lowestoft and Yarmouth: …’ [II, 527] Dec. 1866 to Marietta Nursey. ‘So, I have had all these inducements to go abroad: but, partly, I hate Travel: and partly, I think it rather base to run away, as so many do now, to drag on a useless Life.’ [II, 615] 28/4/1872 to H. Biddell. ‘No, I did go home by the Train you sent to; but in the Horse-box, with John Grout, his man, half a dozen Horses, two Dogs, and a Cat …’ [III, 348] 21/7/1874 to Fanny Kemble. ‘My visit to London followed a visit to Edinburgh: which I had intended these thirty years, only for the purpose of seeing my dear Sir Walter [Scott]’s House and Home: … I was but three days in Scotland, and was glad to get back to my own dull flat country …’ [III, 503] 18/5/1875 to Anne Ritchie [Thackeray]. ‘I suppose you love Paris as your Father did – as I used to do till it was made so other than it was, in the days of Louis XVIII, when I first lived in it.’ [III, 584] Nov. 1877 to F. Tennyson. ‘I have been for two whole Days to London: … and London wet, fog, and slush, all the while: so I must say I was very glad to get home to my own dull Town, where at least we have fresh Air.’ [IV, 88] 20/8/1880 to F. Tennyson. ‘I want you to know that I should not have meditated a Visit to my friend Sévigné’s Chateau in Brittany, but with a view of visiting my friend Frederick Tennyson in Jersey by the way: and both Visits collapsed for the one reason – of my inaptitude to travel.’ [IV, 357]

LEISURE ACTIVITIES Boating a prime leisure interest in the 1860s and early 1870s FitzGerald took an interest in a variety of leisure activities, especially boating and to a lesser extent various card and board games. The letters contain many mentions of his very active involvement in boating in the 1860s, when he owned several boats and spent much of his time on them or nearby on the Suffolk coast. Letters on the topic were often sent from Lowestoft, including one marked with the address ‘on board the Scandal’, which was the name of FitzGerald’s sailing boat; there was also correspondence from Cowes, in the Isle of Wight. Many of these letters were sent

to Joseph (Posh) Fletcher, dealing with their common interest in boating and their partnership in a fishing venture for a period; more personal issues concerning Posh Fletcher as an individual are covered in the section on Other friends and acquaintances in Chapter 12. Illustration 12.  FitzGerald’s sailing boat, Scandal.

Other important exchanges on leisure topics were with F. Spalding, S. Spring Rice and the younger G. Crabbe. FitzGerald’s interest in boating lasted up to the later 1870s, when his eyes were failing and his boatman West died. Through the years he also occasionally mentioned other forms of leisure, such as the card games whist and piquet, and chess, which he clearly enjoyed. Another important leisure activity was walking in the countryside round where he lived. In his later years, his garden at Little Grange became a focus of interest; he referred to part of this garden as the ‘quarter-deck’. Thomas Wright indicates that there was also a billiard table in the house.4

In his own words The quotations focus mainly on FitzGerald’s boating activities in the 1860s and early 1870s. They complement his comments on various boating companions under Other friends and acquaintances in Chapter 12. His early enthusiasm for this new activity, and the excitement

and frustration of buying his boats, comes through clearly. There are also a few examples of his interest in card and board games. 21/2/1842 to B. Barton. ‘I believe I should like to live in a small house just outside a pleasant English town all the days of my life, making myself useful in a humble way, reading my books, and playing a rubber of whist at night.’ [Terhunes comment that FitzGerald was also fond of piquet and chess.] [I, 307] 12/7/1860 to Mrs A. Tennyson. ‘I am now going down to Woodbridge to see the Launch of a Boat I have bought: just before finding I could have the use of another without buying.’ [II, 363] 20/4/1861 to S. Spring Rice. ‘My only Excursion, almost, is to old Aldeburgh, where I run over to have a Toss on the Sea, and a Smoke with the Sailors. We have Grog and Pipes in a little Tavern kitchen: and sometimes in a sort of Net-house; where (on a Saturday Night) we sing songs too! … We are getting a good big Boat made for Fish and Company in Summer: and a smaller one is coming over to this River Deben.’ [II, 394] 22/5/1861 to E. B. Cowell. ‘My chief Amusement in Life is Boating, on River and Sea. … I am happiest going in my little Boat round the Coast to Aldbro [Aldeburgh], with some Bottled Porter and some Bread and Cheese, and some good rough Soul who works the boat and chews his Tobacco in peace.’ [II, 400] 17/5/1862 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘Mr. Robert Allen (the plumber and glazier here) bought me a little Yacht in the winter: … she turns out worth nothing: neither safe, nor fast: so as I lose the £60 she cost from first to last: and he, poor man, gets badgered by the Wits of Woodbridge for his folly.’ [II, 438] 3/4/1863 to W. H. Thompson. ‘… for I have been Fool enough to order a Boat to be building, which will cost me £350, and she talks of being launched in the very first week of June …’ [II, 476] 2/6/1864 to S. Spring Rice. ‘I have just come from our River-side, where my Ship lies having her Bottom scrubbed, like a good Child on a Saturday Night. On Saturday comes off a great Sailing Match of Yachts from the Nore to Harwich. I am too old and quiet to encounter such things: so I lend my Boat to younger and more sanguine Folks for the purpose.’ [II, 519] 17/7/1865 to F. Spalding. ‘There was a Cricket match here [Lowestoft] between Rifles and Townsmen on Saturday: but so bad (what I saw) that I did not stay half an hour. I suppose, Beginners.’ [II, 556]

5/11/1866 to W. F. Pollock. ‘For nearly four months I was living on board my Big Ship – Bed as well as Board. She was only laid up in her Mud a week ago; and here am I returned to mine [his lodgings in Market Hill, Woodbridge].’ [II, 607] 5/1/1867 to F. Spalding. ‘This very Day he [Posh Fletcher] signs an Agreement for a new Herring-lugger, of which he is to be Captain, and to which he will contribute some Nets and Gear. I daresay I had better have left all this alone [FitzGerald was paying for the construction of the boat]: but, if moderately lucky, the Vessel will pay something, at any rate; and in the meanwhile it really does me some good, I believe, to set up this little Interest here: and even if I lose money, I get some Fun for it. So now I shall be very glad to drop “Esquire,” and be addressed as “Herring-merchant” for the future.’ [III, 3] Nov. 1869 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I really did not want my Lugger to pay, Pollock: only for fun’s sake to have one £10 from her … If I can see my Captain [Posh Fletcher] able to pay his own way, I think I shall back out at Christmas.’ [III, 173] 22/1/1871 to W. F. Pollock. ‘An Artist [Edwin Edwards] to whom I have lent my house for a while has been teaching me “Spanish Dominoes,” a very good Game. … If I went about in Company again I think I should do as old Rossini did, carry a box of Dominoes, or pack of cards, which I think would set Conversation at ease by giving people something easy to do beside conversing.’ [III, 267] 12/2/1871 to A. Pasifull. ‘I had, however, intended to tell Newson on the morning he was to go home (for I made him sleep here) that most probably I should not sail this year.’ [III, 276]

NATURE AND COUNTRYSIDE Suffolk countryside a lifetime love FitzGerald seems to have had a strong personal link with the Suffolk countryside, and he sometimes waxed lyrically on topics to do with his natural surroundings and the seasonal changes. The countryside was a special preoccupation for him in the 1840s, and again in the 1860s and 1870s after he had completed his major writing projects. The majority of the letters which cover nature and related topics were sent from FitzGerald’s Suffolk homes, both Boulge in the 1840s and Woodbridge (including Little Grange) later on. Fanny Kemble and W. F. Pollock were important correspondents with whom FitzGerald shared his interest in the countryside in his later years, along with B.

Barton and F. Tennyson in the earlier period. His correspondence contains detailed references to many flowers and to birds, as well as descriptions of his pleasure at leaving the London noise and crowds for the peace of the country. FitzGerald also took an interest in local agriculture and landowning, and at times he expressed very forthright views on the actions of some of his neighbouring landowners. His views were generally at odds with those of many of the local gentry.

In his own words FitzGerald’s love of flora and fauna, and of the countryside generally, permeate his correspondence throughout his life. The excerpts show that he knew a good deal about the detail of the natural world within which he lived, and he was also an active practical gardener, both in Boulge and later at Little Grange. 18/2/1841 to W. H. Thompson. ‘Since I saw you, I have entered into a decidedly Agricultural course of conduct: read books about composts, etc. I walk about in the fields also where the people are at work, and the more dirt accumulates on my shoes, the more I think I know. Is not this all funny?’ [I, 267] 28/9/1841 to S. Laurence. ‘I have been staying here [Naseby] three weeks alone, smoking with farmers, looking at their lands, and taking long walks alone …:’ [I, 289] 28/9/1844 to B. Barton. ‘In the meanwhile I cast regretful glances of memory back to my garden at Boulge, which I want to see dug up and replanted. I have bought anemone roots which in the Spring shall blow Tyrian dyes, and Irises of a newer and more brilliant prism than Noah saw in the clouds.’ [I, 453] 3/4/1845 to B. Barton. ‘. . . I have been loitering out in the garden here [Geldestone] this golden day of Spring. The wood-pigeons coo in the covert; the frogs croak in the pond; the bees hum about some thyme, and some of my smaller nieces have been busy gathering primroses, “all to make posies suitable to this present month.” I cannot but think with a sort of horror of being in London now: …’ [I, 487] 4/9/1847 to F. Tennyson. ‘I also am an Arcadian: have been to Exeter … and to visit a parson in Dorsetshire. [Rev. Francis Duncan, a university friend] … He is now a poor Rector in one of the most out-of-the-way villages in England – has five children – fats and kills his pig – smokes his pipe – loves his home and cares not ever to be seen or heard of out of it. I was amused with his company; he much pleased to

see me: we had not met face to face for fifteen years – and now both of us such very sedate unambitious people!’ [I, 574] 30/3/1862 to Mrs W. K. Browne. ‘But the Landlords and Farmers have made the Country about here so ugly by cutting down every old Tree, and rooting up every old Bank that had a Primrose or Violet upon it, or a Briar for a Bird to build and sing in, that I am really forced to the River and Sea …’ [II, 433] 23/9/1862 to S. Spring Rice. ‘Hereabout – along this Deben – we have for the most part raised Banks, called Walls, all along the River to the Sea; on the Top of which has been, during the oldest Memory, a Right of Way for Men. But now we have a Set of Squires who (all Screws!) … are sticking up Placards of Prosecution against all who travel along those walls …’ [II, 454] 25/3/1865 to Mrs E. B. Cowell. ‘When Spring comes, I mean to go over and look for some Violets in Wherstead Churchyard – once more as forty years ago.’ [II, 546] 23/11/1875 to Anna Biddell. ‘My Garden is nearly done: and now I am told the Beds are so small there will be no room for larger Flowers. Today, the new Roses were got in, however.’ [III, 620] 24/4/1877 to W. B. Donne. ‘We really shine in Nightingales just now: and today is a true April day: Annie [Kerrich, FitzGerald’s niece] and I were observing the true Constable cloud, hanging over the Dedham Vale as we travelled by this Forenoon.’ [IV, 26] 25/4/1879 to Fanny Kemble. ‘Scarce a tinge of Green on the hedgerows; scarce a Bird singing (only once the Nightingale, with broken Voice), and no flowers in the Garden but the brave old Daffydowndilly, and Hyacinth – which I scarce knew was so hardy. I am quite pleased to find how comfortably they do in my Garden, and look so Chinese gay.’ [IV, 202] May 1883 to Fanny Kemble. ‘At last some feeling of Spring … we shall all three [FitzGerald plus C. Keene and R. H. Groome] drive out past the green hedges, and heaths with their furze in blossom – and I wish – yes, I do – that you were of the Party.’ [IV, 584]

FOOD AND DRINK A lover of toasted cheese Although food and drink were not a major preoccupation of FitzGerald’s, references to them occur at many stages in his correspondence, particularly in the first two decades of the author’s adult life and again in the 1860s. In his early days he was interested in vegetarianism and practised it for some years. His own diet was often somewhat eccentric, at times confined to bread and jam. But FitzGerald was a generous host and many of the references to food are to meals for anticipated guests or on other social occasions. His friend Barton described FitzGerald’s provisions for a meeting of the ‘Wits of Woodbridge’ as follows: ‘It was the oddest melange. Tea, porter, ale, wine, brandy, cigars, cold lamb, salad, cucumber, bread and cheese; one continuous spread …’5 Alcohol, including beers, fortified wines and spirits, is frequently mentioned as is a wide range of meats and game, but limited types of fish. A favourite food was cheese, especially when toasted; in one letter, FitzGerald signed himself as ‘Philocaseotostus’ (lover of toasted cheese).6 But vegetables and fruit get few references. Eating and drinking were frequently associated with smoking, which usually involved either cigars or churchwarden pipes (a form of long-stemmed clay pipe). Comments on food and drink were addressed especially to FitzGerald’s closer friends such as W. B. Donne, E. B. Cowell and B. Barton. In later years, FitzGerald occasionally wrote about the exchange of gifts of food and wine at Christmas and other times.

In his own words The selection of FitzGerald’s comments on food and drink shows a different side of this complex man. Although he provided well for his friends when they visited, his dislike of the formality of conventional eating is evident, and he showed his enjoyment of the simple food and drink of the East Anglian fishermen and the local pot-house or pub. The final quotation reveals, unexpectedly, his pleasure in a cookery book. 27/9/1833 to W. B. Donne. ‘… I am at present rather liable to be overset by any weariness … since for the last three months I have lived on vegetables – that is, I have given up meat. … I already feel much good from it, in lightness and airiness of head, whereas I was always clouded and more or less morbid after meat.’ [I, 137] 25/10/1833 to W. B. Donne. ‘I am still determined to give the diet I have proposed a good trial: a year’s trial. I agree with you about vegetables, and soups:

but my diet is chiefly bread: which is only a little less nourishing than flesh: and, being compact, and baked, and dry. has none of the washy, diluent effects of green vegetables. I scarcely ever touch the latter: but only pears, apples, etc.’ [I, 139] 23/11/1839 to B. Barton. ‘… today I give a dinner to him [A. Tennyson] and two or three others. It is just ordered: soles, two boiled fowls, and an Apple Tart – cheese, etc. After this plenty of smoking … If you drop in you shall be welcome.’ [I, 238] 17/8/1843 to B. Barton. ‘Yesterday we [FitzGerald and his brother Peter] went to Pool-a-Phooka [Pollaphuca in Ireland] … a cleft in the mountains down and through which the river Liffey … comes leaping and roaring. Cold veal pies, champagne, etc., make up the enchantment. We dabbled in the water, splashed each other, forded the river, climbed the rocks, laughed, sang, eat [sic], drank, and were roasted …’ [I, 395] Nov. 1843 to B. Barton. ‘Hatfield is a very pretty place: Lord Salisbury’s house very noble in a grand dismal park: … But the cheery inside of a wayside pothouse is worth all such places. Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, give me a pot of porter all in a foam, cruets, a vast pan of toasted cheese smoking etc. …’ [I, 406] 7/10/1855 to T. Carlyle. ‘Only this – that, instead of “two or three Gross” of Churchwardens [long-stemmed clay pipes] I have desired him to get you sent but one Gross at first – for fear of some mistake …’ [II, 185] 27/7/1863 to S. Spring Rice. ‘I had just done my early Dinner (Pease and Potatoes) and a small Bottle of Chablis, when your letter was given me: …’ [II, 486] 27/7/1866 to W. H. Thompson. ‘We have just been boarding a Woodbridge Vessel that we met in these Roads, and drinking a Bottle of Blackstrap [rum and molasses] round with the crew.’ [II, 589] Feb. 1869 to W. A. Wright. ‘Last night, as we [FitzGerald and Posh Fletcher] supped together on roast potatoes and ale at his tidy little cottage …’ [III, 128] 17/11/1871 to W. F. Pollock. ‘The Game-dealer here telling me that he has some very good Pheasants, I have told him to send you a Brace – to go in company with Braces to Carlyle, and Mrs. Kemble.’ [III, 308] Nov. 1875 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I was so comforted to find that your Mother had some hand in Dr. Kitchener’s Cookery Book, which has always been Guide, Philosopher, and Friend in such matters. I can’t help liking a Cookery Book.’ [III, 624]

PERSONAL MATTERS From coughs and colds to ‘shall I marry?’ FitzGerald made a variety of more personal comments in his letters, ranging from the mundane, such as complaints about colds and coughs, to more serious questions, such as ‘shall I marry?’ They include comments on his finances and evidence of his generosity to many people, as well as his self-analysis of his character and expressions of his strong likes and dislikes. Other subjects covered are aspects of finding a place in which to live, his humour and his enjoyment of the company of children. Letters containing these personal views were relatively more common in the 1830s and the 1860s than in other periods of the author’s life. Some of the most poignant were written in the late 1850s and early 1860s, after FitzGerald’s failed marriage to Lucy Barton and the death of his friend W. K. Browne; extracts dealing with these events are included under the individual people in Chapter 12. Although FitzGerald sent some comments on his personal life and character to certain of his generally important correspondents, notably to E. B. Cowell and W. A. Wright, such observations were most frequently directed to his closer university friends and a few others, such as G. Crabbe of Merton and F. Spalding. In later years, he also often mentioned the problems with his eyes, and the need to have young readers to enable him to keep up with newspapers and other lighter reading in the evenings.7

In his own words These extracts paint a picture of FitzGerald’s early dissatisfaction with his ‘useless’ lifestyle and his dislike of much conventional socialising. But they also show him in a more positive light as a source of financial and other help for his friends and for local residents. There is evidence, too, of his practical involvement with the organisation of the purchase and renovation of Little Grange, his ultimate home in Woodbridge. 27/9/1833 to W. B. Donne. ‘I am a very lazy fellow, who do [sic] nothing: and this I have been doing in different places ever since I saw you last.’ [I, 137] 2/7/1835 to A. Tennyson. ‘. . . [I have] heard you sometimes say you are bored by the want of such a sum: and I vow to the Lord that I could not have a greater pleasure than transferring it to you on such occasions. I should not dare to say such a thing to a small man: but you are not a small man …’ [Terhunes note that Tennyson availed himself of this offer. FitzGerald was already helping Thackeray.] [I, 165]

29/7/1835 to W. M. Thackeray. ‘Shall I marry? I vow to the Lord that I am on the brink of saying “Miss  –  –  –  do you think you could marry me?” to a plain, sensible, girl, without a farthing!’ [Terhunes suggest that the lady in question was Elizabeth Charlesworth, who subsequently married E. B. Cowell.] [I, 171] 10/4/1839 to F. Tennyson. ‘I live on in a very seedy way, reading occasionally in books which every one else has gone through at school: and what I do read is just in the same way as ladies work: to pass the time away.’ [I, 221] 7/10/1842 to T. Carlyle. ‘Meantime, may not digestion suffer: a great wish from your fat, idle, euperistaltic [from eupepsia meaning good digestion] well wisher.’ [Carlyle suffered from dyspepsia.] [I, 374] 27/11/1844 to B. Barton. ‘The children here [at the home of his sister, Eleanor Kerrich, in Geldestone] are most delightful; the best company in all the world, to my mind. If you could see the little girl dance the Polka with her sisters! Not set up like an Infant Terpsichore, but seriously inclined, with perfect steps in perfect time.’ [I, 462] 8/12/1844 to F. Tennyson. ‘But you see the original fault in me is that I choose to be in such a place as this at all; that argues certainly a talent for dullness which no situation nor intercourse of men could much improve. … Why should I not live in London and see the world? You say. Why then I say as before – I don’t like it. I think the dullness of country people is better than the impudence of Londoners; …’ [I, 464] 18/11/1846 to W. F. Pollock. ‘I have been all my life apprentice to this heavy business of idleness; and am not yet master of my craft; the Gods are too just to suffer that I should.’ [I, 550] 17/4/1850 to F. Tennyson. ‘It really gives me pain to hear you or any one else call me a philosopher, or any good thing of the sort. I am none – never was – and, if I pretended to be so, was a hypocrite. Some things – as wealth, rank, respectability – I don’t care a straw about; …’ [I, 667] May 1851 to G. Crabbe [Merton]. ‘I am in a rage with all the Gentry (so-called) of England, because when I wrote to Brooke of Ufford to help me in a little pension for King [a soldier] … he writes … “give him a couple of shillings from me.” My soul is sick at this meanness – and I think any Revolution is right that returns such ignoble aristocracies into the dirt …’ [II, 26]

17/12/1854 to E. B. Cowell. ‘Well, I had arranged to stay here till over Christmas Day: and then to move away for a while – to escape some parties about to come off.’ [II, 152] 15/7/1856 to A. Tennyson. ‘But I must now say – you know I proposed to you to visit you at Easter – but you had Guests. Then I proposed to myself to go down – in May, I think – when I heard you were turned out of your Home – by Paint was it? And now I shall never get down, perhaps.’ [II, 233] Oct. 1856 to J. Allen. ‘… I read aloud to the young Folks here [Geldestone] your Letters to Ladies on Schools, etc. and they wished me to tell you how much they liked it. I liked it too: …’ [II, 237] 15/4/1861 to M. Donne. ‘We are building another Boat there [for a family whom FitzGerald had befriended], making all Sorts of Nets, and other “Gear” (g hard, not as j) which makes quite a hole in my Pocket and will turn out of little good, I doubt.’ [II, 394] 2/6/1864 to S. Spring Rice. ‘Yesterday I bought a Piece of Land (only some six Acres) and a rotten Farmhouse; none of which I want; but I suppose that, now I have done so, I am more likely to find something I do want: …’ [This property eventually became FitzGerald’s last home, Little Grange.] [II, 519] 20/9/1865 to F. Spalding. ‘I wrote, as I told you I would, to Dove [the builder employed for the reconstruction of Little Grange]; telling him that I left all decisions to you: … when I was absent, so long as you would be good enough to undertake it.’ [II, 561] 28/3/1866 to F. Spalding. ‘My long solitary habit of Life now begins to tell upon me, and I am got past the very cure which only could counteract it: Company or Society: of which I have lost the Taste too long to endure again.’ [II, 578] 10/4/1866 to F. Spalding. ‘In case you should go to the Furniture Sale … I will give you carte-blanche to buy me anything you think I want for my house …’ [II, 580] 4/3/1868 to W. B. Donne. ‘I have been all day with Lawyers and Builders getting up my Case for Arbitration between me and the Builder of my Chateau: so tiresome that I wish I’d let him cheat me without a struggle …’ [The builder’s bill was for £1,150.] [III, 83] 7/3/1869 to W. A. Wright. ‘Pray don’t ever write merely for Acknowledgements’ sake. You are a busy man, I an idle one – only with my starboard eye half put out with being held close to a paraffin lamp.’ [III, 130]

Illustration 13.  FitzGerald’s last home: Little Grange in Woodbridge. The photograph was taken in 2008, there is little change from FitzGerald’s time.

31/10/1870 to W. E. Crowfoot. ‘I don’t think I have been so well all this year and think I feel the Shadow of the Grand Climacteric coming on. … By the way, you told me you had provided that your Body should be opened after Death; I have asked Edmund Kerrich to see the like done by me: …’ [Terhunes note that FitzGerald’s request was not fulfilled.] [III, 246] 5/5/1871 to B. Quaritch. ‘My Eyes have been so much amiss since Christmas that I have not read a book these three months … I have been pretending to run to London to consult a German Oculist named Liebreich who works at St. Thomas’ Hospital and lives in Clifford Street. But indolence, and a general idea that my Eyes will only mend (if they mend at all) by not using them, keeps me still in “Silly Suffolk,” …’ [III, 284] 4/7/1871 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I was telling some of these Blunders [malapropisms of his young readers] to a very quiet Clergyman here some while ago, and he assured me that a poor Woman, reading the Bible to his Mother, read off glibly, “Stand at a Gate and swallow a Candle.”’ [For strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.] [III, 295]

17/11/1871 to W. F. Pollock. ‘My Money is to be paid by the end of this month: but where, oh where, to re-invest it! I am told that the Rails you recommended are got so high.’ [Refers to the balance of a £6,500 loan to W. K. Browne in 1857, which his widow was then repaying.] [III, 308] 24/8/1872 to B. Quaritch. ‘Meanwhile, when Edn II [of the Rubáiyát] is exhausted, you will owe me something for it – of so little consequence to me, or to you, that I shall desire you to give it to some Charity – public or private. If the Persian Famine Fund still subsists, the money might properly be added to that …’ [III, 370] 1/5/1873 to Fanny Kemble. ‘I am very glad you will be Photographed: though not by the Ipswich Man who did me.’ [FitzGerald then proceeds to give her four paragraphs of advice on being photographed.] [III, 421] 6/3/1875 to W. B. Donne. ‘I got on pretty well till last week: when Cold came which began to wheeze: but went about till yesterday, when the Doctor, meeting me at my niece’s Door, ordered me in, and sent Pill, Draught, and Embrocation after me.’ [III, 554] 3/7/1877 to E. B. Cowell. ‘This evening the Children of St. John’s Parish are coming to play in my Grounds! And I do wish the Cloud would pack away for the occasion. I have a large Barn cleared out, and a Swing fixt on a Beam: that is all my share in the Expenses. But then – My Grounds!’ [IV, 53] Apr. 1883 to Frances Kerrich. ‘I wish to give you the means of continuing certain little pensions and payments which I have made during my life in this neighbourhood, and which you can continue better than any one else …’ [There follows a list of the people and amounts that FitzGerald wanted to continue to be paid after his death.] [IV, 577]

Pa r t III Background information and additional analyses

Appendix 1: the people whom FitzGerald knew The tables in this Appendix list the people whom Edward FitzGerald corresponded with, and/or mentioned, in his letters. They are grouped under the headings used elsewhere in our analyses, namely family, school friends, university friends, neighbours, artistic friends, literary friends, other friends and acquaintances. The members of friends’ families are included in the same group as the main contact, for example the children of W. B. Donne, a school friend of FitzGerald’s, are also included under school friends. The group to which an individual has been classified can be found by looking in the general index. Cross references (q.v.) between people in the tables are only given in exceptional circumstances, mainly for duplicate entries. An asterisk * indicates where letters to the person are included in FitzGerald’s surviving correspondence. In the table, Edward FitzGerald is shown by the initials EFG. Other abbreviations used for close friends are as follows: EBC = E. B. Cowell, GCB = George Crabbe of Bredfield, GCM = George Crabbe of Merton, TC = Thomas Carlyle, WBD = W. B. Donne, WFP = W. F. Pollock, AT = Alfred Tennyson, WMT = W. M. Thackeray. The details given for individuals draw extensively, but not exclusively, on the information contained in the Terhunes’ edition of FitzGerald’s letters. Although the Terhunes did a magnificent job in identifying many of the more obscure people mentioned in the letters, it is not always easy to find their description of the individuals named. Here, as elsewhere, our listings are designed to supplement and extend the information provided in the Terhunes’ Letters, and to make it more easily accessible.1

FitzGerald family FitzGerald family – name

Person detail

Brougham Francesca (Vignati) de Soyres Andalusia de Soyres John de Soyres Rev. Francis FitzGerald Augusta (Mrs John 1) FitzGerald Gerald FitzGerald Hester (Mrs John 2) FitzGerald John FitzGerald John (Purcell)

Niece of EFG, daughter of Isabella Vignati Sister of EFG Nephew of EFG Husband of sister Andalusia First wife of EFG’s brother John (died 1837) Nephew of EFG, son of brother John Second wife of EFG’s brother John Brother of EFG Father of EFG, changed his name from Purcell to FitzGerald in 1818 Mother of EFG Nephew of EFG, son of brother John First wife of EFG’s brother Peter (died 1866) Brother of EFG Niece of EFG, daughter of sister Eleanor Kerrich EFG’s Purcell cousins (q.v.) Niece of EFG, daughter of sister Eleanor Kerrich Nephew of EFG, son of sister Eleanor Kerrich Sister of EFG Niece of EFG, daughter of sister Eleanor Kerrich Niece of EFG, daughter of sister Eleanor Kerrich Niece of EFG, daughter of sister Eleanor Kerrich Husband of sister Eleanor Nephew of EFG, son of sister Eleanor Kerrich Great nephew of EFG, son of Walter Kerrich Niece of EFG, daughter of sister Eleanor Kerrich Nephew of EFG, eldest son of sister Eleanor Kerrich Relatives of EFG’s father Irish aunt of EFG Husband of sister Isabella Sister of EFG Sister of EFG Husband of sister Jane

FitzGerald Mary Francis (Mrs John) FitzGerald Maurice FitzGerald Mrs Peter FitzGerald Peter Funajoli Mary (Kerrich) Irish cousins Kerrich Annie (Anna Maria) Kerrich Captain Edmund Kerrich Eleanor (Mary Eleanor) Kerrich Elizabeth Kerrich Emily (Amelia) Kerrich Fanny (Eleanor Frances) * Kerrich John (1) * Kerrich John (2) Kerrich John Dalzell Kerrich Lusia (Andalusia) Kerrich Walter Purcell cousins Purcell Margaret Vignati Gaetano Vignati Isabella Wilkinson Jane Wilkinson Rev. John B.

School friends School friends – name

Person detail

Airy Miss Airy Rev. William

Daughter of W. Airy School and university friend; cousin of Biddells. Later Vicar of Keysoe W. B. Donne’s great aunt Daughter of WBD Son of WBD Mrs Mowbray Donne Son of WBD Son of WBD Originally Mildred Kemble, daughter of J. M. Kemble Mother of WBD Wife of WBD Daughter of WBD School and university friend of EFG, librarian and examiner of plays Norfolk-based widow of Rev. J. Johnson, a relative of W. B. Donne Possibly related to Rev. J. Johnson, a relative of W. B. Donne Father of Fanny Kemble; an actor manager Daughter of J. M. Kemble Son of J. M. Kemble Brother of J. M. Kemble Brother of Fanny Kemble, school friend of EFG Brother of Charles Kemble and Sarah Siddons, uncle of Fanny Kemble Mother of Fanny Kemble Sister of J. M. Kemble, actor and important correspondent of EFG in his later years Son-in-law of Fanny Kemble Younger daughter of Fanny Kemble Grandson of Fanny Kemble Sister of Fanny Kemble School and university friend of EFG, civil servant and scholar Niece of J. Spedding Oldest brother of J. Spedding Older daughter of Mrs Kemble

Bodham Mrs Donne Blanche * Donne Charles Edward * Donne Edith Donne Frederick Donne Mowbray * Donne Mrs Charles Edward Donne Mrs Edward * Donne Mrs W. B. (Catharine) Donne Valentia * Donne William Bodham (WBD) * Johnson Mrs Johnson Ms Kemble Charles Kemble Gertrude Kemble Henry Charles Kemble Henry Vincent Kemble John Mitchell (Jack) Kemble John Philip Kemble Mrs Charles Kemble Mrs Fanny (Mrs Pierce Butler) * Leigh J. Leigh Mrs (Frances Butler) Leigh Pierce Sartoris Mrs Adelaide Spedding James * Spedding Miss Sarah F. * Spedding Thomas Wister Mrs (Sarah Butler)

University friends University friends – name Allen John, brothers Allen James (and family) Allen Rev. John *

Person detail

William, Charles, Tom? and Joshua Welsh cousins of John Allen University and London friend of EFG. Became Vicar of Prees and Archdeacon of Salop Allen Mrs Charles (Mary) * Wife and cousin of Charles Allen Allen Mrs John (Harriet) Wife of John Allen (formerly Harriet Higgins) Allen Ms. Andalusia (Mrs Day) Daughter of John Allen Allen Widow (Boulge) Cousin of John Allen Blakesey Rev. Joseph W. * University contemporary of EFG and friend of W. B. Donne. Later Dean of Lincoln Blakesey Mrs J. W. Wife of Joseph W. Blakesey Brookfield Rev. W. H. Contemporary of EFG at Trinity. In 1840s a popular priest in London Butler Mrs E. W. Maternal grandmother of W. M. Thackeray Cameron J. H. University contemporary of EFG Duncan Alexander University contemporary of EFG, who became mentally ill Duncan Francis University contemporary of EFG Edgeworth Francis B. Contemporary of EFG at Trinity; half-brother of novelist Maria Edgeworth Farish George University contemporary of EFG Frere Augusta Possibly wife of Philip Frere, or same as Mrs W. Frere? Frere Mrs William Widow of Master of Downing who was a good singer Frere Philip Brother-in-law of S. Spring Rice Heath Douglas University contemporary and friend Helps Sir A. EFG knew him at Cambridge; became Clerk to Privy Council Higgins Mr John Allen’s father-in-law Livesey J. Probably near contemporary at Trinity College, Cambridge; took his degree in 1835 MacPherson W. Near contemporary at Trinity College, Cambridge, lawyer in India, and editor of Quarterly Review Marshall Mrs Mary Alice Sister of S. Spring Rice Mazzinghi T. J. Cambridge friend of EFG and at school with W. M. Thackeray Merivale Rev. Charles * University contemporary, Rector in Essex and later Dean of Ely Merivale Mrs Wife of C. Merivale

University friends – name

Person detail

Milnes Richard Monckton (Lord Houghton) * Monteith R. Morton Savile

University contemporary of EFG and literary friend, MP and peer University contemporary of EFG Cambridge friend of EFG, known as ‘the wild Irishman’, later journalist Cambridge don and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, tutor to EFG Eldest son of WFP Son of WFP Wife of WFP, later Lady Pollock University friend of EFG, became a successful lawyer

Peacock Dr Pollock Frederick Pollock Maurice Pollock Mrs W. F. Pollock Sir William Frederick (WFP) * Ritchie Anne (Anne Thackeray) * Ritchie Richmond Sansum John Skrines Mr and Mrs Smyth Professor W. Spring Rice Mrs S. * Spring Rice Stephen *

Older daughter of WMT, wife of Richmond Ritchie

Husband of Anne Thackeray, later Sir Richmond University contemporary of EFG Old friends of EFG, later at Sidney Sussex College Active member of Camus, the Cambridge Music Society Wife of S. Spring Rice University contemporary of EFG, later in government service Stephen Leslie * Historian and editor, husband of W. M. Thackeray’s younger daughter. Father of Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf Stephen Mrs L Wife of Leslie Stephen, daughter of WMT Tennant Mrs Clergy widow resident in Italy and sister-in-law of Francis Edgeworth Tennant R. J. Member of the Apostles at Cambridge, EFG’s contemporary Tennyson Alfred (AT) * EFG’s friend from immediate post-university years, later Poet Laureate and Baron Tennyson Tennyson Emily (Mrs Jesse) Sister of Alfred and Frederick Tennyson, married to Richard Jesse Tennyson Frederick * Brother of AT, university contemporary of EFG, lived in Italy and Jersey Tennyson Hallam * Elder son of AT Tennyson Lionel Younger son of AT Tennyson Mrs Mother of Alfred and Frederick Tennyson, etc. Tennyson Mrs Alfred (Emily)* Wife of AT, later Lady Tennyson Tennyson Mrs Frederick Wife of Frederick Tennyson Thackeray Mrs W. M. Wife of WMT

University friends – name

Person detail

Thackeray William Makepeace (WMT) * Thompson Mrs W. H. * Thompson William Hepworth * Turner Charles Tennyson

University friend of EFG, writer, novelist and artist

Venables G. S. Vipan D. J. Weld C. R. Williams William Wilson T. I.

Wife of WHT University friend of EFG, later Cambridge academic Older brother of Alfred Tennyson; took name of Turner on inheritance A Cambridge ‘Apostle’, later a reviewer University contemporary of EFG, friend of WBD Mrs Alfred Tennyson’s brother-in-law, author and librarian University contemporary of EFG; tutor to WMT Friend of EFG at Cambridge; later Vicar at Farnley, Leeds

Neighbours Neighbours – name

Person detail

Alexander F. Alexander J. B. * Arcedeckne Squire Barton Bernard * Barton J. *

Quaker banker in Ipswich Bernard Barton’s employer at Woodbridge bank Local resident, an acquaintance of EFG’s father Quaker poet living in Woodbridge and close friend of EFG Bernard Barton’s half-brother, clergyman near Southampton Daughter of Bernard Barton, wife of EFG ‘Fisherman’ of Aldeburgh, probably brother of Horace ‘Gentleman/fisherman’ of Aldeburgh, who sent EFG gifts of fish Physician, probably of Needham Market Couple who moved into Woodbridge and were active among the poor Archdeacon of Suffolk Rector of Martlesham Sister of neighbour H. Biddell Gentleman farmer and painter, living near Woodbridge Wife of William Biddell, niece-in-law of Anna Biddell Sisters of H. Biddell, living locally; they include Anna Biddell Son of H. Biddell, elected as an MP for Lavenham Writer living near Lowestoft who was a literary friend of EFG Wealthy neighbour and friend living at Ufford

Barton Lucy * Basham Arthur * Basham Horace * Beck Dr H. Bernard Rev. Thomas D. and Mrs Berners Rev. H. D. Betts Rev. Thomas Biddell Anna * Biddell Herman * Biddell Mrs William Biddell sisters Biddell William Borrow George * Brooke Captain F. C. *

Neighbours – name

Person detail

Burdett-Coutts Lady Calthorpe Lord Causton W. Charlesworth Arthur Charlesworth Charles H. Charlesworth Maria Charlesworth Mrs John * Charlesworth Mrs S. Charlesworth Rev. John *

Married at 67, thought by EFG to be an old fool Local landowner Organist and music teacher at Woodbridge Brother of Mrs E. B. Cowell Brother of Mrs E. B. Cowell Sister of Mrs E. B. Cowell Mother of Mrs E. B. Cowell, wife of Rev. John Relative of Mrs E. B. Cowell Father of Mrs E. B. Cowell, for some time living near Ipswich Churchyard Ellen * Daughter of T. Churchyard, painter and neighbour Churchyard Thomas Solicitor and amateur artist living in Woodbridge and friend of EFG Clarke Isaac Vicar at Bredfield when FitzGeralds lived there Clowes Miss Fiancée of Charles Cowell Cobb Rev. R. Rector of Thwaite St Mary’s and Ellingham, both near Bungay Cobbold R. K. He rented Bredfield White House (EFG’s birthplace) Corrance Mrs F. Wife of Frederick Corrance, who bought poet Crabbe’s house Cowell Charles Brother of EBC Cowell Edward Byles (EBC) * Son of Ipswich merchant, linguist, orientalist and close friend of EFG Cowell Mrs Charles * Mother of EBC Cowell Mrs Charles (2) Wife of EBC’s brother Charles Cowell Mrs Edward Byles * Wife of EBC, formerly Elizabeth Charlesworth Cowell Samuel Uncle of EBC Crabbe Anna * Daughter of GCM Crabbe Anna Maria Crowfoot Wife of John Crabbe, sister-in-law of GCB, aunt of GCM, great-aunt of Anna Crabbe Crabbe George Poet Crabbe, father of GCB Crabbe Rev. George (Bredfield) Local clergyman, son of poet G. Crabbe and close friend of (GCB) * EFG. Also referred to elsewhere as Crabbe G. (B) Crabbe Rev. George (Merton) Son of GCB, close friend of EFG. Rector of Merton in (GCM) * Norfolk. Also referred to elsewhere as Crabbe G. (M) Crabbe Mary * Crabbe Miss (Caroline) * Crabbe Sofy

Sister of GCM Caroline Crabbe, eldest sister of GCM, aunt of Anna Crabbe Sister of GCM

Neighbours – name

Person detail

Davey D. E.

Suffolk antiquarian, who supplied information to EFG for Carlyle Rector of Martlesham, an executor of EFG Woodbridge JP, close friend of EFG Curate to G. Crabbe (Bredfield) Rector at Boulge and Debach 1850–62 Probably a local neighbour Son of R. H. Groome, editor of Suffolk Notes and Queries Brother of R. H. Groome and Rector of Earl Soham Rector of Monk Soham, Archdeacon of Suffolk and close friend of EFG Suffolk magistrate and MP Previously W. P. Wood (q.v.), son-in-law of Major Moor and later Lord Chancellor (1868) Major/then Col. in Indian army; helped EBC and later EFG with Persian Sister of Major Hockley Probably nickname of Rev. H. S. Drew, curate to GCB Chaplain of Suffolk Lunatic Asylum Owner and publisher of Ipswich Journal, and friend of EFG Sister of Squire Jenney Neighbour of Bredfield estate and friend of EFG’s father Woodbridge physician and surgeon, friend of Bartons Local MP involved with discussion on the Corn Laws Rector of St Mary’s Ufford Owner of a collection of old masters. EFG supported his Charity First wife of William Ling and daughter of Job Smith of Farlingay Hall Second wife of William Ling

Doughty Rev. E. G. * Doughty F. G. Drew H. S. Field Rev. S. P. Grey D. Groome Francis Hindes Groome Rev. J. Hindes Groome Rev. Robert Hindes * Gurdon T. Brampton Hatherley Lord Hockley Major Thomas Hockley Mary ‘Horam’ Hughes Rev. T. W. Jackson S. Jenney Miss Jenney Squire Jones Dr Richard Kelly Sir F. Larken Rev. W. P. Leathes Col. H. M. Ling Mrs William (Anna Smith) * Ling Mrs William (Louise Stannard) * Ling William * Loder John * Loder John senior Lumsden Mrs Lynn Dr G. D. Lynn Mary * Meller Rev. T. W. Mills Rev. T. and Mrs Moor A. P. *

Local resident, husband of Anna Smith and Louisa Stannard Printer and bookshop owner Father of John Loder Wife of Rev. Mr Lumsden, curate at St Peter’s Ipswich Brother-in-law of Major Moor Childhood friend of EFG, seen in Aldeburgh in later life Rector of St Mary’s Woodbridge Rector at Stutton Suffolk; Laurence painted Mrs Mills Brother of G. Moor, EFG’s Woodbridge lawyer

Neighbours – name Moor G. * Moor Major Edward

Person detail

Woodbridge lawyer Ex-Indian army, family friend and neighbour with interest in Suffolk words Moor Rev. Edward J. Rector of Great Bealings Nursey Marietta (Mrs Kettle) * Daughter of Perry Nursey, EFG’s artist friend and neighbour Nursey Perry EFG artist friend and neighbour Parley Peter Pseudonym of William Martin of Woodbridge, writer and friend of EFG Pytches Thomas Landowner of Melton, near Woodbridge Rendlesham Lord Wealthy landowner near Woodbridge Reynolds Rev. O. S. Rector of Boulge Shawe R. N. Woodbridge magistrate, friend of Bernard Barton Smith Alfred * Son of Job Smith, brother of Anna Ling Smith Job Lived at Farlingay Hall, where EFG had a room in the 1850s Smith Mrs Alfred * Wife of Alfred Smith Smith Mrs Job Wife of Job Smith Spalding Frederick * Woodbridge clerk, friend and helper of EFG Sparkman Rev. C. Son-in-law of GCB, living at Southam near Leamington Stearns J. and P. and W. Three brothers farming at Elmsett where Mrs EBC’s sister lived Tate Rev. William * Woodbridge headmaster, later Vicar of Bredfield Tomline G. Local landowner Walford C. Resident at Foxborrow Hall, Melton Walford Rev. Ellis Rector of Dallinghoo White Mrs Joseph * Living at Bredfield White House, EFG’s birthplace Wood William P. Major Moor’s son-in-law, later Lord Hatherley (q.v.)

Literary friends Literary friends – name

Person detail

Aide C. H. Ainger A. Aitken Miss Mary *

Cultured man prominent in London social circles Author of book on Charles Lamb Niece of Thomas Carlyle, later married Alexander Carlyle (cousin) Printer of oriental books Brother of Thomas Carlyle Wife of Thomas Carlyle Writer and historian Contemporary writer on etymology Employee of Pall Mall Gazette seeking review copy of EFG’s Crabbe Acquaintance of C. E. Norton urging US publication of EFG’s Crabbe Edinburgh publisher Alias of B. W. Procter, solicitor and writer French orientalist, interested in the Rubáiyát Writer and novelist Editor of Athenaeum 1853–69 Professor of Hindustani at University College London EFG made their acquaintance at Aldeburgh. Henry Fawcett was renowned as an economist and politician. Millicent Fawcett was a pioneer in the fight for women’s rights Author of The Vocabulary of East Anglia Writer and editor of Keats’ letters Historian and editor of Thomas Carlyle’s Reminiscences American enthusiast for Rubáiyát Initiator of New Shakespeare Society. EFG became a member Professor of Sanskrit at University College London Professor of Greek at Harvard Indian army officer who worked on a Rubáiyát translation Philologist and oriental linguist, friend of EBC who retired to Suffolk Editor of Yearbook which published EFG’s early poem ‘Meadows in Spring’ Shakespearian scholar, vice-president of New Shakespeare Society Professor of Greek at Glasgow University

Austin S. and Mrs Carlyle Dr Carlyle Mrs Thomas (Jane) Carlyle Thomas (TC) * Charnock R. S. Claydon Mr Clough Mr Constable T. * Cornwall B. de Tassy G. Dickens Charles (Boz) Dixon W. H. Dowson J. Fawcett Professor Henry and Mrs Forby Robert Forman H. Buxton * Froude J. A. Furness H. H. Furnivall F. J. Golstucker Professor T. Goodwin Professor W. W. * Gordon Col. T. E. Hall FitzEdward * Hone William * Ingleby C. M. Jebb Professor R.

Literary friends – name

Person detail

Johnson Professor F. Jowett Professor B. Kerney M. * King C. W.

Professor of Sanskrit at Haileybury Professor of Greek at Oxford Member of Quaritch’s editorial staff Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, specialist in gems and coins Writer and critic Poet and friend of Coleridge and Lamb US writer and poet US writer, critic and diplomat Wife of J. R. Lowell Step-daughter of George Borrow Book distributor with interest in oriental texts Professor at University of Edinburgh. Admirer of Thomas Carlyle Friend of Bernard Barton, Rector of Benhall, editor of Gentleman’s Magazine London publisher involved with A. Tennyson Bookseller and founder of Mudie’s Lending Library Oxford orientalist, friend of EBC Writer on Yarmouth, Lowestoft and East Anglian dialect Bookseller in Trinity Street, Cambridge An associate of Stephen Austin, publisher and printer Committee chairman of New Shakespeare Society French translator of Rubáiyát (as Les Quatrains de Kheyam) US literary critic and Rubáiyát enthusiast Editor of the Golden Treasury and friend of AT’s Publisher of Fraser’s Magazine US writer and critic with an interest in Rubáiyát Publisher of various EFG works alias Barry Cornwall (q.v.) Wife of B. W. Procter Bookseller and publisher of Rubáiyát and other works by EFG Bookseller in Ipswich, nickname ‘Chorus’ Friend of W. B. Donne and the major Romantics Art critic, author and connoisseur Founder of English Dialect Society. Professor at University of Cambridge Publisher of W. M. Thackeray’s drawings Owner of Cromwell Letters, commented on by TC

Landor W. S. Lloyd C. Longfellow H. W. Lowell J. R. * Lowell Mrs J. R. MacOubrey Mrs * Madden J. Masson Professor D. Mitford Rev. J. Moxon E. Mudie C. E. Muller F. M. Nall J. Newby Mr Newton N. Nicholson B. Nicolas J. B. Norton C. E. * Palgrave F. T. Parker J. W. Perry T. S. * Pickering W. * Procter B. W. Procter Mrs Anne (Skepper) Quaritch B. * Read James * Robinson H. C. Ruskin John Skeat Professor W. W. Smith & Elder * Squire W.

Literary friends – name

Person detail

Stidolph John * Stokes Miss

Contributor to East Anglian Notes and Queries Probably sister of Whitley Stokes, the Celtic scholar who found FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát in Quaritch’s ‘penny box’ Rector of Otley. An authority on books Leading Anglican and author, who was EFG’s contemporary at university. Later Archbishop of Dublin Writer and novelist, who wrote a biography of WMT Master of Trinity College Translator of Rubáiyát American editor of Shakespeare’s works Writer and reviewer of Rubáiyát Oxford professor of Sanskrit US literary critic Librarian to Queen Victoria at Windsor and editor of Fine Arts Quarterly Wife of Bernard Woodward Famous Romantic poet Cambridge academic and editor of EFG’s Literary Remains

Tayler Rev. C. B. Trench Rev. Richard Chevenix * Trollope Anthony Whewell W. Whinfield E. H. White R. G. Wilson H. Schutz * Wilson Professor H. H. Woodberry C. E. Woodward Bernard B. Woodward Mrs B. B. Wordsworth William Wright W. Aldis *

Artistic friends Artistic friends – name

Person detail

Bishop Sir H. * Bunbury Sir H.

EFG correspondent about old songs Friend of W. B. Donne, with fine picture gallery visited by EFG London artist, friend of EFG’s later years Wife of Edwin Edwards Historical painter, of French birth Painter friend of Samuel Laurence, with interest in religion Illustrator of Punch etc., friend of EFG’s later years Portrait painter often commissioned by EFG, also friend of EFG Artist and sculptor Artist and critic based in Italy Two French artist brothers living in London Local picture owner Ipswich artist and collector supported by EFG Sculptor and friend of EFG and AT

Edwards Edwin Edwards Mrs Edwin * Fradelle H. J. Geldart J. Keene Charles * Laurence Samuel * Leighton Sir F. Moore M. Rochard S. J. and F. T. Rouse Mr Rowe G. J. Woolner T. *

Other friends and acquaintances Other friends – name2

Person detail

Aberdeen Lord Acton Mrs Ainsworth H.

Politician and prime minister, friend of H. W. Gurney Local widow Editor and popular Gothic novelist. Friend of Bernard Barton Head of mental hospital, friend of Alfred Tennyson, with interest in ‘Pyroglyph’ wood sculpting Assistant to G. Moor, EFG’s Woodbridge lawyer Buyer of boat for EFG Oriental book dealer Lincolnshire friends of Charlesworths First woman doctor and an active suffragette. Sister of Millicent Garrett (Mrs Henry Fawcett) Local lady receiving money from EFG Probably house owner in Boulge area Head of Rugby School Lowestoft auctioneer Man who visited EFG, known by EBC Contact providing information about Naseby monument Landowner at Hasketon, neighbour of GCM Lowestoft solicitor Woodbridge foundry owner, involved in negotiations over Little Grange purchase Formerly Rev. H. W. Wilson, Rector in Norfolk Two wives of Sharman Berry Gunsmith and EFG’s landlord in Market Hill, Woodbridge Ship chandler Vice-Master of Trinity College, Cambridge Norfolk archaeologist, vice-president of Society of Antiquaries Ophthalmic surgeon seen by EFG in London Shipbroker and merchant in Lowestoft Pseudonym of Charles G. Leland, US-born writer and folklorist Artist friend of F. Tennyson who lived in Rome Wife of Augustus Brotherton, believed in spiritualism Son of W. K. Browne Father of W. K. Browne Wife of W. K. Browne

Allen Dr Matthew Allen Mr Allen Robert Allen William Allenby family Anderson Elizabeth Garrett Andrews Mrs Armstrong Mrs Arnold Dr Thomas Balls William Barker Mr Barlow Edmund Barlow F. and Mrs Barnard W. Bendall James Berners Lord Berry Mrs Berry Sharman Birt Mr Blore Rev. E. W. Boileau Sir J. Bowman William Bradbeer B. Breitmann Hans Brotherton Augustus Brotherton Mrs A. (Mary) Browne E. K. Browne Joseph Browne Mrs W. K. *

Other friends – name2

Person detail

Browne W. K. *

Close friend of EFG who lived in Bedfordshire and died as a result of a riding accident in 1859 Author and literary man Friends of W. M. Thackeray Manufacturer in Shenfield, Essex, and boating acquaintance A boat owner from Norwich whom EFG met when visiting Lowestoft Tenant farmer on the FitzGerald estate A fisherman from Aldeburgh A FitzGerald family pensioner Woodbridge estate agent Naseby trustee and Viceroy of Ireland Friend or neighbour of GCM Contemporary of EBC at Oxford Boston publisher Bungay printer, son of John Childs Bungay printer Music critic for the Athenaeum A lady who claimed to read character from handwriting In charge of Servants’ School in Ipswich Doctor in Lincoln. Contact of Thomas Carlyle Seaman on EFG’s boat the Scandal Merchant or banker in Southwold Younger son of W. E. Crowfoot Vicar of Wangford, relative of W. E. Crowfoot Beccles physician and friend of EFG Woodbridge builder Woodbridge accountant EFG’s landlady at Dunwich Headmaster of King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds, 1841–55 A Lowestoft-based boating acquaintance Builder at Little Grange Lowestoft nurseryman Sister-in-law of Mrs W. K. Browne, who died leaving young orphan children (q.v. Mrs Umpleby) Father of Mrs W. K. Browne Lowestoft acquaintance of EFG; Archdeacon of Ely EFG’s housekeeper at Boulge Cottage Provincial actor/manager

Brydges E. Buller Charles and Arthur Burgess W. L. * Burroughs Mr (1) Burroughs Mr (2) Cable Mr Calogan Emilius Cana William Carlisle Lord Carthew Admiral Cawley W. Child Francis J. Childs Charles Childs John Chorley H. F. Clough Miss Cobbold Mrs Cookson Dr W. Cooper J. Craigie Mr Crowfoot J. H. Crowfoot Rev. John R. Crowfoot W. E. * Cullingford Joseph Dallenger John Dix Mrs Donaldson J. W. Doughty Captain Dove Benjamin Durrant Mr Elliott Mrs Elliott Robert Emery William Faiers Mrs Fisher David

Other friends – name2

Person detail

Fisher James Fisher Walter and Ted Fletcher Jemmy Fletcher Joseph (Posh) *

One of EFG’s pensioners from Aldeburgh Sons of James Fisher Brother of Posh Fletcher Lowestoft fisherman befriended by EFG, referred to elsewhere by his nickname Posh Father of Posh Fletcher Wife of Posh Fletcher Picture framer in Woodbridge Local seaman and pilot Formerly employed as a nurse by the Donnes Friend of Posh Fletcher Wife of Newson Garrett Aldeburgh businessman, a political ‘fire eater’ MP and President of the Board of Trade, also an Aldeburgh sailor Possibly cook at Little Grange Lowestoft house agent Sister of Miss Emily Green of Lowestoft Ran lodgings at Lowestoft used by EFG Sailboat owner Landlord of Bull Inn, Woodbridge Norwich banker with whose family Lucy Barton lived Sister of H. Gurney Lowestoft Crimea veteran Clergyman and author Proprietor of Lowestoft pub Librarian of the London Library Solicitor of Bungay Yacht owner Proprietor of Boat Inn, Woodbridge, then worked with wife Mary for EFG at Little Grange Crew on Scandal, son of John and Mary Howe EFG’s housekeeper at Little Grange, wife of John Howe Aldeburgh shipbuilder Picture framer in Woodbridge Judge at Ipswich Assizes Lowestoft merchant Wife of Rector of Bawdsey Famous London actor/manager Woodbridge wine merchant

Fletcher Joseph (Senior) * Fletcher Mrs Joseph (Posh) Fox C. J. Frost G. Frost Mrs I. Fuller Dan Garrett Mrs N. Garrett Newson Gibson T. M. Goodwyn Mrs Gowing H. Green Miss Becky Green Miss Emily Grimwood T. Grout J. Gurney Hudson Gurney Miss Hargreaves Sgt Harness Rev. William Harris Billy Harrison Mr Hartcup William Harvey Sir C. Howe John Howe John A. (Jack) Howe Mrs Mary Hunt Mr Jeffries A. Jervis Judge Johnson Robert Jones Mrs Kean Charles Kettle Mr

Other friends – name2

Person detail

Kitchen G. Knight Phoebe Langmaid Mr Lardner D. Liebreich Dr Lonsdale Bishop Lushington F. Lushington H. Lytton Lord Mackay Dr C. Maclean Mr Macready William Magnusson E. Magnusson Mrs Mainwaring Rev. J. Malkin A. Malkin Dr B. H.

School friend of EBC Local girl, bridesmaid to Anna Ling (Smith) Local steersman Former professor, populariser of scientific knowledge London eye specialist Bishop of Lichfield Friend of Tennysons Cambridge friend of Frederick Tennyson Viceroy of India Adapter of song texts for music Employee of Woodbridge Customs House Actor, friend of W. F. Pollock Norse scholar living in Cambridge Wife of E. Magnusson Rector of Geldestone Son of EFG’s headmaster at Bury St Edmunds EFG’s headmaster at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds Friend of EFG’s sister, probably daughter of EFG’s headmaster at Bury St Edmunds Woodbridge corn merchant and sailor Probably a Woodbridge local Lady who set up an Industrial School in Norwich Ipswich antique dealer Evangelical preacher in Bedford Liberal Christian Socialist and friend of John Allen Pupil of EBC, nephew of Vicar of Goldington, Beds Vicar of Goldington, Beds Writer of song texts London publisher Nickname of captain of Posh Fletcher’s boat Henrietta General and MP Licensed pilot in Woodbridge, who died in accident. Probably related to T. Newson Wife of T. Newson Skipper of EFG’s boat Scandal Daughter of T. Newson A political figure Lowestoft local Friend of Mrs C. Kemble, Fanny Kemble’s mother

Malkin Miss Manby G. Marshall Mr Martineau Miss Mason William Matthews Rev. T. R. Maurice Rev. F. D. Monkhouse J. Monkhouse W. Moore T. Murray J. Mushell Captain Napier Sir C. Newson H. Newson Mrs Newson T. Newson’s daughter Northampton Lord Ogleby Mrs Opie Mrs

Other friends – name2

Person detail

Otter W. Paddon Rev. Thomas Page Mr (and family)

Principal of Kings College, London, patron of J. Allen Vicar of Mattishall Surgeon in Woodbridge, relative of Lord Hatherley, friends of FitzGerald family Judge at Ipswich Assizes Seaman and skipper of boats Brother of Ablett Pasifull Nephew of Ablett Pasifull Prime minister and other political positions Contacted re: G. J. Rowe (q.v.), possibly a solicitor Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Probably some Woodbridge residents Ipswich architect Field Marshal in Indian army, possibly uncle of W. F. Pollock Probably a stockbroker Probably a local resident Bought the boat Scandal from EFG Lowestoft local Boat owner Minister at Portman Chapel, London Local resident Prime minister from 1846 Norfolk friend of Mrs EFG (Lucy Barton) Possibly daughter of Mrs Schutz Lady living near Geldestone Hall, the Kerrich home in Norfolk Conversationalist and friend of the poet Samuel Rogers W. B. Donne’s housemaster at Bury St Edmunds School Boat owner Chaplin at Trinity College Writers and men about town Sailor employed by EFG Widow of a Lowestoft physician Probably a Woodbridge landlord History professor who nominated E. B. Cowell for Calcutta professorship Doctor who specialised in insanity Non-conformist bishop resident in Woodbridge Probably a pensioner of EFG

Parke Judge Pasifull Ablett * Pasifull Robert Pasifull Walter Peel Sir Robert Phelps Mr Phelps Robert Phillips Mr (and family) Phipson Richard Pollock Maj. Gen. George Prescott E. G. Pulham Mrs Quilter H. Ransome Mr Reed G. Reeve Rev. J. W. Reynolds Miss Russell Lord John * Salmon Mrs Schutz Miss Schutz Mrs Sharp R. Shore Rev. J. Silver Mr Sinker Rev. R. Smith H. and J. Smith Jack Smith Lady Southgate Mr Stephen Sir J. Sutherland Dr A. J. Taylor Bishop Henry Taylor Mrs

Other friends – name2

Person detail

Taylor T. Ticknor Professor George Turner D. Tymms Samuel Umpleby Mrs

Dramatist and editor of Punch Harvard professor of literature Yarmouth banker and collector Local printer and publisher of the East Anglian A lady concerned with some orphan children (q.v. Mrs Elliott) Probably wife of Lord Walsingham Patron of George Crabbe (Merton) Analyst of character through handwriting Servant of FitzGerald family at Naseby Agent for Naseby estate formerly owned by FitzGeralds EFG’s captain in the Waveney Woodbridge estate agent Grass cutter at Little Grange Partner of David Fisher Possibly a Cambridge academic A local seed merchant Bishop of Lincoln, nephew of poet Yarmouth friends of W. B. Donne EFG’s Lowestoft physician Boatbuilder for the Waveney, Beccles-based

Walsingham Lady Walsingham Lord Warren Mr Watcham Charles Watts Thomas * West Ted Whisstock Mr Wicks Mr Wilson Mary Woodcock E. Woods Mr Wordsworth Rev. Christopher Worship family Worthington Dr W. C. Wright William

Appendix 2: the places where FitzGerald lived and stayed The tables here give a brief description of the places of importance in Edward FitzGerald’s life, both where he had his home, and the homes of his family and friends with whom he frequently stayed, sometimes for quite long periods by modern standards. The first table covers most of the places from which FitzGerald sent his letters. He usually included an indication of where he was writing from, though, in some cases, this was inferred by the Terhunes from the postmark of the letter, or other information.1 The second table shows, in chronological order, the places where FitzGerald lived.

Places from which FitzGerald wrote Place

Description

Aldeburgh

Small Suffolk seaside town visited many times by FitzGerald, including as a child Historic town in Somerset. In 1847 and 1854, FitzGerald visited the nearby home of his sister Andalusia de Soyres FitzGerald’s friend W. K. Browne lived at Goldington Hall near the market town of Bedford, where his family had their home. FitzGerald stayed in the Bedford area often from the mid-1830s until 1859, when Browne died

Bath Bedford

Place

Description

Boulge

A small village in Suffolk near Woodbridge and Bredfield (q.v.). FitzGerald’s parents moved to Boulge Hall in 1835, and FitzGerald had his home first there and then at Boulge Cottage in the grounds. He moved from the cottage in 1853. The Hall was later occupied by his elder brother John. FitzGerald was buried in the graveyard of Boulge Church A small village near Woodbridge and Boulge (q.v.). FitzGerald was born at the White House, Bredfield and lived his earliest years there. His friend George Crabbe (son of the poet Crabbe) was Vicar of Bredfield from 1834 until his death in 1857 A corruption of Woodbridge (q.v.) put by FitzGerald at the head of a letter to W. F. Pollock A town on the south coast which FitzGerald visited on various occasions, notably in 1852 to see his mother, who had a home there Visited by FitzGerald on his major European tour in 1856 FitzGerald and his brothers attended King Edward VI Grammar School in this Suffolk market town. He visited it often subsequently, including to see his friend W. B. Donne in the 1840s and early 1850s During his time as an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, FitzGerald lived at Mrs Perry’s apartments on King’s Parade. Throughout his life, he continued to visit the city to meet friends living there Small village on the Suffolk coast, now heavily eroded by the sea, which FitzGerald visited occasionally, particularly to see his friends the Edwards in later years Cathedral city in Devon, which FitzGerald visited in 1847 as part of a trip to see his sister Andalusia in Bath (q.v.) Suffolk village near Woodbridge (q.v.). From late 1853 to 1860, FitzGerald had his base at Farlingay Hall, the home of Job Smith Port on the Suffolk coast to which FitzGerald occasionally sailed Village in Norfolk. Geldestone Hall was the home of FitzGerald’s sister Eleanor and her family, whom FitzGerald visited frequently throughout his life Cathedral city which FitzGerald visited as part of a trip to see his sister Andalusia in Bath (q.v.) Seaside resort on the Norfolk coast near Yarmouth. FitzGerald’s wife took lodgings there in the summer after their marriage in October 1856, and he spent some time with her there Port on the Suffolk coast to which FitzGerald occasionally sailed

Bredfield

Bridgewood Brighton Brussels (Belgium) Bury St Edmunds Cambridge

Dunwich Exeter Farlingay Felixstowe Geldestone Gloucester Gorlestone Harwich

Place

Description

Hastings

Town on the south coast where FitzGerald stayed for a couple of weeks in 1840 Village in East Suffolk where FitzGerald visited his sister Jane Wilkinson and her husband The FitzGerald family lived at Wherstead Lodge just outside Ipswich between 1826 and 1835, when they moved to Boulge (q.v.). FitzGerald also visited several friends near this Suffolk town, notably the Charlesworths and the Hockleys. Edward Cowell and his wife both came from this area In his earlier years, FitzGerald made a number of visits to Ireland, visiting his relatives and also staying with the Edgeworths, family of his university friend Francis. Places from which he wrote include: Bray (near Dublin), Dublin, Edgeworthstown, Halverstone, Kilcullen and ‘the Irish Sea’ Farringford House on the Isle of Wight was for many years the home of A. Tennyson and his family, whom FitzGerald visited in June 1854. FitzGerald also visited the island on a boating trip in 1866 Village near Bedford (q.v.) which was the home of FitzGerald’s friend W. Airy, whom he visited there Village in Essex where FitzGerald’s friend C. Merivale was Rector Spa town where FitzGerald visited one of his parents’ houses in the 1840s Name of FitzGerald’s final home in Woodbridge (q.v.), where he lived from 1874. The house was earlier called Grange Farm FitzGerald spent much time in London, especially up to the late 1850s. His main locations were north of Oxford Street in what is now W1 or WC1, either at his family home in Portland Place or staying with friends (e.g. Thackeray in Coram Street and Spedding in Lincoln’s Inn), or in lodgings, notably in Charlotte Street or Great Portland Street A fishing town on the north Suffolk coast which FitzGerald visited frequently, especially in the 1860s when he had a boat there and was involved with the fisherman Joseph (Posh) Fletcher. He frequently stayed in lodgings with the Misses Green on Marine Terrace Northern English city where FitzGerald’s family owned an estate (at Castle Irwell) and where FitzGerald stayed in the 1830s Location of FitzGerald’s lodgings in Woodbridge (q.v.), where he lived from December 1860 to January 1874

Holbrook Ipswich

Ireland

Isle of Wight Keysoe Lawford Leamington Little Grange (Woodbridge) London

Lowestoft

Manchester Market Hill (Woodbridge)

Place

Description

Merton

Norfolk village which became the home of FitzGerald’s friend G. Crabbe (son of G. Crabbe the Vicar of Bredfield – q.v.), whom FitzGerald visited often in later years. FitzGerald died there in June 1883 Suffolk village, the home of FitzGerald’s friend R. H. Groome Northampton village close to which is the site of the decisive battle between royalists and parliamentarians in 1645. The FitzGerald family owned this site and FitzGerald stayed there, particularly in the 1840s when he was helping T. Carlyle with his research on Cromwell FitzGerald frequently travelled through the county when moving between family and friends, and he wrote letters from various places (e.g. Norwich) while awaiting transport Home of FitzGerald’s friends the Cowells in the early 1850s, whom he visited while Cowell was studying at the university FitzGerald family lived in France for two years from 1816–18. FitzGerald later visited the city in the early 1830s with his friend W. M. Thackeray Port on the south coast to which FitzGerald sailed with his brother Peter FitzGerald visited his mother and his brother Peter at several addresses in Richmond and nearby at Ham Probably Rushmere St Andrews near Ipswich, where the Cowell family had a home Town on the south coast where FitzGerald stayed in the 1830s and again in 1851 Town in south-west Wales where FitzGerald had a holiday in 1832, and where he met his younger friend W. K. Browne Historic town where FitzGerald stayed in 1835, after visiting his parents’ property in Leamington (q.v.) A couple of letters show that they were written on board FitzGerald’s boats. One is headed simply ‘On the mud’ Market town in Suffolk, in or near which FitzGerald had his home base for most of his life. He lived there from 1860 onwards, first in lodgings on Market Hill (q.v.), then in his house Little Grange (q.v.)

Monk Soham Naseby

Norfolk Oxford Paris (France) Ramsgate Richmond (Surrey) Rushmere Southampton Tenby Warwick While boating Woodbridge

FitzGerald’s main ‘ homes’ See previous table for more details of the locations. The listing draws on the FitzGerald chronology contained in the Terhunes’ Letters.2 Year

Month

Location

1809

Mar.

Born at White House, Bredfield. Early childhood spent there With family in Paris At King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds Family living at Wherstead, Ipswich. FitzGerald based there At Cambridge as undergraduate. Lodged at 19 King’s Parade Family moved to Boulge Hall. FitzGerald based there Furnished Boulge Cottage Living in Boulge Cottage Moved out of Boulge Cottage. Possessions to Farlingay At Bredfield Vicarage with G. Crabbe (Bredfield) Based at Farlingay, but often elsewhere Living in London after marriage Lodging in Gorlestone with Mrs FitzGerald Separated from Mrs FitzGerald. Still based at Farlingay, but moving around, often in London, Geldestone and Lowestoft Moved to lodgings in Market Hill, Woodbridge Bought cottage at Grange Farm, Woodbridge Major improvements to Grange Farm Asked to vacate rooms in Market Hill, Woodbridge Moved into Grange Farm, later Little Grange, Woodbridge Died at Merton, Norfolk

1816–18 1818–25 1826–35 1826–30 1835 1837 1838–53 1853 1854 1854–6 1856 1857 1857–60 1860–74 1864 1864–5 1873 1874–83 1883

Oct. Nov. Jan. Nov. June From Aug. 1857 From Dec. 1860 May Aug. From Jan. 1874 June

Appendix 3: FitzGerald’s library and literary remains It is clear that Edward FitzGerald was a great reader. The very many literary references in his letters illustrate the depth and the breadth of his reading. What is also evident, reinforced from other sources, is that he was a lover of books themselves. His own library was extensive: some 700 volumes were put up for sale after his death, and this was by no means all the books he possessed. His library contained not only the books he had purchased or inherited, but also gifts from friends of their writings, and various collections of articles or book excerpts that he had put together. Many of the latter he had specially bound, and they were complemented by the material in the commonplace and scrap books that he kept at various stages in his life, and other notebooks and collections of working papers. We can piece together the main contents of FitzGerald’s library by looking at a number of different sources. The most important ones are the following. • Mentions in the letters of items that he had purchased, and those he had sold.1 • Listings in the two sale catalogues of items from the FitzGerald estate following his death.2 • A listing in John Glyde’s biography of FitzGerald.3 It is not clear on what basis Glyde compiled this list, but the sale catalogues may have been a partial source. • Holdings in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge that can be identified as having belonged to Edward FitzGerald.4 • Holdings of FitzGerald’s scrap books in the archive of the Ipswich Museum.5

We summarise what we have gleaned from our study of these various items about FitzGerald’s library and its disposition after his death. The comment is divided under three headings: books generally; collections of articles and ‘cut and paste’; other groups of working papers.

BOOKS GENERALLY From the sources mentioned, it is possible to identify at least 1,500 books that were in FitzGerald’s library. Many of the books discussed by FitzGerald in his letters were ones that he had in his own possession. We know that he did make use of lending libraries such as Mudie’s for some of his topical reading, and there were clearly also exchanges of books with various of his friends. But the listings of FitzGerald’s books in the sale catalogues and Glyde’s biography include many of the authors and titles that FitzGerald loved and read frequently, such as Shakespeare, Greek plays, contemporary poetry (Tennyson, Crabbe, Wordsworth, Keats, etc.), and the novels of Scott, Dickens and Richardson. Glyde gives additional emphasis to FitzGerald’s interest in paintings, the theatre and music, while the sale catalogues include many travel books and biographical works that Glyde omitted. FitzGerald had an extensive collection of grammars and dictionaries, including ones for Anglo-Saxon, Danish and Norse, as well as Persian, Arabic and several European languages. The listings include two copies of other translations of the Rubáiyát (by Nicolas and Whinfield, both mentioned in the letters) and it is interesting to see that FitzGerald possessed of a copy of Sale’s version of the Koran, though this is not a book to which we have found any reference in the letters. It is not at all clear what happened to all the books after FitzGerald’s death. As indicated, a large part of the main library (that is, those books with which FitzGerald had not significantly ‘interfered’ – see next section) was put up for sale in the second half of 1883. It is likely that many of these books had FitzGerald’s distinctive book plate in them, but, on a limited search, we have been unable so far to locate holdings of more than a few such books in libraries or collections today.

COLLECTIONS OF ARTICLES AND ‘CUT AND PASTE’ A close literary friend, W. Aldis Wright, was given the task of being Edward FitzGerald’s literary Executor.6 Wright was at that time Librarian of Trinity College, Cambridge and much of the more personal part of FitzGerald’s library was acquired by the College Library, where it is still held. For example, FitzGerald was an avid collector of articles and extracts of information on matters that interested him. The

more substantial of these he had bound together in ‘books’, presumably at his own expense. Many of the resulting volumes are now in the Trinity Library collection. They include collections of articles from the Gentleman’s Magazine, mainly from the 1830s and 1840s. There are also volumes containing substantive articles by some of his friends, such as James Spedding’s papers on Shakespeare’s plays, and some early writings of Alfred Tennyson. Other shorter and more miscellaneous items are included in his ‘commonplace books’ and notebooks, also in the Trinity Library. These contain manuscript writings, recording a mixture of anecdotes, phrases and longer items that had caught FitzGerald’s interest. There are also some cuttings from newspapers and journals pasted into the books. In terms of subject matter, there is no real system to the content of the commonplace books, though it is clear that FitzGerald tried at some stage to index a couple of them, perhaps after having difficulty in finding the item he was in need of (the ‘I know I have it somewhere’ syndrome). FitzGerald created a number of scrap books over the years, largely containing pictures which he found of interest, together with sketches by some of his friends. Ten of these were presented to the Ipswich Museum in 1914 by Miss Eleanor Kerrich, FitzGerald’s niece and the daughter of his sister Eleanor; this niece and her Kerrich siblings were FitzGerald’s main residuary legatees.7 The scrap books are rather more organised in terms of content than the commonplace books. Several of them contain printed portraits of famous people, others have theatrical portraits, pictures of famous criminals and trials, old views of London architecture, Punch cartoons (some possibly by FitzGerald’s friend Charles Keene) and Spanish colour prints. One scrap book is devoted largely to a collection of original works (watercolours, sketches, etc.) by various artist friends;8 notable among them are members of the Churchyard family, P. Nursey, C. Keene, G. J. Rowe and W. M. Thackeray. The inclusion of Keene, a later friend of FitzGerald, suggests that this scrap book may have been compiled later in FitzGerald’s life. The content of a number of the other scrap books dates more from the 1840s. A further, earlier scrap book, the 1833 Museum Book, is reproduced in Thomas Wright’s Life of Edward FitzGerald.9 There are a number of references in FitzGerald’s letters to his taking scissors and paste to the volumes he was reading, in order to make them more ‘to his taste’. Several such ‘improved’ volumes are included in the Trinity Library collection. They include selections from a number of memoirs about Dr Johnson (from Mrs Piozzi, Laetitia Hawkins and Madame d’Arblay aka Fanny Burney), and other books of letters and reminiscences about the recent past. Clearly FitzGerald found only

some aspects of such recent history of interest enough to want to keep it in his library.

OTHER GROUPS OF WORKING PAPERS The final element in FitzGerald’s more personal library is various sets of what might be called his working papers, relating to writing projects, some of which were incomplete or unpublished at his death. It is notable that there are virtually no extant working papers relating to his earlier projects, particularly the different editions of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. There are copies of the two Persian manuscripts of the Rubáiyát verses that form the basis of FitzGerald’s ‘rendering’ into English in the Cambridge University Library, and these have annotations in FitzGerald’s hand. In addition, one example of FitzGerald’s drafting of two verses in his second edition of the Rubáiyát is located in an American library.10 Trinity Library contains several groups of papers relating to later projects either recently completed or still in progress at the time of FitzGerald’s death. They include his edition of Crabbe’s Tales from the Hall (which was published towards the end of his life), Lamb’s works (his Lamb Calendar was the only output) and Madame de Sévigné’s diaries; this last project was taken up by his great-niece Mary Eleanor FitzGerald Kerrich and published in 1914.11 Also of interest among FitzGerald’s unpublished works are a play based on Sir Walter Scott’s The Pirate, and an abbreviated version of the story of Little Nell, designed by FitzGerald to provide children with an easy introduction to Dickens’ novel. Copies of two well-known books on East Anglian dialects, by Forby and Moor, show heavy annotation by FitzGerald, presumably done at the time when he was contemplating a new dictionary that would bring together his own work with that of his predecessors.12

Appendix 4: a statistical analysis of FitzGerald’s letters CREATING A STATISTICAL DATABASE The main source for our analysis has been the collection of over 2,000 letters written by Edward FitzGerald that were published by Alfred and Annabelle Terhune in 1980.1 The underlying method for our analysis has been the creation of a digital database covering all the individual letters by Edward FitzGerald published in the Terhunes’ volumes. This database includes information for each letter on when and where it was written, and to whom, together with an analysis of the main topics covered in the letter. From the database, it is possible to make a variety of statistical analyses of the different periods, places, people and topics in FitzGerald’s letters. Some examples of these analyses are set out in this Appendix. Our work also provides quick access to lists of the main letters that are relevant to each topic.

EXAMPLES OF THE ANALYSES AVAILABLE The tables that follow summarise the figures available from the database on the main groups of topics used in our analysis. These figures underlie the charts shown in earlier chapters. The tables also give the detailed items included under each topic heading. They represent the tip of the iceberg of what is available from the database of letters. Equivalent tables can be produced for each of the topic headings used in Chapters 10–13 for the discussion of FitzGerald’s views, and further details are available on, for example, the exchanges with individual correspondents or at different periods in FitzGerald’s life.

From the database it is also possible to map the way in which the frequency of FitzGerald’s known letter writing varied over his life time. This is illustrated in Figure 6. As outlined in Part 1, there seems to have been a general build-up in the numbers of FitzGerald’s letters through his life, interrupted only in the late 1850s. Similar charts can be created for the time pattern of the correspondence with key friends such as E. B. Cowell, W. A. Wright and Fanny Kemble. Figure 6.  The build-up of FitzGerald’s letter writing.

Number of letters per year 120 100 80 60 40 20 1830 1832 1834 1836 1838 1840 1842 1844 1846 1848 1850 1852 1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882

0

THE LETTERS THAT ARE MISSING? The surviving letters do not form either the total or even a representative sample of Edward FitzGerald’s actual correspondence. Despite the large number of letters that exist, there are clearly important gaps. It is possible to look more closely at what might be missing by comparing the number of letters that different people received from FitzGerald with the number of times these people are actually mentioned in his letters; people mentioned frequently are likely to have been among his regular correspondents. The comparison is shown in Table 4.1. In addition to gaps for the FitzGerald family, there were probably many more letters sent to J. Spedding, W. K. Browne, W. M. Thackeray, R. H. Groome, Mr and Mrs Edwards, and the Churchyard family

than have survived. The Terhunes note that Spedding’s sisters destroyed most of FitzGerald’s letters to their brother because of their ‘unsuitable content’.2 There are also a number of letters in Anne Otter Allen’s memoir of her father John Allen that do not seem to be in the Terhunes’ collection.3 Table 4.1. FitzGerald’s contacts and correspondents compared Name of person (ranked by no. of mentions)

Link to FitzGerald

No. of mentions in letters (as person)

No. of letters to them that survive

Letters as % of mentions *

James Spedding Alfred Tennyson (and Mrs A. Tennyson) T. Carlyle and family W. B. Donne Crabbe family E. B. Cowell (and Mrs E. B. Cowell) W. M. Thackeray Eleanor Kerrich and family W. H. Thompson and family Fanny Kemble

School University

311 219

  4  82

  1  37

Literary School Neighbour Neighbour

214 178 161 146

 52 109  82 425

 24  61  51 291

University Family University School

141 122  96  83

  8   2  34 112

  6   2  35 135

* A low figure indicates that there were probably more letters to that person than have survived.

THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR ANALYSIS We are the first to acknowledge the limitations of the analysis that we have undertaken. Accepting the fact that not all of FitzGerald’s actual correspondence has survived, we are reasonably confident that the objective side of our database, in terms of date, location and person written to, is as comprehensive and accurate as possible. But this cannot be said of the documentation of content detail, which is of a different and more subjective quality. In the first place, we have undoubtedly not picked up everything that FitzGerald put in his letters. Some of them are so complex in content, with very many names and topics, that it would require a full text scan to be sure of including all items; an example of a short multi-topic letter was shown in illustration 3. Secondly, many

of FitzGerald’s remarks are multifaceted and there are serious problems involved in deciding the topic under which to classify them. One such difficult area concerns references to books on topics like theatre or religion, which could either be classified under these headings or under the relevant category of reading. Another involves the mentions of writings by FitzGerald’s many friends, like A. Tennyson or T. Carlyle, which also give insights into his relationship with these friends, something that we have considered separately under the heading of Family and friends. Inevitably, other researchers would add to the topics and mentions that we have identified, and would probably place different emphases in the classification of subject matter. But we believe that we have managed through the topic analysis to gain a better understanding of FitzGerald’s interests and preoccupations. We also hope that our work will encourage researchers in the wider field of Victorian literature and culture to look more closely at the wealth of valuable literary and sociological material contained in the FitzGerald letters. And we trust that we have made it easier for students in this field to identify the letters that are of interest to them. List of tables that follow4 Table 4.2 – All letters – a summary Table 4.3a – Writing and reading – a summary Table 4.3b – Writing and reading – detail of topics Table 4.4a – The arts – a summary Table 4.4b – The arts – detail of topics Table 4.5a – Family and friends – a summary Table 4.5b – Family and friends – detail of topics Table 4.6a – Other interests and views – a summary Table 4.6b – Other interests and views – detail of topics

Table 4.2 All letters – a summary 1. LETTERS BY TIME PERIOD 1830s 1840s This topic Total number 66 289 % of total 3.1 13.5 All letters Total number 66 289 % of total 3.1 13.5 Topic as % 100.0 100.0 2. MAIN CATEGORY OF RECIPIENT Number of letters FitzGerald family 0 1 School friends 10 19 University friends 47 71 Neighbours 6 163 Literary friends 2 19 Artistic friends 1 15 Other friends 0 1 Not applicable 0 0 Total 66 289 % across 3.1 13.5 3. MAIN INDIVIDUAL RECIPIENTS No of % down letters Cowell E. B. 329 15.4 Wright W. A. 210 9.8 Kemble Fanny 112 5.2 Donne W. B. 109 5.1 Pollock W. F. 107 5.0 Barton B. 104 4.9 Quaritch B. 100 4.7 Cowell Mrs E. B. 89 4.2 Allen J. 75 3.5 Crabbe G. (M.) 73 3.4 Balance 826 38.7 Total 2134 100.0

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Total

324 15.2

405 19.0

755 35.4

295 13.8

2134 100.0

324 15.2 100.0

405 19.0 100.0

755 35.4 100.0

295 13.8 100.0

2134 100.0 100.0

0 18 75 211 18 1 1 0 324 15.2

0 40 95 173 48 4 44 1 405 19.0

0 110 128 195 270 14 33 5 755 35.4

1 55 54 43 132 10 0 0 295 13.8

2 252 470 791 489 45 79 6 2134 100.0

% down 0.1 11.8 22.0 37.1 22.9 2.1 3.7 0.3 100.0

4. MAIN PLACES SENT FROM No of % down letters Woodbridge – Little Grange 653 30.6 Woodbridge – Market Hill 559 26.2 Boulge 230 10.8 Lowestoft 206 9.7 London 193 9.0 Geldestone 70 3.3 Bedford 30 1.4 Bredfield 23 1.1 Farlingay 19 0.9 Naseby 15 0.7 Balance 136 6.4 Total 2134 100.0

5. CONTENT OF LETTERS 1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

48 19 57 33 66

129 91 223 123 289

214 29 230 93 324

229 59 296 147 405

595 114 549 160 755

242 45 253 35 295

1457 357 1608 591 2134

% of mentions by time period Writing and reading 3.3 The arts 5.3 Family and friends 3.5 Other interests and views 5.6 All letters 3.1

8.9 25.5 13.9 20.8 13.5

14.7 8.1 14.3 15.7 15.2

15.7 16.5 18.4 24.9 19.0

40.8 31.9 34.1 27.1 35.4

16.6 12.6 15.7 5.9 13.8

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number of mentions of: Writing and reading The arts Family and friends Other interests and views All letters

Total % down 68.3 16.7 75.4 27.7 100.0

Table 4.3a Writing and reading – a summary 1. LETTERS BY TIME PERIOD 1830s 1840s This topic Total number 48 129 % of total 3.3 8.9 All letters Total number 66 289 % of total 3.1 13.5 Topic as % 72.7 44.6 2. MAIN CATEGORY OF RECIPIENT Number of letters FitzGerald family 0 0 School friends 8 7 University friends 33 48 Neighbours 5 66 Literary friends 2 6 Artistic friends 0 2 Other friends 0 0 Not applicable 0 0 Total 48 129 % across 3.3 8.9 3. MAIN INDIVIDUAL RECIPIENTS No of % down letters Cowell E. B. 276 18.9 Wright W. A. 190 13.0 Kemble Fanny 98 6.7 Pollock W. F. 95 6.5 Quaritch B. 95 6.5 Donne W. B. 77 5.3 Cowell Mrs E. B. 63 4.3 Tennyson F. 55 3.8 Allen J. 52 3.6 Norton C. E. 45 3.1 Balance 411 28.2 Total 1457 100.0

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Total

214 14.7

229 15.7

595 40.8

242 16.6

1457 100.0

324 15.2 66.0

405 19.0 56.5

755 35.4 78.8

295 13.8 82.0

2134 100.0 68.3

0 10 38 151 14 1 0 0 214 14.7

0 27 63 90 45 1 3 0 229 15.7

0 90 116 132 250 5 2 0 595 40.8

0 47 45 27 116 7 0 0 242 16.6

0 189 343 471 433 16 5 0 1457 100.0

% down 0.0 13.0 23.5 32.3 29.7 1.1 0.3 0.0 100.0

4. MAIN PLACES SENT FROM No of % down letters Woodbridge – Little Grange 558 38.3 Woodbridge – Market Hill 349 24.0 Boulge 152 10.4 Lowestoft 137 9.4 London 102 7.0 Geldestone 41 2.8 Bedford 16 1.1 Bredfield 16 1.1 Farlingay 13 0.9 Aldeburgh 12 0.8 Balance 61 4.2 Total 1457 100.0

5. CONTENT OF LETTERS 1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

4 46

10 125

112 171

85 201

250 498

73 215

534 1256

36.7 86.2

15 3 8 10 9 13 6

25 19 13 31 4 12 11

14 12 9 15 3 25 19

41 25 16 52 13 54 35

137 113 69 47 73 73 131

52 27 45 12 64 16 44

284 199 160 167 166 193 246

19.5 13.7 11.0 11.5 11.4 13.2 16.9

0 0 2

1 3 8

22 80 28

15 28 20

60 25 115

13 3 49

111 139 222

7.6 9.5 15.2

27 48

69 129

35 214

71 229

184 595

89 242

475 1457

32.6 100.0

0.7 3.7

1.9 10.0

21.0 13.6

15.9 16.0

46.8 39.6

13.7 17.1

100.0 100.0

5.3 1.5 5.0 6.0 5.4 6.7 2.4

8.8 9.5 8.1 18.6 2.4 6.2 4.5

4.9 6.0 5.6 9.0 1.8 13.0 7.7

14.4 12.6 10.0 31.1 7.8 28.0 14.2

48.2 56.8 43.1 28.1 44.0 37.8 53.3

18.3 13.6 28.1 7.2 38.6 8.3 17.9

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

0.0 0.0 0.9

0.9 2.2 3.6

19.8 57.6 12.6

13.5 20.1 9.0

54.1 18.0 51.8

11.7 2.2 22.1

100.0 100.0 100.0

5.7 3.3

14.5 8.9

7.4 14.7

14.9 15.7

38.7 40.8

18.7 16.6

100.0 100.0

Number of mentions of: FitzGerald’s own writing Other literary references of which Contemporary poetry Contemporary novels Other contemporary writing Greek and Latin classics Shakespeare Other English classics French, Italian and German literature Spanish literature Persian literature etc Writings by FitzGerald’s friends Miscellaneous writings All letters on topic % of mentions by time period FitzGerald’s own writing Other literary references of which Contemporary poetry Contemporary novels Other contemporary writing Greek and Latin classics Shakespeare Other English classics French, Italian and German literature Spanish literature Persian literature etc Writings by FitzGerald’s friends Miscellaneous writings All letters on topic

Total % down

Table 4.3b Writing and reading – detail of topics Categories

Mentions No. letters

FitzGerald’s own writing of which: Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám Other Persian poets Spanish (Calderon plays) Selections from Crabbe G. Euphranor Greek plays, etc. Anglian words EFG’s ability as author Miscellaneous writings

534

Contemporary poetry of which: Barton B. Browning R. Byron G. Coleridge S. T. Crabbe G. Keats J. Morris W. Rogers S. Rossetti D. G. Shelley P. B. Southey R. Swinburne A. C. Tennyson A. Wordsworth W.

284

Contemporary novels of which: Austen Jane Brontë sisters Collins W. Dickens C. Disraeli B. Eliot G. Gaskell Elizabeth C. Hardy T.

199

130 83 76 97 39 88 44 6 59

10 65 11 4 49 25 13 3 7 12 10 12 124 33

10 0 7 59 8 20 0 1

Categories Hughes T. Lever C. Muloch C. Scott W. Thackeray W. M. Trollope A.

Mentions No. letters 1 1 0 67 74 27

Other contemporary writing of which: Borrow G. Burney Fanny (Mme d’Arblay) Carlyle T. Darwin C. De Quincey T. Hazlitt W. Lamb C. Macaulay T. B. Moore T. Ruskin J.

160

Greek and Latin classics of which: Aristophanes Aeschylus Aristotle Cicero Euripides Herodotus Homer Horace Lucretius Pindar Plato Pliny Plutarch Sophocles Tacitus Thucydides Virgil

167

8 2 102 7 5 5 23 6 4 3

6 13 2 3 5 9 16 6 18 3 13 5 2 35 10 13 16

Categories

Mentions No. letters

Shakespeare of which: General comment Work by Spedding J. Work by Wright W. A. Comedies Histories Tragedies

166

Other English classics of which: Bacon F. Boswell J. Chaucer G. Defoe D. Dryden J. Fielding H. Gay J. Goldsmith O. Gray T. Johnson S. Marlowe C. Marvell A. Milton J. Pepys S. Pope A. Richardson S. Smollett T. G. Spenser E. Sterne L. Swift J. Walpole H.

193

French, Italian and German literature French: all of which: Béranger P.-J. de Corneille P. de Sévigné Mme La Fontaine J. de Le Sage A.-R.

246

105 19 11 11 4 18

70 12 9 1 22 10 1 1 12 9 1 1 15 10 4 19 1 2 2 6 13

185 5 2 56 6 9

Categories

Mentions No. letters

Molière (J.-B. Poquelin) Montaigne M. E. de Rabelais F. Ste Beuve C. A. Verne J. Voltaire (F.-M. Arouet)

8 24 4 27 0 4

Italian: all of which: Ariosto L. Boccaccio G. Dante (D. degli Alighieri) Petrarch F. Tasso T.

43

German: all of which: Goethe J. W. von Schiller F.

2 16 22 3 2 36 25 6

Spanish literature of which: Cervantes M. de (Don Quixote) Other Spanish of which: Calderon de la Barca P. Lope de Vega F.

111

Persian literature etc. of which: Attár Háfiz Jámí Khayyám Rumi Sa’dí

139

Persian dictionaries and grammars

12

Translators: Cadell Jessie E. de Tassy G. D’Herbelot B.

68 58 39 3

12 38 29 26 15 11

2 10 4

Categories Nicolas J. B. von Hammer-Purgstall J. Whinfield E. H. Writings by FitzGerald’s friends of which: Carlyle Jane (Mrs T.) Cowell Elizabeth (Mrs E. B.) Donne W. B. (ex. work on Classics, etc.) Kemble Fanny Lowell J. R. Morton S. Ritchie Anne (Thackeray) Stephen L.

Mentions No. letters 12 9 2 222 9 20 9 27 27 9 15 14

Categories Tennyson F. Tennyson Turner C. Miscellaneous writings of which: English language (incl. East Anglian words) Arts topics Religion Travel Food Other subjects All letters with mentions: Writing and reading

Mentions No. letters 13 18 475 40 40 41 54 3 338 1,457

Table 4.4a The arts – a summary 1. LETTERS BY TIME PERIOD 1830s 1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Total

This topic Total number % of total

19 5.3

91 25.5

29 8.1

59 16.5

114 31.9

45 12.6

357 100.0

All letters Total number % of total Topic as %

66 3.1 28.8

289 13.5 31.5

324 15.2 9.0

405 19.0 14.6

755 35.4 15.1

295 13.8 15.3

2134 100.0 16.7

2. MAIN CATEGORY OF RECIPIENT Number of letters FitzGerald family 0 0 School friends 6 6 University friends 10 27 Neighbours 2 49 Literary friends 0 0 Artistic friends 1 8 Other friends 0 1 Not applicable 0 0 Total 19 91 % across 5.3 25.5

0 1 17 10 0 1 0 0 29 8.1

0 10 15 28 4 2 0 0 59 16.5

0 32 46 16 16 2 1 1 114 31.9

0 15 13 4 11 2 0 0 45 12.6

0 70 128 109 31 16 2 1 357 100.0

3. MAIN INDIVIDUAL RECIPIENTS No of % down letters Barton B. 47 13.2 Pollock W. F. 41 11.5 Kemble Fanny 40 11.2 Tennyson F. 37 10.4 Crabbe G. (M.) 25 7.0 Donne W. B. 24 6.7 Wright W. A. 15 4.2 Cowell E. B. 12 3.4 Laurence S. 12 3.4 Tennyson A. 10 2.8 Balance 94 26.3 Total 357 100.0

% down 0.0 19.6 35.9 30.5 8.7 4.5 0.6 0.3 100.0

4. MAIN PLACES SENT FROM No of % down letters Woodbridge – Market Hill 101 28.3 Woodbridge – Little Grange 91 25.5 London 55 15.4 Boulge 39 10.9 Lowestoft 20 5.6 Geldestone 14 3.9 Bedford 10 2.8 Ireland 4 1.1 Cambridge 3 0.8 Farlingay 3 0.8 Balance 17 4.8 Total 357 100.0

5. CONTENT OF LETTERS 1830s Number of mentions of: Theatre 7 Music 6 Pictures and artworks 6 All letters on topic 19 % of mentions by time period Theatre 6.4 Music 5.7 Pictures and artworks 3.0 All letters on topic 5.3

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Total % down

14 29 64 91

9 14 10 29

10 10 47 59

47 36 56 114

22 10 15 45

109 105 198 357

12.8 27.6 32.3 25.5

8.3 13.3 5.1 8.1

9.2 9.5 23.7 16.5

43.1 34.3 28.3 31.9

20.2 9.5 7.6 12.6

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

30.5 29.4 55.5 100.0

Table 4.4b The arts – detail of topics Categories

Mentions No. letters

Theatre of which: On performances On play writing, etc. Ordinary plays Vaudeville, etc. Other general comment Shakespeare Greek and Latin plays Other plays

109

Music of which: General comments Composers Musical works Performances

105

 83  26  82   5  22  25   7  77

 10  27  27   5

Categories

Mentions No. letters

Singers Festivals Opera Religious music

  4   2  19  11

Pictures and artworks of which: EFG’s dealing Pictures commissioned Pictures owned Treatment of pictures Giving pictures to others Specific artists Artist’s interpretation Exhibitions Miscellaneous comment

198

All letters with mentions: The arts

 52   5   6   9  34  35  36  41  14 357

Table 4.5a Family and friends – a summary 1. LETTERS BY TIME PERIOD This topic Total number % of total All letters Total number % of total Topic as %

1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Total

57 3.5

223 13.9

230 14.3

296 18.4

549 34.1

253 15.7

1608 100.0

66 3.1 86.4

289 13.5 77.2

324 15.2 71.0

405 19.0 73.1

755 35.4 72.7

295 13.8 85.8

2134 100.0 75.4

0 18 57 147 7 1 0 0 230 14.3

0 36 76 133 16 2 32 1 296 18.4

0 101 101 151 159 10 23 4 549 34.1

1 53 50 39 104 6 0 0 253 15.7

2 236 386 600 293 30 56 5 1608 100.0

2. MAIN CATEGORY OF RECIPIENT Number of letters FitzGerald family 0 1 School friends 9 19 University friends 43 59 Neighbours 5 125 Literary friends 0 7 Artistic friends 0 11 Other friends 0 1 Not applicable 0 0 Total 57 223 % across 3.5 13.9 3. MAIN INDIVIDUAL RECIPIENTS No of % down letters Cowell E. B. 223 13.9 Wright W. A. 166 10.3 Kemble Fanny 103 6.4 Donne W. B. 102 6.3 Pollock W. F. 92 5.7 Barton B. 90 5.6 Cowell Mrs E. B. 80 5.0 Tennyson F. 65 4.0 Allen J. 64 4.0 Crabbe G. (M.) 47 2.9 Balance 576 35.8 Total 1608 100.0

% down 0.1 14.7 24.0 37.3 18.2 1.9 3.5 0.3 100.0

4. MAIN PLACES SENT FROM No of % down letters Woodbridge – Little Grange 501 31.2 Woodbridge – Market Hill 402 25.0 Lowestoft 170 10.6 Boulge 167 10.4 London 149 9.3 Geldestone 58 3.6 Bedford 23 1.4 Bredfield 13 0.8 Farlingay 12 0.7 Aldeburgh 10 0.6 Balance 103 6.4 Total 1608 100.0

5. CONTENT OF LETTERS 1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Number of mentions of: FitzGerald family 6 School friends 18 University friends 45 Neighbours 4 Literary friends 3 Artistic friends 0 Other friends 14 All letters on topic 57

47 58 99 104 57 10 58 223

30 92 82 111 57 7 60 230

49 108 106 96 42 7 139 296

93 187 177 166 150 79 113 549

36 106 87 101 133 43 33 253

261 569 596 582 442 146 417 1608

% of mentions by time period FitzGerald family 2.3 School friends 3.2 University friends 7.6 Neighbours 0.7 Literary friends 0.7 Artistic friends 0.0 Other friends 3.4 All letters on topic 3.5

18.0 10.2 16.6 17.9 12.9 6.8 13.9 13.9

11.5 16.2 13.8 19.1 12.9 4.8 14.4 14.3

18.8 19.0 17.8 16.5 9.5 4.8 33.3 18.4

35.6 32.9 29.7 28.5 33.9 54.1 27.1 34.1

13.8 18.6 14.6 17.4 30.1 29.5 7.9 15.7

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Total % down 16.2 35.4 37.1 36.2 27.5 9.1 25.9 100.0

Table 4.5b Family and friends – detail of topics Categories FitzGerald family of which: Father Mother Brother John and family Brother Peter and family Sister Eleanor and family Sister Jane and family Sister Andalusia and family Sister Isabella and family School friends of which: Donne family   Donne W. B. Kemble family   Kemble Fanny Spedding family   Spedding James

Mentions No. letters 261 12 17 38 23 122 19 39 13 569 237 178 117 83 312 311

University friends of which: Allen J. and family Milnes R. M. and family Pollock W. F. and family Spring Rice S. and family Tennyson family   Tennyson A. and Mrs   Tennyson F. Thackeray family   Thackeray W. M.   Ritchie Anne (Thackeray) Thompson W. H. and family

596

Neighbours of which: Barton B.

582

34 14 54 8 285 219 72 179 141 37 96

27

Categories Barton Lucy (Mrs E. FitzGerald) Biddell family Brooke Capt. F. C. Charlesworth family Churchyard family Cowell E. B. and Mrs Crabbe family Groome family Smith family Spalding F.

Mentions No. letters 34 27 29 47 49 146 161 54 29 25

Literary friends of which: Carlyle T. and family Lowell J. R. Norton C. E. Quaritch B. Trench R. C. Wright W. A.

442

Artistic friends of which: Edwards E. and Mrs Keene C. Laurence S.

146

Other friends and acquaintances of which: Browne W. K. and family Fletcher Posh and family Berry S. and family Howe family Newson T. and family

417

214 37 30 24 8 78

78 31 31

46 79 20 26 42

All letters with mentions: Family and friends 1,608

Table 4.6a Other interests and views – a summary 1. LETTERS BY TIME PERIOD This topic Total number % of total All letters Total number % of total Topic as %

1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

Total

33 5.6

123 20.8

93 15.7

147 24.9

160 27.1

35 5.9

591 100.0

66 3.1 50.0

289 13.5 42.6

324 15.2 28.7

405 19.0 36.3

755 35.4 21.2

295 13.8 11.9

2134 100.0 27.7

0 3 34 49 6 0 1 0 93 15.7

0 19 41 70 4 0 12 1 147 24.9

0 21 31 42 50 3 11 2 160 27.1

1 8 7 2 14 3 0 0 35 5.9

2 62 177 223 88 12 24 3 591 100.0

2. MAIN CATEGORY OF RECIPIENT Number of letters FitzGerald family 0 1 School friends 6 5 University friends 24 40 Neighbours 3 57 Literary friends 0 14 Artistic friends 0 6 Other friends 0 0 Not applicable 0 0 Total 33 123 % across 5.6 20.8 3. MAIN INDIVIDUAL RECIPIENTS No of % down letters Cowell E. B. 62 10.5 Barton B. 46 7.8 Allen J. 40 6.8 Wright W. A. 37 6.3 Tennyson F. 35 5.9 Pollock W. F. 33 5.6 Donne W. B. 32 5.4 Carlyle T. 30 5.1 Crabbe G. (M.) 29 4.9 Spring Rice S. 27 4.6 Balance 220 37.2 Total 591 100.0

% down 0.3 10.5 29.9 37.7 14.9 2.0 4.1 0.5 100.0

4. MAIN PLACES SENT FROM No of % down letters Woodbridge – Market Hill 177 29.9 Woodbridge – Little Grange 102 17.3 Boulge 84 14.2 London 58 9.8 Lowestoft 48 8.1 Geldestone 32 5.4 Bedford 15 2.5 Naseby 10 1.7 Bredfield 8 1.4 Ireland 7 1.2 Balance 50 8.5 Total 591 100.0

5. CONTENT OF LETTERS 1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

15 39 56 4 12

11 22 44 0 3

17 10 29 37 15

30 16 27 10 20

9 4 9 2 7

85 98 176 54 57

14.4 16.6 29.8 9.1 9.6

17 22 123

6 21 93

25 50 147

20 49 160

1 4 35

77 160 591

13.0 27.1 100.0

17.6 39.8 31.8 7.4 21.1

12.9 22.4 25.0 0.0 5.3

20.0 10.2 16.5 68.5 26.3

35.3 16.3 15.3 18.5 35.1

10.6 4.1 5.1 3.7 12.3

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

22.1 13.8 20.8

7.8 13.1 15.7

32.5 31.3 24.9

26.0 30.6 27.1

1.3 2.5 5.9

100.0 100.0 100.0

Number of mentions of: Current affairs 3 Religion 7 Travel 11 Leisure activities 1 Nature and 0 countryside Food and drink 8 Personal matters 14 All letters on topic 33 % of mentions by time period Current affairs 3.5 Religion 7.1 Travel 6.3 Leisure activities 1.9 Nature and 0.0 countryside Food and drink 10.4 Personal matters 8.8 All letters on topic 5.6

Total % down

Table 4.6b Other interests and views – detail of topics Categories

Mentions No. letters

Current affairs of which: Local (East Anglian) events United Kingdom general Criminal trials Science Ireland All UK and Ireland Europe India, etc. United States

85

Religion of which: Church attendance Personal belief Factions in C of E Other religions Miscellaneous

98

Travel of which: England and Wales: East of England London Midlands South of England Wales and West of England England various Total England and Wales Scotland Ireland Total UK and Ireland Europe India Travel general Leisure activities of which: Boating, fishing, etc.

3 26 22 5 7 63 15 4 3

14 23 30 5 26 176

55 13 33 9 18 8 136 5 10 151 19 2 4 54 38

Categories Cricket Cards and games Other activities

Mentions No. letters 4 8 4

Nature and countryside of which: Agriculture Birds Countryside Flowers Garden Local interest Other aspects

57

Food and drink of which: Drink Meat Fish Vegetables and fruit, vegetarianism Cheese Tobacco Miscellaneous comments

77

9 10 10 16 5 5 2

33 25 9 12 12 10 7

160 Personal matters of which: 9 General opinions 44 His likes and dislikes 13 Humour 6 His appearance 6 Marriage 7 Views on children 39 Gifts and pensioners 7 Finance and investment 20 Local housing 9 Reshaping pictures and books

All letters with mentions: Other interests and views 591

Notes As elsewhere in the book, page references in Terhunes, Letters are given as I, 450 for Volume I, page 450. Letters are referenced by the page on which they start.

Introduction: the man behind the Rubáiyát 1 This interest resulted in a number of publications on the Rubáiyát, notably William H. Martin and Sandra Mason, The Art of Omar Khayyam: Illustrating FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat (London: I.B.Tauris, 2007), and William H. Martin and Sandra Mason, Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: A Famous Poem and Its Influence (London: Anthem Press, 2011). 2 Alfred McKinley Terhune and Annabelle Burdick Terhune, eds, The Letters of Edward FitzGerald, 4 vols (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980). 3 For more details, see Appendix 3, FitzGerald’s library and literary remains. 4 W. Aldis Wright, ed., Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald, 7 vols (London: Macmillan, 1902–3); J. Richardson, ed., FitzGerald Selected Works (London: Rupert HartDavis, 1962); J. M. Cohen, ed., Letters of Edward FitzGerald (London: Centaur Press, 1960). 5 Anna Otter Allen, John Allen and his Friends (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1922); Charles R. Sanders et al., eds, The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle, 38 vols (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1970 to the present); George Cowell, Life and Letters of Edward Byles Cowell (London: Macmillan and Co., 1904); Catherine Clinton, ed., Fanny Kemble’s Journal (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000); Cecil Y. Land and Edgar F. Shannon Jr., eds, The Letters of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 3 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982–90); Gordon N. Ray, ed., The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepeace Thackeray, 4 vols (London: Oxford University Press, 1945–6).

Chapter 1  Edward FitzGerald: a man of letters 1 2

For an introduction to the Rubáiyát and its story, see Martin and Mason, Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát. See also the section on the Rubáiyát on pages 67–69. Two key biographies draw heavily on this source of data: A. M. Terhune’s excellent depiction of FitzGerald in the round (Alfred McKinley Terhune, The Life of Edward FitzGerald (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1947)); and R. B. Martin’s more narrowly focused study of FitzGerald’s friendships (Robert B. Martin, With Friends Possessed: A Life of Edward FitzGerald (London: Faber & Faber, 1985)). These and other biographies of Edward FitzGerald are listed in the Bibliography.

Chapter 2  FitzGerald’s early years: 1809–29 1

The dates used in this and subsequent chapter headings provide an approximate guide only to the phases in FitzGerald’s life. See also the Chronology on page xi. 2 Terhune, Life, p. 3. 3 Terhunes, Letters, III, 331. The wider context for this quotation, and others in Part I, is shown in the detailed analysis of the letters by topic in Chapters 10–13. 4 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 531. See also William Alfred Dutt, Some Literary Associations of East Anglia (London: Methuen, 1907), pp. 51–4. 5 Terhunes, Letters, I, 99. 6 See section Other English classics in Chapter 10. 7 Terhunes, Letters, II, 50. 8 The poem is called ‘To E. FitzGerald’, and was published in Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Tiresias and Other Poems (London: Macmillan and Co., 1885), pp. 1–4. There is an Epilogue to the poem, written after FitzGerald’s death, and printed at the end of Tiresias on pages 16–18.

Chapter 3  A young man on the move: 1830–40 1 Terhunes, Letters, I, 79. 2 Terhunes, Letters, I, 63. 3 Terhunes, Letters, I, 183. 4 Part of a longer tribute to FitzGerald quoted in the Preface to William Aldis Wright, ed., Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald, 3 vols (London: Macmillan and Co., 1889). 5 Some of these are now in the Cambridge University Library. 6 See further comments under Literary friends in Chapter 12. 7 There is further discussion of the religious dimension of FitzGerald’s friendship with Allen in Allen, John Allen. 8 Terhunes, Letters, I, 430. The story of T. R. Matthews and FitzGerald’s interest in him is set out in more detail in Thomas Wright, The Life of Edward FitzGerald, 2 vols (London: Grant Richards, 1904).

Chapter 4  Finding his feet as a writer: 1841–55  1  2   3  4  5   6

Terhunes, Letters, I, 487. Terhunes, Letters, I, 411. One of Captain Allen’s last letters is quoted at length in Allen, John Allen, pp. 70–1. Terhunes, Letters, I, 404. Terhunes, Letters, I, 572. Quoted in George Cowell, Life and Letters of Edward Byles Cowell (London: Macmillan and Co., 1904), p. 41. See also Terhunes, Letters, I, 171 and I, 429. There are more quotations on FitzGerald’s relationships with the Cowells and his attitudes to marriage in Chapters 12 and 13.   7 See T. Wright, Life, vol. 1, pp. 139 and 163. Wright’s story is refuted by the Terhunes; see Letters, I, 35.  8 Terhunes, Letters, II, 118.  9 Terhunes, Letters, II, 123.

Chapter 5  Creating the Rubáiyát amidst personal crises: 1856–9   1  2  3  4   5

For more information on these verses, see pages 67-69 and note 1 to Chapter 1 Terhunes, Letters, II, 234. Terhunes, Letters, II, 236. Terhunes, Letters, II, 239. More details of this story are contained in extracts from the diaries of Frederick Spalding, a copy of which is now in the Syracuse University Libraries. Spalding records what FitzGerald told him in 1868.  6 Terhunes, Letters, II, 240.  7 Terhune, Life, p. 195.  8 Terhunes, Letters, II, 244.   9 See, for example, her letter thanking Alfred Tennyson for the copy of his poem ‘To E. FitzGerald’, reprinted in Baron Hallam Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir (London: Macmillan, 1897), p. 684. 10 Terhunes, Letters, II, 276. 11 See T. Wright, Life, I, p. 288. Garry Garrard also provided us with helpful background information from his own research into the family of W. K. Browne and FitzGerald’s Bedford connection. 12 Terhunes, Letters, II, 329. 13 Terhunes, Letters, II, 270. 14 For more details, see Martin and Mason, Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát, pp. 100–2, 111–12. 15 Terhunes, Letters, II, 322. 16 Terhunes, Letters, II, 330. 17 Terhunes, Letters, II, 334.

Chapter 6  New interests in East Anglian life: 1860–71  1 Terhunes, Letters, II, 370.  2 Not all of the correspondence with Mrs Browne appears to have been included in Terhunes, Letters. There are additional letters quoted in T. Wright, Life. See also comments in Appendix 4.   3 The time FitzGerald spent in Lowestoft is discussed in some detail in Dutt, Some Literary Associations, pp. 154–60.  4 Terhunes, Letters, II, 340.  5 Terhunes, Letters, II, 415 and II, 418.  6 Terhunes, Letters, II, 459.  7 Terhunes, Letters, II, 181.  8 Terhunes, Letters, II, 598 and III, 104.  9 Terhunes, Letters, II, 183. 10 Terhunes, Letters, II, 394. 11 Terhunes, Letters, III, 40. 12 Terhunes, Letters, II, 604. 13 Terhunes, Letters, III, 233. 14 Terhunes, Letters, II, 480. 15 Terhunes, Letters, II, 517. 16 Terhunes, Letters, II, 589. 17 Terhunes, Letters, II, 558. 18 Terhunes, Letters, II, 615. 19 Terhunes, Letters, III, 284. 20 The readers and their malapropisms are mentioned in a number of letters (e.g. to Fanny Kemble in Terhunes, Letters, III, 295), and they are described in Terhune, Life, pp. 302–4.

Chapter 7  Renewal of literary pursuits and contacts: 1872–83  1  2  3  4   5

Terhunes, Letters, I, 58. Terhunes, Letters, III, 620. Terhunes, Letters, III, 295. Terhunes, Letters, I, 43. For more on this story, see Terhunes, Letters, III, 414–19, and Martin and Mason, Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát, p. 111.  6 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 437.  7 Terhunes, Letters, III, 705.  8 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 584.  9 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 174. 10 Terhunes, Letters, III, 669. 11 Notably The Two Generals, 1868, and A Calendar of Events in the Life of Charles Lamb, 1878. 12 Terhunes, Letters, III, 162. 13 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 18.

14 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 336. 15 For more details, see Bibliography. 16 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 209. 17 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 277. 18 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 446. 19 Terhunes, Letters, III, 636. 20 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 357. 21 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 529. 22 Terhunes, Letters, III, 6. 23 Terhunes, Letters, II, 67. 24 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 512. 25 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 22. 26 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 269. 27 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 553. 28 Terhunes, Letters, II, 582. The will is reprinted in John Glyde, The Life of Edward FitzGerald (London: C A Pearson, 1900), pp. 324–37. 29 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 577. 30 Letter from George Crabbe to John Loder 14/6/1883, quoted in Terhunes, Letters, IV, 597. 31 See Glyde, Life, p. 315 and T. Wright, Life, II, p. 219. 32 For more details, see Appendix 3. 33 http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/archive/article/1883-06-22/10/6.html. 34 Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Tiresias, pp. 16–18.

Chapter 8  A new appreciation of Edward FitzGerald   1 Sanders et al., The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle.   2 See e.g. letter to E. B. Cowell 17/12/1854 in Terhunes, Letters, II, 152.   3 See e.g. letter to Alfred Tennyson 15/7/56, and letters to E. B. Cowell July 1873 and 29/8/1873, in Terhunes, Letters, respectively II, 233, III, 428 and 438.   4 An example of his misogynistic comments is in a letter after the death of Elizabeth Barrett Browning; see Terhunes, Letters, II, 407. See also Martin, With Friends Possessed, pp. 196–8.  5 See especially Martin, With Friends Possessed, and some more recent comments in Dick Davis, ‘Edward FitzGerald, Omar Khayyám and the tradition of verse translations into English’, and Eric Gray, ‘Common and queer: syntax and sexuality in the Rubáiyát’, both in Adrian Poole et al., eds, FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: Popularity and Neglect (London: Anthem Press, 2011). This question is also discussed by R. Forrest in http:// bobforrestweb.co.uk/The_Rubaiyat/main_essay.htm#ch14.   6 See earlier discussion, and quotations relating to these individuals in Chapter 12.  7 FitzGerald said of himself that ‘my friendships are more like loves’. See letter to J. Allen 9/9/1834 in Terhunes, Letters, I, 152. The comment is repeated with approbation in the Preface to W. A. Wright, Letters and Literary Remains (1902–3), vol. 1, p. ix. The

letter quoted provides an example of FitzGerald’s openness, as do later letters to W. M. Thackeray 15/11/1852 (Terhunes, Letters, II, 75) and G. Borrow 24/5/1857 (Terhunes, Letters, II, 276), and one to Mrs W. K. Browne 10/8/1867 referring to both her husband and Posh Fletcher (Terhunes, Letters, III, 40).   8 See quotations on Current affairs in Chapter 13.   9 See quotations on Religion in Chapter 13. 10 See quotations on these people in Chapter 12. 11 Terhunes, Letters, IV, 53. 12 See sections on Food and drink and Personal matters in Chapter 13. The letter signed ‘Philocaseotostus’ is in Terhunes, Letters, I, 380. 13 The different categories of FitzGerald’s reading are discussed in some detail in Chapter 10. 14 FitzGerald’s references in the notes to his editions of the Rubáiyát are listed in Martin and Mason, Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát, pp. 145–6. 15 See sections on FitzGerald’s writings and Writings by other friends in Chapter 10. 16 Martin, With Friends Possessed, p. 16.

Chapter 9  A window on the world of the nineteenth century   1 For more details on our digital database, see Appendix 4.   2 For general background on social and technological change in the nineteenth century, see e.g. Sally Mitchell, Daily Life in Victorian England (London: Greenwood, 1996).   3 A letter to W. H. Thompson 10/6/1867 indicates that Mrs E. B. Cowell had sent FitzGerald a telegram announcing her husband’s election as Professor of Sanskrit in Cambridge. See Terhunes, Letters, III, 35. A later letter to C. E. Norton 2/7/78 shows FitzGerald’s awareness of the telephone (Terhunes, Letters, IV, 137).   4 Some libraries are now looking at ways of archiving today’s electronic communications. See e.g. https://rylandscollections.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/preserving-the-emailexplosion/. We are grateful to Bob Forrest for this information.  5 Terhunes, Letters, II, 233.   6 In a letter to Thomas Carlyle 1/8/1855 about his forthcoming visit, FitzGerald suggested that his friend could come by either train or steamer to Ipswich and then on by road. See Terhunes, Letters, II, 170.  7 There is further correspondence and a discussion of this relationship in C. Quaritch Wrentmore, ed., Letters from Edward FitzGerald to Bernard Quaritch 1853 to 1883 (London: Bernard Quaritch, 1926).   8 These changes in the book market are considered in William H. Martin and Sandra Mason, ‘The illustration of FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát and its contribution to enduring popularity’, in Poole, Popularity and Neglect.   9 See comment and quotations in Chapter 10.

Chapter 10  Writing and reading 1 T. Wright, Life, II, p. 153. 2 Terhunes, Letters, II, 20. 3 Cowell’s views were set out in an unsigned article, ‘Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia’, Calcutta Review 30/lix (March 1858), 149–62. FitzGerald quoted from this in his own preface to the first edition of the Rubáiyát. 4 Quoted in Terhunes, Letters, IV, 249.

Chapter 11  The arts 1 For more details on FitzGerald’s scrap books, see Appendix 3, FitzGerald’s library and literary remains. 2 In the Preface to his Letters and Literary Remains (1889, pp. ix–xii), W. Aldis Wright quotes an extensive tribute from R. H. Groome to FitzGerald’s musical gifts, describing him as ‘a true musician’.

Chapter 12  Family and friends 1

FitzGerald also wrote a series of short Word Portraits of his friends, possibly for his friend W. K. Browne, who is included in the list. These are reproduced in T. Wright, Life, II, 225–6. 2 Allen, John Allen, provides more insights into the relationship between FitzGerald and his friend John Allen. 3 See also Edward FitzGerald, Some Recollections of Tennyson’s Talk from 1835 to 1853, published as a chapter in Hallam, Lord Tennyson, ed., Tennyson and His Friends (London: Macmillan and Co., 1911). There are further comments on the relationship between Tennyson and FitzGerald in Hallam, Lord Tennyson, Tennyson: A Memoir. 4 F. H. Groome, Two Suffolk Friends (Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1895). 5 Groome, Two Suffolk Friends, p. 91.

Chapter 13  Other interests and views 1

For a more detailed discussion of religious and scientific issues in the nineteenth century, see http://bobforrestweb.co.uk/The_Rubaiyat/main_essay.htm#ch3. 2 There are more details of this correspondence on religion in Allen, John Allen. 3 Groome, Two Suffolk Friends, p. 76. 4 T. Wright, Life, II, p. 129. 5 Quoted in Terhunes, Letters, I, 413. 6 See note 12 to Chapter 8. 7 See note 20 to Chapter 6.

Appendix 1  The people whom FitzGerald knew  1 Terhunes, Letters, contains fuller explanatory notes about many correspondents and people mentioned, including the FitzGerald family; see especially the short biographical profiles I, 1–75.   2 Here, and in other tables, ‘Other friends’ includes FitzGerald’s ‘acquaintances’.

Appendix 2  The places where FitzGerald lived and stayed  1 Terhunes, Letters, I, xi and lix–lx.  2 Terhunes, Letters, I, xxxvii–lvii.

Appendix 3  FitzGerald’s library and literary remains   1 See quotations in Chapter 10.   2 The most important books were sent for sale in London at Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge. It is believed that they are contained in the catalogue of a sale on 5 December 1883, as ‘Property of a Gentleman’, pp. 34–41, 45–54. This sale catalogue is held at the British Library and is available on microfilm. Another set of FitzGerald’s books was included in a sale of items from Little Grange by Mr W. Arnott of Woodbridge, on 16 and 17 August 1883. The Arnott catalogue is contained in the Woolnough Collection in the Suffolk Records office in Ipswich. There is information on these sales in Alan N. L. Munby, Sale Catalogues of Libraries of Eminent Persons (London: Mansell Information/Publishing; Sotheby Parke-Bernet Publications, 1971), I, pp. 335–6.  3 Glyde, Life, pp. 187–202.   4 Extensive information is available from the online catalogue of Trinity College Library, http://lib-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/.   5 For information about the Ipswich Museum and its holdings, see https://www.ipswich. gov.uk/museums.   6 There is no specific mention of provision for FitzGerald’s literary heritage in his Will but Wright himself wrote that FitzGerald ‘has left me his literary Executor’; see letter from Wright to Bernard Quaritch reproduced in Quaritch Wrentmore, ed., Letters from Edward FitzGerald, p. 89.   7 See note 28 to Chapter 7.   8 Volume VI of the scrap books in the Ipswich Museum collection.   9 T. Wright, Life, II, pp. 247–91. We are grateful to Garry Garrard for various private communications relating to the Museum Book, which has recently been deposited in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. 10 See P. J. Croft, Autograph Poetry in the English Language (London: Cassell, 1973). 11 For published versions of FitzGerald work on G. Crabbe and Madame de Sévigné, see the Bibliography. There are comments on FitzGerald’s work on C. Lamb in Terhunes, Letters, IV, 108 (note).

12 Robert Forby, Vocabulary of East Anglia (London: J.B. Nichols and Son, 1830–58); Edward Moor, Suffolk Words (Woodbridge: R. Hunter, 1823). FitzGerald mentions his work on these two books in a letter to the editor of the East Anglian, December 1868 (Terhunes, Letters, III, 112).

Appendix 4  A statistical analysis of FitzGerald’s letters  1 Terhunes, Letters. In addition to the FitzGerald letters, the Terhunes’ volumes contain some 80 letters written by others, mainly to FitzGerald. It would be possible, using these and the letters to FitzGerald contained in the collections for other authors (see note 5 to the Introduction), to make a study of the two-way interaction between the writers, but this is outside the scope of the present study.  2 Terhunes, Letters, I, 247 (note).   3 See Allen, John Allen. Our thanks to Garry Garrard for drawing our attention to the additional correspondence between FitzGerald and Allen. Another letter, to Anna Biddell in 1879, not in the Terhunes’ collection, was published in A Letter from Woodbridge (Ipswich: Claude Cox, 1994). Additional letters, mainly to Mrs W. K. Browne, have recently been deposited at the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge.   4 See note 2 to Appendix 1.

Bibliography This short bibliography covers the main works that we have consulted in the course of this research. Entries are divided under general topic headings.

COLLECTED LETTERS OF EDWARD FITZGERALD Cohen, J. M., ed., Letters of Edward FitzGerald (London: Centaur Press, 1960). Richardson, J., ed., FitzGerald Selected Works (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1962). Terhune, Alfred McKinley and Annabelle Burdick Terhune, eds, The Letters of Edward FitzGerald, 4 vols (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980). [Volumes 2–4 are available as print-on-demand paperbacks from Princeton Legacy Library, 2014, and some content is available online. See http://press.princeton.edu/titles/543.html.] Wrentmore, C. Quaritch, ed., Letters from Edward FitzGerald to Bernard Quaritch, 1853– 1883 (London: B. Quaritch, 1926). Wright, William Aldis, ed., Letters of Edward FitzGerald to Fanny Kemble 1871–1883 (London: Richard Bentley, 1895). Wright, William Aldis, ed., Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald, 7 vols (London: Macmillan, 1902–3). A more limited three-volume edition was published in 1889.

FITZGERALD’S OTHER WRITINGS Main works ‘The meadows in spring’, Athenaeum 193 (1831), 442. ‘Memoir of Bernard Barton’, in Poems and Letters of Bernard Barton (London: Hall, Virtue & Co., 1849). Euphranor, a Dialogue on Youth (London: William Pickering, 1851).

Polonius, a Collection of Wise Saws and Modern Instances (London: William Pickering, 1852). Six Dramas of Calderon, Freely Translated (London: William Pickering, 1853). Salámán and Absál, an Allegory Translated from the Persian of Jámí (London: John W. Parker & Son, 1856). The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, Translated into English Verse (London: B. Quaritch, 1st ed. 1859). The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, Rendered into English Verse (London: B. Quaritch, 2nd ed. 1868). The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, Rendered into English Verse (London: B. Quaritch, 3rd ed. 1872). The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, and the Salámán and Absál of Jámí, Rendered into English Verse (London: B. Quaritch, 4th ed. 1879). Agamemnon (London: Bernard Quaritch, 1876). (Privately printed and distributed in 1869). The Downfall and Death of King Oedipus, distributed privately: Part I, 1880; Part II, 1881. Readings in Crabbe, Tales of the Hall (London: Bernard Quaritch, 1882). (Privately printed and distributed in 1879). Kerrich, Mary Eleanor FitzGerald, ed. Dictionary of Madame de Sévigné (London: Macmillan & Co., 1914). Details of other works and editions are given in the various collections below.

Collected works (including some letters) Bentham, G., ed., Complete Works of Edward FitzGerald, 7 vols (New York: Phaeton, 1967). Wright, William Aldis, ed., Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald 7 vols (London: Macmillan, 1902–3).

Bibliographies Caxton Club, Chronology of Edward FitzGerald’s Works (Chicago: Caxton Club, 1899). Hill, W. M., Edward Fitzgerald: A Catalogue of First and Rare Editions of his Works including many Editions of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Cedar Rapids, IA: Torch, 1920). Jackson, H., Edward FitzGerald & Omar Khayyám Essay & Bibliography (London: D Nutt, 1899). Prideaux, W. F., Notes for a Bibliography (of Edward FitzGerald) (Private Press, 1900).

BIOGRAPHIES OF EDWARD FITZGERALD Adams, M., Omar’s Interpreter: A New Life of Edward FitzGerald (Hampstead: The Priory Press, 1911). Benson, A. C., Edward FitzGerald (London: Macmillan, 1905). Blyth, J., Edward FitzGerald & ‘Posh’: ‘Herring Merchants’ (London: John Long, 1908). de Polnay, P., Into an Old Room (London: Secker & Warburg, 1950). Ganz, C., ed., A FitzGerald Medley (London: Methuen & Co., 1933). Glyde, J., The Life of Edward FitzGerald (London: C A Pearson, 1900). Groome, F. H., Two Suffolk Friends (Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1895). Jewett, I. B. H., Edward FitzGerald (Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers, 1977). Loloi, Parvin, ‘Tennyson, FitzGerald & Cowell: A private relationship with public consequences’, in S. Coelsch-Foisner et al., eds, Private and Public Voices in Victorian Poetry (Tubingen: Universität Salzburg, 2000). Martin, J. P., ‘Edward FitzGerald & Bernard Barton: An unsparing friendship’. Library Associates Courier, Syracuse University, xxiv/2 (1989). Martin, Robert B., With Friends Possessed: A Life of Edward FitzGerald (London: Faber & Faber, 1985). Richardson, J., Edward FitzGerald (London: Longmans Green, 1960). Terhune, Alfred McKinley, The Life of Edward FitzGerald (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1947). Todhunter, M., ‘Edward FitzGerald’. Westminster Review (1896), 3. Wilkins-Jones, C., ‘A Friendship made in Oulton: Borrow and Edward FitzGerald’. George Borrow Bulletin, 2008 Spring-36. Wright, T., The Life of Edward FitzGerald, 2 vols (London: Grant Richards, 1904). Various articles in Encyclopaedia Iranica online at http://www.iranica.com, including the following: Edward FitzGerald, by Dick Davis, http://www.iranicaonline.org/ articles/fitzgerald-.

LETTERS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF FITZGERALD’S KEY FRIENDS Allen, Anna Otter, John Allen and his Friends (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1922). Barton, Lucy, ed., Poems and Letters of Bernard Barton, with a Memoir [by Edward FitzGerald] (London: Arthur Hall, Virtue & Co., 1853). Clinton, Catherine, ed., Fanny Kemble’s Journal (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000).

Cowell, George, Life and Letters of Edward Byles Cowell (London: Macmillan, 1904). Land, Cecil Y. and Edgar F. Shannon Jr., eds, The Letters of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 3 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982–90). Ray, Gordon N., ed., The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepeace Thackeray, 4 vols (London: Oxford University Press, 1945–6). Sanders, Charles R. et al., eds, The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle, 38 vols (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1970 to the present). Tennyson, Hallam Lord, ed., Tennyson and his Friends (London: Macmillan and Co., 1911). Thomas, Denis, Thomas Churchyard of Woodbridge (Chislehurst: Quadrangle Books, 1966).

OTHER BACKGROUND MATERIAL Edward FitzGerald 1809–1883: Centenary Celebrations Souvenir (Ipswich: East Anglian Daily Times, 1909). ‘Edward FitzGerald and the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám’, Victorian Poetry: An Anniversary Issue, Guest Editor Eric Gray, 46/1 (2008). Clodd, E., Concerning a Pilgrimage to the Grave of Edward FitzGerald (London: Private Press for UK Omar Khayyám Club, 1894). Dutt, William Alfred, Some Literary Associations of East Anglia (London: Methuen, 1907). Martin, W. H. and S. Mason, Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: A Famous Poem and Its Influence (London: Anthem Press, 2011). Poole, Adrian et al., eds, FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: Popularity and Neglect (London: Anthem Press, 2011).

ONLINE RESOURCES THAT COVER EDWARD FITZGERALD Websites of W. H. Martin and S. Mason: http://www.omarkhayyamrubaiyat.com https://omarkhayyamrubaiyat.wordpress.com Websites of the Netherlands Omar Khayyám Society (English language content): http://www.omarkhayyamnederland.com http://omariana.nl Website of R. Forrest (independent researcher): http://bobforrestweb.co.uk/The_Rubaiyat/index_of_the_rubaiyat_archive. htm