LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| Page | |
| Samuel Taylor Coleridge, aged forty-seven. From a pencil-sketch by C. R. Leslie, R. A., now in the possession of the editor. | [Frontispiece] |
| Colonel James Coleridge, of Heath’s Court, Ottery St. Mary.
From a pastel drawing now in the possession of the Right Honourable Lord Coleridge | [60] |
| The Cottage at Clevedon, occupied by S. T. Coleridge, October-November, 1795. From a photograph | [136] |
| The Cottage at Nether Stowey, occupied by S. T. Coleridge,
1797-1800. From a photograph taken by the Honourable Stephen Coleridge | [214] |
| Samuel Taylor Coleridge, aged twenty-six. From a pastel sketch
taken in Germany, now in the possession of Miss Ward of Marshmills, Over Stowey | [262] |
| Robert Southey, aged forty-one. From an etching on copper. Private plate | [304] |
| Greta Hall, Keswick. From a photograph | [336] |
| Mrs. S. T. Coleridge, aged thirty-nine. From a miniature by Matilda Betham, now in the possession of the editor | [368] |
| Sara Coleridge, aged six. From a miniature by Matilda Betham, now in the possession of the editor | [416] |
CHAPTER I
STUDENT LIFE
1785-1794
LETTERS
OF
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
CHAPTER I
STUDENT LIFE
1785-1794
The five autobiographical letters addressed to Thomas Poole were written at Nether Stowey, at irregular intervals during the years 1797-98. They are included in the first chapter of the “Biographical Supplement” to the “Biographia Literaria.” The larger portion of this so-called Biographical Supplement was prepared for the press by Henry Nelson Coleridge, and consists of the opening chapters of a proposed “biographical sketch,” and a selection from the correspondence of S. T. Coleridge. His widow, Sara Coleridge, when she brought out the second edition of the “Biographia Literaria” in 1847, published this fragment and added some matter of her own. This edition has never been reprinted in England, but is included in the American edition of Coleridge’s Works, which was issued by Harper & Brothers in 1853.
The letters may be compared with an autobiographical note dated March 9, 1832, which was written at Gillman’s request, and forms part of the first chapter of his “Life of Coleridge.”[1] The text of the present issue of the autobiographical letters is taken from the original MSS., and differs in many important particulars from that of 1847.