Coventry Patmore Collection 1818-1945 (Bulk 1818-1896) MS.1986.062
Coventry Patmore collection 1818-1945 (bulk 1818-1896) MS.1986.062 http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2820
Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill 02467 library.bc.edu/burns/contact URL: http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents
Summary Information ...... 3 Administrative Information ...... 4 Related Materials ...... 4 Biographical note ...... 5 Scope and Contents ...... 5 Collection Inventory ...... 6 I: Manuscripts ...... 6 II: Correspondence ...... 7 III: Visual Materials ...... 11
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 2 - Summary Information
Creator: Patmore, Coventry Kersey Dighton, 1823-1896 Title: Coventry Patmore collection Collection Identifier: MS.1986.062 Date [inclusive]: 1818-1945 Date [bulk]: 1818-1896 Physical Description 1.75 Linear Feet (4 boxes) Language of the English Material: Abstract: The collection contains manuscripts by British poet Coventry Patmore. It also contains letters by and to Coventry Patmore from major 19th Century British literary figures including Alfred Tennyson, Robert and Elizabeth Browning, Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin as well as a number of letters from members of Patmore's family including Harriet Patmore, Tennyson Patmore and Peter Patmore. Finally, the collection includes visual materials: a drawing of Emily Augusta Patmore, photographs of Marianne and Coventry Patmore, and reproductions of portraits of Coventry Patmore. Preferred Citation
Identification of item, Box Number, Folder Number, Coventry Patmore Collection, MS.2006.010, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 3 - Administrative Information
Publication Information Processed by Matthew Heitzman and David Tennant (2006), updated in 2007. This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace.
Restrictions on Access Collection is open for research.
Provenance The bulk of the materials in the collection were acquired by the University through purchases from book dealers or through gifts from donors, including Seymour Adelman, Wilfred Meynell, Mrs. Edward C. Donnelly, Mrs. Sowerby, Ivor Poole, Mr. Muir, E. Mathews, and the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus.
Restrictions on use These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Related Materials
Separated Material The following items originally were grouped with the Coventry Patmore Collection, but have been transferred to The Seymour Adelman Collection of Thompsoniana (MS2006-58; MS2007-01): • Rossetti, Dante Gabriel to Charles Howell (1 ALS), 17 July 1874 • Rossetti, Dante Gabriel to H. Buxton Forman (1 ALS), 24 February 1871 • Scott, Sir Walter to John Ballantyne (1 ALS), 3 September 1819
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 4 - Biographical note
Coventry Patmore was born 1823 July 23, in Woodford, Essex. His father Peter George Patmore encouraged his literary talents and introduced him to leading literary figures. Under his father's tutelage, Coventry Patmore published his first poetry collection, Poems, in 1844. In 1846, He obtained an appointment as assistant librarian in the British Museum. He retained this post until 1866.
Patmore married his first wife, Emily Augusta Andrews, in 1847. Patmore's most renowned poem, The Angel in the House, was published in 1858. While scholars maintain that Patmore's wife was not the basis for Honoria, the heroine of The Angel in the House, Patmore declared that it was Emily "by whom and for whom" he became a poet. Emily died in 1862 at the age of 38, just as Patmore was arranging to publish "The Victories of Love", the fourth part of The Angel in the House. Patmore withdrew from the literary world following his wife's death and eventually traveled to Rome in 1864.
In Rome, Patmore met Marianne Caroline Byles, a Catholic heiress who would become his second wife. Patmore converted to Catholicism in May 1864 and the two were married in 1865. Following his marriage, Patmore published The Unknown Eros and Other Odes (1878) and Amelia (1878). Marianne's fortune allowed Patmore to retire from the British Museum and to concentrate on his poetry.
The second Mrs. Patmore died suddenly 1880 April 12. Following her death and the publication of a complete edition of poetry in 1879, Patmore devoted his remaining career to the study of mystical theology and to work as a prose writer. In 1881, Patmore married Harriet Robson, a longtime family friend.
As a prose writer, Patmore contributed more than a hundred articles to St. James's Gazette, and his major prose works include Principle in Art (1889), Religio Poetae (1893), and The Rod, the Root and the Flower (1895). Throughout his literary career, Patmore emphasized the marriage bond. He described himself as a "psychologist of love" who saw married love as the forerunner of divine love. Patmore died 1896 November 26. He had six children from his first marriage including his eldest daughter, Emily Honoria, and sons Milnes and Tennyson; and a son, Francis Joseph, by his third marriage.
Sources:
"Coventry Patmore," Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 98: Modern British Essayists, FirstSeries. Robert Beum, Editor. The Gale Group (1990). pp.261-269.
Scope and Contents
The Coventry Patmore Collection contains manuscripts, correspondence, and visual materials connected to the poet's professional career and personal life. The collection contains manuscripts of some of Coventry Patmore's poetry and prose works including " Let Be", " Peace in Life and Art" and " Wind and Wave," as well as a few items by other authors. The collection also includes personal and professional correspondence between Coventry Patmore and various well-known members of 19th Century British
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 5 - and American literary culture. Letters to and from members of Coventry Patmore's family include those with his wife, Emily Augusta; his children, Emily, Tennyson and Francis; and his father, Peter. Finally, the collection contains visual materials, in the form of photographs, drawings, and reproductions of portraits.
The Coventry Patmore Collection is arranged into three series: Manuscripts, Correspondence, and Visual Materials.
Series I. Manuscripts: This series contains manuscripts from Coventry Patmore's poetry and prose career, as well as a few works by other authors. Included is a 1937 variorum edition of Patmore's The Angel in the House by Shane Leslie.
Series II. Correspondence spans Coventry Patmore's literary career. Correspondence with Coventry Patmore includes letters he wrote as well as those received from 19th century literary figures including Matthew Arnold, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Thomas Carlyle, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorn, John Ruskin and Alfred Tennyson. The majority of the correspondence in this subseries relates to Coventry Patmore's poetry, prose and publication issues. Other correspondence is with members of his family including: his father, Peter Patmore; his sons, Tennyson and Francis Patmore; and his daughter, Emily Patmore.
Series III. Visual Materials: This series contains a drawing of Coventry Patmore's first wife, Emily Augusta Patmore, prepared in 1859 by John Brett. It also contains a photograph of Patmore's second wife, Marianne Caroline Patmore, and a photograph of Coventry Patmore. Both photographs are undated. Two framed reproductions of portraits of Coventry Patmore, one by John Singer Sargent and one by J. Lavey, complete the series.
Collection Inventory
Series I: Manuscripts, 1839-1945, undated
Subseries A: Works by Coventry Patmore, 1839-1937, undated
"Amelia" Privately Printed Copy, 1878 box 1 folder 1
"Amelia" Privately Printed Copy, 1878 box 1 folder 2
"Amelia" Privately Printed Copy (Includes Colored Title Page box 1 folder 3 and inscription by Coventry Patmore to Edmund Gosse), 1878
The Angel in the House --Variorum Edition (Prepared by Shane box 1 folder 4 Leslie --Scrapbook Form), 1937 March 17
The Angel in the House, fair copy manuscript, autographed to Box 5 Alice Meynell, before 1893 October 11
The Angel in the House (Microfilm copy of 1854 edition and its box 1 folder 5 corrections by Coventry Patmore), undated
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 6 - The Angel in the House (Photocopy of 1854 edition and its box 1 folder 6 corrections by Coventry Patmore), undated
"Attention" (Signed Manuscript), undated box 1 folder 7
"The Day After Tomorrow" (Signed Poetry Manuscript), box 1 folder 8 undated
"Dieu et Ma Dame" (Signed Manuscript), undated box 1 folder 9
"Language of Religion" (Unsigned Manuscript), undated box 1 folder 10
"Let Be" (Signed Poetry Manuscript), undated box 1 folder 11
"Notes on the Volunteer Rifle Corps" (Unsigned Manuscript), box 1 folder 12 undated
"On Obscure Books" (Signed Manuscript), undated box 1 folder 13
"Peace in Life and Art" (Signed Manuscript), undated box 1 folder 14
"Scientific Notes" (Signed Manuscript), 1839-1843 box 2 folder 1
"St. Valentine's Day" (Signed Manuscript), undated box 2 folder 2
"Notes of Conversation" (Autobiographical Notes, Signed box 2 folder 3 Manuscript), undated
"The Unknown Eros" (Unsigned Poetry Manuscript), 1877 box 2 folder 4
"The Unknown Eros" (Photostat of British Museum copy, 1 of box 2 folder 5-10 6), circa 1921
"Wind and Wave" (Signed Poetry Manuscript), undated box 2 folder 11
"The Wrong is Made and Measured..." (Signed Quatrain box 2 folder 12 Manuscript), undated
List of Prose Contributions to Periodicals (Unsigned box 2 folder 13 Manuscript), 1852-1860
Subseries B: Works by Other Authors, 1945, undated
"Aglia" by Henry Patmore (Poetry Manuscript), undated box 2 folder 14
"Song of Solent" by Francis Patmore, handwritten possibly by box 2 folder 15 Bertha Patmore, undated
"Wither and Patmore" by Frederick Page (Manuscript and box 2 folder 16 Typescript), 1945 October 26
Series II: Correspondence, 1818-1928, undated
Subseries A: Correspondence to / from Coventry Patmore, 1851-1898, undated
Ainsworth, William Harrison to C. Patmore, undated box 2 folder 17
Allingham, William from C. Patmore, 1852-1861 box 2 folder 18
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 7 - Arnold, Matthew to C. Patmore, undated box 2 folder 19
Bampton and Lake from C. Patmore, undated box 2 folder 20
Bell, Mackenzie from C. Patmore, 1893-1894 box 2 folder 21
Bell, Mackenzie to C. Patmore, 1894 January 16 box 2 folder 22
Blackmore, Richard Doddridge to Patmore, 1873 January 15 box 2 folder 23
Blanchard, Samuel Laman to C. Patmore, undated box 2 folder 24
Bridges, Robert to C. Patmore, 1889 box 2 folder 25
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett to C. Patmore (1 ALS -- box 2 folder 26 Photocopy), 1847-1859
Browning, Robert to C. Patmore (1 ALS --Photocopy), undated box 2 folder 27
Carlyle, Thomas to C. Patmore (1 ALS --Photocopy), 1856 July box 2 folder 28 31
Champreys, D. from C. Patmore, 1895 December 3 box 2 folder 29
Clark, R. and R. from C. Patmore, 1889 December 19 box 2 folder 30
Colvin, Sydney from C. Patmore, 1886 July 20 box 2 folder 31
Daldy from C. Patmore, 1888 March 18 box 2 folder 32
Dennis, John from C. Patmore, 1884-1892 box 2 folder 33
De Vere, Aubrey Thomas to C. Patmore, 1854 December 4 box 2 folder 34
Doveton, F.B. from C. Patmore (MS1986-62), 1888 November box 2 folder 35 23
Ellis, Havelock from C. Patmore, 1889 box 2 folder 36
Emerson, Ralph Waldo to C. Patmore (1 ALS --Photocopy), box 2 folder 37 1856 May 5
Forman, Buxton from C. Patmore, 1878-1889 box 2 folder 38
Garnett from C. Patmore, undated box 2 folder 39
Gosse, Edmund from C. Patmore, 1881-1894 box 2 folder 40
Greenwood, Frederick to C. Patmore, 1876 October 25 box 3 folder 1
Harris, F. from C. Patmore, 1888-1892 box 3 folder 2
Hawthorne, Nathaniel to C. Patmore (1 ALS --Photocopy), 1858 box 3 folder 3 November 15
Henry, J. Dodson from C. Patmore, 1894 April 5 box 3 folder 4
Houghton, Richard to C. Patmore, undated box 3 folder 5
Inchbold from C. Patmore, 1883 December 20 box 3 folder 6
Kinglake, Alexander to C. Patmore, 1868 May 17 box 3 folder 7
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 8 - Kingsley, Henry to C. Patmore, 1863 July 11 box 3 folder 8
Lane, John from C. Patmore, 1892-1894 box 3 folder 9
Langbridge, Rev., from C. Patmore, 1887 December 28 box 3 folder 10
Lewis, Sir George Cornwall to C. Patmore, undated box 3 folder 11
Locker, Frederick to C. Patmore, 1879 April 26 box 3 folder 12
MacMillan, A. from C. Patmore, 1861 September 30 box 3 folder 13
Marshall, Mrs. from C. Patmore, undated box 3 folder 14
Meynell, Alice from C. Patmore, 1893 October 29 box 3 folder 15
Meynell, Wilfrid from C. Patmore, 1895-1896 box 3 folder 16
Millais, John Everett to C. Patmore, 1851 September box 3 folder 17
Newman, John Henry to C. Patmore, 1868 June 3 box 3 folder 18
Nichols, J. from C. Patmore, 1898 July 6 box 3 folder 19
Norton, Caroline Elizabeth to C. Patmore, [no year] November box 3 folder 20 15
Palgrave, Francis Turner to C. Patmore, 1884 June 30 box 3 folder 21
Parker, J.W., from C. Patmore, 1892 July 30 box 3 folder 22
Patmore, Tennyson from C. Patmore, 1865-1894, undated box 4 folder 1
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel to C. Patmore, undated box 4 folder 2
Rossetti, William from C. Patmore, 1855 April 3 box 4 folder 3
Ruskin, John from C. Patmore, 1876 March 11 box 4 folder 4
Ruskin, John to C. Patmore (1 ALS --Photocopy), [no year] box 4 folder 5 October 15
Severn, Mrs. from C. Patmore, 1875 September 3 box 4 folder 6
Simeon, Sir John to C. Patmore, 1860 October 19 box 4 folder 7
Simon, Mr. from C. Patmore, 1872 April 12 box 4 folder 8
Spedding, James to C. Patmore, 1862 March 23 box 4 folder 9
Tennyson, Alfred to C. Patmore (1 ALS --Photocopy), undated box 4 folder 10
Tennyson, Emily to C. Patmore (1 ALS and handwritten poem box 4 folder 11 "Riffle Club"; 1 ALS --Photocopy), 1852 January 20
Thackeray, William to C. Patmore (1 ALS --Photocopy), box 4 folder 12 undated
Thompson, Francis from C. Patmore, 1895 September 10 box 4 folder 13
Ticknor, W. and J. Fields from C. Patmore, 1861 box 4 folder 14
Verschyle, Mr. from C. Patmore, 1893 October 16 box 4 folder 15
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 9 - Waugh from C. Patmore, 1891 May 5 box 4 folder 16
Waugh from C. Patmore, undated box 4 folder 17
Weekly Register (editor) from C. Patmore, 1881-1883 box 4 folder 18
Worsley, Philip Stanhope to C. Patmore, [no year] December 4 box 4 folder 19
Wotton, Miss from C. Patmore, 1889 January 1 box 4 folder 20
Unidentified Correspondent from Patmore, 1863-1894, undated box 4 folder 21-23
Subseries B: Other Correspondence, 1818-1928, undated
Arnold, Matthew to Mr. Russell, 1888 February 21 box 4 folder 24
Barnes, William to Unidentified Correspondent, 1859 August 24 box 4 folder 25
Bulwer-Lytton, Sir Edward George to Unidentified box 4 folder 26 Correspondent, undated
Campbell, Thomas to P.S. Patmore, 1830 May 26 box 4 folder 27
Champneys, Basil to Mother Saint Ignatius, 1914-1927, undated box 4 folder 28-29
Cornwall, Barry to W. Hazlitt (1 ALS with handwritten verses), box 4 folder 30 1820 September 14
Cornwall, Barry to Mrs. Patmore, [no year] November 22 box 4 folder 31
Croly, George to Unidentified Correspondent, 1844 June 17 box 4 folder 32
DeQuincey, Thomas to Mr. Smith and Unidentified box 4 folder 33 Correspondent, 1826, undated
Dobell, Sydney Thompson to Mrs. Patmore, undated box 4 folder 34
Froude, James Anthony to Unidentified Correspondent, undated box 4 folder 35
Garnett, Richard to Unidentified Correspondent (1 ALS and box 4 folder 36 Typescript), 1862 July 5
Grattan, Henry to Unidentified Correspondent, 1839 May 11 box 4 folder 37
Harcourt, William Vernon to Unidentified Correspondent, 1864 box 4 folder 38 September 11
Howitt, Mary to Emily Patmore, undated box 4 folder 39
Hunt, James Leigh to Peter George Patmore, [no year] box 4 folder 40 December 15
Hunt, William Holmes to Mrs. Patmore, 1857 November 5 box 4 folder 41
Jarrold, Douglas William to Unidentified Correspondent, box 4 folder 42 undated
Landor, William Savage to Unidentified Correspondent, undated box 4 folder 43
Lecky, William Edward Hartpole to Unidentified box 4 folder 44 Correspondent, 1889 June 29
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 10 - Macready, William Charles to P.S. Patmore (?), 1842 June 9 box 4 folder 45
Marryat, Frederick to T. B. Meredith, undated box 4 folder 46
Matthews, Charles to P. Patmore (?), 1829 May 9 box 4 folder 47
Pater, Walter Horatio to Unidentified Correspondent, [no year] box 4 folder 48 August 5
Patmore, Bertha to Mother Saint Ignatius (3 ALS and 2 small box 4 folder 49 paintings), undated
Patmore, Emily to Tennyson Patmore, undated box 4 folder 50
Patmore, Francis to Mother Saint Ignatius, 1926 October 1 box 4 folder 51
Patmore, Harriet to Edmund Gosse, 1905 March 19 box 4 folder 52
Patmore, Harriet to Mother Saint Ignatius, 1914-1928, undated box 4 folder 53
Patmore, Harriet to Unidentified Correspondent, 1912 box 4 folder 54 September 2
Patmore, Peter to John Scott, 1820 October 9 box 4 folder 55
Patmore, Peter to Sir John Phillimore, undated box 4 folder 56
Patmore, Tennyson to Forbes Robertson, 1897 August 31 box 4 folder 57
Peake, Richard Brinsley to Peter Patmore, 1833 January 6 box 4 folder 58
Quiller-Couch, Arthur to George Bell, 1900 September 27 box 4 folder 59
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel to Unidentified Correspondent, 1867 box 4 folder 60 November 8
Shorthouse, Joseph Henry to Mr. Tommins, 1864 March 21 box 4 folder 61
Smith, Horatio to Peter Patmore (?), 1844 July 1 box 4 folder 62
Smith, James to Unidentified Correspondent, undated box 4 folder 63
Talfourd, Sir Thomas Noon to Peter Patmore, 1844 July 9 box 4 folder 64
Taylor, Sir Henry to Unidentified Correspondent, 1856 July 8 box 4 folder 65
Tennyson, Alfred to Emily Patmore (1 ALS --Photocopy), 1851 box 4 folder 66 April
Tennyson, Alfred to Emily Patmore (1 Autograph Letter -- box 4 folder 67 Photocopy), undated
Watts, Augustine to Edmund Gosse, 1905 March 12 box 4 folder 68
Watts, Gertrude to Mr. Meynell, 1908 October 4 box 4 folder 69
Wilson, John to Peter Patmore (?), probably 1818 August 29 box 4 folder 70
Series III: Visual Materials, 1859-1903, undated
Pencil Drawing of Emily Augusta Patmore by John Brett, 1859 box 4 folder 71
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
- Page 11 - Photograph of Marianne Caroline Patmore, undated box 4 folder 72
Photograph of Coventry Patmore, undated box 4 folder 73
Reproduction of Coventry Patmore portrait by John Singer Sargent, circa 1903 () black and white,(framed) () 7 3/4 x 10 5/8 in. [19.8 cm x 27 cm]
Reproduction of Coventry Patmore portrait by J. Lavey, undated () black and white,(framed) () 13 1/2 x 16 in. [34.8 cm x 40.8 cm]
Coventry Patmore collection MS.1986.062
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