Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, ed.

8vo, first edition bound up from the original parts, from the library of robert southey and sara coleridge, contemporary smooth morocco gilt decorated in blind by J. Brown of Penrith, some occasional slight damp-staining or browning, hinges repaired, rebacked, covers worn at extremities

Robert Southey and Sara Coleridge; thence by descent

Wise 20

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

a copy owned and signed by robert southey and coleridge's daughter sara ("Robert Southey" and "Sara Coleridge | 10 Chester Place | Regent's Park" on title), the text bearing minor corrections in pencil or ink on pages 23, 25, 80 and 81, as well as deleted footnotes on p. 208, and a three-line pencil note at the foot of page 29 ("See too, Biog. Lit. 1807. i. 79. where the names Lamb and Southey are given in full, in order to introduce an eulogiam on S. etc...in in [sic] rooted aversion from STC") and a lengthy annotation on p. 32 about Coleridge's rejected poem 'To Lord Stanhope', as well as a few words and marks on pp. 63, 133, and 192.

The poet's daughter Sara (1802-52), also an author and translator in her own right, was largely brought up by her uncle Robert Southey. In 1829, despite family opposition, she married her cousin Henry Nelson Coleridge (1798-1843), living in London at 10 Chester Place from 1837 onwards. Her husband produced various new editions of the poets's works. After his death, Sara completed an edition of the second series of The Friend (1850).

Loosely inserted in the present volume are a note by Coleridge's grandson, Ernest Hartley Coleridge, saying that the present "MS corrections" are by Sarah Hutchinson, 1890; a letter to him, 1900; and a letter to Coleridge's great-grandson Nicholas Coleridge by Barbara Rooke, 1956

Coleridge started making plans for a new journal, The Friend, around 1808. It was to "be produced mainly by himself, which would deal not with the events of the day but with the questions of principle raised by them. In September he settled with the Wordsworth family at their recently acquired house in Grasmere, Allan Bank, where he planned to look after his children and work on his new venture, with Sara Hutchinson [with whom he had fallen madly in love in October 1799] as amanuensis. It was to be printed at Penrith, calling for a journey on foot over the fells from Grasmere every time a fresh number was ready. Despite the apprehension of some of his friends that it would never appear, and Wordsworth's feeling that this might be as well since Coleridge was unfitted by temperament for any course of action demanding application, a week with Wordsworth's friend Thomas Wilkinson during which he was kept without stimulants helped him to produce the first number on 1 June. From then on, although dogged by problems concerning the supply of stamped paper for its printing, The Friend appeared steadily if irregularly until the twenty-eighth issue in March 1810, assisted by contributions from Wordsworth (the first of his 'Essays upon epitaphs' and a fragment of the 'Poem to Coleridge') and Christopher North (John Wilson)..." (John Beer, Oxford DNB)