# - Edgeworth, Richard Lovell--

comprising 75 letters to Edgeworth, c.230 pages in all, chiefly 4to, most letters with integral address panel or leaf and docketed; together with c.30 drafts and copies of letters by him to various correspondents, 1760-1817, seal tears, creasing, rust marks from paperclips, minor nicks, tears and fraying with occasional minor loss



The collection's broad range of subjects reflects the diversity of Edgeworth's pursuits, varying from education to politics, from bridges and canals to telegraph systems, church spires to wheel carriages. His correspondents include members of the Lunar Society of Birmingham such as Josiah Wedgwood (who discusses the commercial treaty between Great Britain and Ireland of 1785, and offers to teach Edgeworth "the whole art & mystery of making pots & pipkins, in which our Lord Chancellor says...very truly, I am a much greater adept than in politics) and the maker of scientific instruments John Whitehurst (who writes to Edgeworth about the merits of recent inventions such as "Sharps stoves", the "Rosse Engine", and the Bath Telescope). Sir Joseph Banks, who had sponsored Edgeworth's election to the Royal Society, writes in 1783 about the possible publication of one of Edgeworth's papers, a "Jackett dug up in a peat moss" and the manufacture of a special kind of cloth in Ireland "similar to that...which is made in Iceland & call'd there Wadmel"; and in 1810 Sir Humphry Davy answers an enquiry about soil strata.



The novelist Maria Edgeworth, the third of his twenty-two children, supervised the home education of thirteen of her siblings, and collaborated with her father on his best-known work, Practical Education, published in 1798. Education is a recurring theme of the draft letters in this collection, most notably in a letter of 1805 to his "dear young friend" Francis Forbes: "...every gentleman must not only understand Latin but must acquire a taste for the Latin classics...practise drawing – not portraits or landscapes – but the...representation of all objects in perspective...never read indifferent authors – read the best over & over again till they become part of your own mind...learn to write a good and rapid hand...learn to ride – it gives confidence, grace & courage...learn to fence...learn to say NO...beware of Mathematicks, mechanics, or chemistry as objects of serious or exclusive pursuit – they are excellent servants but tyrannic masters...".



Edgeworth's correspondents also include: the chemist and geologist Sir James Hall of Dunglass, later president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (requesting some Wedgwood pieces for use in his pyrometric experiments); Thomas Telford (about Inca bridges and a project for crossing the Mersey); the civil engineer Alexander Nimmo (about his proposed design for Longford bridge); P.M. Roget; André Morellet; Jane Austen's uncle James Leigh Perrot, who helped Edgeworth with his telegraphing experiments; Thomas Romney Robinson; the ironmaster William Reynolds (discussing at length Edgeworth's idea of "conveying coaches & chaises along canals"); Marc Auguste Pictet, translator of Practical Education into French, who introduced the Edgeworths to French literary society; the Archbishop of Cashel (praising Edgeworth's design of a prefabricated spire for Edgeworthstown church); his brother-in-law, the hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort; and the novelists Barbara Hofland and Sydney, Lady Morgan.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where 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."

Further details:

Autograph letter signed by Sir Joseph Banks: thanking Edgeworth for a paper he sent which has been read before the Royal Society and may be published (Banks had sponsored Edgeworth's election to the Royal Society in 1780), and for the present of a "Jackett dug up in a peat moss", and discussing the manufacture of a kind of cloth used in Ireland which is "exactly similar to that cloth which is made in Iceland & call'd there Wadmel", 3 pages, 4to, Soho Square, 5 February 1783

Letter signed by Josiah Wedgwood: attempting to appease Edgeworth about their opposing attitudes to the commercial treaty between Great Britain and Ireland of 1785, and offering to visit Ireland to teach Edgeworth "the whole art & mystery of making pots & pipkins, in which our Lord Chancellor says...very truly, I am a much greater adept than in politics", 3 pages, folio, Cobham, Surrey, 16 July 1785, some passages deleted later in red ink and pencil (still legible), seal tear with loss to a few words; together with a later letter by Edgeworth to Wedgwood, claiming that "entire freedom of commerce must be ultimately advantageous to all nations", and ordering "sets of your newest & prettiest ware", 4 pages, Edgeworthstown, April [1788]

Autograph letter signed by John Whitehurst, maker of scientific instruments: discussing the merits of recent inventions such as "Sharps stoves", the "Rosse Engine", and the Bath Telescope ("magnifies 7000 times"), 2 pages, London, 15 February 1783

Autograph letter signed by Sir Humphry Davy, answering an enquiry about soil strata, 2 pages, 4to, Dublin, 26 November 1810, integral address leaf

Other correspondents include: the chemist and geologist Sir James Hall of Dunglass, later president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (requesting some Wedgwood pieces for use in his pyrometric experiments, 1805); Thomas Telford (referring to Inca bridges and a project for crossing the Mersey at Runcorn for which he has built a model, 1816); the civil engineer Alexander Nimmo (about his proposed design for Longford bridge, 1816); P.M. Roget (sending a model of a bridge as an example of a "rational toy", 1817); André Morellet; Jane Austen's uncle James Leigh Perrot, who helped Edgeworth with his telegraphing experiments; the Irish astronomer Thomas Romney Robinson (about designs for a sluice and "scientific news" such as Davy's discovery regarding the slow combustion of gases); the ironmaster William Reynolds (discussing at length Edgeworth's idea of "conveying coaches & chaises along canals...by having them put upon a cradle & taken by the Locks on an inclin'd plane" and referring to the Great Surrey Canal project, 1800-1802); Marc Auguste Pictet, translator of Practical Education into French, who introduced the Edgeworths to French literary society; the Archbishop of Cashel (praising Edgeworth's design of a prefabricated spire for Edgeworthstown church, 1811); Edgeworth's brother-in-law, the hydrographer and naval officer Sir Francis Beaufort, who helped establish a telegraph line between Dublin and Galway; the surgeon Sir Philip Crampton; John Leslie Foster; the educationist Andrew Bell; Sir Henry Bate Dudley; Sir Samuel Romilly; William Windham; and the novelists Barbara Hofland (praising Practical Education and Maria's "comic dramas") and Sydney, Lady Morgan (about the publication of her novel O'Donnell).

R.L. Edgeworth's draft and copy letters are addressed to various recipients, including family members. He discusses, for example, education for Roman Catholics in Ireland ("...I am disposed to promote the happiness of all ranks, and persuasions of men without any regard to religious distinctions, but...I am perfectly persuaded that all society depends for its security upon religion...in the large sense of the word, unshackled by human interests, and political institutions..."), the use of compulsion ("...it is a sedative, not a stimulant") and how to overcome indolence in children:

"...Ridicule may frequently be applied with success. Emulation it is the fashion to call dangerous, perhaps in a family it may be necessary to use it with caution, lest you excite malice, hatred & all uncharitableness, but in a public school it is indispensable – and in real life, what makes statesmen, warriors, heroes, but emulation? Fits of indolence often seize these heroes – that is to say they are over stimulated & weep like Alexander – they then feast & carouse & sleep, till they have rested their minds & become again capable of being stimulated by the motives of emulation & ambition..."

also: maritime surveying, wheel carriage experiments, the suspension of a pendulum, Maria Edgeworth's tales (written "to entertain the last hours of my life...she has completely succeeded...for she has entertained me exceedingly – particularly by the last tale called Ormond..."), his preface to her dramas (intended "to impress the public with the idea that they were merely tentative"), and the proposal to erect a monument to Wellington.

Literature: R.L. Edgeworth & M. Edgeworth, The Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1821); D. Clarke, The Ingenious Mr Edgeworth (1965).

A list of the letters is available from the Book Department.