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(Cf. No. 208a. According to Palmer and Tucker (Palgrave Family Memorials, p. 50) this etching was made by Mary Turner from a painting begun by Sir Thomas Lawrence and finished by Samuel Lane in 1816. But the portrait is subscribed ‘S. Lane, Pinx[i]t 1810’.)

Anne Rigby is Mary Turner's sister.

(Attribution and and identification of original from National Portrait Gallery catalogue (NPG D22586).)

Transcript

Athenæum June 9th 1817.

My Dear Sir.

I am unwilling to lose any time in answering your obliging letter of the 2nd Inst., and in assuring you that I shall have great pleasure in executing your Commissions to the best of my ability;―the first relative to Mr Roscoe’s Catalogues I shall have no difficulty, as the three are in this Library with the prices and purchasers† names to each, if you will have the goodness to send me yours I will make them as complete as possible.―There is only one engraved portrait of Mr Roscoe, and that by no means a good one, there is also a small bust which is much worse, the best likeness is a terracotta Medallion, about nine inches in diameter, and shewing the head and neck in profile, it was executed by a person of the name of Gibson in this town, and owing to a similar cause is nearly as rare as the Miller halfpenny, one is offered me for a guinea, and if you wish me to purchase it I will thank you to inform me. I shall be very happy to contribute all in my power to your stock of Autographs, and will lose no opportunity of doing so. I have not been so fortunate as to see Mr Martin since I was favoured with your letter, but will mention it to him as soon as I see him.―I am very much obliged by your kind offer of Etchings and shall be very grateful for any you have to spare, which will serve either to illustrate my few works on Topography, or the Walls of my Parlour; should the excellent portraits by Mr Phillips be engraved I should be very happy to receive them. I have frequently regretted that the hasty manner in which I left Yarmouth, prevented my accepting the offer you so repeatedly made of giving me etchings, this regret however is now removed by your recent renewal of that offer.―I have had several interviews with Mr Roscoe, and every one has increased my respect for that estimable man, and I hardly know which to admire most in him, {1} the fortitude with which he bears the {2} deprivation of one of the finest collections in the possession of any individual, or that rigid sense of honour which influenced him in making so great a sacrifice. Mrs Burrell desires me to express her thanks united with mine for your kind congratulations and good wishes, and with best respects to Mrs Turner and family

I remain Dear Sir
Yours most respectfully
George Burrell

―――――

{1} Comma supplied. The preceding word is at the end of a line.

{2} Most of this word was torn away with the seal.

(Attribution from National Portrait Gallery catalogue (NPG D22586). Cf. O.13.12, No. 87a.)

(For the attribution cf. No. 68.)

(Attribution from National Portrait Gallery catalogue (NPG D22565).)

Transcript

Liverpool, 18th May 1817.

My Dear Sir,

You will have thought me quite inexcusable in not sooner acknowledging your obliging Letter by Mr Martin, & thanking you for the beautiful Etchings by Mrs Turner, which I assure you form a very important feature in my little collection, & from their taste, spirit, & variety, are highly admired by my friends. I may indeed most truly say that my present assemblage of books &c, is more precious to me than ever; as it almost intirely† consists of those memorials of regard & affection which serve to console me under every vexation.—You will however believe me, when I assure you that the interval that has passed since I heard from you, has been one of the most anxious & trying periods of my life. The depressed state of the times has added inconceivably to our difficulties, particularly in preventing our selling any part of our real Estates; so that a more unfortunate combination of circumstances could scarcely have occurred.—Thro’ all this we have however fought our way; & been enabled to make good our engagem[en]ts. This has been in a great degree effected by the aid of our Collieries, which are daily becoming more productive, & wou’d I believe, alone be found ultimately sufficient for the payment of all our debts. The publicity of these circumstances has restored us to a considerable degree of public confidence, & had a favourable effect on our business, which we still carry on with satisfaction & advantage. I shou’d not have ventured to have troubled you at such a length on this subject, but from your kind enquiries, & the very friendly interest which, from the first, you have taken in these concerns; which I can truly say appear to me, & I believe to others, in a much more favourable light than they did at this time last year, altho it is impossible to divest oneself of anxiety till the object is finally obtained—

I have seen Mr Burrell who has been elected Librarian of our Athenæum, which office he appears to me to be calculated to fill in a very superior manner, & I am glad to find he seems highly pleased with his new situation—We have now a much more important undertaking on hand, under the name of the Liverpool Institution, of which I hope shortly to send you a new Report which is now preparing.—You will also be glad to hear that a Botanic Garden by subscription is likely to be soon established at Glasgow, on a handsome scale. {1} I grieve at the interruptions I have had in binding Mr Coke’s MSS. which are now however once more in good train. Adieu my Dear Sir—Remember me most kindly & respectfully to Mrs Turner, & believe me ever, Your obliged & affectionate friend

W: Roscoe.

[Direction:] Dawson Turner Esq[ui]r[e] | Yarmouth

—————

Postmarked at Liverpool on 17 May 1817. The date of the postmark, if correct, indicates that the writer misdated the letter. Letters omitted from words abbreviated by superscript letters have been supplied in square brackets.

{1} A few words in this sentence and the next were torn away with the seal, and have been supplied by Turner.

† Sic.

Transcript

Croft. May 9th 1817.

I have delayed thanking you, my dear Friend, for the beautiful collection of Engravings you sent me, from the supposition that you might be from home. I wrote, however, to the excellent Hooker, & said all I could towards expressing the grateful sense I entertain of your unremitting kindness. My ex-pressions cannot represent my feelings, which, I assure you, are very warmly disposed towards my valued friends at Yarmouth, & all their belongings. Do I not know the elegant female figure, to which no name is attached?—

In my letter to Hooker I attempted to justify my resolution of sending Cecil to Eton. It is not a good cause which demands very elaborate defence. A choice of evils only was left me, & I am not perfectly convinced that I have chosen the least. Much harm, however, cannot be done by the trial of a year. My feelings are acute enough where my children & friends are concerned, & this will render me sufficient-ly observant of whatever may have been done amiss. With good abilities & a tolerable foundation, Cecil will never make a scholar. He has no ambition that way, & the best hopes Eton holds out to me, are those which, as I have told you before, flatter me that his situation & class-fellows may excite a spark of it in him. As to myself, I am by nature of a warm constitution & {1} I sometimes think that my anxiety as a pedagogue may render me less dear to my boy as a father. In short I have done my best, & may possibly—nay very probably find, as I have often found before, that my best endeavors† & intentions have been frustrated. I assure you I tried hard to find a conscientious, able private Tutor, but could not find both qualities united. Had my search been fortunate, Cis had never gone to Eton—a place I cannot yet think of without apprehension. The die, however, is now cast, & I will endeavor† to hope the best.—

What is become of Leache’s† Crustacea? {2}—I have part of that interesting work, but am so completely out of the literary world, that, except from you & Hooker, I hear nothing about it. You now talk seriously about finishing your noble work upon the Fuci. For the public good I hope you will act seriously too. I am happy in possessing a Large-paper-copy of it, as far as it has gone, & will, sh[oul]d it please God that I live to see the finale, have it bound, as nearly as possible, as well as it deserves.

To revert to Mrs Turner’s most beautiful engravings, may I once more beg a likeness of my dear Friend Turner? by the same hand. This w[oul]d make it doubly valuable, & I will promise it a good frame & excellent—i.e worthy as well as scientific company.

I have taken a house at Hartlepool for two months, &, in July, remove the whole of my family thither. Sh[oul]d the weather prove cold & ungenial as it has been for these two months past, & still is, I shall wish myself back again, in my quiet little Study at Croft. Nothing vegetates with us—indeed things appear rather retrograde than progressive. My intentions now are to build a small Green-house (upon which subject I am in the act of pestering dear Hooker) by way of assuring, by means of fire, as little vegetation at the season when it is usual to find it. {3}

You speak cheerily with respect to the times. With us no improvement has yet taken place. The Funds, certainly, rise—but may not this be from the opulent in London not knowing exactly how to employ their capital? America will thrive upon our distresses, for many of our excellent manufacturers are emigrating, & will, no doubt, meet with that encouragement there, which here they cannot have. I cannot say, however partial to national glory, that I think it cheaply bought by national distress, starvation & nearly bankruptcy:—yet at this price does England possess it!!! Delirant reges—plectuntur &c.—Adieu! my dear & highly valued friends! Be assured that I am yours Ἐς ἀν ὐδωρ τε ῤεη, {4} δενδρεα μακρὰ τεθήλη.

I beg my best regards to Mrs Turner—who, also, has my thanks, as is most due, for the parcel mentioned above.—

[Direction:] Dawson Turner Esq[ui]re | Yarmouth | Norfolk.

—————

Postmarked at Northallerton. Letters missing from words abbreviated by superscript letters have been supplied in square brackets.

{1} Written as a catchword at the foot of a page and repeated, as ‘and’, at the head of the next.

{2} W. E. Leach’s Malacostrata podophthalmata Britanniae, or descriptions of such British species of the Linnean genus Cancer as have their eyes elevated on footstalks, published in 1815, with illustrations by James Sowerby.

{3} ‘by means of … find it’: this appears to be what is written, but the meaning is unclear.

{4} There is an indistinct word of two letters here.

† Sic.

(Attribution from Philadelphia Museum of Art catalogue (Accession No. 1985-52-22705). The National Portrait Gallery catalogue (NPG D22598) conjecturally assigns the original drawing to Pierre Joseph Schippers, but the inscription on the print is 'Schipper del[ineavi]t'.)

Transcript

Downs Lodge {1} 25th June 1802.

My dear Sir

I find we have been playing at “hide & Seek”; I left Town this morning pretty early, on the chance of seeing you & Mrs Turner at dinner at Downs Lodge, for I had the mortification, on my calling at Doctor Scott’s yesterday, that you had not received the Letter I wrote to you in reply to yours of Monday Evening, {2} & of course I had no Certainty of having that pleasure, but I was resolved to take all chances.—I cannot sufficiently regret that the shortness of your stay in Ireland, & the untoward circumstances that have happened have deprived me of the satisfaction I should have had in paying you & Mrs Turner the attention I could have wished.—Mrs Patrick & my Daughters inform me, of the pleasure the[y] received during your very short stay with them, & desire I may present their kindest compliments & good wishes for a pleasant passage across the Water, in which I sincerely join, & in the hope, that you may ere long afford us the opportunity of showing you something more than you & Mrs Turner have seen, of Town & Country, being with great sincerity

My dear Sir | Yours very truly—

J Patrick {3}

When you see our worthy Friends at Coltishall {4} We beg to be kindly remembred†.

Pray present our compts to Doctor Scott.

—————

No superscription or marks of posting.

{1} ‘Downs’ is the probable reading, but Downs Lodge has not been identified.

{2} 21st.

{3} The writer of this letter is identified as John Patrick in the General Index (O.14.51).

{4} William and Elizabeth Palgrave (Mrs Turner’s parents) and their family. See Palgrave Family Memorials, ed. C. J. Palmer and S. Tucker (1878), pp. 49–50.

† Sic.

(Attribution from National Portrait Gallery catalogue (NPG D22583). There is also a copy in the Victoria and Albert Museum (29831:192).)

(Attribution from National Portrait Gallery catalogue (NPG D35653 and NPG D35654).)

(Attribution and full name of original artist from National Portrait Gallery catalogue (NPG D22568).)

Transcript

Dublin, 28 July 1817—

My dear Sir

I was a good deal surprised, I may say shocked, at the account of Layton’s marriage—his letter to you was one of the most desperate I have ever read—he fairly renders you the halter wherewith to hang him & is indifferent whether you do or not—he attempts no justification, shews no cause & with theatrical hardihood glories in self exposure. Is it not like the act of frenzy? no one can say it is the decision right or wrong, of a reasoning being. I really am sorry for him. You justly observe that you have yet to learn the circumstances that led to the event—something no doubt remains to be told, which indeed I should like to know, for the mysterious enigma in which the intelligence is conveyed fairly baffles me. The relation of this extraordinary transaction has led you naturally enough to general observation, & for what you have suggested as a warning to me that I make no shipwreck of myself, I receive as a further instance of your friendly regard. But tho’ I agree most entirely in the view you have taken, I must be allowed to submit in my own behalf that all your reasoning presumes (in the instance in which you apply it) that there has been if not a neglect, at least an indifference to the fair opportunity which is generally extended to all. This with perfect sincerity I can assure you is not the case with me. I may perhaps be romantic, tho’ I believe I do not pass for being so, but I have feelings about marriage which have hitherto excluded me, & may perhaps for ever, from entering upon the enjoyments (& no-one more highly values them) of that state. Without meaning to underrate worldly advantages, I never could contemplate a connexion of which these were to be the main considerations—& I know I have been blamed more than once, for what was considered turning my back upon myself—Othello says—

“But that I love the gentle Desdemona
I would not my unhoused free condition
Put into circumscription & confine
For the Sea’s worth.”—& so say I.

On the other hand, peculiar circumstances which it would be long & tedious to explain have prevented my exercising a choice free from the advantages above referred to. I never could in fact have so chosen without knowing that I was acting selfishly as regards others & impudently as regards myself. Celibacy is therefore in me, a state not of deliberate preference, but of submission to circumstances which I cannot confront & do not care to oppose.—You kindly tax me & what is worse, Mrs Turner taxes me, with protracting my stay in England & not going to you, in contempt of your joint invitation. It is true I did delay (for that is the proper word) much longer that I originally intended—but it was a delay without premeditation & without plan, continuing from week to week, or rather from day to day. I never had time sufficient in prospect, to enable me to propose an excursion to Yarmouth—to have accomplished which according to my wishes & engagements, could not have been done in a day. {1} I rely therefore on your candor for an excuse, & I must make the same appeal to Mrs Turner’s. It vexes me that you have not yet got Junot’s catalogue {2}—pray remind Mr Evans when you next are in town, that Mr Crosse of Hull, more than a year ago, sent his catalogue to be marked for you—this may bring the matter to his recollection. The Dublin Society has not yet ordered Cotman’s work, but I intend to propose it the first opportunity, I think with you that it will be of use to us. I have been searching “Nashe’s Lenten Stuff” in vain, for a word which I thought I had met in that tract, nor can I now remember it—it is that which Mr Kemble was offering an explanation of—it occurs as you told me in Shakespea[re] {3} & seems to signify some kind of ship—do remind me of it, that I may puzzle myself no longer. Mr Prendergast’s eldest son is now at Lowestoff† with a Cambridge tutor, who is cramming him during the recess—he has applied to me to bring him acquainted with some of the neighbourhood & I know no method so effectual as mentioning the circumstance to you, with an assurance that whoever may do him the kindness to notice him will find him to be an amiable, well-disposed young man, reasonably gifted & cultivated according to his time of life—he has but just left school & his residence at Cambridge is to commence with the next Term. I beg my kindest regards to Mrs Turner & your young ladies, Hannah not excepted, & believe Me to be

Yours very sincerely & faithf[ull]y
P L Patrick

[Direction:] To | Dawson Turner Esq[ui]r[e] | Yarmouth | Norfolk

—————

Postmarked 28 July 1817, and marked with the postage charge ‘1/6’. There are some indistinct pencil inscriptions on the outside. Letter omitted from words abbreviated by superscript letters have been supplied in square brackets.

{1} A few words in this sentence were torn away with the seal, and have been supplied by Turner.

{2} The catalogue of the Library of Field Marshal Junot, sold by R. H. Evans in 1816. ‘A very remarkable collection of books, printed on vellum by Didot and other eminent printers, the most noteworthy being the unique copy of Longus’s Pastoralia, printed expressly for him by Didot, with the original drawings by Prudhon, and a set of proof impressions of the engravings to illustrate the work. Sold for £37 10s.’ See F. Norgate, ‘Book Sales by R. H. Evans (1812-1845)’, The Library, series 1, vol. iii (1891), pp. 12-13.

{3} The end of this word is concealed by the guard.

† Sic.

(Signed ‘R Pearce’.)

(Cf. No. 92a. According to Palmer and Tucker (Palgrave Family Memorials, p. 50) this etching was made by Mary Turner from a painting begun by Sir Thomas Lawrence and finished by Samuel Lane in 1816. But the portrait is subscribed ‘S. Lane, Pinxt 1810’.)