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MS Hyde 8

More, Hannah, 1745-1833. Papers: Guide.

Houghton Library, Harvard College Library

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Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138

© 2005 The President and Fellows of Harvard College

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
Location: b (shelved with bMS Hyde 9)
Call No.: MS Hyde 8
Creator: More, Hannah, 1745-1833
Title: Papers,
Date(s): 1785-1828 (inclusive),
Date(s): 1800-1828 (bulk).
Quantity: 1 box (.5 linear ft.)
Abstract: Letters by More, most of them to poet Thomas Sedgwick Whalley, many discussing her literary career; and two literary manuscripts.

Processed by:

Rick Stattler

Acquisition Information:

*2003JM-58 (part)
Bequest of Mary Hyde Eccles, Four Oaks Farm, Somerville, New Jersey; received: 2004.

Custodial history:

Most of this collection was acquired by Donald and Mary Hyde in two lots. Twenty-eight of the letters in Series I had previously been bound into an extra-illustrated edition of The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D., which Donald and Mary Hyde purchased at a Sotheby's auction in 1950, and which they disbound in 1953. Seventeen of the letters, and both of the items in Series II, were purchased from Emily Driscoll in 1963. Five other items came from miscellaneous sources.

Historical Note

Hannah More, one of five sisters, taught at her family's school in Bristol, England. She became prominent in London's Bluestocking circle from 1774 onward, and was also a friend of Samuel Johnson. Her work soon moved from poetry and drama to the production of numerous popular religious books and tracts. In 1789, she moved to Mendip, Somerset, where she and her sister Patty founded several schools. In 1801, she and her sisters moved to the Barley Wood estate in nearby Wrington.

Scope and Content

Series I, Correspondence, includes 50 of More's autograph letters, most of them to poet Thomas Sedgwick Whalley, items (14-19). Other prominent correspondents include Eva Maria Garrick, item (7); Lewis Way, item (13); and William Wilberforce, item (21). The letters often discuss her literary career; see items (5), (9), (10), and (12). At least two of the letters include interesting commentary on James Boswell, items (2) and (7).
Series II, Manuscripts, consists of an autograph quotation from her Practical Piety, and her autograph epitaph to an unidentified woman.

Related Material

Two letters from Samuel Johnson to More are in MS Hyde 1, item (78). A letter from John Langhorne to More is in the Hyde Autograph Collection, MS Hyde 10. Fifteen letters from More to Frances Reynolds are in MS Hyde 25, item (3). Twelve letters from More to Thomas Cadell are in MS Hyde 69, items (28-30).

Bibliography

Many of the letters to Whalley were published in Rev. Hill Wickham, ed., Journals and Correspondence of Thomas Sedgewick Whalley, D.D. (London: Richard Bentley, 1863)

Container List


hou01748