William Sotheby Letters: Finding Aid mssSY
Brooke M. Black
The Huntington Library
March 2022
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: William Sotheby letters
Creator:
Sotheby, William, 1757-1833
Identifier/Call Number: mssSY
Physical Description:
4.5 Linear Feet
(3 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1813-1858
Abstract: Letters belonging to English poet and translator William Sotheby.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
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[Identification of item]. William Sotheby letters, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 1956.
Formerly mounted in a large quarto album belonging to Charles William Hamilton Sotheby (1820-1871), the author's grandson.
William Sotheby was an English poet and translator. He was born in London in 1757 to a wealthy family. He was educated at
Harlow School and the Military Academy in Angers, France. He joined the army at 17 and served for several years before retiring
and turning to his literary career. Sotheby married Mary Isted in 1780; they had seven kids. He was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society in 1794. His works include: A song of triumph on the peace, 1814; Five tragedies, 1814; Farewell to Italy, and
occasional poems, 1818; and Poems, 1825.
The collection consists primarily of letters addressed to William Sotheby, mostly from literary friends. Subject matter includes
William Sotheby and his writings, contemporary writers and his friends, and European travel. The collection also contains
five poems by Sotheby. Correspondents in the collection include: Joanna Baillie, Anna Barbauld, Sarah Bartley, Sir George
Beaumont, Mary Berry, Lady Dacre, Catherine Bury, Lord Byron, Thomas Campbell, Duchess of Devonshire, Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
James Fenimore Cooper, Sir Humphry Davy, Sir William Drummond, Peter Elmsley, Sir Henry Charles Englefield, Catherine Maria
Fanshawe, Thomas Grosvenor, Arthur Henry Hallam, Henry Hallam, William Howley, Alexander von Humboldt, Washington Irving,
George Lamb, Sir Thomas Lawrence, J.G. Lockhart, Sarah Siddons, Mary Somerville, Robert Southey, Agnes Strickland, François
Talma, John Taylor, Dawson Turner, John Wilson, and William Wordsworth.
Processed by Huntington Library staff in 1956. In 2022, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.
Arranged in the following series: 1. Correspondence; 2. Photographs, engraved portraits, and ephemera.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssSY 1-174.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Correspondence
Women authors, English -- 19th century -- Correspondence
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Poems -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Baillie, Joanna, 1762-1851
Barbauld, Mrs. (Anna Letitia), 1743-1825
Bartley, Sarah, 1783-1850
Beaumont, George Howland, Sir, 1753-1827
Berry, Mary, 1763-1852
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824
Campbell, Thomas, 1777-1844
Charleville, Catherine Maria Bury, Countess, 1762-1851
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834
Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851
Davy, Humphry, Sir, 1778-1829
Devonshire, Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of, 1758-1824
Drummond, William, Sir, 1770?-1828
Elmsley, Peter, 1734 or 1735-1802
Englefield, Henry, Sir, 1752-1822
Fanshawe, Catherine Maria, 1765-1834
Grosvenor, Thomas, 1764-1851
Hallam, Arthur Henry, 1811-1833
Hallam, Henry, 1777-1859
Howley, William, 1766-1848
Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859
Irving, Washington, 1783-1859
Lamb, George, 1784-1834
Lawrence, Thomas, Sir, 1769-1830
Lockhart, J. G. (John Gibson), 1794-1854
Siddons, Sarah, 1755-1831
Somerville, Mary, 1780-1872
Southey, Robert, 1774-1843
Strickland, Agnes, 1796-1874
Talma, François Joseph, 1763-1826
Taylor, John, 1757-1832
Turner, Dawson, 1775-1858
Wilson, John, 1785-1854
Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850
Correspondence 1813-1837
Box 1
1813-1825 May
Box 2
1825 June-1830 August
Box 3
1830 September-1837
Box 3
Photographs, engraved portraits, and ephemera 1827-1858