Paul Stephens

Volume IV of the OUP edition of William Godwin’s letters, now at press, includes an extensive description of his 1816 visit to Abbotsford, together with four letters to Sir Walter Scott (d. OTD 1832), all written in 1824, the same year that Edwin Landseer painted this portrait of Scott at home.

Yes, refs to "the loan" during the early C19th usually relate to a £18 million loan from Walter Boyd (of mercantile firm Boyd, Benfield, & Co.) to the Pitt govt in 1795, ostensibly to support his war efforts. An early response was Coleridge's essay "The Loan" ('The Watchmen' II (9 Mar 1796), 37-44)

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"Do not diet your mind with grief, it destroys the constitution; but let your chief care be of your health, and with that you will meet your share of Pleasure in the world—do not doubt it."

John Keats (letter to F. Keats, 23 Aug. 1820)

On this day in 1994, Portishead released their debut studio album “Dummy” featuring singles “Numb" “Sour Times" and “Glory Box"

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Such is the folly of the world, and so do things seem different from what they are; since [...] Sir Timothy writhes under the fame of his incomparable son, as if it were the most grievous injury done to him; and so, perhaps, after all it will prove.

Mary Shelley (letter to Leigh Hunt, 22 Aug. 1824)

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"I have been miserably unwell for the last three days — but [...], finding myself convalescent this morning, I bathed, and now am still better, having had a glorious tumble in the waves, though the water is still not cold enough for my liking."

S. T. Coleridge (letter to J. Gillman, 20 Aug. 1819)

Sneaker Pimps released their debut album ‘Becoming X’ 29 years ago on August 19, 1996 | Listen to the album here: album.ink/SneakerPimpsBX

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[T]he snowy Alps [...] look like those accumulated clouds of dazzling white that arrange themselves on the horizon in summer. This immensity staggers the imagination, and [...] requires an effort of the understanding to believe that they are indeed mountains.

Mary Shelley (Journal, 19 Aug. 1814)

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Our mossy seat in the deepest recesses of the wood was enclosed from the world by an impenetrable veil. On our return the postillion had departed without us; he left word that he expected to meet us on the road. We proceeded there upon foot to Maison Neuve

Mary Shelley (Journal, 18 Aug. 1814)

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (1959) album cover.

Released: August 17, 1959
Artist: Miles Davis
Album: Kind of Blue
Label: Columbia Records
www.albumadaycalendar.com

On this day in 1991, Nirvana shot the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video for under $50K, with real fans as the crowd. It went on to win MTV VMAs and became MTV Europe’s most-played video ever.

Text source: https://www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=RoSouth.1849&select=Ch20.28 Image source (detail): https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-martin/landscape-with-a-castle-1820

"There is a paper of mine in the last Quarterly, upon the means of bettering the condition of the poor. You will be interested by a story which it contains of an old woman upon Exmoor. In Wordsworth’s blank-verse it would go to every heart"

Robert Southey (letter to C. H. Townshend, 17 Aug. 1816)

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"If the funds break, it is my intention to go upon the highway. All the other English professions are at present so ungentlemanly by the conduct of those who follow them, that open robbing is the only fair resource left to a man of any principles"

Lord Byron (letter to J. Murray, 16 Aug. 1821)

30 years ago today, Blind Melon released their second album, ‘Soup.’ Darker and more experimental than their debut, it featured tracks like “Galaxie” and “Mouthful of Cavities,” and later became a cult favorite in alternative rock.

On this day in 1991, Nirvana played The Roxy in LA and invited fans to their first video shoot for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ two days later. Hundreds came, cheered, and became part of music history forever.

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I am convinced more and more every day that (excepting the human friend philosopher), a fine writer is the most genuine being in the world. Shakspeare and the Paradise lost every day become greater wonders to me. I look upon fine phrases like a lover.

John Keats (letter to B. Bailey, 15 Aug. 1819)

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Our house is a delightful residence, something less than half a mile from the lake of Keswick and something more than a furlong from the town. [...] Skiddaw is behind us; to the left, the right, and in front mountains of all shapes and sizes.

S. T. Coleridge (letter to T. Poole, 14 Aug. 1800)

62 years ago today, Bob Dylan asked the questions that still echo through generations with “Blowin’ in the Wind.” A timeless anthem for peace, freedom, and the search for answers.

Text source: https://www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=JoLockh.Scott&select=IV.Ch9.9 Image source (detail): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_Lievens_-_Still_Life_with_Books.jpg

I beg you will keep an account of money received and paid. Buy a little book ruled for the purpose, for pounds, shillings, and pence, and keep an account of cash received and expended. The balance ought to be cash in purse, if [...] regularly kept.

Walter Scott (letter to W. Scott Jn, 13 Aug. 1819)

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"It is strange that I look on the skulls which stand beside me (I have always had four in my study) without emotion, but I cannot strip the features of those I have known of their fleshy covering, even in idea, without a hideous sensation"

Lord Byron (letter to R. C. Dallas, 12 Aug. 1811)

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There would, perhaps, be no means so effectual as that (which will never be listened to) of taxing the manufacturers according to the number of hands which they employ on an average, and applying the produce in maintaining the manufacturing poor.

Walter Scott (letter to J. Morritt, 11 Aug. 1817)

Remembering Jerry Garcia today on the 30th anniversary of his passing (August 9, 1995) | Explore the Grateful Dead frontman's musical legacy (including audio & video highlights) here: album.ink/JGarciaRIP

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[T]he fireworks were splendent [...] in trees and all shapes, spreading about like young stars in the making, floundering about in Space (like unbroke horses) till some of Newton’s calculations should fix them, but then they went out.

Charles Lamb (letter to W. Wordsworth, 9 Aug. 1814)

On this day in 1969, The Stooges released their self-titled debut album featuring “I Wanna Be Your Dog” “1969” and “No Fun”

The record is widely considered integral in the development of punk rock.

On this day in 1966, The Beatles released their seventh studio album “Revolver” - one of the greatest and most innovative albums in the history of popular music.

Text source: https://www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=RoSouth.1849&select=Ch9.4 Image source: https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-glover/ullswater-early-morning-1824

We shall probably agree altogether some day upon Wordsworth’s Lyrical Poems. Does he not associate more feeling with particular phrases, and you also with him, than those phrases can convey to any one else? This I suspect.

Robert Southey (letter to S. T. Coleridge, 4 Aug. 1802)

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Here are the craggy stones beneath my feet,—
Thus much I know that, a poor witless elf,
I tread on them,—that all my eye doth meet
Is mist and crag, not only on this height,
But in the world of thought and mental might!

John Keats (letter to T. Keats, 3 Aug. 1818)

Text source: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37955/37955-h/37955-h.htm Image source: www.wikiart.org Gustave Courbet (c.1873-77), 'Lake Geneve before the Storm'

I go to the town with Shelley, to buy a telescope for his birthday present. In the evening Lord Byron and he go out in the boat, and, after their return, Shelley and Clare go up to Diodati; I do not, for Lord Byron did not seem to wish it.

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Journal, 2 Aug. 1816)

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Come what may, I never will flatter the million’s canting in any shape. Circumstances may or may not have placed me at times in a situation to lead the public opinion, but the public opinion never led, nor ever shall lead, me.

Lord Byron (letter to J. Murray, 1 Aug 1819)

Perhaps the best MTV Unplugged album.