A two-volume 1861 account of the unconventional life of the writer, diarist, and friend and biographer of Samuel Johnson.

Excerpt from Autobiography Letters and Literary Remains of Mrs. Piozzi (Thrale), Vol. 1 of 2: Edited With Notes and an Introductory Account of Her Life and Writings Dr. Johnson has been hailed by acclamation the literary colossus of an epoch when the galaxy of British authorship sparkled with the names of Hume, Robertson, Gibbon, Warburton, the Wartons, Fielding, Richardson, Smollett, Gray, Goldsmith, and Burke. Any one of these may have surpassed the great lexicographer in some one branch of learning or domain of genius; but as a man of letters, in the highest sense of the term, he towered pre-eminent, and his superiority to each of them (except Burke) in general acquirements, intellectual power, and force of expression, was hardly contested by his cotemporaries. To be associated with bis name has become a title of distinction in itself; and some members of his circle enjoy, and have fairly earned, a peculiar advantage in this respect. In their capacity of satellites revolving round the sun of their idolatry, they attracted and reflected his light and heat. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The result of extensive archival investigation, this meticulously researched book collects and describes for the first time the extant literary manuscripts and letters of the celebrated Bluestocking writer and Evangelical philanthropist Hannah More (1745-1833). Participating in the ongoing recovery of eighteenth-century women writers, Nicholas D. Smith's survey is an indispensable reference work not only for More scholars but for those researching the careers of many of her contemporaries. Features include an extended narrative analysis of the manuscripts that plots More's participation in the manuscript culture of the period and contextualizes the individual entries in the index; provenance details for the more substantial manuscript holdings in British and North American repositories; and identification of numerous autograph manuscripts and transcripts in public and private collections. More than 1,500 letters in 95 locations in Britain and North America have been inventoried and precise dates and internal locators are supplied when known. More's letters, the majority of which have never been published, are a largely untapped source of primary materials for scholars and students researching such diverse subjects as the literary activities and opinions of the Bluestocking circle, women's conduct and education, publishing and the book trade, the national debate over the abolition of the slave trade, the rise of the Evangelical movement, the conservative reaction to the American and French revolutions, and the Napoleonic wars.

Excerpt from Autobiography, Letters and Literary Remains of Mrs. Piozzi (Thrale), Vol. 2 of 2 The tree of deepest root is found Least willing still to quit the ground; 'twas therefore said by ancient sages, That love of life increased with years. So much, that in our latter stages, When pains grow sharp and Sickness rages, The greatest love of life appears. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Further autograph letters of Hester Lynch Piozzi to William Augustus Conway have come to light, which show the depth of her affection for Conway and help to reveal the character of a man whose birth, life, and death have always been shrouded in mystery.