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Here I have meantime a comfortable home, and books enough to
employ as much time as I can find for them; my table is
covered with folios, and my History [1] advances steadily, and to my own mind
well. No other employment pleases me half so much;
nevertheless, to other employment I am compelled by the most
cogent of all reasons. I have a job in hand for Longman and
Rees, which
will bring me in 60l., a possibility of
40l., and a chance of a farther
30l.; this is an abridgement of
Amadis of Gaul into three duodecimos, with an essay, –
anonymously and secretly: [2] if it sell,
they will probably proceed through the whole library of
romance. [3]
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In poetry I have, of late, done very little, some fourscore
lines the outside; still I feel myself strong enough to open
a campaign, and this must probably be done to find beds,
chairs, and tables for my house when I get one.
Notes* MS: MS untraced; text is taken from
Charles Cuthbert Southey (ed.), Life and
Correspondence of Robert Southey, 6 vols
(London, 1849-1850)
Previously published: Charles
Cuthbert Southey (ed.) Life and Correspondence of
Robert Southey, 6 vols (London, 1849-1850),
II, pp. 184-185 [in part]. BACK [1] Southey’s projected ‘History of
Portugal’. BACK [2] Southey’s translation Amadis of
Gaul, published in 1803. BACK [3] Sales of
Amadis were good enough for Longman
and Rees to commission and publish Southey’s four-volume
translation of Palmerin of England (1807)
and the Chronicle of the Cid (1808).
However, his plan for a ‘whole library’ of romance
translations did not materialise. BACK |
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