LETTER162

letter162

charleslambtowilliamwordsworth

[datedatend:january29,1807.]

dearwordsworth—

wehavebook'dofffromswanandtwonecks,ladlane,thisday(percoach)thetalesfromshakespear.youwillforgivetheplates,whenitellyoutheywerelefttothedirectionofgodwin,wholeftthechoiceofsubjectstothebadbaby,whofrommischief(isuppose)haschosenonefromdamn'dbeastlyvulgarity(videmerch.venice)wherenoatomofauthoritywasinthetaletojustifyit—toanotherhasgivenanamewhichexistsnotinthetale,nicbottom,andwhichshethoughtwouldbefunny,thoughinthisisuspecthishand,foriguessherreadingdoesnotreachfarenoughtoknowbottom'sxtianname—andoneofhamlet,andgraveing,ascenewhichisnothintedatinthestory,andyoumightaswellhaveputkingcanutethegreatreprovinghiscourtiers—therestaregiantsandgiantesses.sufficeit,tosaveourtasteanddamnourfolly,thatweleftitalltoafriendw.g.—whointhefirstplacecheatedmeintoputtinganametothem,whichididnotmean,butdonotrepent,andthenwroteapuffabouttheirsimplicity,&c.,togowiththeadvertisementasinmyname!enoughofthisegregiousdupery.—iwilltrytoabstracttheloadofteazingcircumstancesfromthestoriesandtellyouthatiamanswerableforlear,macbeth,timon,romeo,hamlet,othello,foroccasionallyatailpieceorcorrectionofgrammar,fornoneofthecutsandallofthespelling.therestismysister's.—wethinkpericlesofhersthebest,andothelloofmine—butihopeallhavesomegood.asyoulikeitwelikeleast.

somuch,onlyingyoutotearoutthecutsandgivethemtojohnny,as"mrs.godwin'sfancy."

c.l.

thursday,29jan.,1807.

ourlovetoall.

ihadalmostforgot,

mypartoftheprefacebeginsinthemiddleofasentence,inlastbutonepageafteracolonthus

:—whichiftheybehappilysodone&c.

theformerparthathamorefeminineturnanddoesholdmeupsomethingasaninstructortoyoungladies:butuponmymodesty'shonouriwroteitnot.

godwintoldmysisterthatthebabychosethesubjects.afactintaste.

[lambhasrunhispenlightlythrough"godblessme,"atthebeginningofthepostscript.

theplatestothetalesfromshakespearwillbefoundreproducedinfacsimileinvol.iii.ofmylargeedition.theyweredesignedprobablybymulready.

anintervalofninemonthsoccursbeforewecometoanotherletterofthedateofwhichwecanbecertain.ofwhathappenedinthistime,weknowlittleornothing,butithinkitprobablethatthefollowinghithertounpublishedletterfromcharleslambtotheclarksonsexplainspartofthelongsilence.thepostmarkgivesnoyear,butitmustbeeither1807or1808,andsincethedramaticspecimenshereinreferredtoasinpreparationwerepublishedin1808,wemayconfidentlyassumeittobe1807.thelettertellsitsownstoryonlytooclearly:thelambshadbeenonavisittotheclarksonsatburyst.edmunds;marylambhadagainfallenillwhilethere;andherbrotherhadjustleftheroncemoreatherhoxtonasylum.]