Manuscripts

John Howard Payne and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley correspondence

Description: A series of letters between John Howard Payne and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Payne became infatuated with Mary Shelley after the death of her husband in 1822 and wished to marry her, but he lost interest when he realized she hoped only to use him to attract the notice of his friend, Washington Irving. John Payne never married. The letters discuss the British theater, society, and events and people in their lives.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1825-1831
Call number: mssPaynewoll
Provenance: Purchased from William K. Bixby, 1918.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
Rights: The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining permission rests with the researcher.
Associated people: Payne, John Howard, (1791-1852,); Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, (1797-1851,)
Find out more: View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab); View in the Online Archive of California(Opens in new tab)

John Howard Payne and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley correspondence

Manuscripts

A series of letters between John Howard Payne and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Payne became infatuated with Mary Shelley after the death of her husband in 1822 and wished to marry her, but he lost interest when he realized she hoped only to use him to attract the notice of his friend, Washington Irving. John Payne never married. The letters discuss the British theater, society, and events and people in their lives.

mssPaynewoll

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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley collection

Manuscripts

A collection of 139 letters written by Mary Shelley from 1817 to 1849. The majority of the letters are to her stepsister Clair Clairmont (1798-1879), but there are also several letters written to English poet Leigh Hunt (1784-1859) and his wife, Marianne Hunt (1788-1857), and one letter to English publisher and author Charles Ollier (1788-1859). There is a bound volume containing letters from Mary Shelley to British politician, writer, and literary translator Sir John Bowring, from 1828 to 1837, while he was editor of the Westminster Review.

mssShelley

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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley letters to Sir John Bowring

Manuscripts

A collection of letters written by Mary Shelley from 1817 to 1849. The majority of the letters are to her stepsister Clair Clairmont (1798-1879), but there are also several letters written to English poet Leigh Hunt (1784-1859) and his wife, Marianne Hunt (1788-1857), and one letter to English publisher and author Charles Ollier (1788-1859). There is a bound volume containing letters from Mary Shelley to British politician, writer, and literary translator Sir John Bowring, from 1828 to 1837, while he was editor of the Westminster Review.

mssHM 2759-2770

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The romance of Mary W. Shelley, John Howard Payne and Washington Irving

Rare Books

24358

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[Photograph album of the Percy Florence Shelley family and the Boscombe estate]

Visual Materials

Album containing pasted photographic prints with (often unidentified) portrait views of various men, women, and children, some in groups, including members of the Shelley and Grove families and exterior views of various British estates, dating from approximately the mid 1850s to the 1870s. Includes portrait views with some handwritten captions identifying Percy Florence Shelley, his wife Jane Gibson Shelley, and their adopted daughter Bessie Florence Gibson (later Scarlett); Rev. Charles H. Grove and his daughters; Lord and Lady Ducie; Lady Emily Dundas; Mrs. Reid and her daughters of The Node, Codicote; and the Crawfords. With exterior views of British manors and estates including Boscombe Manor, the Shelley estate near Bournemouth, England, showing croquet parties on the lawn; Ferne House, the residence of Charles Grove in Donhead St. Andrew, England; and the Llys Dulas estate in Anglesey, Wales. The album also contains some original artwork including small paintings and 6 botanical drawings.

photCL 37

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Shelley family papers

Manuscripts

The collection consists of correspondence and genealogical material relating to the ancestry of English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822). There are letters from the poet's father, Sir Timothy Shelley, and William Ratcliffe, Rouge Croix of the College of Arms, among others. The collection also contains extracts from church and county records, copies of monumental inscriptions, drawings of coats of arms and heraldic devices, and pedigree charts. Most of the material is in a large volume. There is also one contemporary 17th century manuscript.

mssSH

John Howard Payne and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley correspondence

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John Howard Payne and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley correspondence

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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley letters to Sir John Bowring

The romance of Mary W. Shelley, John Howard Payne and Washington Irving

[Photograph album of the Percy Florence Shelley family and the Boscombe estate]

Shelley family papers