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.

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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Maria Anne Fitzherbert letter to W. Jutsham concerning Captain John Willett Payne

Manuscripts

This letter to a W. Jutsham of 6 Milson Street, Bath, postmarked July 1795, thanks him for his welcome news of the recovery from illness and restoration to better health of "Captain Payne" (later Rear Admiral John Willett Payne, 1752-1803), the British naval officer responsible for bringing Caroline of Brunswick to England for her disastrous marriage to the Prince of Wales.

mssHM 73721

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]

Maria Anne Fitzherbert letter to W. Jutsham concerning Captain John Willett Payne