William Seward's Annotations to George Gregory's Life of Thomas Chatterton (1789)

• Published in: John Clare Society Journal no. 34; p. 7
• Main Author: Groom, Nick
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Birmingham John Clare Society 01.07.2015
• Subjects: Burney, Fanny (1752-1840); Chatterton, Thomas (1752-1770); Clare, John (1793-1864)

Rutt's transcriptions have been of inestimable assistance in ascertaining the texts printed here, as letters and some whole lines were lost when the book was cropped and bound in library boards by Islington Public Library (the pages bear stamps for 'Highgate Hill Free Reading Room and Library' and 'Islington Public Libraries', as well as two library catalogue numbers). When] Following on, inscribed on the recto of the frontispiece engraving (an extract from 'Kew Gardens' given as a facsimile of Chatterton's handwriting): Mr Barrett was putting together his materials for the History of Bristol, the Boy came to him & told him he had found a List of the Abbots of St. Austin's Conv[ent] in that city, &. present1*, him wi[th] it on paper apparently as old, &. a writing apparently of the same hand with that of the Poems, on examining however this List [by] the Register of the Cathedral o[f] Wells (in which Diocese Brisftol] then was) the names were foun[d] to be intirely of the Boys makjing.] He had made too for Mr. B. /a/ Drawing of "the Castle of Bris[tow] [with its Keep, Donjon, &c."] Referring to the anecdote that Chatterton wished to have an angel with wings and a trumpet painted for him on a piece of earthenware 'to trumpet my name over the world', Seward confirms that this anecdote is 'on the authority of his Sister Mrs Newton' and corrects Gregory's term 'manufacturer' to 'Relation', adding the (heavily cropped) note to page 8 of Gregory's text: [A relation [ga]ve [Chajtterton [a] Delft [dish] with [the] figure [of a] Lion, [he] reply'd, make me one with an Angel [and a] Trumpet, to blow [my name about.] This continues across onto page 9: Chatterton's repeated threats to commit suicide have been discussed in detail and at length, but the anecdote of him being taken on walks in the countryside to raise his spirits is strikingly new, and speaks to a budding environmental imagination, and to theories of the pastoral and the picturesque as well as being of particular interest to readers of John Clare.10 The drawing of Bristol Castle with its keep and donjon is presumably that reprinted by Donald Taylor.11 Chatterton's pocket-book glossary is described in his letters: he requests it from his mother (14 May 1770) and sister (30 May 1770).12 It was an 'M.S. Glossary, composed of one small hook, annexed to a larger'; it may be the same as his 'red pocket-book' (letter to his mother, 8 July 1770).13 Barrett had a glossary of Chatterton's 'With ye old words first', and Samuel Seyer noted that 'He had made out a double alphabet which Mr. Bfarrett] now has, one part the ancient and modern alphabetically, the other modern and ancient alphabetically'.14 Unfortunately this curiosity is now lost; it is not impossible that it was deliberately destroyed as 'smoking gun' evidence that Chatterton was responsible for the Rowley works. [...]Samuel Johnson's comment that the Rowley Controversy 'cut both ways like a two-edged sword' is not documented elsewhere.