Overview
Twenty letters from author Hester Lynch Piozzi, most written as Hester Thrale to her friend Fanny Burney, often discussing their mutual friend Samuel Johnson.
Dates
- Creation: 1778-1816
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1778-1784
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
.1 linear feet (1 volume)This collection consists of seventeen letters to Fanny Burney; one to her father Charles Burney; and two to her nephew Clement Robert Francis.
Biographical / Historical
Hester Lynch Salusbury was born in Wales in 1741, and in 1763 married wealthy London brewer Henry Thrale (1728-1781). The Thrales divided their time between two London residences: at the brewery compound in Southwark, and at a larger country house at Streatham Park. After the Thrales were introduced to Samuel Johnson in 1765, Streatham Park became the center of an important coterie of literary, artistic, and political figures. Fanny Burney (1752-1840) became part of this group in 1778.
Henry Thrale died in 1781. In 1784, Hester married Gabriele Mario Piozzi (1740-1809), an Italian musician. The marriage was widely viewed as scandalous in London society, and terminated Hester's friendships with Johnson and Burney.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
*2003JM-235. Purchased with the Womens' Studies Fund, the L.J. Appell Jr. Fund, and the Amy Lowell Fund; received: 2004.
Bibliography
- Balderston, Katherine C., ed., Thraliana: The Diary of Mrs. Hester Lynch Thrale (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1942)
- Hyde, Mary, The Thrales of Streatham Park (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1977)
- Redford, Bruce, ed., The Letters of Samuel Johnson (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994)
Processing Information
Processed by: Rick Stattler
- Title
- Piozzi, Hester Lynch, 1741-1821. Hester Lynch Piozzi letters to Fanny Burney: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00265
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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