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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Hyde 88

Charles Burney correspondence

Overview

Letters to and from author and musician Charles Burney, including some which discuss Samuel Johnson's final days and James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.

Dates

  • Creation: 1755-1811

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Extent

.5 linear feet (1 box)

This collection consists of 12 letters by Burney, five letters received by him, and two poems. Of special importance is a portion of Burney's notes on Samuel Johnson sent to James Boswell, item (2), which were used in Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. The collection also includes letters to Fanny Burney, item (3); and Samuel Johnson, item (8). Many of the letters discuss Samuel Johnson, including two that describe his final days in detail, items (10) and (12). One letter originally thought to have been written by Burney, item (13), has upon scholarly assessment been attributed to his son, Charles Burnley (1757-1817).

Biographical / Historical

Charles Burney (1726-1814) established a reputation as an organist and composer before moving to London in 1760. There he became a central figure in the circle gathered around author Samuel Johnson. Burney published numerous works of music scholarship, most notably his four-volume A General History of Music (1776-1789). Eight of his children survived to adulthood, including novelist Frances d'Arblay, generally known as Fanny Burney (1752-1840); Susanna Elizabeth Phillips, generally known as Susanna Burney (1755-1800); and Charles Burney (1757-1817).

Physical Location

b (shelved with MS Hyde 89)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2003JM-58 (part). Bequest of Mary Hyde Eccles, Four Oaks Farm, Somerville, New Jersey; received: 2004.

Related Materials

Several related items are also part of the Hyde Collection, including five letters from Samuel Johnson in MS Hyde 1, items (14) and (126); four letters from Hester Lynch Piozzi in MS Hyde 3, item (13); six letters to and from various parties in MS Hyde 57, pages 12 to 17 and 22; a letter to George Henry Glasse in MS Hyde 61, item (7.14); two letters to Thomas Cadell in MS Hyde 69, item (10); a letter from Bennet Langton in MS Hyde 77; and a letter from Hester Lynch Piozzi in MS Eng 1477, item (1).

Bibliography

Alvaro Ribeiro, ed., The Letters of Dr Charles Burney, Volume 1: 1751-1784 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991)

Processing Information

Processed by: Rick Stattler

Title
Burney, Charles, 1726-1814. Charles Burney correspondence, 1755-1811: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01769

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.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

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