Letter to <persName ref="#Elford_SirWm">Sir William Elford</persName>, April 25, 1823. Mary Russell Mitford Elizabeth Raisanen Melissa Klamer Mary Russell Mitford Society: Digital Mitford Project University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Elisa Beshero-Bondar Transcription and coding by Elizabeth Raisanen Date last checked: 2017-01-02. Proofing and corrections by: Brooke A. Stewart Date checked: 2016-07-04. Proofing and corrections by: Elisa Beshero-Bondar First digital edition in TEI, date: 11 August 2014. P5. Digital Mitford photo files: IMG_0196.JPG, IMG_0195.JPG, IMG_0194.JPG, IMG_0199.JPG, IMG_0198.JPG, IMG_0197.JPG, IMG_0193.JPG, IMG_0192.JPG, IMG_0191.JPG, IMG_0190.JPG, IMG_0189.JPG, IMG_0188.JPG, IMG_0187.JPG, IMG_0186.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford7c#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford7b#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford6c#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford7a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford6a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford6b#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford4c#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford4b#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford4a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford3a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford2b#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford2a#.JPG, 25April1823SirWilliamElford1a#.JPG Digital Mitford: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive Greensburg, PA, USA 2014

Reproduced by courtesy of the The Reading Central Library.

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Digital Mitford Letters: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive The Reading Central Library The letters of Mary Russell Mitford, vol. 4, 1819-1823 qB/TU/MIT Vol. 4, Horizon No.: 1361550 ff. 469 Letter from Mary Russell Mitford to Sir William Elford, April 25, 1823.

One quarto sheet of paper folded in half to form two octavo pages, which comprise pages 1-4 of the letter. The fifth page bears the end of the letter on one side, and (after being folded into four panels) exposes the address portion of the leaf on the other side. The address side of the leaf seems to have been matted, though the reverse side is fully visible in the Reading Central Library bound portolio.

Address leaf lacking postmarks, bears the date "April twenty six 1823" in Mitford's hand, with "J. B. Monck Plymouth" at the bottom indicating that Monck franked this letter on Mitford's behalf.

The last sheet of the letter is torn suggesting a missing round seal.

 Someone, apparently other than Mitford (perhaps cataloging the letters and describing them, or marking them up while creating an earlier edition of Mitford’s letters), left grey pencil marks and numbered her letters now in the Reading Central Library's collection. The date "April 26th 1823" is written in this hand on the top left of the last leaf of the letter. Red crayon or thick red pencil. Probably a different hand from Mitford's that marks many of her letters, sometimes drawing diagonal lines across pages, and sometimes writing words overtop and perpendicularly across Mitford's writing. On this letter, a red diagonal line is drawn from the top left to the bottom right of pages 2, 3, and 4 of the manuscript. The red crayon also strikes out a single word on page 4 of this letter, 9 lines from the bottom on the left margin. Someone, apparently other than Mitford, who occasionally left notes in a spidery thin hand to explain or document details in Mitford's letters in the margins of her pages, noted in the manuscripts held at Reading Central Library. This may be William Harness or A. G. L'Estrange. This annotator indicates the recipient as "Sir W. Elford" on the first page and has left a note at the bottom of page 3 that continues up the right margin. The note documents information about the proceeds Mitford received from Covent Garden Theatre for her play, Julian.

Mitford’s spelling and punctuation are retained, except where a word is split at the end of a line and the beginning of the next in the manuscript. Where Mitford’s spelling and hyphenation of words deviates from the standard, in order to facilitate searching we are using the TEI elements “choice," “sic," and “reg" to encode both Mitford’s spelling and the regular international standard of Oxford English spelling, following the first listed spelling in the Oxford English Dictionary. The long s and ligatured forms are not encoded.

 Fixed formatting errors. Added address information. Fixed handShift; now is signalled within text. Proofread this file. Checked for completion, corrected spelling errors. Comments left in for reviewing. Added collection information and minor addition to handNotes. Added idno and photo file idnos. Updated header to include the letter xml:id. TRANSCRIPTION INCOMPLETE. I have updated the header so it doesn't erroneously point to another letter, and I documented the address leaf.
To Sir W. Elford April 25th 1823. My dear Friend

I am but just returned from Town, whither I have been led by one of the evil consequences of dramatic Authorship--that is to say a false report--& lose not a moment in writing to you to thank you for your Zealous kindness, & to say how heartily we sympathise sympathize in all your feelings.--I have no time to tell you the story of the strange mistake which led me to London--no heart to talk to you of plays & theatres--for my very soul is sick of them all--they mean to be kind I believe all of them--but between the lies & the quarrels & the envy that attends success I have fairly wished a thousand times that the Play had failed. Do not tell this--But really my soul sickens within me when I think of the turmoil & tumult which I have undergone--& am to undergo--for Charles Kemble will not suffer me to withdraw my Tragedy of the Foscari, & threatens me with a lawsuit if I do. In the meantime I am tossed about between him & Macready like a cricket ball--affronting both parties, & suspected by both because I will not come to a deadly rupture with either. Only imagine what a state this is for one who values peace & quietness beyond every other blessing of life!--In the meantime they have stopt stopped Julian the Play at the end of the eighth night though it was going brilliantly to brilliant houses--& Miss Mitford received £ 200 for Julian from Covent Garden £ 100 cash on the 9 of May & £ 100 by  bill payable on the 12 of October (but this is quite between ourselves) not paid me for the third & sixth nights--To be sure I have Charles Kemble's personal word--& I believe him to be an honest man--but to undergo all this misery & not get my money would be terrible indeed! To crown all, Mr. Hamilton of our Magazine has absconded above forty pounds in my debt--Oh who would be an Authoress!--The only comfort is that the Magazine can't go on without me, & that the very fuss they make in quarrelling over me at the Theatre proves my importance there--& so that if I survive these vexations, I may in time make something of my poor poor brains.--but I would rather serve in a shop--rather scrub scrub floors--rather nurse children than undergo these tremendous & interminable disputes & this unwomanly publicity.--

Well I will talk of this no more & I have nothing else to talk of--for though I have been in Town I have been so engrossed & absorbed by these distracting concerns that I have lost all consciousness of any thing better--I shall have something to send you in a month or two for I have been sitting for my portrait to be engraved at the desire of my Bookseller--I hope & trust This word is smudged, and also struck through by a later annotator in red crayon, the same hand that drew diagonal lines across many of Mitford's manuscript pages in the Reading Central Library collection. that you are all as well as you can be--say every thing to yourself & your brother & Miss Elford & all who are so good as to know me of your family that may convey most of gratitude sympathyIt is possible that the sympathy is in reference to the recent passing of his son Jonathan. However, this is difficult to definitively prove. & true good wishes--I hope Mr. Elford continues & will continue better--Adieu my dear friend--

Ever most faithfully your's yours , M.R. Mitford
Reading April twenty six 1823 Sir W. Elford Bickham J.B. Monck Plymouth

It is very strange that I was about to request you to enclose your letter to Mr. Monck who is so Kind as to give me a general permission his address is--J. B. Monck Esqre M. P. Coley Park Reading.

Pray forgive this sad no letter! Alas the free & happy hours when I could read & think & prattle for you are past away!--Oh will they ever return! I am now chained to a desk 8, 10, 12, hours a day--at mere drudgery--all my thoughts of writing for hard money--all my correspondence on hard business--Oh pity me! Pity me! My very mind is sinking under the fatigue & the anxiety--God bless you my dear friend!--Forgive this sad letter.