Letter From Anna Letitia Barbauld to Mr. Longman

By Jade Trolland

Description

This is a short note between Anna Letitia Barbauld, and her publisher Mr. Longman:

Relation

In this letter we see Anna Letitia Barbauld writing to her publisher Mr. Longman. Of course knowing this makes it quite easy to distinguish the relationship of the sender and receiver as being one between a writer and her publisher. As covered in class, many times business relations and actual friendships weren’t as differentiated as they are in today’s society. Also indicative of some level of friendship in this letter is the inclusion of family business.

Content

This note appears to mainly be about her business correspondence, and while not a lot of information we do see her talking to her publisher about his suggestion on including Old Manor House by Charlotte Smith in her collection of novels. In fact Barbauld mentions that she believed she had first suggested the Old Manor House herself, making us aware that Barbauld was careful in selecting the novels she wanted to include. Another thing to note in this letter is some of her home life situations. In the note we see a mention of Dr. Aikin, her brother. Through this letter we are made aware that her brother had previously been in “danger” which I took to mean ill. This was obviously an issue that had been dire enough she felt it important to mention to Longman, which can also speak to their friendship mentioned earlier, as she felt this was a topic he would care about.

Dating

The letter is undated except for mention of it being a Tuesday morning at the end. Through context clues though we can have a small idea of roughly what year the letter was written in. The note mentions Old Manor House by Charlotte Smith and appears to be discussing including it in Barbauld’s collection of novels. Since that collection was released in 1810, it can be assumed that this note was written at some point  before that, likely only a couple of years before it’s release, so it could probably be put at between 1808 to early 1810.

Other

Another point of note is the lack of signature for the letter. This could be from a missing page in the note, or it could be because it was an informal note, which could talk to a hurried schedule and lack of time to write. Though, as letter etiquette was an important thing back then it is an important thing to take note of. 

Overall it is a short note, and while not a whole lot of information is divulged, it does give a small and intriguing look at Barbauld’s life.