A Final Exploration
A Final Exploration of Charlotte Smith
By Paige Serrer
Introduction
As we have learned throughout this exhibit, Charlotte Smith was an incredible woman and a prolific writer. Charlotte Smith’s success was surely due to her ability to make the best out of the worst situation. Ending up in the king's bench, a debtor’s prison, alongside her husband Benjamin, whom she absolutely despised, did not stop Charlotte Smith from publishing her most renowned work Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Essays by Charlotte Smith of Bignore Park, in Sussex. Charlotte Smith published over 20 substantial works within her lifetime, surely not stopping with her sonnets as she clearly had a talent for writing. Previously within this exhibit, I have been deeply exploring who Charlotte Smith was as a person, through examining and analyzing a letter within William Upcott’s album to discovering her life and further examining the first few pages of her Elegiac Sonnets. Gaining a sense of who Charlotte Smith was as a person has been beneficial, however, I now want to switch gears and discover who was there to support her, especially against her ex-husband Benjamin Smith. I want to further explore Charlotte Smith’s life and the connections that she surrounded herself with, focusing on her publisher Thomas Cadell, and how he helped her not only in the literary sphere but also in her personal life. I seek to answer the final question regarding Charlotte Smith’s eminence, being, could she have been as eminent without an abundant social network and support provided by Thomas Cadell? By examining the people Charlotte Smith surrounded herself with through the use of letter analysis, will give us insight into who she was as a person through her association with Cadell. This will be an attempt to paint a clearer more robust picture of Charlotte Smith’s life in order to provide a form of closure around her as an individual.
Publishers
Without a publisher who Charlotte Smith could trust, it is arguable that her works would have never become mainstream and been shown into the public eye. Charlotte Smith’s primary publisher was Thomas Cadell and later his son Thomas Cadell the Younger and William Davies, who form Cadell & Davies which was “established in 1793 as a joint partnership between Thomas Cadell (1773-1836) and William Davies (d. 1820). The pair inherited the business from Cadell’s father, Thomas Cadell the elder... and carried on his legacy as a leader of the London Book trade.” (Social Networks and Archival Context) Charlotte Smith dealt with Thomas Cadell instead of William Davies. As stated within the Cadell & Davies records collection in the Archives at Yale,
the largest single correspondence is that between Charlotte Turner Smith and Cadell & Davies, which numbers over 130 letters, and provides an ongoing account of the circumstances prompting her literary career... The correspondence also includes Charlotte Smith’s opinions of her worth as a writer, details about her family life and writing process.
It is evident that Charlotte Smith had a deep relationship with her publishers as they wrote nonstop to each other. She surely trusted Thomas Cadell as she openly offered information regarding her feelings towards herself and her writing, as well as being able to talk about her personal struggles with her family. As mentioned in the biography component of this exhibit, Charlotte and Benjamin Smith did not live a happy marriage. Benjamin Smith was a selfish money-grabbing man who did not think about the future of his 12 children or for his wife. However, this would have been a very personal thing Charlotte Smith was going through and she felt safe discussing it with Thomas Cadell and later, his son. Before diving into a specific letter that Charlotte Smith wrote to Thomas Cadell Senior which reveals insight into their friendship and her personal struggles at home, I want to do a brief overview of who Thomas Cadell Senior was as an individual.
Thomas Cadel
There is hardly any information to be found on Thomas Cadell. He lived from 1742-1802 and was therefore only seven years older than Charlotte Smith, so they were very close in age. Cadell was “born in Bristol, England. He apprenticed to London bookseller and publisher Andrew Millar in 1758, became Millar’s partner in 1765 and took over the business in 1767.” (Online Archive of California) Based on this information, Thomas Cadell was 23 years old at the start of his career. Considering he stuck with it until his son inherited his publishing company, it was perhaps a passion for Cadell. Nineteen years later, once Thomas Cadell was away from Andrew Millar, he published Charlotte Smiths Elegiac Sonnetsin the year 1784, launching her career. Not only did Thomas Cadell publish Charlotte Smith but he also published author notable authors from the 18th-century, such as the “jurist Sir William Blackstone...Scottish novelist Henry Mackenzie... historian Edward Gibbon... as well as a number of female authors, including writer Frances Brooke, novelist Frances Burney, historian Catharine Macaulay [and] moralist Hannah More” (Emily Brewer 13). Thomas Cadell was therefore very reputable and clearly trusted amongst the literary sphere. Thomas Cadell continued publishing for Charlotte Smith until she started becoming too politically radical, and he “refus[ed] to publish Desmond in 1792” (Wikipedia). One can assume he was concerned for his reputation in the literary sphere and did not want to publish any politically radical works in order to protect his credibility. Nonetheless, Charlotte Smith and Thomas Cadell had more than a professional relationship amongst themselves which is depicted within the letter correspondences. Within Emily Brewer’s dissertation, “A Lady Novelist and the Late Eighteenth-Century Book Trade: Charlotte Smith’s Letters to Publisher Thomas Cadell, Sr., 1786-94”, Brewer has listed 121 letters that Smith has written to either Cadell directly or the publishing firm, starting from 1786 and ending in 1794. Through these eight years of nonstop correspondence, there was no doubt a friendship that flourished between the two of them. Charlotte Smith found herself a man who she could trust, after being in such a treacherous relationship with Benjamin Smith.
The letter pictured above is a letter that Charlotte Smith has composed directly to Thomas Cadell, Sr. It is taken from The Collected Letters of Charlotte Smith which has been edited by Judith Phillips Stanton. Charlotte Smith begins her letter apologizing for inconveniencing Cadell as she recognizes how much she has already asked from him. This letter is dated January 14th, 1788, which would have been four years after her first publication and one year after her divorce from Benjamin Smith. According to the Orlando Database, “Benjamin left for Barbados, but not till after he had made a three-week visit to his family. He threatened to sell books and household effects, and made off with some of CS’s papers.” (Orlando) This letter that Charlotte Smith has written to Thomas Cadell directly reflects this point in time when she was being terrorized by Benjamin Smith. Charlotte Smith expresses her fear of Benjamin to Cadell as Benjamin was after Charlotte's money, which would have come from Cadell. Although Charlotte Smith is writing to Cadell in fear of losing her money, she also feels comfortable enough with Thomas Cadell to express her grief and sorrow regarding the entire situation. She mentions Benjamin’s manipulative actions as she writes “he beg’d to see his children before he went. As I could not doubt assertion so positive as many of our joint friends to whom he had represented his sorrow at being parted from his ‘dear Wife and children’”. If Charlotte Smith had been writing to a mere employer, she would have simply kept her letter brief and short, however, the level of detail within the letter showcases how Thomas Cadell was someone she trusted with her personal affairs as well. Charlotte Smith’s letter to Cadell is almost composed as a rant as if she needs to get all of this off of her chest and is in need of a friend who will listen.
Charlotte Smith’s financial struggles are also implicitly explained within the letter, as Thomas Cadell was probably already aware of them. She mentions the fortune which Benjamin’s father Richard Smith left for their three youngest children. The footnotes which follow this letter added by Judith Phillips Stanton talk about how “when Richard Smith, BS’s father, died in 1776, he settled a great deal of his fortune of 36,000 euros on the six living children to protect them from BS’s already apparent profligacy.” Further, Charlotte Smith is expressing her stress to Thomas Cadell for her children which proves that she solely had their best interests at heart. Although Charlotte Smith’s publisher, I would be hesitant to say that she would have written like this to anyone. This letter clearly emphasizes Charlotte Smith’s vulnerability and she is seeking more than just help business-wise but help from a friend. Charlotte Smith laments about how “a new fit of frenzy has seized [Benjamin]” warning Cadell that “he is gone – to London, & there is reason to suppose may make immediate application to [him]. [She] now believe[s] him capable of any thing.” There is true fear conveyed within this letter with a layer of disparity. Charlotte Smith’s emotions are truly conveyed to Cadell and she trusts him enough to help her in a dire situation.
A Contrasting Letter: No Emotion
The reason I highlight the levels of emotion within Charlotte Smith’s letter that is written to Cadell is because of how blunt and dismissive she writes towards Benjamin Smith. Obviously, within the letter composed to Cadell, Smith is opening up about her distaste for Benjamin and his recent actions and how mortified she is regarding them. Charlotte Smith is searching for an understanding friend, who also happens to be someone in a position of her finances. However, when it comes to writing Benjamin Smith, she is completely business and conveys absolutely no emotion. This contrast of emotion shows the legitimacy and the authenticity of Charlotte Smith’s emotions conveyed with Cadell.
Here, we can see that Charlotte Smith did not even bother to sign her name on her letter to her ex-husband. Charlotte Smith is clearly writing to him not because she wants to, but because she has to. Her letter is so incredibly brief which shows her unwillingness to even slightly engage with him. Charlotte Smith could have been destroyed by Benjamin, however, with the support of Thomas Cadell, she was able to have a friend and a trustworthy publisher all in one. However, I do not want to attribute the reason Charlotte Smith prospered directly to Thomas Cadell. Charlotte Smith was surely a woman who could hold her own position within society, Thomas Cadell was merely a support system for her to lean on.
To Conclude
I believe that Charlotte Smith was a powerful woman, and even without Thomas Cadell, she would have found a place for her voice within the literary sphere. However, through her publisher, she was capable of gaining a deeper friendship. A friendship with someone who could understand her deepest financial struggles and listen to her problems regarding her manipulative ex-husband. Although not a critical approach to analyzing her letter, I drew upon Charlotte Smiths' emotions which were depicted within her letter to Cadell to infer how their relationship prospered outside of a business atmosphere. Although Charlotte Smith had an abundant literary circle with many more supporters, the sheer amount of correspondence between her and Cadell proves the strength and importance of their friendship and business together. Through my exploration of Charlotte Smith, I have learned that she is an incredibly strong independent woman who is fueled by supporting her children. Although Charlotte Smith was dealt a really bad hand at life, she was able to rise above everything thrown her way and grow from it. Ultimately, Charlotte Smith would have found a way to make her voice heard in the world, with or without Thomas Cadell due to the sheer power of her voice.
Works Cited
Brewer, Emily Marie. “A Lady Novelist and the Late Eighteenth-Century Book Trade: Charlotte Smith's Letters to Publisher Thomas Cadell, Sr., 1786-94.” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2013, pp. 13–61.
Brown, Susan, Patricia Clements, and Isobel Grundy, eds. Charlotte Smith entry: Life screen within Orlando: Women's Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Online, 2006. <http://orlando.cambridge.org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/>. 10 December 2021.
“Cadell & Davies.” Cadell & Davies. - Social Networks and Archival Context, https://snaccooperative.org/view/259578.
Cadell & Davies Records. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/resources/745 Accessed December 10, 2021.
“Finding Aid for the Caddell & Davies Records, 1790-1840.” Online Archive of California, http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt109n99ws/.
Smith, Charlotte, and Judith Phillips Stanton. ˜The Collected Letters of Charlotte Smith. Indiana University Press, 2003.
“Thomas Cadell (Publisher).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Sept. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cadell_(publisher).