Charlotte Yonge is one of the most influential and important of Victorian women writers; but study of her work has been handicapped by a tendency to patronise both her and her writing, by the vast number of her publications and by a shortage of information about her professional career. Scholars have had to depend mainly on the work of her first biographer, a loyal disciple, a situation which has long been felt to be unsatisfactory. We hope that this edition of her correspondence will provide for the first time a substantial foundation of facts for the study of her fiction, her historical and educational writing and her journalism, and help to illuminate her biography and also her significance in the cultural and religious history of the Victorian age.
Featured Letters...
Dear Mr Macmillan, Will you kindly give me your advice on this letter? It is written to friend of mine at Philadelphia who seeing my 'Clever Woman of the Family' was about to appear in parts in 'the Living Age' wrote to enquire about it. This is Mr Littell’s answer.
I should tell you that Appleton gave me £25 for each of my larger books till the war, when he said he did not get profit enough ... continue reading
My dear Irene
No wonder the poet was puzzled! It is a very comical adventure in the annals of Goosedom! I agree with Mrs Martyn in thinking your first question excellent, and your second is very good, but No. 3 seemed to me too big a question. Only think how much there is to say about a county, even if you gave but one line to each event that happened! I was asked to write a ... continue reading
Dear Mr Furnivall, Thanks for your enclosure I hope to make use of it when I get home, but just at present we are wanderers, very decided wanderers at this moment for I am writing at a little station on the Great Northern having missed our train by two minutes, so that we have the pleasure of waiting for three hours before we can get on to Peterborough and Ely. I hope to be at home ... continue reading