My dear Mrs Blackburn, I was very glad of a letter from you, it is so pleasant to keep up our intercourse that I am always wishing to invent some cause for writing. I wonder if I shall ever arrive at writing the Siege of Waspburg, it is a thing I cannot do till the spirit of wasps seizes me and I suppose it will do some time or other. Your birds must be delightful, except ... continue reading

My dear Miss Warren,

Many, many thanks for the extracts. I was waiting to write and thank you for them till a few pressing letters were put out of the way - indeed I dont [sic] believe I thanked you intelligently for the first set, I mean not after I had really studied it. Henerety I believe to be meant for Henrietta here who was generally so called. Another they have given up in despair and ... continue reading

My dear Miss Warren,

The Lecture has not yet found its way to me, but I hope it soon will. I know there is no reason for mistrusting the post in such cases as a family party generally takes a good while in all sucking the marrow of anything of the sort, especially if it be in M S, and as I do not think we are likely to be interrupted for a long time there ... continue reading

Dear Sir,

I am much obliged by the little book that I received on Saturday, which seems to me very interesting.

My tale of the Young Stepmother is ready to be begun upon whenever you like to have it sent up - unless you think it better to wait till later in the year.

So much has been said in the Saturday Review lately about the want of a history of Christian names that I think it may ... continue reading

Dear Madam,

I am very grateful for your kind extracts from your Register which will be very useful to me - Avis or Avice - the same as Havois or Hedwig is less uncommon than one at first imagines. I knew a servant so called and a child who had it by inheritance from her grandmother & I have found it often in an old register in the N of Hants. Wilmot too is often in ... continue reading

Dear Mr Henderson ,

Pray take your own time in making the addition to the paper on Folk Lore, it will not be able to appear in the January no. and indeed I fear I may have to divide it, as 45pp is rather a large allowance out of 112 for one subject, and it will answer better to cut it in two. I am glad to hear of the further additions.

Many thanks ... continue reading

My dear Sir,

I did not mean to publish the two volumes of the History of Christian Names separately. The second is in a state of forwardness, but I thought I had explained when I saw you that I thought it would save time to have the 1st in the press while I am going over the 2nd again.

I imagine 2000 copies will be sufficient for a first edition.

My direction till the 20th will be the ... continue reading

My dear Mr Coxe,

Many, many thanks for those saints, who were just what I wanted. Only would you further add to the kindness by telling me, what 'Surius' means. I must quote the authority for that out of the way kind of thing, and I don’t sufficiently understand what this means to put it down.

Were the Maura and Timothy of the Thebaid crucified? I want to know because Kingsley has a poem called Sta ... continue reading

Dear Mr Furnivall

Thanks for the list of needs of the letter B. I had been making the like, but found the wants so constantly supplied from the overflowings of your pigeon holes that I grew lazy and desisted.

The printer at Winchester charges 7/6 per 1000 for the titles he prints for us on show paper, and we have had 4000 - which have chiefly been used by my mother, as I have generally taken mine ... continue reading

Sir,

The Revd Dr Littledale has encouraged me to send you the book that I hope may arrive by the same mail as this letter, namely the History of Christian names, in the hope that you will kindly point out and correct the errors in the portion upon Cymric names, which I know are done with much greater disadvantages than those which have been elucidated by more modern authorities than I could obtain for the Welsh. ... continue reading

Sir,

I am obliged for your letter of the 23d, and the terms you propose. My brother will be in town next week, and will call on you to make the arrangements on any day after Tuesday. Perhaps you would be good enough to send me a line saying on which day he would be most sure of finding you at home. He would be with you at any hour of the morning you would ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan

Herewith I send enough of the Trial for the printer to proceed with at once. I have erased all the redundancies I could find, and I hope it may thus become less cumbrous - Unless there is some difficulty I suppose there is no need of sending me proofs. Mr Parker wrote to me himself to recommend Phelps who printed the History of Christian Names and as there were a good many letters ... continue reading

Dear Sir, I am much obliged for all your kind observations upon the Christian Names, a work which I know it was very presumptuous in me to undertake, with so little real knowledge as I possess of more than general principles and a few scattered details.

I am glad you exonerate the original thief from being a robber. I went upon the authority of the late Professor Munch of Christiana, who gave me much kind help. I ... continue reading

My dear Mr Macmillan, This is a quick fire upon a busy man, but there are two or three things to say, and first that Mme de Witt has written to say that the Christian Names have not reached her, and asking whether you have sent them through any Paris bibliothèque where they could be enquired for. I also enclose a direction to which I should like to send a copy of the Golden Deeds. It ... continue reading

Dear Miss Yonge I sent the copy Golden Deeds to the Princess addressed as you wished to her governess by post yesterday. I hope it will reach her soon.

The copy of 'Christian Names' I sent to Mdme de Witt through Messrs Williams & Norgate, as it would have been expensive to send by post, and moreover would have been apt to get bruised and battered, being large and heavy. They explain that they have not parcels ... continue reading

My dear Mr Macmillan I can quite enter into what you say of that first chapter’s meagreness. There were things I wanted to keep in reserve, and I do not think one’s mind gets so worked up to the point /at first as after having gone through all the preliminaries and preparation. I wanted to keep Bethlehem by daylight /on the Gleaning of Right for the Anointing of David, and therefore made less of the scenery ... continue reading

My dear Madam, I send herewith a copy of Heartsease leaves, but I am afraid I must ask you to return it. I had some copies once sold for a bazaar, but they are all gone now, except one or two for home consumption of which I send one.

I am glad that the Christian names gave you any amusement

Yours sincerely C M Yonge

Dear Mr Freeman , I waited to thank you for your kind note to see if there was any chance of so getting rid of the old edition of History of Christian Names, as to make it reasonable to put an abridgment much corrected in hand - But unluckily the book was printed in the anarchy of the J W Parker establishment and the edition was too large, so that I do not know how to ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan Do you not think that the parallel history should come out in time for Schools to set themselves up with this winter. The one I wrote it for is crying out for it, and it seems in vain to wait for a neater finish to France than the fall of the Empire.

I am glad you give hopes of clearing off the old History of Christian Names I have them bristling with corrections, and ... continue reading

My dear Arthur Arianwen means silver lady. She was a Welsh saint and the name has never quite died out in Wales, so I suppose the girl has Welsh belongings of some sort. Arian rhod a silver bow is the rain bow, who scares away spirits of wrath there is a charming bit about her in old Davis’s Celtic researches which nobody believes now. Alas! Macmillan took advice about the School room magazine ... continue reading

Dear Mr Craik,

I return the Agreement signed with many thanks. I shall be quite satisfied with the arrangement about the £1000 for the copyright being paid half next March and half the March after.

One book you do not mention, the Christian names, I should be very glad if the end of that could be so got rid of, that I could cut it down correct it, add some recent discoveries and something about surnames, ... continue reading

Dear Mr Craik

Many thanks for the payment. The knowledge that the amount for Unknown to History is coming is quite sufficient for me at present. I have been kept waiting about the Christian Names by Mr H Jenner of the British Museum who promised to set me right about the Keltic mythology but I suspect has forgotten all about it. I am desiring him to let me have it again, and let me do ... continue reading

My dear Miss Butler Thank you for your message. I do not think Rudolf requires to return to you for he stands so much alone that he only needs to be taken out.

Thanks too for the derivations, I shall trouble you with plenty more, I have no doubt, when I am at home with my list, and see my way out of the Latin derived names. I am to go home this afternoon after ... continue reading

My dear Miss Butler Here is Aunt Louisa’s Berne chapter, which with its Ogre fountain will, I think, be considered very amusing. I hope you will be able to let me have her conclusion next week, as she will then finish with the volume, always satisfactory, as not leaving straggling chapters for another. However this may be asking much in this week, and when I suppose next month is already bringing you preparations and ... continue reading

My dear Madam,

I fear you must almost have despaired of receiving the renderings of the names, but we have been so constantly either seeing sights or travelling that this is the first time I have been able to set them down, and now I am afraid they will prove very disappointing, and not too susceptible of illumination - I am afraid names are too often mere adjectives to be very manageable for the purpose. I ... continue reading