Thursday, August 24, 2006

BL Gets Coleridge Treasure Trove

The Guardian reports that the British Library has acquired an archive of materials relating to poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his extended family, thanks in part to a £250,000 donation from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The collection, which comprises some 350 bound volumes and another 29 large archive boxes, was previously in private hands.

The article adds that a previously unknown manuscript verse by Coleridge was discovered in the files, as well as "letters, journals and courtroom notes of three generations of Coleridge judges," which offer insight into Victorian-era legal and social circles.

The British Library expects cataloging of the collection will take about a year.

(h/t Bibliophile Bullpen)