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Creator
Morgan, Lady (Sydney), 1783-1859
Call number
Pforz MS
Physical description
24 items
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Sydney Morgan, Lady Morgan manuscript material, Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, The New York Public Library
Repository
Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle
Access to materials
Restricted access. Request an in-person research appointment.

Sydney Morgan, née Owneson, Lady Morgan, was an Irish-born novelist and socialite. The collection consists primarily of correspondence dating between 1809 and 1859. It also includes one holograph endorsement on a letter addressed to Morgan.

Biographical/historical information

Sydney Morgan, née Owneson, Lady Morgan is best known for The Wild Irish Girl (1806), a well-researched nationalistic novel that established her as a major Irish writer. Her later work, especially The Missionary (1811), inspired Lord Byron, Thomas Moore, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. In 1837, Morgan became the first woman to receive a pension for services to the world of letters.

Scope and arrangement

The Sydney Morgan, Lady Morgan manuscript material in the Pforzheimer Collection consists of writings and correspondence. The writings comprise one holograph endorsement on a 1827 letter written to Morgan by Lady Caroline Lamb. The more than 20 pieces of correspondence date between 1809 and 1859 and deal mostly with her personal life and social engagements. Correspondents include Henry Colburn, publisher; Abraham Hayward, essayist and translator; Anna Brownell Jameson, writer and art historian; Cyrus Redding, journalist; and Martin Archer Shee, portrait painter and writer, among others.

The Sydney Morgan, Lady Morgan manuscript material is arranged in two series:

Administrative information

Custodial history

The letter to Susanna Hunter was acquired by Carl H. Pforzheimer (1879-1957) at auction in 1950. 10 letters were later acquired under the auspices of the Pforzheimer Foundation in the 1970s and 1980s, all through individual dealers. The remainder of the letters have been acquired through individual dealers since the Pforzheimer Collection moved to NYPL in 1986. Because the Pforzheimer Collection collects actively, its holdings may grow in the future as items become available.

Processing information

Finding aid created and imported into ASpace by Timothy Gress in February 2025.

Related Material

In addition to manuscript material created by Lady Morgan, the Pforzheimer Collection holds a series of letters written by Lady Caroline Lamb to Morgan. Several of these letters may be docketed in Morgan's hand. See separate Lady Caroline Lamb finding aid for a more detailed description. The Pforzheimer Collection also holds the letterbook of the publisher Joseph Johnson, which contains copies of letters dated 5 April 1806 and 30 April 1810 from Johnson to Morgan. These have been published in The Joseph Johnson Letterbook, edited by John Bugg (Oxford University Press, 2016). The Pforzheimer Collection holds a representative collection of first and early editions of Morgan's published work. Additional printed material can be found in the General Research Division.

Using the collection

Location

Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Third Floor, Room 319

Access to materials

Restricted access. Request an in-person research appointment.