William Godwin, English philosopher and novelist. The William Godwin manuscript material in the Pforzheimer Collection consists of writings, correspondence, promissory notes, and various other documents. The writings include: complete holograph...
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William Godwin, English philosopher and novelist. The William Godwin manuscript material in the Pforzheimer Collection consists of writings, correspondence, promissory notes, and various other documents. The writings include: complete holograph manuscript drafts of his works Fleetwood, Coludesley, and Lives of the Necromancers; manuscript drafts of essays from his Enquirer; and proof revisions written in volumes of his Political Justice and St. Leon. The bulk of the correspondence is dated 1795-1834 and mostly discusses Godwin's research, business matters and financial arrangements. Correspondents include: Mary Shelley, novelist (his daughter); Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet (his son-in-law); Aaron Burr, vice president of the United States; Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet; and over one hundred others. The promissory notes date from between 1804-1818, and are mostly to neighborhood merchants. Other documents include library call slips, memos of agreement for business deals, and Godwin's last will and testament.
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