| Between May 1804 and the summer of 1805, Sarah Stoddart
transcribed two copies of "Christabel" from her brother
John's now-lost holograph of the poem. The first is on paper
watermarked 1804 and is a close copy of its source--agreeing with an
extant 1800 autograph manuscript as it does. In 1806, Coleridge gave
this copy to Catherine
Clarkson--as she records on the copy: "Mr Coleridge's Gift at
Parndon, Winter of 1806." Following this date, Clarkson regularly
recited the poem to friends and family, including, on one occasion,
Henry Crabb Robinson.(1)
The second transcript eventually made its way into the hands of
William Hazlitt. The transcription came to
Hazlitt's attention after his marriage to Sarah on 1 May 1808. To view
Stoddart's variations of the bedroom scene, inter-lineated in the text
of the 1816 printed edition, click here. |
