.jpg?w=1)
Details
SHELLEY, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822). Autograph letter signed to John Williams, 15 Old Bond Street, 14 May 1814, written in response to a letter from Williams referring to his debts to him, 'I earnestly entreated you to refer to some person here to whom I would give all that you wish on receiving a receipt in full of everything to which I stand bound'; requesting that Williams appoint someone 'with the least possible delay', and attributing Williams's 'distresses' to his remissness, one page, 4to, integral address leaf ('Mr. John Williams, Ynys-y-Towyn, Tremadoc, Caernarvonshire'), red wax 'Liberty' seal (worn), contemporary endorsements.
Shelley's debts to John Williams originated in 1812 when, aged twenty and together with Harriet Shelley and her sister, Eliza Westbrook, after staying in Dublin and at Lynmouth (where he left unpaid debts), he arrived in North Wales at Tremadoc, the model town created by William Alexander Madocks, M.P., on land reclaimed from the sea. Shelley and his party rented Tan-yr-Allt, the Italianate villa built by Madocks for himself, described in a letter by Harriet as 'our beautiful Welsh cottage' (R. Ingpen. The Letters, I, 364). Shelley was not required to pay the considerable rent until he was of age. He enthusiastically involved himself in the fate of the town, and made largely unsuccessful attempts to raise funds for the completion of the sea wall, rashly dunning a local solicitor for his subscription, and antagonising Robert Leeson, a local grandee. Within a matter of weeks, he was obtaining credit from John Williams. Meanwhile, his relations with Madocks deteriorated and in a curious incident in January 1813 shots were allegedly fired at him in Tan-yr-Allt, prompting him to leave Tremadoc abruptly, his debts unpaid. He wrote before leaving, and again in January 1813 from Dublin, asking William to raise £25 for him from his brother, and described himself as 'not having sixpence of ready money'. Over the next year his financial instability increased in step with his feelings for Mary Godwin, and the present letter is dated shortly before the critical weeks of June 1814 which culminated in his flight to the continent with her in July. In a letter of 14 April he had declined to sign a bond for Williams saying he would have no funds until his grandfather died. But writing a year after the present letter, he reminded him that he had paid the bond of £100 with great inconvenience, and promised a final settlement in the autumn.
Shelley's debts to John Williams originated in 1812 when, aged twenty and together with Harriet Shelley and her sister, Eliza Westbrook, after staying in Dublin and at Lynmouth (where he left unpaid debts), he arrived in North Wales at Tremadoc, the model town created by William Alexander Madocks, M.P., on land reclaimed from the sea. Shelley and his party rented Tan-yr-Allt, the Italianate villa built by Madocks for himself, described in a letter by Harriet as 'our beautiful Welsh cottage' (R. Ingpen. The Letters, I, 364). Shelley was not required to pay the considerable rent until he was of age. He enthusiastically involved himself in the fate of the town, and made largely unsuccessful attempts to raise funds for the completion of the sea wall, rashly dunning a local solicitor for his subscription, and antagonising Robert Leeson, a local grandee. Within a matter of weeks, he was obtaining credit from John Williams. Meanwhile, his relations with Madocks deteriorated and in a curious incident in January 1813 shots were allegedly fired at him in Tan-yr-Allt, prompting him to leave Tremadoc abruptly, his debts unpaid. He wrote before leaving, and again in January 1813 from Dublin, asking William to raise £25 for him from his brother, and described himself as 'not having sixpence of ready money'. Over the next year his financial instability increased in step with his feelings for Mary Godwin, and the present letter is dated shortly before the critical weeks of June 1814 which culminated in his flight to the continent with her in July. In a letter of 14 April he had declined to sign a bond for Williams saying he would have no funds until his grandfather died. But writing a year after the present letter, he reminded him that he had paid the bond of £100 with great inconvenience, and promised a final settlement in the autumn.
Special notice
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium