SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE AND THE FINE ARTS This page intentionally left blank Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Fine Arts MORTON D. PALEY 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,OxfordOX26DP OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto Withofficesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork ©MortonD.Paley2008 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2008 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Dataavailable TypesetbySPIPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India PrintedinGreatBritain onacid-freepaperby BiddlesLtd.,King’sLynn,Norfolk ISBN 978–0–19–923305–2 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 ForCarlWoodring Ilmigliorfabbro Prefatory Note I should note that in some Coleridge quotations from manuscript sources I sometimes do not indicate deletions. When a deletion indi- catesambiguityoranypossibilityofanalternativemeaning,Ireproduce it. If a deletion is clearly made to correct a spelling error, eliminate a repetition, or for some other reason not effecting meaning, I may eliminateitforthesakeofclarity. In the course of discussing works of art in the collections of Coleridge’s time, it is unfortunately not always possible to have con- fidence in contemporary attributions. As a German visitor is quoted as saying in Chapter 3, many Raphaels in English collections were Raphaelsinnameonly,andthatgoesforothergreat,andevennot-so- great,namesaswell.Insofarashasbeenpossible,Ihavetriedtolocate andtofindprovenancesfor,thepaintingsdiscussedinthisbook;where that has not been possible, I indicate as much by saying ‘attributed to’ or‘thoughttobeby.’ InthecourseofdiscussionImentiontheviewsofSirJoshuaReynolds fromtimetotime,bothbecauseoftheirintrinsicinterestandfortheir importance in Coleridge’s time. I am of course aware that Reynolds’s viewsonartwerenotshareduniversally.Reynoldswasespeciallyimpor- tant for Coleridge because his views are also in the main the views of his friend George Beaumont, who initiated Coleridge into the love of the fine arts. In addition, the publication of the posthumous (1798) three-volumeeditionofhisWorkswithalongintroductionbyEdmond Malone made Reynolds a living presence once more and carried his influencewellintothenineteenthcentury. Acknowledgments IwasgreatlyhelpedinthecompletionofthisbookbyanEmeritusFel- lowshipfromtheAndrewW.MellonFoundation.IthanktheFounda- tionnotonlyforitsconfidenceinmyprojectanditsgenerousassistance butalsoforitsrecognitionthatemeritiaswellasteachingfacultyneed supportinaidofresearch.Ialsoreceivedsmallbutverywelcomeannual researchandtravelgrantsfromtheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley. In the course of working on this book I have incurred debts that are a pleasure to acknowledge. The late Morag Harris, sorely missed by her friends and colleagues, provided the initial impulse when she invited me to lecture at the the University of Bologna on Coleridge and Washington Allston. I was greatly assisted by Martin Butlin, who gavefreelyofhistimetoprovidecriticismandsuggestions,asdidTim Fulford. David Bindman conducted me on a memorable tour of the renownedFlaxmanCollectionofUniversityCollege,London.Kathryn BonomigenerouslyprovidedacopyofhervaluablepaperontheAders Collection. Robert N. Essick was as ever liberal in providing advice about print-making techniques. Detlef W. Dörrbecker answered my questionsonfiguresasdiversasCranach,Raphael,andFuseli.Frederick Burwick,MarilynGaull,andPaulM.Zallprovidedmuch-appreciated encouragement. For examining the Bodleian Library’s marked copy of The Director, I thank Pamela Clemit; for information about obtaining images from collections in Italy: Louise Clubbe, Loren Partridge, and Jan Eklund; for copies of Thomas Russell’s letters to Coleridge: Jeff Cowton and the Wordsworth Library and Museum; for provenance information: Melanie Barrese (National Gallery, London), Wencke Deiters (Vienna Museum),EliseK.Kenney(YaleUniversityArtGallery),andDeniseS. McColgan (Yale Center for British Art). Alison Girling and Lisa Sher- lockkindlyansweredqueriesaboutmaterialintheColeridgeCollection ofVictoriaCollege,UniversityofToronto,andJuliaCarverhelpedme findmaterialinthearchivesoftheBristolCityMuseum&ArtGallery. Robin Hamlyn of Tate Britain was very informative on the subject of Sir George Beaumont. Helpful answers to queries on some specific viii Acknowledgments pointswereprovidedbyJohnBeer,CarlaM.Gnappi,NicholasHalmi, Anthony Harding, Heather Jackson, Bo Ossian Lindberg, Ronald Mellor, Megan B. O’neill, Felicity Owen, Nicholas Reid, Anya Taylor, andWilliamVaughan. IamgratefultoRonaldEwartfortakingthephotographoftheAlgar- ottitombforme,toDennisLowforhisphotographofWilliamCollins’s portrait, and to Tricia Smith of Art Resource. At the Berkeley English Department I was greatly aided by Van Kasiske, Mary Melinn, and Katrin Haegele. Michael Quan gave timely and expert computer help, and Marguerite Nguyen provided welcome bibliographical assistance. AtOxfordUniversityPressIwasfortunatetohaveAndrewMcNeillieas myeditor,andmybookwasskillfullyguidedinitsprogressbyJaqueline Baker and Claire Thompson. Thomas Chandler’s expert copy editing hasbeenofverygreatbenefit. MostofmyresearchwasdoneinBerkeleyattheDoeLibrary,where IamespeciallygratefultoMichaelynBurnetteforherexperthelpwith electronic resources, and to Elissa Mondschein of our ever-resourceful Inter-Library Borrowing Service. I also thank Anthony Bliss and Peter Hanff of the Bancroft Library, and Martha Whittaker of the Sutro Library,SanFrancisco. OtherlibrariesIhavehadtheprivilegeofusingare:theNationalArt CollectionsLibrary(VictoriaandAlbertMuseum),theBritishLibrary, theFrickCollectionLibrary,theLibraryofNewYorkUniversity’sInsti- tuteofFineArts,theNewYorkPublicLibrary,theColumbiaUniversity Libraries, the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, and the RoyalLibrary,Stockholm. Part of Chapter 4 appeared in a different form in The Wordsworth Circle, and is reproduced by permission of the editor of that journal. ReproductionpermissionsarecreditedintheListofIllustrations. Most important of all, without the confidence and support of my wife,GunnelTottie,thisbookcouldnothavebeenwrittenatall. M.D.P. Berkeley,California 24October2007 Contents ListofIllustrations x ListofAbbreviations xiii 1. Initiation 1 2. Italy 25 3. WhatColeridgeSaw 67 4. AllstonRedux 93 5. ColeridgeontheFineArts 136 6. ThePrinciplesCommontotheFineArts 210 Appendices 1. WilliamCollins’sPortraitofSaraColeridge 235 2. Coleridge’sUseofArtisticTerms 238 3. F.A.M.Retzsch’sIllustrationsinFaustusfrom theGermanofGoethe 241 Bibliography 244 Index 265