Bethan Roberts, University of Liverpool
PhD Project: Charlotte Smith and the Revival of the Sonnet Form.
My research considers the place of Charlotte Smith’s Elegiac Sonnets in the eighteenth-century sonnet
revival, as well as in literary history more widely. It traces the expansion of Elegiac Sonnets through
its multiple editions from 1784 to 1800, charting Smith’s changing approach to – and the interactions
between – form, literary tradition and place. The Stephen Copley grant I received was used to meet
travel expenses to the East Sussex Record Office in Lewes in May. The purpose of the trip was to
study the ninety-nine unpublished letters from Charlotte Smith to her publishers Thomas Cadell and
William Davies written between the years 1786 and 1794. The so-called ‘Preston Manor’ letters were
discovered after the publication of The Collected Letters of Charlotte Smith, edited by Judith Phillips
Stanton (2003). The Preston Manor letters span a significant period in Smith’s sonnet career, covering
the publication of the third (1786), fifth (1789) and sixth (1792) editions of Elegiac Sonnets, with
each edition expanding the last; and the period when Smith reached the height of her sonnet success.
Reading the letters was essential to my research. Indeed, they revealed many illuminating details
pertaining to Smith’s literary opinions, influences and relationships during this period when she wrote
many of her most influential sonnets; which have been incorporated into – and have enriched – my
thesis. The titles of books Smith requested from her publishers to read or consult have been an
especially important detail, as a key part of my thesis is considering the influences on Smith’s use of
the sonnet, and what literary works she knew and was reading contemporaneously. The letters were
also illuminating on Smith’s literary relationship with her patron and sonnet predecessor William
Hayley, as well as with William Cowper and John Sargent. Other interesting and relevant details were
also revealed by the letters, such as her plans to publish a collection of sonnet translations, as well as
her activities as an artist – undertaking commissions and planning the illustrations of her sonnets.
In addition to studying the letters, during my research trip I also visited some of the locations of
Smith’s sonnets, chiefly the South Downs locations of her childhood home Bignor Park and the River
Arun, which I would otherwise have been unable to visit. These landscapes have a central role in
Smith’s sonnets and in my thesis; as well as providing me with some useful geographical details, it
was also a thoroughly rewarding and enjoyable experience to see these locations, and I returned to my
thesis with new insight into and renewed enthusiasm for Smith’s sonnets.
Thus, I wish to thank BARS sincerely for awarding me the bursary, and enabling me to make this
invaluable research trip.