By Himself

by Clare, John; Robinson, Eric; Powell, David

• ISBN13: 9781857542882
• ISBN10: 1857542886
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-08-01
• Publisher: FyfieldBooks

Summary

This volume brings together, in definitive form, all of John Clare's important autobiographical writings. HisAutobiographical Fragments, Journal, andSketchesare set alongside his famousJourney out of Essex. Maps of Clare's countryside, his will, and extracts from his asylum letters are also included, presenting the author in all his guisesploughboy, gardener, and militiaman; lover and husband; acquaintance of Hazlitt, Lamb, and Coleridge; and finally, inmate in an asylum.

Author Biography

John Clare was an English rural-poet and storyteller, commonly known as the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet. David Powell was the librarian at Nene College, Northampton. Eric Robinson is a professor of modern history at the University of Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
Sketches in the Life of John Clare	1	(31)
More Hints in the Life etc	32	(2)
Autobiographical Fragments	34	(132)
Appendix: Clare's Notes for his Autobiography	166	(5)
John Clare's Journal	171	(73)
Some Brief Observations	244	(1)
Memorandums	245	(2)
Clare's Will and Related Observations	247	(1)
Business Dealings with Edward Drury and John Taylor	248	(3)
The Will o Whisp or Jack a Lanthorn	251	(2)
A Remarkable Dream	253	(3)
'Closes of greensward...'	256	(1)
Journey out of Essex	257	(9)
Asylum Observations	266	(3)
Letter to Matthew Allen, c.27 August 1841	269	(2)
Self Identity	271	(1)
Autumn	272	(4)
Letters and Notes of the Northampton Period	276	(8)
Notes	284	(60)
Glossary	344	(4)
Index	348