A scholarly edition of the letters of the Scottish Romantic poet, Thomas Campbell (1777-1844).

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This research will produce the first scholarly edition of the letters of Thomas Campbell, the ScottishRomantic poet. Campbell has been strangely neglected by recent critics of British Romanticism and isabsent from key twentyfirst century accounts of the period (e.g. Duncan Wu's Romanticism: AnAnthology (2012)). The last full edition of his poems was published in 1907. The only previous editionof his letters is William Beattie's Life and Letters of Thomas Campbell (1849), which published asmall selection of his correspondence, with texts expurgated according to the conventions of the time.Yet as the author of the bestselling poem 'Pleasures of Hope' (1799) and holder of a prominent publicoffice (Rector of Glasgow University), Campbell was a significant figure to his contemporaries. Thisproject will tackle his neglect by:Transcribing from original manuscripts, editing and annotating his letters, thus revealing newinformation about his life, works, and networksWriting two introductory chapters that: (i) explore how and why Campbell was forgotten and whatrecuperating him will add to current knowledge and understanding of British Romanticism and ofcanon formation; (ii) demonstrate how his letters, sent to a wide range of correspondents fromdisparate backgrounds, are key to understanding both Campbell's own career and involvement inwider Romantic period sociability.This thesis builds on my undergraduate work on biography and literary reputation in the Romanticperiod ('Self and the World'), my MA modules 'Textualities' and 'Literary Histories', and MA dissertation,which will edit and analyse Campbell's letters to Mrs. F.C. Arkwright of Derbyshire. My previous handsonexperience working with archival materials from a range of different periods in the Boots Archivesand Chatsworth House and skills acquired at BA and MA in palaeography are directly relevant to andwill facilitate the completion of this project.