Keats-Shelley Memorial House

26/06/2021

#RomanticFacts

Which food did our beloved Romantics like the most?

John Keats was fond of beef, as attested in some of the letters he wrote. In a letter to his brother George’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Wylie, sent during his walking tour of Scotland in 1818, he revealed that he longed ‘for some famous Beauty [...] to approach me, with [...] a dozen or two capital roast beef Sandwiches.’ On 20 September 1819 he described an encounter with Leigh Hunt in a letter to his brother George and his sister-in-law, Georgiana: ‘He carved some beef exactly to suit my appetite, as if I had been measured for it.’

Percy Bysshe Shelley, on the other hand, was among the first intellectuals to embrace vegetarianism, presenting philosophical arguments around the ethics of meat consumption in A Vindication of Natural Diet (1813). According to his biographer Thomas Jefferson Hogg, Shelley not only abstained from meat and alcohol, but basically had little time for food, consuming mainly bread. However, Hogg also added that Shelley "would greedily eat cakes, gingerbread, and sugar,” even though for certain periods of time he would abstain from sugar in order to protest against the exploitation of plantation slaves toiling "to the sound of the flesh-mangling scourge", to quote a line from Shelley’s philosophical poem Queen Mab.

Lord Byron had a difficult relationship with food. He struggled all his life with weight and appetite problems. His weight ranged from being obese to underweight, especially after he forced himself to follow a very strict diet, as revealed in a letter to his mother dated 25 June 25 1811: 'I have been restricted to an entire vegetable diet neither fish or flesh coming within my regimen, so I expect a powerful stock of potatoes, greens, & biscuit, I drink no wine.'
The same year Byron told his friend John Hobhouse that 'I have been fat, & thin (as I am at present) […], and I have had pains in my side & left off animal food, which last has done me some service, but I expect great things from the coming summer & if well & wealthy shall go to Jerusalem.'

Some recent studies suggest that Byron might have suffered from eating disorders, as intimated in Percy Bysshe's report to Mary Shelley in a letter dated 8 August 1821: 'Lord Byron had almost destroyed himself at Venice: his state of debility was such that he was unable to digest any food – he was consumed by hectic fever, and would speedily have perished but for this attachment which reclaimed him from the excesses into which he threw himself from carelessness & pride rather than taste.'

#RomanticFacts

Which food did our beloved Romantics like the most?

John Keats was fond of beef, as attested in some of the letters he wrote. In a letter to his brother George’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Wylie, sent during his walking tour of Scotland in 1818, he revealed that he longed ‘for some famous Beauty [...] to approach me, with [...] a dozen or two capital roast beef Sandwiches.’ On 20 September 1819 he described an encounter with Leigh Hunt in a letter to his brother George and his sister-in-law, Georgiana: ‘He carved some beef exactly to suit my appetite, as if I had been measured for it.’

Percy Bysshe Shelley, on the other hand, was among the first intellectuals to embrace vegetarianism, presenting philosophical arguments around the ethics of meat consumption in A Vindication of Natural Diet (1813). According to his biographer Thomas Jefferson Hogg, Shelley not only abstained from meat and alcohol, but basically had little time for food, consuming mainly bread. However, Hogg also added that Shelley "would greedily eat cakes, gingerbread, and sugar,” even though for certain periods of time he would abstain from sugar in order to protest against the exploitation of plantation slaves toiling "to the sound of the flesh-mangling scourge", to quote a line from Shelley’s philosophical poem Queen Mab.

Lord Byron had a difficult relationship with food. He struggled all his life with weight and appetite problems. His weight ranged from being obese to underweight, especially after he forced himself to follow a very strict diet, as revealed in a letter to his mother dated 25 June 25 1811: 'I have been restricted to an entire vegetable diet neither fish or flesh coming within my regimen, so I expect a powerful stock of potatoes, greens, & biscuit, I drink no wine.'
The same year Byron told his friend John Hobhouse that 'I have been fat, & thin (as I am at present) […], and I have had pains in my side & left off animal food, which last has done me some service, but I expect great things from the coming summer & if well & wealthy shall go to Jerusalem.'

Some recent studies suggest that Byron might have suffered from eating disorders, as intimated in Percy Bysshe's report to Mary Shelley in a letter dated 8 August 1821: 'Lord Byron had almost destroyed himself at Venice: his state of debility was such that he was unable to digest any food – he was consumed by hectic fever, and would speedily have perished but for this attachment which reclaimed him from the excesses into which he threw himself from carelessness & pride rather than taste.'

23/06/2021

✋✋✋

Would you like to visit the Keats-Shelley Memorial House museum but you're unable to take a trip to Rome because of travel restrictions?

No worries, you can still enjoy a visit to the House though our online Panoramic Tour with a Live Guide.

👉 In the company of one of our expert guides, participants will be able to explore the rooms of the museum including the apartment where Keats died of tuberculosis in 1821 as well as other rooms dedicated to Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, and Lord Byron, as well as our beautiful library. 👈

This interactive tour is available to everyone from everywhere in the world who wants to know more about the romantic poets who lived in, and were inspired by, Italy, and to explore the rooms where John Keats spent the last months of his life.

The Tour lasts about 60 minutes and visitors can interact with their guide and ask questions.

📣 📯 📌
SPECIAL OFFER!!
Anyone who takes the Panoramic Tour of the Keats-Shelley House with a Live Guide in 2021 will be able to enter the museum for free when they visit Rome. The current offer is valid till 24 December 2021. Simply keep your e-ticket code and present it to staff at the museum ticket shop when you visit.

👇👇👇
Book your tour here:
https://ksh.roma.it/panoramic-tour - and remember to save your e-ticket code so you can visit the House for free when you're next in Rome.

📹🎥📽
Here's an immersive video preview of the Keats-Shelley House in 360 degrees before booking your visit: https://bit.ly/3zQC7kF

22/06/2021

#KeatsShelley200 #KS200 #Shelley200

In 1813 Percy Bysshe Shelley published his first major poetic work, Queen Mab, which had to be published anonymously and privately because of the provocative political and religious views it contained.

In 1817 Shelley was finally recognised as its author and in 1821, a year before his death, was persuaded by his friends to write an exoneratory letter which was published in The Examiner #onthisday 200 years ago:

TO THE EDITOR OF THE 'EXAMINER.'
Sir,
Having heard that a poem entitled “Queen Mab” has been surreptitiously published in London, and that legal proceedings have been instituted against the publisher, I request the favour of your insertion of the following explanation of the affair, as it relates to me.
A poem entitled “Queen Mab” was written by me at the age of eighteen, I daresay in a sufficiently intemperate spirit--but even then was not intended for publication, and a few copies only were struck off, to be distributed among my personal friends. I have not seen this production for several years. I doubt not but that it is perfectly worthless in point of literary composition; and that, in all that concerns moral and political speculation, as well as in the subtler discriminations of metaphysical and religious doctrine, it is still more crude and immature. I am a devoted enemy to religious, political, and domestic oppression; and I regret this publication, not so much from literary vanity, as because I fear it is better fitted to injure than to serve the sacred cause of freedom. I have directed my solicitor to apply to Chancery for an injunction to restrain the sale; but, after the precedent of Mr. Southey's “Wat Tyler” (a poem written, I believe, at the same age, and with the same unreflecting enthusiasm), with little hope of success.
Whilst I exonerate myself from all share in having divulged opinions hostile to existing sanctions, under the form, whatever it may be, which they assume in this poem, it is scarcely necessary for me to protest against the system of inculcating the truth of Christianity or the excellence of Monarchy, however true or however excellent they may be, by such equivocal arguments as confiscation and imprisonment, and invective and slander, and the insolent violation of the most sacred ties of Nature and society.
SIR,
I am your obliged and obedient servant,
PERCY B. SHELLEY.
Pisa, June 22, 1821.

[Image: 'Queen Mab's cave,' Joseph Mallord William Turner, oil on canvas, Tate Collection, 1846]

#KeatsShelley200 #KS200 #Shelley200

In 1813 Percy Bysshe Shelley published his first major poetic work, Queen Mab, which had to be published anonymously and privately because of the provocative political and religious views it contained.

In 1817 Shelley was finally recognised as its author and in 1821, a year before his death, was persuaded by his friends to write an exoneratory letter which was published in The Examiner #onthisday 200 years ago:

TO THE EDITOR OF THE 'EXAMINER.'
Sir,
Having heard that a poem entitled “Queen Mab” has been surreptitiously published in London, and that legal proceedings have been instituted against the publisher, I request the favour of your insertion of the following explanation of the affair, as it relates to me.
A poem entitled “Queen Mab” was written by me at the age of eighteen, I daresay in a sufficiently intemperate spirit--but even then was not intended for publication, and a few copies only were struck off, to be distributed among my personal friends. I have not seen this production for several years. I doubt not but that it is perfectly worthless in point of literary composition; and that, in all that concerns moral and political speculation, as well as in the subtler discriminations of metaphysical and religious doctrine, it is still more crude and immature. I am a devoted enemy to religious, political, and domestic oppression; and I regret this publication, not so much from literary vanity, as because I fear it is better fitted to injure than to serve the sacred cause of freedom. I have directed my solicitor to apply to Chancery for an injunction to restrain the sale; but, after the precedent of Mr. Southey's “Wat Tyler” (a poem written, I believe, at the same age, and with the same unreflecting enthusiasm), with little hope of success.
Whilst I exonerate myself from all share in having divulged opinions hostile to existing sanctions, under the form, whatever it may be, which they assume in this poem, it is scarcely necessary for me to protest against the system of inculcating the truth of Christianity or the excellence of Monarchy, however true or however excellent they may be, by such equivocal arguments as confiscation and imprisonment, and invective and slander, and the insolent violation of the most sacred ties of Nature and society.
SIR,
I am your obliged and obedient servant,
PERCY B. SHELLEY.
Pisa, June 22, 1821.

[Image: 'Queen Mab's cave,' Joseph Mallord William Turner, oil on canvas, Tate Collection, 1846]

18/06/2021

The star jasmine in our shop's courtyard is in bloom!

The star jasmine in our shop's courtyard is in bloom!

14/06/2021

‘A Budding Morrow in Midnight’: Facing Challenges and Embracing Opportunities during Lockdown at the Keats-Shelley House Museum in Rome

The Keats-Shelley House is delighted to be part of this special issue of 19 Live published by Birkbeck, University of London, exploring the challenges and opportunities of curating 19th-century collections and museums during lockdown.

You can read our curator Giuseppe Albano's article alongside papers from Sir John Soane's Museum, Charles Dickens Museum, and Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott.

https://19.bbk.ac.uk/article/id/4375/

Giuseppe Albano discusses the activities of the Keats-Shelley House, Rome during the period of lockdown in Italy.

08/06/2021

#KeatsShelley200 #KS200 #Shelley200
#OnThisDay in 1821 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a letter to his publisher Charles Ollier to let him know that his pastoral elegy Adonais was ready for publication. In the letter, Shelley also reinforces the myth that a harsh criticism in The Quarterly Review had worsened John Keats's health and pushed him towards death:

Dear Sir,
You may announce for publication a poem entitled" Adonais.” It is a lament on the death of poor Keats, with some interposed stabs on the assassins of his peace and of his fame; and will be preceded by a criticism on “Hyperion,” asserting the due claims which that fragment gives him to the rank which I have assigned him. My poem is finished, and consists of about forty Spenser stanzas. I shall send it to you, either printed at Pisa, or transcribed in such a manner as it shall be difficult for the reviser to leave such errors as assist the obscurity of the “Prometheus.” But, in case I send it printed, it will be merely that mistakes may be avoided; [so] that I shall only have a few copies struck off in the cheapest manner. If you have interest enough in the subject, I could wish that you inquired of some of the friends and relations of Keats respecting the circumstances of his death, and could transmit me any information you may be able to collect, and especially as to the degree in which, as I am assured, the brutal attack in the Quarterly Review excited the disease by which he perished. I have received no answer to my last letter to you. Have you received my contribution to your magazine?
Dear Sir,
Yours very sincerely,
P. B. Shelley

#KeatsShelley200 #KS200 #Shelley200
#OnThisDay in 1821 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a letter to his publisher Charles Ollier to let him know that his pastoral elegy Adonais was ready for publication. In the letter, Shelley also reinforces the myth that a harsh criticism in The Quarterly Review had worsened John Keats's health and pushed him towards death:

Dear Sir,
You may announce for publication a poem entitled" Adonais.” It is a lament on the death of poor Keats, with some interposed stabs on the assassins of his peace and of his fame; and will be preceded by a criticism on “Hyperion,” asserting the due claims which that fragment gives him to the rank which I have assigned him. My poem is finished, and consists of about forty Spenser stanzas. I shall send it to you, either printed at Pisa, or transcribed in such a manner as it shall be difficult for the reviser to leave such errors as assist the obscurity of the “Prometheus.” But, in case I send it printed, it will be merely that mistakes may be avoided; [so] that I shall only have a few copies struck off in the cheapest manner. If you have interest enough in the subject, I could wish that you inquired of some of the friends and relations of Keats respecting the circumstances of his death, and could transmit me any information you may be able to collect, and especially as to the degree in which, as I am assured, the brutal attack in the Quarterly Review excited the disease by which he perished. I have received no answer to my last letter to you. Have you received my contribution to your magazine?
Dear Sir,
Yours very sincerely,
P. B. Shelley

03/06/2021

Thanks to Brian Selznick for doing a sterling job as guest judge of the 30th annual Keats-Shelley House Poetry Prize for Schools. And congratulations to all winners and runners up who came up with some brilliant poems.

Hear Brian's presentation and his favourite twelve poems in English and Italian here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5EQyWUzICA

Details of next year's Prize will be announced in January 2022.

Photo: Children's author and illustrator and KSH Poetry Prize Judge Brian Selznick with American Academy in Rome Prize fellow David Serlin at the Non-Catholic Cemetery

Thanks to Brian Selznick for doing a sterling job as guest judge of the 30th annual Keats-Shelley House Poetry Prize for Schools. And congratulations to all winners and runners up who came up with some brilliant poems.

Hear Brian's presentation and his favourite twelve poems in English and Italian here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5EQyWUzICA

Details of next year's Prize will be announced in January 2022.

Photo: Children's author and illustrator and KSH Poetry Prize Judge Brian Selznick with American Academy in Rome Prize fellow David Serlin at the Non-Catholic Cemetery