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Notes

John Keats' letter to George and Georgiana Keats, Spring 1819

This letter, begun on February 14, 1819 and completed on May 3, 1819, is more like an occasional journal than what we would consider a letter. In it Keats includes stories about his goings-on, questions about the situation of the recipients, quotations from other authors, and versions of his own poems. Among several sonnets and choruses, the letter also contains his famous, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci."

The Commonplace Book of Richard Woodhouse

Commonplace books were used throughout the 17th-19th centuries as places to collect and store information centered more or less around a particular theme or person.

This Commonplace book of poems, etc., mainly by John Keats, was compiled by Richard Woodhouse and is dated November 1818. Woodhouse was an advisor (both legal and literary) to Keats' publishers, Taylor and Hessey. He admired Keats' work, was very generous to the struggling poet, and collected quite a bit of Keatsiana.

This manuscript is housed In the John Keats Collection at the Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University.

Egerton MS

Technically the Egerton MS 2780, this manuscript is housed in the British Library. The handwriting is probably that of George Keats, John's brother.

Keats' ms - Houghton Library, Harvard University

These pages are from an early draft of the poem, in Keats' hand, with revisions.

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