William Godwin's Diary

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

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This person is mentioned in the diary a total of 458 times, but was not at home (N) 7 times, and was a venue (V) 44 times.

You may also examine their meals and meetings in more detail.

1812

6  January  1812 13  January  1812 20  January  1812 3  March  1812 4  March  1812 14  March  1812 30  March  1812 1  June  1812 6  June  1812 17  June  1812 24  June  1812 8  July  1812 15  July  1812 24  July  1812 31  July  1812 24  August  1812 31  August  1812 7  September  1812 13  September  1812 4  October  1812 4  October  1812 5  October  1812 5  October  1812 6  October  1812 7  October  1812 7  October  1812 9  October  1812 11  October  1812 11  October  1812 (V) 12  October  1812 (V) 14  October  1812 16  October  1812 (V) 18  October  1812 21  October  1812 23  October  1812 24  October  1812 1  November  1812 4  November  1812 4  November  1812 4  November  1812 (V) 5  November  1812 7  November  1812 (V) 7  November  1812 9  November  1812 11  November  1812 13  November  1812 18  November  1812 25  November  1812 10  December  1812

1813

25  January  1813 11  February  1813 26  February  1813 27  February  1813 2  March  1813 30  March  1813 8  June  1813 (V) 8  June  1813 8  June  1813 (V) 9  June  1813 10  June  1813 11  June  1813 (NV) 12  June  1813 13  June  1813 (V) 17  June  1813 (NV) 20  June  1813 21  June  1813 25  June  1813 (NV) 27  June  1813 28  June  1813 30  June  1813 (V) 2  July  1813 (V) 4  July  1813 (V) 5  July  1813 10  July  1813 (V) 14  July  1813 17  July  1813 (V) 24  July  1813 12  August  1813 14  August  1813 17  August  1813 18  August  1813 19  August  1813 19  August  1813 19  August  1813 20  August  1813 23  August  1813 25  August  1813 26  August  1813 29  August  1813 30  August  1813 4  September  1813 7  September  1813 17  September  1813 23  September  1813 28  September  1813 4  October  1813 6  October  1813 15  October  1813 19  October  1813 1  November  1813 7  November  1813 12  November  1813 25  November  1813 2  December  1813 7  December  1813 9  December  1813 10  December  1813 11  December  1813 11  December  1813 11  December  1813 12  December  1813 15  December  1813 (N) 18  December  1813 19  December  1813 27  December  1813 (V) 31  December  1813

1814

21  January  1814 22  January  1814 23  January  1814 24  January  1814 27  January  1814 5  February  1814 8  February  1814 12  February  1814 19  February  1814 (V) 4  March  1814 5  March  1814 7  March  1814 8  March  1814 8  March  1814 9  March  1814 14  March  1814 18  March  1814 22  March  1814 (V) 23  March  1814 30  March  1814 31  March  1814 1  April  1814 9  April  1814 16  April  1814 23  April  1814 3  May  1814 5  May  1814 6  May  1814 10  May  1814 11  May  1814 13  May  1814 18  May  1814 20  May  1814 23  May  1814 26  May  1814 26  May  1814 27  May  1814 30  May  1814 1  June  1814 2  June  1814 4  June  1814 7  June  1814 8  June  1814 10  June  1814 13  June  1814 18  June  1814 19  June  1814 20  June  1814 21  June  1814 22  June  1814 23  June  1814 24  June  1814 25  June  1814 26  June  1814 26  June  1814 27  June  1814 27  June  1814 28  June  1814 29  June  1814 29  June  1814 30  June  1814 1  July  1814 2  July  1814 2  July  1814 3  July  1814 4  July  1814 5  July  1814 6  July  1814 6  July  1814 7  July  1814 7  July  1814 8  July  1814 9  July  1814 10  July  1814 11  July  1814 11  July  1814 11  July  1814 11  July  1814 12  July  1814 12  July  1814 12  July  1814 14  July  1814 15  July  1814 15  July  1814 16  July  1814 (V) 16  July  1814 18  July  1814 25  July  1814 16  September  1814 (V) 22  September  1814 22  September  1814 7  November  1814 23  November  1814

1815

14  January  1815 23  March  1815 21  April  1815 11  November  1815 17  November  1815 21  November  1815 22  November  1815 25  November  1815 8  December  1815 11  December  1815 23  December  1815 27  December  1815

1816

1  January  1816 3  January  1816 13  January  1816 17  January  1816 20  January  1816 22  January  1816 24  January  1816 26  January  1816 17  February  1816 19  February  1816 23  February  1816 26  February  1816 28  February  1816 5  March  1816 6  March  1816 7  March  1816 8  March  1816 10  March  1816 17  March  1816 21  March  1816 23  March  1816 23  March  1816 (N) 24  March  1816 (N) 31  March  1816 29  May  1816 27  June  1816 28  June  1816 4  August  1816 3  October  1816 11  October  1816 13  October  1816 13  October  1816 14  October  1816 21  October  1816 9  November  1816 23  November  1816 5  December  1816 13  December  1816 16  December  1816 17  December  1816 18  December  1816 18  December  1816 20  December  1816 26  December  1816 27  December  1816 28  December  1816 28  December  1816 29  December  1816 30  December  1816 30  December  1816 31  December  1816

1817

8  January  1817 9  January  1817 11  January  1817 13  January  1817 14  January  1817 20  January  1817 22  January  1817 24  January  1817 (NV) 26  January  1817 26  January  1817 28  January  1817 29  January  1817 30  January  1817 30  January  1817 31  January  1817 31  January  1817 1  February  1817 4  February  1817 6  February  1817 7  February  1817 8  February  1817 10  February  1817 11  February  1817 12  February  1817 15  February  1817 16  February  1817 20  February  1817 21  February  1817 23  February  1817 26  February  1817 4  March  1817 8  March  1817 17  March  1817 20  March  1817 25  March  1817 28  March  1817 2  April  1817 (V) 3  April  1817 4  April  1817 5  April  1817 6  April  1817 15  April  1817 17  April  1817 18  April  1817 21  April  1817 22  April  1817 25  April  1817 29  April  1817 30  April  1817 9  May  1817 12  May  1817 23  May  1817 23  May  1817 24  May  1817 26  May  1817 14  June  1817 18  June  1817 26  June  1817 28  June  1817 30  June  1817 2  July  1817 4  July  1817 5  July  1817 8  July  1817 10  July  1817 15  July  1817 22  July  1817 24  July  1817 26  July  1817 28  July  1817 2  August  1817 9  August  1817 13  August  1817 20  August  1817 9  September  1817 15  September  1817 19  September  1817 20  September  1817 23  September  1817 25  September  1817 29  September  1817 1  October  1817 2  October  1817 2  October  1817 7  October  1817 9  October  1817 13  October  1817 14  October  1817 15  October  1817 16  October  1817 18  October  1817 19  October  1817 20  October  1817 21  October  1817 22  October  1817 22  October  1817 23  October  1817 23  October  1817 30  October  1817 2  November  1817 9  November  1817 (V) 10  November  1817 10  November  1817 (V) 11  November  1817 11  November  1817 (V) 13  November  1817 13  November  1817 (V) 14  November  1817 15  November  1817 (V) 15  November  1817 16  November  1817 17  November  1817 18  November  1817 (V) 19  November  1817 19  November  1817 20  November  1817 21  November  1817 6  December  1817 9  December  1817 10  December  1817 15  December  1817 17  December  1817 18  December  1817 24  December  1817 27  December  1817 29  December  1817

1818

1  January  1818 3  January  1818 9  January  1818 13  January  1818 16  January  1818 17  January  1818 19  January  1818 23  January  1818 27  January  1818 30  January  1818 31  January  1818 31  January  1818 2  February  1818 3  February  1818 5  February  1818 10  February  1818 17  February  1818 22  February  1818 24  February  1818 25  February  1818 4  March  1818 5  March  1818 6  March  1818 7  March  1818 (V) 8  March  1818 9  March  1818 9  March  1818 (V) 10  March  1818 10  March  1818 (V) 10  April  1818 1  June  1818 2  June  1818 9  June  1818 20  June  1818 (V) 7  July  1818 10  July  1818 17  July  1818 19  August  1818 25  August  1818 19  October  1818 21  October  1818 27  October  1818 13  November  1818

1819

7  January  1819 (V) 21  January  1819 (V) 26  January  1819 (V) 11  February  1819 (V) 12  February  1819 (V) 5  March  1819 (V) 16  March  1819 (V) 23  March  1819 (V) 14  May  1819 (V) 10  June  1819 (V) 29  June  1819 (V) 26  November  1819

1820

25  August  1820 29  August  1820 26  October  1820

1822

8  July  1822 16  July  1822

  • Name: Shelley, Percy Bysshe
  • Gender: Male
  • Birth Date: 4  August  1792
  • Death Date: 8  July  1822

Percy Shelley contacted Godwin in January 1812 having been an enthusiastic reader of Political Justice. The two men met in October and, as Godwin's financial position worsened, he increasingly looked to Shelley to save his fortunes. Shelley was then married to Harriet, who was also introduced to the Godwin household. Just as it seemed that Shelley might finally be in a position to rescue Godwin's finances by selling a post-obit bond in July 1814, he announced that he could give Godwin only half of the money raised. He also declared his love for Godwin's daughter Mary. Godwin was horrified, and still more distressed when the couple eloped taking Godwin's step-daughter Jane with them. There followed two years in which Godwin could hardly bear to communicate with his daughter and in which he refused to see Shelley, while bombarding him with letters asking for financial support. When Shelley's wife Harriet committed suicide (7 December 1816), Godwin was desperate for the couple to marry, and when they did on 30 December 1816, Godwin readmitted them to his house. Godwin's relationship with Shelley was contaminated from the start by the prospect that Shelley might solve Godwin's financial problems and throughout Shelley's life Godwin pressed him for money. After the Shelleys' departure for Italy in March 1818, Godwin became ever more demanding and desperate. For a time, Shelley intercepted his letters to Mary because of her precarious health.

In 1812-1813 we have assumed that meals at Shelley's include Harriet. The one caveat is that Shelley and Harriet become estranged in 1813 and Shelley was likely to have been in London on his own at points. The last entry where Harriet might be included with Shelley is 17 July 1813, 'Dine at Shelley's'.

See the discussion of the coding for Mary Shelley.

Various place names have been coded for Percy Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley when Godwin writes letters to Livorno, Lucca, Florence, Napoli during 1818-19.

There is also a 'Percy problem' in coding. There is a code for Joseph Clinton Robertson, pseud. Sholto Percy, but this identification is very tentative - we have no evidence for any relationship and it is also unusual for Godwin to refer to someone by their pseudonym. Moreover, the DNB suggests that Robertson did not achieve literary success until the 1820s and did not adopt the Sholto Percy pseudonym until he began writing The Percy Anecdotes in 1821 yet the majority of Godwin's refs to a 'Percy' come several years before this. In addition, there is both Reuben Percy and Sholto Percy, Reuben being a pseudonym for Thomas Byerley - and there seems no reason to privilege Sholto over Reuben. So the identification of this Percy is unclear. However, it is clear that there is a Percy who needs distinguishing from Shelley, for a detailed discussion of these see Percy.

From 1826 Percy entries have been consistently coded for Percy Shelley junr, who is eight in the November of that year. The evidence suggests that from this point on (around 100 references 1826-36) Godwin uses Percy to refer to his grandson. He appears with Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in a lot of entries and we know that on 27 March 1828, 'Percy to Slater' refers to Percy junr entering Edward Slater's Gentlemen's Academy, Church Street, Kensington. There are quite a lot of Percy entries dining alone with Godwin (at the Godwin's) but the majority of entries show a connection to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

  • DNB.
  • St Clair.
  • Richard Holmes, Shelley: The Pursuit (London: Harper Perennial, 2005).

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.

Name Number of Meetings
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (née Godwin) 46
Shelley, Harriet (née Westbrook) 23
Newton, John Frank 8
Godwin, Mary Jane (Clairmont) (née de Vial) 7
Peacock, Thomas Love 6
Hunt, Leigh James Henry 6
Marshall, James 5
Hayward, Richard 4
Ballachey, G B 4
Hookham, Thomas 4
Hitchener, Elizabeth 4
Hunt, John 3
Clairmont, Clara Mary Jane (Claire) 3
Pilcher, 3
Brougham, Henry Peter 2
Montagu, Basil 2
Nash, Andrew and George 2
Hazlitt, William 2
Hogg, Thomas Jefferson 2
Clairmont, Charles 2
Imlay, Fanny (Godwin) 2
Newton, Cornelia (née Boinville) 2
Wolcot, Dr John (pseudonym Peter Pindar) 1
Ollier, Charles 1
Ogilvie, James (Ogilvy) 1
Hazlitt, Sarah (née Stoddart) 1
Hammond, Elton (Hamond) 1
Longdill, Pynson Wilmot 1
Godwin, William 1
Coulson, Walter 1
Place, Francis 1
Hurst, Thomas 1
Lawrence, James Henry (Chevalier) 1
Smith, Horatio (Horace) 1
Stone, John 1
Patrickson, Patrick 1
Fenwick, Elizabeth (Eliza) (née Jaco, pseudonym Reverend David Blair) 1
Curran, John Philpot 1
Rosser, Henry (Blanche) 1