Thomas Chatterton Manuscript Project
Poet - Storyteller - Playwright
Sold by a major auction house as a supposed portrait of Chatterton.
The Dix image coloured
The infamous Goggle- Eyed portrait. This is the earliest attempt at a likeness of Chatterton but it has no authority.
Sold by a major auction house as a supposed portrait of Chatterton.
'Portraits of Chatterton' ?
Slide Gallery - Click for info.
Introduction
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Preview of Site Contents
Bristol is the birthplace of Thomas Chatterton and for this reason alone his home city should be the main repository of Chattertonian manuscripts. However, we are unlikely to persuade the major institutions to give up their treasured manuscripts and so we aim for high quality photographic reproductions instead; and we won't rest until Bristol has a copy of every Chattertonian manuscript; for surely the only true way forward in research and discovery is to view and read the original source documents.
The original aim of the Thomas Chatterton Manuscript Project (TCMP) was to present a complete view of Chatterton's Life & Works through original manuscripts & important early printings, however, the Project has now grown to include biographies, bibliographies, associations & influences, & much more besides.
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We are fortunate that Chatterton's works have been analysed by the likes of the 'Romantic Poets' and by more academics than you can shake a stick at; the list of these commentators stretches from the 1770s to the present day and can be read here : View.
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Evaluating the quality or technical contents of Chatterton's works rests with anyone capable of picking up the Strunge Bataunt and running with it! However, I can recommend the books and lectures of Nick Groom, and so you might like to read his recent 'Chatterton Lecture' regarding Chatterton's 'anti-slavery' works, the African Eclogues : Nick Groom's 'Chatterton Lecture : View
The Thomas Chatterton Manuscript Project (TCMP) is an altruistic, self-funded, endeavour, which relies on the pro bono supply of photographic reproductions of the manuscripts held by wealthy institutions and others ; and so it gives us great pleasure to thank the following for their commitment to the TCMP :
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Bristol Reference Library & Archives : Second only to the British Library in its store of Chatterton autograph Mss, but ahead in its range of other related manuscripts, especially the Mss notebooks of George Symes Catcott & Richard Smith (Bristol surgeon). Photographed by [.QE!.]
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The British Library : The main repository of Chattertonian manuscripts. My thanks go to Catherine Angerson, who has been very patient in reaction to my extended requests, and has helped me get prepared for my visit (which will hopefully be during the early months of 2024), by supplying me with advice and key images of the main sets of Chatterton's autograph manuscripts.
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The Bodleian : It was a true joy to visit the Bodleian in 2023. The arrangements for my visit were made in quick order and I now have photographs of Chatterton's handwritten works, which he wrote onto the end papers of Catcott's 'A Treatise on the Deluge.' Photographed by [.QE!.]
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The Turnbull Library, New Zealand : Supplied the TCMP with images of Catcott’s Autograph Ms on 25 blank pages bound with a 1778 edition of ‘Rowley’s’ Poems. My thanks go to Anthony T. MA FSA, Curator Rare Books and Fine Printing : View
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QE! : The author and editor of this website and founding member of the Thomas Chatterton Society (2002), has supplied images galore of Chattertonian works from his collection of early periodicals and editions, many of which are not available online. Plus a copy of the lower portion of Chatterton's letter to his mother, 14th May 1770 : View
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Tom Routledge : A much admired friend and founding member of the Thomas Chatterton Society (2002). Tom gathered a fine collection of Chattertonian first editions, which, after Tom's passing, now reside at a Canadian university. He kindly supplied me with photographs of his fragment of Chatterton's letter to his sister and allowed us to publish it in the project : View
Locations of Chattertonian Manuscripts - Copies Required
Requests for pro bono images are in with the following :
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The British Library : The BL is the repository of William Barrett's Chattertonian manuscripts. Barrett gave his collection of manuscripts to Dr Glynn with the intention that they would end up in Bristol Library/Museum, however, Dr. Glynn's bequest donated them to the BL. See the above panel for our progress to date regarding the Mss held by the BL ; the help and commitment received so far is simply wonderful!.
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Harvard Library : I opened an account 23rd August 2023, via the Harvard Hollis (Harvard On-Line Library Information System), and have asked for the pro bono supply of the following:​
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ITEM Identifier: MS Hyde 10, (128): Chatterton, Thomas, 1752-1770. Autograph letter, signed, Redclift Hill, Bristol (England), to James Dodsley, 1768 Dec. 21., 1768​
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​ITEM Identifier: MS Hyde 10, (129): Chatterton, Thomas, 1752-1770. Sly Dick: autograph manuscript, [1764], [1764]; Also includes his A Hymn for Christmas Day.
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Notes : concerning Thomas Chatterton : manuscript, 1792 Catcott, George Symes. Houghton Library Gen (MS ENG 506).​​
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More to add in due course.
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The above cutting is from Tyrwhitt's edition of 'Rowley's' Works, 1777. Tyrwhitt was the first editor to publish a comprehensive collection of Chatterton's works, which kick-started the controversy, that had its birth in October 1768 when the first 'Rowley' work to be published, The Mayor's First Passing over the Old Bridge, was printed in a Bristol Newspaper:
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TIMELINE
Thomas Chatterton's Life
with
Links to important phases
No known portraits of Chatterton exist - so the onus is on the seller to produce provenance and proof - buyer beware!
My preferred 'portrait of Chatterton.' A version of the portrait from Dix 1837. It is the one most associated with the poet. It's a bit like a calling a vacuum cleaner a Hoover. It is as much likely to be Chatterton, as Shakespeare is to be Shakespeare!
A bit too romantic a study. Chatterton is understood to have been stocky and of short stature.
No known portraits of Chatterton exist - so the onus is on the seller to produce provenance and proof - buyer beware!
There are many 'images of Chatterton'
But which, if any, are genuine? ...View
Chatterton's Short Life lasted from 20 November 1752 to 24/25 August 1770.
A bald and stark statement of a tiny existence - a total of 17 years and 9 months.
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Break it down and it becomes truly stark:
At 5 or 6 years of age he joined Pile Street Charity school, but lasted only 4 weeks after being rejected as being too dull to learn: ..read more
He spent the next 109 weeks being home schooled by Sarah, his mother, with the help of his sister, Mary.
He was then 'imprisoned' for 359 weeks as a pupil at Colston's Hospital, a charity based, boarding school, where basic education only was taught, consisting of : reading, writing, accounts, maths, along with religious indoctrination - just enough education to ready him for his future occupation : ..read more
On the 1st July 1767, he started his unpaid apprenticeship as a scrivener at an Attorney's owned by Mr Lambert. He also lodged at Lambert's house, sharing a room with another boy, this job lasted just 143 weeks : ...read more
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After his indentures were cancelled by Lambert he moved to Shoreditch, London, where he shared a bed with the son of his relative, Mrs Ballance; this stopover last for just 37 days : ...read more
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This is the point when Chatterton broke free and made his final move. He took an attic room in Mrs Angel's house, in Brooke Street, Holborn, London - some privacy at last - but he lasted just 85 days and died on the 24th / 25th August 1770! ...read more
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A short life indeed! But as short as it was he still got his wish to have his name blown about the world; his fame reached many countries & stretched across the centuries.
Not bad for a poet who was 'But a boy!'
The Rowley & Anti-Rowley Debate
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The argument for and against the authenticity of Chatterton's 'Rowley' works raged on for years.
Of Chatterton he said: It is wonderful how the whelp has written such things."
Of Chatterton he said: It is wonderful how the whelp has written such things."
Slide Gallery 1
The Anti-Rowleians
The earliest 'portrait of Chatterton'. It appeared in The Monthly Visitor for 1797.
The first widely accepted image of Chatterton but later proven to be a fake perpetrated by Dix in his 1837 edition of the life of Chatterton.
The earliest 'portrait of Chatterton'. It appeared in The Monthly Visitor for 1797.
Slide Gallery 2
Thomas Chatterton
I actually love Jeremiah Milles edition of 'Rowley's Works' 1782. It sits well on the shelf!
Slide Gallery 3
The Rowleians
The list of protagonists in Slide Galleries 1 & 3, comes from Hyett & Bazeley's Chattertoniana : View.
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Slide Gallery 1 : The Anti-Rowleians,
The Anti-Rowleians were convinced that Chatterton was indeed the author of the works of Rowley, as well as the works of the other characters he created.
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Slide Gallery 2 : Thomas Chatterton
Do note that the image of 'Chatterton' in Gallery 2 switches its view from left to right. The 'Chatterton' image facing left, is the infamous Dix frontispiece, from 1837 : View.
The 'Chatterton' image facing right is by H. D. Symonds, it is from The Monthly Visitor, 1797, and is known as the 'Goggle Eyed' Chatterton; it also contains a small biography of Chatterton : View.
It seems to me that the 'Goggle Eyed' Chatterton is an attempt to pick up on the claim that Chatterton had eyes that blazed, especially his left eye!
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Slide Gallery 3 : The Rowleians
The Rowleians were convinced that it was impossible for a young and poorly educated boy to produce such an amazing body of work.
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Then there were those who were Rowleians to begin with but who came to accept that Chatterton was the author and are now in both Slide Galleries. Thomas Tyrwhitt is an example, as he appears in both Galleries; Tyrwhitt was a Rowleian right up until he published his first edition of 'Rowley's' works in 1777; and yet he published with caveats rather than risk committing to Chatterton as the author; this is clear in Tyrwhitt's correspondence with George Catcott : View.
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The Thomas Chatterton Manuscript Project
Samples of Original Documents for Research & Analysis.
Chatterton's poems fill an 8vo book, but which ones are really his? ...read more
Who is Thomas Rowley, priest? Was he discovered or invented, or a bit of both!
This delightful pre-1918 postcard, tells the story of Chatterton's 'discovery' of the 'Rowley' manuscripts, which he claimed to have discovered in the coffers stored in the Muniment Room of St Mary Redcliffe church; it goes on to picture his sad demise in the pose from Henry Wallis's famous painting, 'The Death of Chatterton.' The Thomas Chatterton Manuscript Project goes a little deeper & to the source!
A Sample of Chatterton's Works at 15 Years of Age.
The American Declaration of Independence.
In 1777, The Annual Register published one of the earliest printings of the 'Birth Certificate' of America.
In the same edition it printed some of Chatterton's works:
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'An Account of the finding or forging of some very ingenious Poems, attributed to Thomas Rowley, a Priest of Bristol, in the fifteenth Century...'
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Along with
'Bristowe Tragedie or The Dethe of Syr Charles Bawdin...' and 'A Short Account of William Cannings, the Person so often mentioned in the preceding Article, Founder of St. Mary Redcliffe's Church in Bristol, Wrote by the foregoing Thomas Roulie, Prieste, in the Year 1460.'
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A total of 21 pages for Chatterton and just 10 pages for the article on the American Declaration of Independence. A silly but fun fact! Click the links below the cuttings to read the works:
Chatterton's Bristowe Tragedie :
A Review of Chatterton's Life & Works :
The American Declaration of Independence :
Analyse, Research, Consider & Decide
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Is the following Manuscript the original or is it a copy by an unknown hand? Some say original, others say copy! This is an excellent one to investigate as you can now, thanks to the Chatterton Manuscript Project, compare the handwriting of this manuscript to the various other manuscripts by potential scribes and then decide for yourself. I use this specific manuscript, which is held at Bristol Reference Library, as the backdrop for the website, so you can guess my own view.
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Click the image below to read more...
Bristows Tragedy or the Death of Sr Charles Bawdin : View
Composed by Chatterton in 1768.
Thomas Rowley -:- Chatterton's Alter Ego
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More than 20 years after Chatterton's death his works were still being published as Rowley's.
The two following examples are quite stunning: The first example is in, of all things, Bristol : An Abstract of the City Charter (1792). Where the editor includes the Song to Ella:
Bristol : An Abstract of the City Charter (1792) - Title Page
Bristol : An Abstract of the City Charter Song Ella
The second example is in Old Ballads by Thomas Evans, 1784, which includes The Execution of Sir Charles Bawdin (aka Bristows Tragedy or the Death of Sr Charles Bawdin). This is the first poem in Volume 2 . Evans also includes The Song to Ælle in Volume 1. As far as the editor is concerned, Rowley is the author and Chatterton is not mentioned in the book. A new edition of Old Ballads appeared in 1810 but without 'Rowlie's' works. Perhaps the editor had realised his mistake.
The Death of Chatterton
We all know that George Meredith was the model for Wallis's famous painting; but did you know that the gruesome image with the rats, by Bartolozzi, which was listed as The Death of Chatterton by the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, is not a representation of the death of Chatterton at all - or is it? It was engraved for the poem Retirement by James Henry Leigh Hunt, and can be seen in his book Juvenilia, 1802.
Death of Chatterton by Edward Orme. The earliest representation of this scene, engraved in 1794. Certainly looks like the inspiration for Henry Wallis's painting in 1856. Although, John Cranch also painted 'The Death of Chatterton' which I have been unable to trace.
A delightful little watercolour by John Absolon. The auction house claimed it was entitled The Death of Chatterton, however, it is actually called 'The First Night in a Convent'. The model lying in the Chatterton pose, is actually a young nun - and she is sleeping, not dying!
We all know that George Meredith was the model for Wallis's famous painting; but did you know that the gruesome image with the rats, by Bartolozzi, which was listed as The Death of Chatterton by the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, is not a representation of the death of Chatterton at all - or is it? It was engraved for the poem Retirement by James Henry Leigh Hunt, and can be seen in his book Juvenilia, 1802.
Did Chatterton commit suicide or was his death a tragic accident?
View the latest evidence, which indicates an accidental overdose.
On the 24th August, 1770, when Thomas Chatterton, was 12 weeks short of his 18th birthday, he swallowed a 'kill or cure' potion of opium and arsenic. Imagine the horrific sight when they broke into his attic room on the morning of the 25th and found him dead on his bed with scraps of torn manuscripts scattered about the floor and an empty phial of the hateful medication on the windowsill.
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It is well to remember that Wallis's fabulous painting tells not the true story of that night, instead we should refer to the engraving by Orme after Ralph Lamar West : View, which is closer to the truth of it; but that was not the end of Thomas Chatterton, not even close to the end; in the years ahead he would achieve the worldwide fame that eluded him when he was alive: View to read more
It is now thought that Chatterton was hoping to use the hateful mixture to clear an STD and stop the fire raging within his body - he was 12 weeks short of his 18th birthday!
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After his death Chatterton became famous the world over; dozens of books were written about him and his amazing works; his story also appeared in newspapers and magazines; plays were written by the likes of De Vigny, which are still performed these days. His tragic end as a supposed suicide is portrayed romantically in a painting by Henry Wallis, and horrifically in various engravings. There were also stereoviews; photographs; postcards; linen handkerchiefs; Royal Doulton pots. He has also been memorialised by a Bristol Lodge of the Freemasons.
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Chatterton quickly became the talk of the Town & Country magazine and his story went viral worldwide. Surely it was not possible that a poorly educated and, worse still, working-class, Charity School boy had created such works? The arguments for and against Chatterton raged on for years. He went on to become the Darling of the Romantics and a true Influencer of his own times & beyond.
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Our working-class boy had exceptional & extraordinary abilities, but we should also note that his life is as important as his works. ​For to truly appreciate the song you must also appreciate the singer!