Autograph manuscript fragment of Lamia

‘Lamia’ was composed in, 1819. Keats took the subject from a story in one of his favourite books, Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy: Hermes gives human form to a serpent, who as a beautiful woman then ensnares a young philosopher, Lycius. It was his first attempt to write a poem that would be popular with the public, and he composed it with great care. The poem was cut into strips after Keats’s death and distributed to friends, a fate suffered by a number of other Keats manuscripts.

Keats, John, 1795-1821 (author)

[1819]

1 sheet

manuscript

paper

eng

autographs (manuscripts)

Keats, John, 1795-1821

[1819]

Gift of Mrs Eleanor Furneaux,1911.

This autograph manuscript was cut into strips after the death of John Keats and distributed to friends, a fate suffered by a number of other Keats manuscripts.

KSH

Severn Room

KTS-1.1a