Apphia Peach, George Lord Lyttelton, and 'The Correspondents'
An Annotated Edition of a Forgotten Gem (1775)
By (author) Melvyn New
Publication date:
02 July 2024Publisher
Anthem PressDimensions:
216x140mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9781839991516
This book is an annotated edition of The Correspondents: An Original Novel (1775), a work, as the introduction argues, derived from A Sentimental Journey, and one of the best of the many later efforts to capture Sterne’s unique blend of sensibility and sensuality. The introduction will make the case for its authorship being an actual exchange of love letters between George Lord Lyttelton (1709–1773) and Apphia Peach Lyttelton (1743–1840), his daughter-in-law, 30 years younger than her father-in-law at the time of the exchange. In our inability to understand precisely what happened between the two is the genius of their imitation of Sterne. It is an ambiguity that results from the conscious reshaping of the original letters into a narrative, probably by Apphia Peach in the 2 years between Lyttelton’s death and its publication.
“The Correspondents is, indeed, a ‘forgotten gem’—one of the many imitations, arguably the best, of Laurence Sterne and of the kind of sensibility he modeled for contemporaries. Convincingly attributing the work to poet and MP George, Lord Lyttelton, and his daughter-in-law Apphia Peach, Melvyn New presents an intriguing addition to the canon of eighteenth-century literature. Peach, in particular, is an epistolary revelation, and New’s contextualization of the text both situates her fully in her time and argues for her lasting significance.” — Elizabeth Kraft, Professor Emerita of English, University of Georgia