CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Shelley's birth at the Manor of Field Place, August 4, 1792;
his grandfather, Sir Bysshe Shelley; his father, mother,
and sisters; his early childhood; Rev. Mr. Edwards of
Warnham, his first tutor; goes to school at Sion House,
Brentford; his character, temperament, and description of
his personal appearance

CHAPTER II.

Shelley goes to Eton; description of his sufferings, of his per-

sonal pleasures; his friend Dr. Lind; the beginning of

his literary life, "Poems by Victor and Cazire," "Night-

mare" and "Zastrozzi"; matriculates at Oxford 1810;

friendship with Harriet Grove; "St. Irvyne, or the Rosi.

crucians"; "The Posthumous Fragments of Margaret

Nicholson"; the romance "Leonora"; friendship with

Thomas Jefferson Hogg, and anecdotes connected there.

with; the "Necessity of Atheism"; Hogg and Shelley

expelled from Oxford in 1811

CHAPTER III.

Shelley's engagement with his cousin Harriet Grove broken off

by her parents; Hogg and Shelley take lodgings in Poland

Street; Shelley banished from Field Place, and monetary

supplies stopped; Shelley's "Poetical Essay on the Exist.

ing State of Things"; makes acquaintance with Harriet

Westbrook; description of her and her family; mone-

tary difficulties; elopement with Harriet Westbrook,

marriage, and journey to Edinburgh, where they are

joined by Hogg; correspondence with Miss Hitchener;

Shelley, Harriet, and Hogg go to York; rupture with

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Hogg ; Mr. and Mrs. Shelley joined by Eliza Westbrook ;

they move to Keswick and make acquaintance with

Southey; burglary at Keswick; Mr. Westbrook allows

Harriet £200 a year; Shelley writes a romance, “Hubert

Cauvin"; Shelley refuses to sign the entail; is allowed

£200 a year by his father; he corresponds with William

Godwin; Shelley, Harriet, and Eliza move to Dublin; he

publishes his "Address to the Irish People"; moves

to North Wales, makes Miss Hitchener's acquaintance,

and she goes to live with them; "Letter to Lord

Ellenborough"; he makes acquaintance with William

Godwin; rupture with Miss Hitchener; "Queen Mab,"

and short poems written; burglary episode at Tannyrallt ;

the trio return to Ireland, and then to London; birth of

Ianthe; estrangement with Harriet commences; acquaint-

ance with the Boinvilles; winter of 1813 spent in Edin-

burgh; "The Refutation of Deism"; Shelley re-marries

Harrict; Harriet leaves Shelley; Shelley meets and falls

in love with Mary Godwin; interview with Harriet;

Shelley and Mary Godwin go to the Continent; birth of

Charles Bysshe, and account of Harriet's death

CHAPTER IV.

Claire Clairmont accompanies her half-sister Mary and

Shelley; journey to Paris and Switzerland; Shelley com-

mences his romance. "The Assassins"; they return to

England by way of the Reuss and Rhine; Mary records

the trip in her "History of a Six Weeks' Tour"; death

of Sir Bysshe Shelley; arrangement with Sir Timothy,

which gives Shelley £1,000 a year, a fifth of which is

given to Harriet; Shelley's health; birth and death of

Mary's first child; Claire Clairmont leaves the Shelleys;

Mary and Shelley live at Bishopsgate, Windsor Park;

Peacock resides at Marlow; they visit Oxford and other

places on the Thames; "A Summer-Evening Church-

yard"; description of "Queen Mab," and criticism;

description and criticism of "Alastor"; birth of Mary's

son William in 1816; in March of same year "Alastor and

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other Poems" published; unpleasantness with William

Godwin; Mary and Shelley and Claire Clairmont go to

Geneva; Mary and Shelley become acquainted with

Byron; Claire Clairmont's liaison with Byron; friendship

of the two poets; "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty" con-

ceived; "Lines to Mont Blanc" composed; they meet

"Monk" Lewis; incidents connected with composition

of Mary Godwin's "Frankenstein"; Shelley and Mary

return to England; they visit Peacock at Marlow; in 1817

they settle at West Marlow; death of Godwin's adopted

daughter, Fanny Imlay; Shelley visits Leigh Hunt, and

hears of Harriet's death; reconciliation with William

Godwin; Shelley and Mary Godwin married in London

on December 30, 1816

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CHAPTER V.

Mr. Westbrook gains custody of the two children; birth of

Allegra; Shelley meets Keats at Leigh Hunt's house in

1817; Shelley's poetic creations; "Endymion" and

"Laon and Cythna"; description and criticism of the

latter poem; its publication under title of "Revolt of

Islam"; Mary and Shelley's second child born 1818;

"Rosalind and Helen"; "Prince Athanase"; "Ozy.

mandias"; "To Constantia Singing"; Shelley's prose

writings; "Essay on Christianity"; "A Proposal of

Putting Reform to the Vote"; "An Address to the

People on the Death of Princess Charlotte"; Shelley's

philanthropy at Marlow; christening of the children;

Mary, Shelley, and children leave England 1818 . . 124

CHAPTER VI.

The Shelleys meet the Gisbornes at Leghorn; go to Bagni
Lucca ; Byron's conduct to Claire Clairmont and Allegra ;
Shelley goes to Byron in Venice; Byron lends the Shelleys
his villa at Este; Shelley's little daughter Clara dies;
"Julian and Maddalo"; "Lines written among the
Euganean Hills"; Allegra returned to Byron's care;
Shelley goes to Naples; "Stanzas, written in dejection