Welcome to The Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  Coleridge (1772–1834) is perhaps best-known for his poems “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Kubla Khan.”  He  is regarded as a founder of the revolutionary Romantic poetry movement of the early 1800s, along with William Wordsworth (with whom he had a complicated artistic and personal relationship).

 

Coleridge has been described as “the greatest talker of his age.” Narrating his life – past and present – and freely exploring his literary and philosophical ideas, the letters offer a true sense of his extraordinary personality.

Coleridge was a prodigious correspondent—the full collection of his known letters fills six volumes in print.  A smaller collection edited by his grandson Ernest Hartley can be viewed at the Internet Archive (Volume I and Volume II).  Needless to say, this site will only ever scratch the surface of his output!

The aim of this site is simply to present selected letters in a readable format, with illustrations from the time period, and occasional annotations.  No claims to literary scholarship are made.  The letters are one avenue to becoming better acquainted with Coleridge.  Above all you should read his poetry.  Start with the above, but don’t miss “Frost at Midnight,” “This Lime-tree Bower my Prison” and many more.