Beyond Christ's Hospital: Five Letters from Thomas Mitchell to Leigh Hunt (1810–1816)

Abstract

This article prints five new letters from Thomas Mitchell (1783–1845), classical scholar and translator of Aristophanes, to reforming journalist Leigh Hunt. Written between 1810 and 1816, these letters illuminate a creatively significant period for both authors, whose intimacy dates to their student days at Christ's Hospital. While Mitchell's early friendship with Hunt has long been recognised by Hunt scholars, his wider place within Hunt's circle of friends and the extent of his literary collaboration with the editor of The Examiner are still largely unknown. As such, this newly published selection of Mitchell's correspondence allows us to revisit his relationship with Hunt in a fresh light, in the years beyond Christ's Hospital, while providing an opportunity to recover details about the development of Mitchell's career as a Romantic author and translator.