Item Detail
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Draper, Elizabeth
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MSS SC 4
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Letters
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Elizabeth Draper is known for her association with 'Yorick' Laurence Sterne, author of Tristram Shandy. Elizabeth was the wife of Daniel Draper, Secretary to the Government at Bombay, India. She went to England in 1765 with her husband and children to arrange the children's education. Daniel returned to India, but she stayed in England with the children until 1767 when he insisted that she join him. During her stay in England, Elizabeth became a close friend of Sterne's. The week before her departure on April 3, Elizabeth and Sterne exchanged several letters which describe their mutual friendship and affection for each other. Elizabeth was twenty-five years old at this time. Sterne died in 1768, and she returned to England in 1773 as 'Sterne's Eliza.' Elizabeth gave a publisher permission to publish Sterne's letters to her in 1775, but apparently he was unable to get copies of her letters to Sterne. Nevertheless, he published twelve letters in 1775 which he claimed were hers.
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This collection consists of twelve letters that Elizabeth Draper supposedly wrote to Laurence Sterne the week before she was to return to India. The letters are in manuscript form, and have been copied into a small, red book. Although the ink is slightly faded, the handwriting is legible. The first page bears the label, 'Original letters from Eliza to Yorick 1781.' The last page notes that this manuscript is 'a faithful copy from the original MSS's done [] the 12 day of August 1783.' These letters are commonly believed to be forged, and this manuscript is very similar to but not exactly like the 1775 published version. Each letter is labeled, for example 'letter the 1st,' but not dated. Elizabeth addresses the letters to 'Kind Yorick' or 'My Bramin' and signs them 'Eliza.' The tone of the letters is both philosophical and sentimental. She addresses such subjects as her ill health, Yorick being the 'physician of [her] mind,' her feelings for him, her duty in friendship and in love, and her impending voyage to India.
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1911-1978