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Thank you for the music
With a grant from the
Horsham Museum Society, Horsham Museum has just
acquired a unique musical manuscript written in part
by the child of two revolutionary parents, who were
titans of the literary stage, and grandson of a famous
18th century feminist and world renowned anarchist.
The manuscript album belonged to Jane Shelley, wife of
Percy Florence Shelley who was the only son of Warnham
born poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley,
authoress of Frankenstein who herself was the
child of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft.
The 1851 album consists
of some 33 songs and music written in various hands
including Percy Florence Shelley, Jane Shelley, his
wife, and a poem written by their adopted daughter
Bessie. Percy Florence Shelley was brought up by Mary
Shelley after the death of her husband, Percy Bysshe
Shelley in 1822. He lived a conventional life becoming
heir to the Shelley estates in 1846 ad at one time
living at Field Place.
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The album is a
significant addition to the large collection of
Shelley family related items already held by the
museum. It also fits into the museum's growing
collection of music with a Horsham connection that
includes the folk songs
collected by Henry Burstow, the musical scores by
Arnold Bax, and modern
music commissioned for the unveiling of the Shelley
Fountain in the town.
The manuscript will be
on display in the Horsham Museum Library.
Main Horsham
Museum page8 |
