John Stoddart
John Stoddart--editor of the Times in 1816 and a friend of Robert Allen (a former classmate of Coleridge's at Christ's Hospital)--obtained a now-lost copy of "Christabel" in October 1800. Writing to Josiah Wedgewood on 1 November 1800, Coleridge writes that John Stoddart had visited him on "Monday past"--that is, Monday, 27 October.(1) Prior to this date, Coleridge and Stoddart had travelled together to Keswick on 23 October.(2)
Stoddart's possession of a manuscript copy of "Christabel" forms the originary link in several chains of events that sees "Christabel" to press, and that influences its reception in the review journals during the summer of 1816. The first of these events is Stoddart's recitation of the poem to Sir Walter Scott in 1802; the second is the transcription of two copies of "Christabel" by Stoddart's sister, Sarah; and the third is Charles Lamb's review of "Christabel" for the Times.
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