Publisher Description

Down to the Sunless Sea explores the time Coleridge spent inGibraltar, Malta, Sicily and mainland Italy, where he had planned torecover his health, escape the clutches of opium and gain inspirationfrom the landscape; however, the reality would prove very different.After his short sojourn in Gibraltar, Coleridge arrived in Malta, wherehe became acquainted with the British Governor, Alexander Ball. Hesettled into Maltese life, initially taking on the role of actingUnder-Secretary. Travelling to Sicily, Coleridge embraced the island'slandscapes but was shaken to find the opium poppy was an important localcrop. The Mediterranean would not prove the solution to his addiction.He visited the Consul, G. F. Leckie, and was invited to stay with him ata house on the site of Timoleon's Greek villa. The poet visited theantiquities of Syracuse and at the opera house encountered the soprano,Anna-Cecilia Bertozzi, nearly succumbing to her charms. Back in Malta,he was offered rooms in the Treasury building (now the Casino Maltese)and took up the post of Public Secretary. Legal pronouncements inItalian bear Coleridge's signature. Leaving behind these matters ofstate, he drifted through the Italian peninsula, engaging with a coterieof artistic ex-pats when in Rome. His listless, half-hearted, andfinancially embarrassed attempts at the Grand Tour included a narrowescape from French troops. Coleridge's Mediterranean sojourn impacted onhis life and writing, not to mention his health, which saw a markeddecline, leading to his final years in Highgate under the roof of afriendly doctor. Down to the Sunless Sea is a literary reflection on the fact that the sun-filled Mediterranean was not the tonic he had first imagined.

Author Biography

Andrew and Suzanne Edwards have contributed articles to numerous publications in the fields of travel and literature. Their books include Sicily: A Literary Guide for Travellers (2014), Andalucía: A Literary Guide for Travellers (2016), and His Master's Reflection: Travels with John Polidori, Lord Byron's Doctor (2018). Suzanne and Andrew Edwards have contributed articles to numerous publications in the fields of travel and literature. Their books include Sicily: A Literary Guide for Travellers (2014), Andalucía: A Literary Guide for Travellers (2016), and His Master's Reflection: Travels with John Polidori, Lord Byron's Doctor (2018).

Table of Contents

The Illustrations. ONE: Departure on the Speedwell. TWO: Strategising for Nelson in Malta. THREE: Sicily and the Prima Donna. FOUR: A Hand in Maltese Affairs. FIVE: The Grand Tourist Returns Home. SIX: Lectures and Legacy. Notes. Bibliography. Index

Review

'Down to the Sunless Sea: A Troubled Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the Mediterranean, by Andrew and Suzanne Edwards, is a welcome addition to the existing scholarly work. It provides the reader with a concise and highly engaging introduction to Coleridge in the Mediterranean, whilst also furnishing a tour d' horizon of Coleridge's post-Malta life and work. It further provides readers interested in tracing Coleridge's footsteps with a guide and critical commentary. This not only includes Coleridge's observations of landscape and people, but also sets out the social, political, and geo-political context to Coleridge's period in the Mediterranean.' Barry Hough, The Coleridge Bulletin

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is a literary reflection on the fact that the sun-filled Mediterranean was not the tonic he had first imagined.

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