ABSTRACT
Humphry Davy (1778–1829) was born in Penzance and educated there. In Bristol in 1798, Davy formed the acquaintance, soon ripening into friendship, of Southey and Coleridge. Davy’s subsequent career was extraordinary: he became the head of the recently founded Royal Institution in 1801. Davy had been in closest touch with Coleridge in the Bristol years, but they remained correspondents and friends who met up when they could until 1807 at least. In 1809–10, when Coleridge was writing The Friend and publishing it himself in weekly instalments, an apparently trivial misunderstanding over its publication developed into a disagreement and, thereafter, into the occasion of a quarrel. Davy’s admiration for Coleridge as a young man was enthusiastic – they shared intellectual interests, both literary and scientific, and democratic sympathies. Davy’s admiration for Coleridge as a young man was enthusiastic – they shared intellectual interests, both literary and scientific, and democratic sympathies.
