ABSTRACT
Vincent Novello (1781–1861), famed as an organist and composer of music, was a close friend of Leigh Hunt, himself a music enthusiast and reviewer of operas for the Examiner (Fenner, Leigh Hunt). In 1828, Novello, together with his son Joseph Alfred, founded the publishing firm of Novello & Co., still in existence today. Through Hunt, P. B. Shelley and Novello met in 1817. In April of that year, Hunt arranged via Novello for P. B. Shelley’s purchase of a piano for Claire Clairmont at Marlow (Clarke and Clarke, Recollections, p. 196; Feldman and Scott-Kilvert, vol. 1, p. 168). It appears, however, that Mary Shelley did not meet Novello or his family until 8 March 1818, just prior to the Shelleys departure for Italy, when they spent a musical evening with the Novellos at the Hunts (Feldman and Scott-Kilvert, vol. 1, p. 196).
