ABSTRACT
On 7 June 1812, William Godwin escorted Mary Godwin to Downe’s Wharf, London, to see her off on the Osnaburgh for a prolonged visit to Dundee. There, she was to reside with Godwin’s friend and admirer, William Thomas Baxter, a canvas manufacturer, and his family, in an effort to cure the seriously infected arm that had failed to mend in 1811, when she was sent to Ramsgate for sea-bathing (Bennett, Mary Shelley, p. 14). The next morning, Godwin wrote the letter to Baxter included here, explaining the problem as well as his daughters character from the perspective of ‘a wise father’, although inadvertently misstating her birthdate by a month and a half. The ‘trial’ period was a success: Mary Shelley remained with the Baxters until 10 November 1812, when she and Christina Baxter came to London. The following day, both young women were introduced to P. B. Shelley and Harriet Shelley. On 3 June 1813, Mary Shelley returned with Christina Baxter to Dundee, and stayed there until her return home on 30 March 1814.
