Articles, Essays, and Papers

“Gordon the Gypsey”

A brief note regarding the attribution of Vardill’s Annals of Public Justice 1: The High Court of Justiciary, and a Gypsy Chief to James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, and its dramatization at the English Opera House in London.

Anna Jane Vardill’s Most Reproduced Tales

Compiled by author André-Marc Aymé, the list provides clear evidence of the popularity of Vardill's European Magazine stories, and the extent to which they were reproduced or plagiarised.

Anna Jane Vardill Niven

Paper by William E. A. Axon read at the Royal Society of Literature in 1908. It seeks, ostensibly, to identify the author of the sequel to Coleridge’s Christabel that was published in the European Magazine for April 1815. Despite being padded with irrelevant quotations and marred by egregious errors, it provides valuable insights into Vardill’s life and work.

John Vardill’s “The Spirit of Toussaint”

John Vardill's tribute to Toussaint Louverture appeared in the July 1814 edition of the European Magazine, three years after Vardill’s death. The style of the poem invites a comparison with that of his daughter, Anna Jane Vardill. It is reproduced here in full.

The Attic Chest

A short essay by Janusz Buda makes use of information provided by William Axon’s paper to suggest that Vardill’s poem ‘An Englishman’s Farewell to a Converzazione’ is based on meetings of Eleanor Jane Porden’s Attic Chest literary circle.

Byron and the Asperne Family

Selected quotations from the European Magazine, documenting the controversy over Byron’s Cain: A Mystery and the transfer of magazine ownership from the Asperne family to Lupton Relfe.

Reviews of Poems and Translations

Reviews of the first and second editions of Poems and Translations, as published in the European Magazine for February and August 1809. The reviewer of the first edition is anonymous but was clearly familiar with Vardill’s personal life.

Reminiscences of Coleridge, &c.

This tribute to the life and work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge was published in Fraser’s Magazine for October 1834, a few months after the poet’s death. It is included in this archive for its account of Coleridge’s response to questions about Vardill’s sequel to Cristabel. Please use this link to jump to the relevant paragraphs.