Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents and a drawing concerning the De Quincey family of England, with members serving throughout the colonial world; the most famous was a prominent literary figure in England, Thomas De Quincey, best known for his "Confessions of an Opium-eater" (1821). There are letters from an uncle of his, Thomas Penson, who was serving in the Indian Army early in the century, to Thomas De Quincey. A son, Paul Frederick, served in the Army there later, and a Daughter, Florence, spent her married life in India. Another daughter, Margaret, married and was living in Macahʹe, Brazil, where her brother, Francis, was serving as a doctor until he died of the yellow fever. There are letters from her and associates of his at the time. Yet another man of that generation, Horace, died in China, of "the Remittant Fever of the Country" described to his sister Margaret by a colleague on his return to England. There is also some material about De Quincy himself, about his final illness, a drawing of his birthplace, and a document on the Norman origins of the Quincey family.