Chapter XXIII: Thomas Allsop

[Coleridge's lectures and his conversations at the Gillmans brought him many new friends. Among others was Thomas Allsop, a young London merchant, whose acquaintance dates from January, 1818; and which, by December, had ripened into close friendship. Allsop acted as the Boswell of the later period of Coleridge's life, and by his devotion made up for the absence of Wordsworth and Poole. He afterwards published the letters he received from Coleridge, and some of Coleridge's axiomatic sayings and conversations. Allsop was also a friend of Charles Lamb, and often visited Highgate in company with Elia, who made Allsop one of his testamentary trustees (_Ainger_, ii, 82, 85). The following letters to Allsop indicate the birth of the intimacy between Coleridge and him.