mber 13, 1833. Signed C. Lamb. This is
the sonnet mentioned in the letter which is quoted on page 344, in the
note to the sonnet to Stothard. The new edition of _Pleasures of Memory_
was published by Moxon in 1833, dated 1834.

* * * * *

Page 101. _To Clara N---- _.

First printed in _The Athenaeum_, July 26, 1834. Clara N---- was, of
course, Clara Anastasia Novello, daughter of Lamb's friend, Vincent
Novello (1781-1861), the organist, and herself a fine soprano singer
(see also the poem "The Sisters," on the same page). Miss Novello, who
was born on June 10, 1818, became the Countess Gigliucci, and survived
until March 12, 1908. _Clara Novella's Reminiscences_, compiled by her
daughter, the Contessa Valeria Gigliucci, with a memoir by Arthur Duke
Coleridge, were published in 1910. In them is this charming passage:--

How I loved dear Charles Lamb! I once hid--to avoid the ignominy
of going to bed--in the upright (cabinet) pianoforte, which in its
lowest part had a sort of tiny cupboard. In this I fell asleep, awakening
only when the party was supping. My appearance from beneath the
pianoforte was hailed with surprise by all, and with anger from my
mother; but Charles Lamb not only took me under his protection, but
obtained that henceforth I should never again be sent to bed _when he
came_, but--glory and delight!--always sit up to supper. Later, in
Frith Street days, my Father made me sing to him one day; but [Lamb]
stopped me, saying, "Clara, don't make that d--d noise!" for which,
I think, I loved him as much as for all the rest. Some verses he sent
me were addressed to "St. Clara."

In spite of Lamb's declaration about himself and want of musical sense,
both Crabb Robinson and Barron Field tell us that he was capable of
humming tunes.

Page 101. _The Sisters_.

These verses, printed in Mr. W.C. Hazlitt's _Lamb and Hazlitt_, 1900,
were addressed:--

"_For_ SAINT CECILIA,
At Sign'r Vincenzo Novello's
Music Repository,
No. 67 Frith Street.
Soho."

They were signed C. Lamb. One might imagine Emma, the nut-brown maid, to
be Emma Isola, as that was a phrase Lamb was fond of applying to
her--assuming the title "The Sisters" to be a pleasantry; but the late
Miss Mary Sabilia Novello assured me that the sisters were herself,
Emma Aloysia Novello and Clara Anastasia Novello (see above).

* *