Dr. Southey, engraved by Achille Collas after a medallion by E. W. Wyon (1838)

From: The Authors of England: A Series of Medallion Portraits of Modern Literary Characters,
Engraved from the Works of British Artists (London: Charles Tilt, 1838)

Sir Walter Scott first met Robert Southey when the poet visited him at Ashestiel in August 1805. Later in the same month, Scott visited Southey at Keswick, and subsequently made futher visits in 1813 and 1825. Southey contributed to a number of Scott's literary projects, including An Apology for Tales of Terror (1799), his English Minstrelsy (1810), the Quarterly Review, and the Edinburgh Annual Register. Scott made repeated attempts to secure a salary for the impecunious Southey, culminating in 1813 when Scott was offered the position of Poet Laureate but declined in favour of his friend.