Anecdotes of George Frederick Handel and John Christopher Smith

William Coxe (1748-1828) was the stepson of Handel's amanuensis, John Christopher Smith. As such, he was ideally placed to write a biography of Smith, and also of Handel. These Anecdotes are therefore important sources for the lives of both composers. It is notable that many of the subscribers were close friends of Smith. The style of the original 1799 text is refreshingly simple and unaffected, and little change has been necessary to make it accessible to the modern reader. An introduction, notes and index have been added. William Coxe was a talented writer and historian whose output include several travel books and volumes on both Robert and Horace Walpole. He died at the age of eighty in his parish of Bemerton, Wiltshire. John Sharp, in a letter to Constable, wrote that he 'died of old age, unable to contend with two helps of salmon in lobster sauce, washed down with large draughts of Perry'.

The author and clergyman William Coxe (1748-1828), noted for his travel works, was the stepson of Handel's amanuensis, German-born John Christopher Smith. First published in 1799, this is a valuable source of contemporary information about two men at the heart of eighteenth-century English music.