538 Conjointly with M. d'Arblay To James Burney

'Altered, improved, copied, abridged': Alexandre d'Arblay's Revisions to Burney's Edwy and Elgiva

“…His self-effacement resembles that of Burney, who had taken great pains to conceal her authorship of Evelina (1778), and who would never acknowledge authorship of most of her plays. In one of her first accounts of her future husband, in a letter to her father of [16][17][18][19] February 1793, Burney described d'Arblay as 'passionately fond of literature, a most delicate critic in his own language, well versed in both Italian & German, & a very elegant Poet. ' 9 Some years later, she told Dr. Burney that she was soon to receive 'some copies of some of the early effusions of my Partner/ brought from France to England by one of d'Arblay's former amours, now a fellow émigrée.…”

“…(IV, i, [16][17][18] Opposite these lines, on the interleaf of his copy, d'Arblay inserted a proposed revision that would radically alter the depiction of Elgiva:…”