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Books that might have been
Gordon Jacobs
Although several literary figures in the nineteenth century were influenced by Swedenborg, and wrote about him, not one was moved to write a complete study.
The nearest to come to it was the American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) in 'Swedenborg, or the Mystic' in his book 'Representative Men', first published in 1850. It has been constantly republished right up to the present day, by about forty different commercial publishers in the USA and about fifteen in Great Britain; in all about a hundred times. Not so well known here, he is rated highly in the USA.
But two well-regarded English writers came very near to writing a book about Swedenborg; they were Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) and Coventry Patmore (1823 - 1896).
Coventry Patmore was a poet and critic, and according to the current 'Oxford Companion of English Literature' his writing was much admired by the Pre-Raphaelites. He is most noted for his poetry, especially 'The Angel in the House'. This was a sequence of poems in praise of marriage love, originally appearing in four parts - 'The Betrothal' (1854), 'The Espousals' (1856), 'Faithful for Ever' (1860) and 'The Victories of Love' (1863). He later wrote 'The Unknown Eros' (1877) - 42 odes on love, which complemented 'The Angel in the House'.
It is generally recognised that 'The Angel in the House' shows clear effects of Swedenborg's teaching. This conclusion is developed in J.C.Reid's book 'The Mind and Art of Coventry Patmore' (1957). He points out that the emphasis Patmore placed upon the chastity of marriage was rare in his age, and suggests that it was Swedenborg who helped him to see its importance. In an article in 1847 in the 'North British Re-view', Patmore expressed the typical Swedenborgian view that "the affections of the woman are developed beyond those of the man" and "the understanding of the man is developed beyond that of the woman".
However, Patmore's interest in Swedenborg was not confined to the latter's teaching on marriage love. This is obvious from a statement in a letter he wrote, quoted in Edmund Gosse's 'Life of Patmore', which reads: "I never tire of reading Swedenborg; he is unfathomably profound and yet simple". Another example of his interest was his review, in the April 1858 'National Review' of the 'Life of Swedenborg' by J. J. Garth Wilkinson. Pat-more and Garth Wilkinson exchanged some correspondence.
One American writer expressed the opinion that Patmore was "the English writer most saturated with Swedenborg's thought". This can be detected in the annotations to his copies of Swedenborg's 'Arcana Caelestia' and 'The True Christian Religion'. Perhaps the most surprising thing which these annotations reveal, however, is that Patmore once planned to write a study of Swedenborg's philosophy, or, rather, a commentary on it. It is interesting to conjecture what effect this might have had, increasing the readership of Swedenborg.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was another writer who had a considerable interest in Swedenborg's writings. As a poet and critic, he is more widely known than Coventry Patmore, of course. His many poems include the well-known 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' and 'Kubla Khan'. He has also been described as the most influential English interpreter of German Romanticism.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a close friend of the early Swedenborgian, Charles Augustus Tulk, with whom he carried on a considerable correspondence. Tulk was responsible for stimulating Coleridge's interest in Swedenborg, and Coleridge's appreciation is evident in some of his letters to Tulk.
In a letter written in July 1820, he stated that "Of the too limited time which my ill-health exigencies of the day leave in my power, I have given the larger portion to the works of Swedenborg. . . I find very few, and even those but doubtful instances, of tenets in which I am conscious of any substantial difference of opinion with the enlightened author". He adds that "I have lately written a short essay on Faith, the result of which is in perfect harmony with Swedenborg".
Nine of Coleridge's copies of Swedenborg's works have annotations, and a number of other letters to Tulk contain references to Swedenborg.
At the Swedenborg Society's annual meeting in 1825, Charles Augustus Tulk announced that his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge had offered to write a history of the mind of Swedenborg if £200 should be given to him in remuneration. The same proposition was presented by Tulk to the London Coffee Meeting. Unfortunately, as it seems, the offer was not taken up. Once again, one is led to wonder whether the widespread study of Swedenborg would have been substantially extended if Coleridge had written such a book.
