''Epistolae Ho-Elianae'' (or ''Familiar Letters'') is a literary work by the 17th-century

Anglo-Welsh Welsh writing in English, (previously Anglo-Welsh literature) is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers. The term 'Anglo-Welsh' replaced an earlier attempt to define this category of writing as 'Anglo- ...

historian and writer,

James Howell James Howell ( – ) was a Welsh writer and historian. The son of a Welsh clergyman, he was for much of his life in the shadow of his elder brother Thomas Howell (bishop), Thomas Howell, who became Lord Bishop of Bristol. Education In 1613 he ...

. It was mainly written when Howell was in the

Fleet Prison Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the River Fleet. The prison was built in 1197, was rebuilt several times, and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846. History The prison was built in 1197 off what is now ...

, during the 1640s; but its content reflects earlier travels he made from 1616 on behalf of a London glass factory. It appeared in three volumes from 1645 to 1650. A fourth volume was added in a collected edition of 1655. It has been suggested that some of the letters are fictional. The selection of the recipients has also been attributed to patronage relationships. A "Mrs. A. W." who occurs as recipient has been fitted to another letter by Howell to provide a tentative deductive identification of the author of ''A Continuation of Sir Philip Sydney's Arcadia'' (1651) as

Anna Weamys Anna Weamys, sometimes referred to as Anne Weamys (fl. 1651) was an English author. She has been identified as the author of the prose romance ''A Continuation of Sir Philip Sydney's Arcadia.'' Writing Weamys has been identified as the auth ...

, who is not otherwise traced as a writer. As travel literature, Howell's work largely neglects scenic description. But some of the language used has been described as a possible source for the work of

Joshua Poole Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Exodus and Numbers, and later succeeded Moses as leader of the ...

on epithets.Marjorie Hope Nicolson, ''Mountain Gloom and Mountain Glory: the development of the aesthetics of the infinite'' (1997), pp. 60–1
Google Books
The fourth edition (1678) was published by

Thomas Guy Thomas Guy (1644 – 27 December 1724) was an English merchant and politician who is best known for founding Guy's Hospital in London. Early life Thomas Guy was born in Horselydown in Southwark, in south London, the eldest child of a lighterm ...

, and profits went to founding

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the Kin ...

in London.

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External links

* Anglo-Welsh literature 1645 books {{lit-stub