Synopses & Reviews
The publication in 1798 of Lyrical Ballads, written by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), is considered to be the starting point of the Romantic movement. Published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1884, this biography by H. D. Traill (1842-1900), who also wrote on Sterne for the series, sets Coleridge's work within the context of his troubled childhood, his travels, and the depression and financial crises that plagued his life. The first writer to attempt a detailed account of Coleridge's life and work - which ranged from poetry, journalism and literary criticism to history, philosophy and theology - Traill admits to some difficulty in tracing source material, particularly as Coleridge's theological and philosophical writings were largely incomplete, and remained unpublished at his death. Nonetheless he reveals something of both the writer and also the man famously described by Lamb as 'an Archangel a little damaged'.
Synopsis
Oliphant's 1883 work covers the life and work of the eighteenth-century playwright, theatre owner, politician and radical Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
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Margaret Oliphant's Sheridan (1883) covers the youth, writing, career and middle age of the famous playwright, theatre owner, politician and radical, Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Oliphant - a distinguished novelist in her own right - provides a vivid and sympathetic portrayal of Sheridan, creating a valuable insight into his remarkable life and work.
Synopsis
The Scots novelist Margaret Oliphant (1828-97) published this biography of the playwright and poet Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) in the first 'English Men of Letters' series in 1883. Sheridan is best known for his plays The Rivals, A Trip to Scarborough, and The School for Scandal, which was his most popular work among his contemporaries. Sheridan was also at one point the owner of the famous Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, which he purchased with his father-in-law in 1776. He led a radical political career, becoming a Whig MP in 1780 and quickly developing a reputation as a brilliant orator. He defended the French Revolution and supported American colonists against British colonial policy. Oliphant's biography covers Sheridan's youth, dramatic writing, political career and middle age; her vivid and sympathetic portrayal provides a valuable insight into his remarkable life.
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This 1884 biography of Joseph Addison focuses particularly on the literary life and works of the co-founder of The Spectator.
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Written by scholar W. J. Courthope (1842-1917), this 1884 biography recounts the life of writer and politician Joseph Addison (1672-1719) the co-founder of The Spectator, contextualising a writer whose periodical essays were still widely read and enjoyed in the late nineteenth century.
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W. J. Courthope's biography of politician and writer Joseph Addison (1672-1719) was published in 1884 in the first series of English Men of Letters. Educated at Harrow and Oxford, Courthope (1842-1917) was elected fellow of the British Academy in 1907. His scholarly works include a biography and edition of the works of Alexander Pope. This work begins not with an account of Addison's birth and childhood but instead with an essay on 'The State of English Society and Letters after the Restoration', contextualising a writer whose periodical essays were still widely read and enjoyed in the late nineteenth century. The book focuses more on Addison's literary career than his political activity in support of the Whigs, devoting chapters to his work for The Tatler, The Spectator (which he co-founded with Richard Steele) and The Guardian, his tragedy Cato, and his notorious quarrel with Pope.
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A concise biography, first published in 1886, of the English poet Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86).
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Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86), the English poet and courtier, is now seen as one of the most influential English writers of the sixteenth century. This volume, first published in 1886 by literary scholar John Addington Symonds (1840-93), provides a concise biography of this fascinating character.
Synopsis
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86) was an English poet and courtier who is now seen as one of the most influential English writers of the sixteenth century. Born into a politically active family, Sidney is best known for his works Astrophel and Stella, a story in sonnet form which popularised this literary genre in England, and Arcadia, a romance which was the first English vernacular work to be published on the continent. This volume, published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1886 by literary scholar John Addington Symonds (1840-93), provides a concise biography of a fascinating character. Describing Sidney's childhood, European travels and time spent as a courtier, and his heroic death, this biography draws together previous scholarship on Sidney to provide a valuable account of his life and of contemporary English and continental influences on his work.
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Part history, part literary critique, Stephen's 1882 biography investigates the forces that shaped one of Ireland's greatest authors.
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Part history, part literary critique, Sir Leslie Stephen's 1882 biography examines the significant people and places of Swift's life together with his works. Attending to the forces that shaped one of Ireland's greatest authors, Stephen investigates his subject's family and connections as he blends facts with general reflections.
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Blending history with literary criticism and general reflections with hard facts, this biography from 1880, which places the man in the context of his greatest works, remains a useful starting-point for the study of Pope, not least because it gives an overview of earlier biographies. Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904) came from a distinguished family of politicians, jurists and writers, and was the father of Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf. His literary career began with writing about his great passion, the Alps, and he became a noted author and critic, and the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography. He was a friend of John Morley (1838-1923), the general editor of English Men of Letters, who commissioned him to write three biographies for the first series, on Swift, Pope and Johnson. Stephen's Sketches from Cambridge, published anonymously in 1865, is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.
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A biography from 1882 of the most famous Victorian novelist, by a prolific and influential Victorian scholar.
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This analysis of the greatest Victorian novelist by a prominent scholar of the next generation was first published in 1882. The life is treated chronologically, and a final chapter discusses 'the future of Dickens' fame', concluding that his place in the canon of English literature is secure.
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Published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1882, this biography of Charles Dickens (1812-70) provides a short introduction to the life and works of the most popular author of the Victorian era. Sir Adolphus William Ward (1837-1924), a prominent scholar who taught at the newly founded the University of Manchester and became President of the British Academy, wrote on English literature from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, and translated Curtius' History of Greece. His work complements earlier biographies of the writer who styled himself as 'The Inimitable' and whose influence as a novelist, social commentator and social reformer cannot be overstated. The life is treated chronologically, and a final chapter discusses 'the future of Dickens' fame', concluding that although he has faults as a novelist, his place in the canon of English literature is secure.
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In this 1882 biography, Edmund Gosse offers a sympathetic reading of the life and verse of Thomas Gray (1716-71).
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Thomas Gray (1716-71) was one of the most influential poets of the eighteenth century, probably best remembered today for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. In this 1882 biography, Edmund Gosse (1849-1928) gives a sympathetic account of Gray's life and legacy, and an analysis of his poetry.
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A concise biography, first published in 1882, of the Anglican clergyman and novelist Lawrence Sterne (1713-1769).
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Lawrence Sterne (1713-69) was an Anglican clergyman best remembered today as the author of the satirical and influential novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. This volume, first published in 1882 by journalist Henry Duff Traill (1842-1900), provides a clear and informative biography.
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Published in 1882, James Cotter Morison's biography introduces readers to a man whose life was shaped by literature.
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The historian Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-59) is described by his biographer as having been born wise and nurtured to a state of brilliance. Published in 1882, this work introduces readers to the main influences on Macaulay's writing, providing a portrait of a man whose life was shaped by literature.
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Historian, essayist and poet, Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-59) is described by his biographer as possessing a mind that was born wise and nurtured to a state of brilliance. With an ability to imbue his most scholarly works with a narrative power 'on a level with that of the greatest masters of prose fiction', Macaulay's multi-volume History of England assured his fame in middle-class Victorian households. Nevertheless, few today are familiar with the author's personal history. Published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1882, this biography by James Cotter Morison (1832-88) introduces readers to the main influences on Macaulay's life and work from his childhood, through his days at Trinity College, Cambridge, to the writing of his History. The result is a sympathetic and detailed portrait of a man whose life was shaped by literature.
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Henry Fielding (1707-54), prolific dramatist, novelist and essayist, is the subject of Austin Dobson's biography, first published in 1883.
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Henry Fielding (1707-54), novelist and dramatist, is the subject of this biography by the poet Austin Dobson (1840-1921), first published in 1883. Best remembered today for Tom Jones, Fielding was immensely prolific as a writer and controversialist, but also worked as an innovatory magistrate in London.
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At the outset of this book, published in the first 'English Men of Letters' series in 1883, the poet and author Austin Dobson (1840-1921) declares his intention to restrict himself to giving a 'purely biographical' account of the life of the lawyer, novelist and dramatist Henry Fielding (1707-54). Fielding is probably best remembered today for his novels Joseph Andrews and The History of Tom Jones (1749), but in his own day he was famous not only for his writings in many different genres but also for his work as an innovatory Justice of the Peace in London. Dobson recounts Fielding's life from his schooldays at Eton to the production of his first play, and his subsequent careers as a writer, magistrate and controversialist, until his death in Portugal (where he had travelled in the hope that the climate would improve his health) in October 1754.
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Blending history with literary criticism, Stephen's 1880 work still provides a useful starting-point for the study of Pope.
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Stephen's 1880 work blends history with literary criticism to provide what he called a 'sketch' of Pope for the interested reader. In a conversational and enthusiastic style, Stephen describes how childhood shaped the poet and presents his life through the lenses of time, place, and works.
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First published in 1882, this biography of writer Charles Lamb considers his literary works in relation to his life.
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Writer Charles Lamb (1775-1834) is well known for his essays and his children's stories, the latter written with his sister Mary. First published in 1882, this biography of Lamb focuses not only on the details of Lamb's life but also on his scholarly works.
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Written by clergyman Alfred Ainger (1837-1904), this 1882 biography of writer Charles Lamb (1775-1834) is the twenty-first book in the first series of 'English Men of Letters'. Charles Lamb began publishing his poetry in the late 1790s. Both he and his sister Mary (1764-1847), who had been released into Charles' care after killing their mother in a fit of insanity in 1796, began writing for children with the encouragement of William Godwin, their works including the Tales from Shakespeare (1807) for which they are best known. Lamb was also widely regarded for his skill as an essayist, and particularly for his Essays of Elia. Ainger devoted much of his career to Lamb's life and writings, including a six-volume edited collection of Lamb's work. His biography focuses on Lamb's literary output and his place as a critic as well as the events of the writer's life.
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Published in 1881, this literary portrait of de Quincey reveals a man whose life oscillated between respectability, vagrancy and infamy.
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Published in 1881, Masson's biography of the self-confessed opium eater reveals a man whose life oscillated between respectability, vagrancy and infamy. Covering de Quincey's Confessions, as well as less well known essays, this literary portrait places the life in the context of the works.
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Combining intellectual enthusiasm with analytical bite, David Masson's biography of the self-confessed opium eater provides readers with valuable insights into an author whose life oscillated between respectability, vagrancy and infamy. Published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1881, only two decades after the death of Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859), and written by a man who, like his subject in his more prosperous years, was a journalist and editor in the heart of literary London, Masson's account describes a man and a nation at the peak of their cultural influence. Covering not only the Confessions, but also his less well known essays in the London Magazine, Blackwood's, the Edinburgh Saturday Post and the Instructor, this literary portrait places the life - debts and drug use, but also fame, success and the friendship of some of the greatest writers of the age - in the context of the works.
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This 1881 biography of Walter Savage Landor chronicles the turbulent life and works of the temperamental poet and author.
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Written by scholar and museum administrator Sir Sidney Colvin, this biography of poet Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864) was first published in 1881. Produced as part of the English Men of Letters series, this book pays particular attention to Landor's literary achievements, including his celebrated Imaginary Conversations.
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Published in 1881 in the first series of English Men of Letters, this biography by Sir Sidney Colvin of the poet Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864) opens with the claim 'few men have ever impressed their peers so much, or the general public so little'. Landor's turbulent life included suspension from both Rugby and Oxford, numerous love affairs, an illegitimate child, and frequent legal trouble over his writing, including a libel case which caused him to leave England permanently. He is best known for his six-volume Imaginary Conversations, a series of dialogues between characters ranging from antiquity to Landor's literary contemporaries. This book not only describes Landor's life but also discusses his poetry and prose. Colvin (1845-1927), who was director of the Fitzwilliam Museum and later keeper of prints and drawings at the British Museum, also wrote the volume on Keats in this series.
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First published in 1881, this biography examines the role of John Dryden (1631-1700) in reforming English literature.
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First published in 1881, this biography by George Saintsbury examines the role of John Dryden (1631-1700) in reforming English literature. Hailing him as the greatest craftsman in English letters, he explores the nature of Dryden's reform, how he achieved it, and its contribution to English literary history.
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John Dryden (1631-1700) was an English poet and playwright, whose works led to the English Restoration period becoming known as 'The Age of Dryden'. Published in 1881 in the first series of English Men of Letters, this biography by George Saintsbury (1845-1933), author and critic, sets Dryden's work against the literary landscape of its time, arguing that he reformed English literature, and exploring how he did so, the nature of the reform, and Dryden's contribution to literary history. He shows Dryden to have been a man without moral, political or intellectual agendas who, while not achieving perfection, created works free of elitism and which therefore had far wider relevance to the ordinary man than those of his predecessors. This leads Saintsbury to conclude that while Dryden was no extraordinary genius, he deserves to be considered the greatest craftsman in English letters.
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A biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64), an influence on James' own writing, and perhaps the first uniquely American novelist.
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This work by Henry James (1843-1916), published in the first 'English Men of Letters' series in 1879, is now recognised as one of the first critical studies of an American writer. It characterises Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64), a strong influence on James' own writing, as a uniquely American novelist.
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This critical essay and biography by Henry James (1843-1916) of his fellow American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64), today best remembered for The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, was published in the first 'English Men of Letters' series in 1879, and is notable for being the only volume in that series devoted to an American. It is now recognised as being one of the first critical studies of an American writer, and it remains an important work for students and admirers both of James and of Hawthorne. In his critical assessment, James, whose own writing was strongly influenced by Hawthorne, seeks to identify him not only as a great novelist, but particularly as an American novelist, rooted in the landscape, and speaking in the language, of the New World.
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Edward Dowden's biography of Robert Southey (1774-1843), published in 1879, provides a description of the latter's life and works.
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This 1879 biography of poet and author Robert Southey (1774-1843), friend of Coleridge and Wordsworth, and Poet Laureate, provided a fresh and concise account of his literary endeavours and personal experiences. Written by Edward Dowden (1843-1913), an author and poet of the subsequent generation, and published in the first series of English Men of Letters, the work charts Southey's life, education, travels and literary activities, as well as his changing political views from the Jacobinism of his youth to the relatively conservative outlook of his later years. The book is notable for the extensive quotations which allow the reader to hear the subject's voice, but takes its cue from the writings as a whole instead of engaging in the analysis of individual books and poems.
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First published in 1880, this biography explores the life of John Bunyan (1628-88), author of The Pilgrim's Progress.
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First published in 1880, this biography by J. A. Froude (1818-94) explores the life of the writer and preacher John Bunyan (1628-88), best known for writing the allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. It reveals the work as autobiographical, with its main character's moral and emotional struggles reflecting Bunyan's own experiences.
Synopsis
John Bunyan (1628-88), the Bedfordshire tinker and non-conformist preacher, is best known for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Published in 1880 in the first series of English Men of Letters, this revealing biography by J. A. Froude (1818-94), historian and friend and biographer of Thomas Carlyle, traces Bunyan's life from his troubled childhood to his early spiritual experiences, his career as a dissenting minister and his imprisonment (during which he contemplated and wrote many of his works) for preaching unlawfully. Setting The Pilgrim's Progress within the context of Bunyan's life, Froude argues that the struggles of its 'hero', Christian, to overcome temptation and sin reflected Bunyan's personal turmoil as he was plagued with guilt and self-doubt, feelings that were only further compounded upon his religious conversion. Froude's study can be read with interest today by scholars of theology and literature alike.
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A biography of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), published in the first series of 'English Men of Letters' in 1878.
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Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was the first English-language author to achieve truly international fame in his lifetime, with books such as Ivanhoe and Rob Roy. First published in 1878, Richard H. Hutton's biography tells Scott's story from his childhood, through his extraordinary fame and success, to his final days.
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Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) is famous for his poetry and historical romances such as Ivanhoe and Rob Roy. As the first English-language author to achieve truly international fame in his lifetime, his depiction of Scottish history and culture spread around the world so effectively that it persists even today. Scott also contributed to Scottish history himself: in 1818 he helped to unearth Scotland's missing crown jewels, and he also led the campaign that saved the Scottish banknote when the London Parliament threatened its existence. First published in 1878 in the first series of 'English Men of Letters', this biography by the journalist Richard H. Hutton (1826-97) tells Scott's story from his childhood and ancestry, through his early years as an advocate to his extraordinary fame and success as a writer, through bankruptcy to recovery, and his final days.
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Published in 1878, Morison's definitive biography provides a learned but accessible account of the father of modern historical scholarship.
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The author of 'monumental and supreme' histories, Edward Gibbon was a son of the Enlightenment and the father of modern historical scholarship. Published in 1878, Morison's biography provides a learned but accessible account of the man who transformed the study of the Roman Empire.
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Described by his biographer as the author of 'monumental and supreme' histories, Edward Gibbon (1737-94) is widely acknowledged as a major figure of the Enlightenment and the father of modern historical scholarship. However, despite these epithets, the personal life of one of the eighteenth century's most successful authors remains unknown to many of his readers. Published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1878 (and going into a second edition in the same year), this biography by James Cotter Morison (1832-88) provides a learned but accessible account of the man who wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Starting with a childhood plagued by ill health and infirmity, and covering Gibbon's time in the militia and travelling on the Grand Tour, Morison leads readers through a life which was apparently unremarkable, but in fact resulted in a work of enduring scholarly achievement.
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An account by John Addington Symonds, well known as an author, poet and critic, of Shelley's short and controversial career.
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This biography of Shelley (1792-1822), the Romantic poet also known for his defence of atheism, was written by John Addington Symonds (1840-93), author, poet and critic, whose aim was to portray the complete and controversial man.
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John Addington Symonds (1840-93), well known as an author, poet and critic, wrote this biography of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) in an attempt to portray the complete man. Shelley, Symonds writes, was more than a controversial atheist. He was full of earnest conviction, enthusiasm, and intellectual vigour, but also extravagance, crudity and presumption. Published in 1878 in the first series of English Men of Letters, this book thus provides an account of a literary life famously cut short, describing a writer whose intellectual and poetic legacy was perhaps not fully appreciated in the Victorian period, when the response to his poems was frequently coloured by antipathy to his revolutionary ideas and his unconventional private life, as well as to his loudly proclaimed atheism.
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This 1878 biography of Oliver Goldsmith chronicles the colourful literary career of the Irish-born poet, dramatist and novelist.
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Irish-born poet, dramatist and novelist Oliver Goldsmith (c.1728-74) is best remembered for The Vicar of Wakefield and She Stoops to Conquer. Written by novelist William Black as part of the English Men of Letters series, this biography was first published in 1878.
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Written by Scottish novelist William Black (1841-98), this biography of the Irish-born poet, dramatist and novelist Oliver Goldsmith (c.1728-74) was published in 1878 as the sixth book in the first series of English Men of Letters. Goldsmith is best known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) and the play She Stoops to Conquer (1771), as well as his close association with Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, and William Hogarth. The biography is a colourful one: as Black observes, Goldsmith, who was trained as a physician but whose whole career was in literature, possessed a 'happy knack of enjoying the present hour', and his pursuit of pleasure frequently left him in debt. Black himself was one of the most prolific and popular writers of his day; a collected edition of his works published 1892-4 ran to twenty-six volumes.
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Published in 1879, this biography upholds the image of Defoe as a colourful, outspoken and influential polemicist.
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Published in 1879, Minto's biography of Defoe (c. 1659-1731) represents an achievement in literary scholarship as well as a portrait of a colourful polemicist. Spanning Defoe's life from the passions of his youth to his 'later journalistic labours', this account upholds his image as an outspoken and influential writer.
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Shairp's 1879 biography of a poet widely admired in the late Victorian period combines history with literary criticism.
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Like other works in this series, Shairp's 1879 biography is a work of both history and literary criticism, one that invites the reader to a wider study of its subject. Shairp organises the book largely around places lived in and travelled to before turning to Burns' 'characters, poems, and songs'.
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Like other works in the first series of English Men of Letters, Shairp's 1879 biography of Robert Burns (1759-96) is a work of both history and literary criticism that can be used as an entry point to a wider study of its subject. Literary scholar John Campbell Shairp (1819-85) was born in Linlithgowshire and educated at Oxford. His publications include the essay collection Culture and Religion (1870) and Studies in Poetry and Philosophy (1868), both of which ran to multiple editions. In 1877 he was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and held that chair in conjunction with the principalship of the United College of St Andrews until his death. With the insights of a historian and a poet, Shairp explores Burns' life through places lived in and travelled to, before turning to the 'characters, poems, and songs' of a poet widely admired in the late Victorian period.
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First published in 1879, this biography explores the work of Edmund Spenser (1552-99), in particular The Faerie Queene.
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First published in 1879, this biography by R. W. Church (1815-90) explores the work of the poet Edmund Spenser (1552-99), best known for The Faerie Queene. It reveals Spenser's early life and political and academic careers, and examines the significance of his epic as a cornerstone of English literature.
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Edmund Spenser (1552-99) has been described as one of the greatest English poets, and is best known for The Faerie Queene, which he composed in celebration of the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. Published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1879, this biography by R. W. Church (1815-90), Dean of St Paul's, recounts Spenser's life and work, hailing him as a genius who continued the Chaucerian tradition of reflecting the deepest human passions through verse. Beginning with an account of his early life and his time as a Cambridge scholar, Church moves on to explore Spenser's career as secretary to Lord Grey of Wilton, the then Lord Deputy of Ireland. He concludes with a detailed analysis of The Faerie Queene, explaining its significance as a work of moral philosophy, and one that represented a cornerstone of English literary history.
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A still-relevant introduction to Thackeray, first published in 1879 by a contemporary novelist who knew and respected the man.
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This introduction into the life and works of William Thackeray represents one Victorian novelist's analysis of a fellow author and literary giant. The book remains of interest because it benefits from Trollope's personal knowledge of his subject, and provides insights into the novel-writing conventions of the day.
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Written by the novelist Anthony Trollope (1815-82), who had been a friend of William Makepeace Thackeray (1796-1877) since 1860, and originally published in 1879 in the first series of 'English Men of Letters', this book surveys the life and works of the author of Vanity Fair. It remains a useful introductory text about an author who is still popular today, and offers insights into Victorian assumptions about novel writing, as well as providing an account of Thackeray's life and career which benefits from Trollope's personal knowledge of his subject. A prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction, Trollope is best remembered today for his 'social comedy' novels. In this biography, he addresses what he describes as every reader's desire to know not only the works, but the man behind them.
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A clear and succinct account, first published in 1879, of the philosophical principles and conclusions of David Hume (1711-56).
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T. H. Huxley (1825-95) gives a clear and succinct account of the philosophy of David Hume (1711-56) in this work, first published in 1879. Although Huxley provides the reader with a sketch of Hume's life, the main emphasis of the book is on Hume's philosophical principles and conclusions.
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What is philosophy about? According to the author of this work (published in the first series of 'English Men of Letters' in 1879) it is fundamentally the answer to the question: 'What can I know?' T. H. Huxley (1825-95), the distinguished English scientist and disciple of Darwin, succeeds in giving a clear and succinct account of the way in which Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-56) answered this question. The book is divided into two parts: in the first, Huxley provides the reader with a sketch of Hume's life, but the main emphasis of the book is in Part 2, where by expounding Hume's views on the object of philosophy, consciousness, theology, language and free will, Huxley guides the reader towards an understanding of how Hume's philosophical principles can be regarded as a search for the ultimate element out of which all valid knowledge may be shown to emerge.
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First published in 1881, this biography explores the life and work of William Wordsworth (1770-1850), the English romantic poet.
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First published in 1878, this biography by Sir Leslie Stephen explores the life of Samuel Johnson (1709-84), the English poet and lexicographer. Discussing his childhood, his career as a writer and literary critic, and his works, it paints a portrait of one of English literature's most extraordinary intellects.
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The English poet, literary critic, biographer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709-84) is perhaps most famous for his Dictionary of the English Language and the influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, and is often considered the most distinguished man of letters in English history. First published in 1878 in the first series of 'English Men of Letters', this biography by the eminent critic Sir Leslie Stephen traces Johnson's life from his childhood to his career as a writer and literary critic, and concludes with an overview of his works. Stephen describes Johnson's style as one of 'masculine directness', reflecting a life blighted by experiences of poverty and disease, and a desire to escape from pain. Painting a striking portrait of one of the most vigorous intellects of the eighteenth century, this work remains of interest to literary scholars today.
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An 1884 biography of Bacon which reveals not just the genius but the whole, imperfect man.
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This introduction to the life and works of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was published in 1884. Its author, R. W. Church (1815-90) believed that his work should correct the adulatory stance adopted by earlier biographers, and reveal not just the genius but the whole, imperfect man.
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This biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) describes his contribution to the history of literature and philosophy.
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First published in 1884, this was the first formal biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), the literary polymath. Discussing Coleridge's childhood and the troubles that plagued his life, it reveals his pivotal role in the Romantic movement, and his contribution to the history of literature and philosophy.
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An introduction to the life of Keats, first published in 1887, which used sources not available to earlier biographers.
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This introduction to the life and work of Keats, which used print and manuscript sources not available to earlier biographers, was first published in 1887 by Sir Sidney Colvin (1845-1927), who had a long-standing interest in the poet and also edited a collection of his letters.
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Sir Sidney Colvin (1845-1927) was the obvious choice to write a book on John Keats (1795-1821) for the first series of English Men of Letters. At various times Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, and Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, Colvin had a long-standing interest in the poet, publishing an edition of his letters to family and friends in 1891, and later writing a longer biography, published in 1917. This introduction to the poet, which used print and manuscript sources not available to earlier biographers, was first published in 1887. In his preface, Colvin admits that 'I have not attempted to avoid saying over again much that in substance has been said already, and better, by others ... I hope to have contributed something of my own towards a fuller understanding both of Keats's art and life'.
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This 1892 biography emphasises the significance and continuing importance of Carlyle's writings as a historian and social commentator.
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This 1892 biography of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) does not attempt to gloss over the notorious difficulties of Carlyle's personality, but argues forcefully for the significance and continuing importance of his writings as a historian and social commentator.
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This biography of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1892. The author, John Nichol (1833-94), who also wrote on Byron for the series, was an author, poet and critic who was for many years professor of English literature at the University of Glasgow, and who moved in the same intellectual circles as Carlyle, though as he states in his prefatory note, he knew him only slightly. Nichol acknowledges his indebtedness in this work to J. A. Froude, Carlyle's friend, disciple and biographer, but his portrait of the 'master spirit of his time' does not attempt to gloss over the notorious difficulties of Carlyle's personality. Several chapters are devoted to the reception of his works, their influence and the likelihood of their continuing importance: Nichol concludes that Carlyle was 'in truth, a prophet, and he has left his gospels'.
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George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) is regarded as one of Britain's greatest poets. As famous for his personality as he was for his poetry, he was rebellious, extravagant and controversial, his life peppered with scandal. First published in the English Men of Letters series in 1880, this biography by John Nichol (1833-94), who also wrote on Carlyle for the series, argues that while Byron did not shape the Romantic era, his work was still highly influential on his contemporaries. Setting Byron's work in an historical context, Nichol shows how the society of his time both idolised him and condemned him as a moral outcast; he was also greatly admired for his efforts for the liberation of Greece from the Ottoman Empire, during which he died. Nichol also discusses the creation of the 'Byronic hero', as much a reflection of Byron's flamboyant persona as an invented literary character.
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An 1880 biography of the philosopher at the heart of political and intellectual life in Restoration England.
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The influence of John Locke (1632-1704) is pervasive in many fields, and this work of 1880 analyses the effect of his writings on theology, education, psychology, economics, political theory and philosophy, as well as giving a chronological account of Locke's life.
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This biography of the philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) was published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1880. Its author, Thomas Fowler (1832-1904) held the posts of Wykeham Professor of Logic, President of Corpus Christi College, and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University; the editor of the series, John Morley, had been his pupil. The influence of Locke is pervasive in many fields - theology, education, psychology, economics and political theory as well as philosophy - and Fowler analyses the effect of his writings in five chapters (one dedicated to the Essay Concerning Human Understanding) as well as giving a chronological account of Locke's life from his obscure beginnings through his time at Oxford, his role in the household of the earl of Shaftesbury, and his two periods of travel in Europe, to a position at the heart of political and intellectual life in Restoration England.
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A biography of the 'father of English poetry', first published in 1879, and drawing on archival sources for Chaucer's life.
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This biography of the 'father of English poetry' was first published in 1879. Its author, Sir Adolphus William Ward, emphasised the archival sources from which information on Chaucer the man, the civil servant and the courtier could be drawn, placing the life in the context of the times.
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This biography of Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340-1400) was published in the first series of English Men of Letters in 1879. Its author, Sir Adolphus William Ward (1837-1924), a prominent scholar who became President of the British Academy, wrote on English literature from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, translated Curtius' History of Greece, and was a historian of both Britain and Germany. He approached the task of writing Chaucer's life as a historian rather than as a literary critic, emphasising the archival sources from which information on Chaucer the man, the civil servant and the courtier could be drawn, and placing the life very much in the context of the times. An epilogue discusses the legacy of the 'father of English poetry' to the poets and dramatists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the renewal of interest in Chaucer's works in the nineteenth century.
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This 1880 biography discusses the context and continuing significance of Cowper's works.
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William Cowper (1731-1800) is described in this 1880 book as 'the most important English poet of the period between Pope and the illustrious group headed by Wordsworth, Byron and Shelley'. A short sketch of the poet's life is followed by detailed examination of the works.
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This biography of William Cowper by Goldwin Smith (1823-1910) was published in the first series of 'English Men of Letters' in 1880 (this reissue being from the 'ninth thousand' of 1881). Smith states in his opening chapter that Cowper (1731-1800) 'is the most important English poet of the period between Pope and the illustrious group headed by Wordsworth, Byron and Shelley ... he may perhaps himself be numbered among the precursors of the Revolution, though he was certainly the mildest of them all'. He also regards Cowper as the great poet of the religious revival of the eighteenth century. Smith himself was an Oxford-educated historian who wrote for the Saturday Review among other periodicals. He was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford in 1858, and later taught at Cornell University, before settling in Canada, where he wrote widely on historical, constitutional and religious topics.
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An 1879 biography of Edmund Burke, emphasising his independent political stance which mixed utilitarian liberalism and historic conservatism.
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This volume on Edmund Burke (1729-97), published in 1879, was written by the general editor of the series, John Morley (1838-1923). Morley greatly admired his subject's independent political stance, which he describes as a mixture of utilitarian liberalism and historic conservatism, unfettered by abstract doctrine.
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This 1879 biography of John Milton by Victorian scholar Mark Pattison is an ideal combination of author and subject.
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A life of John Milton, published in 1879, by Mark Pattison, whose scholarly interest in religious thought in England, and in the history of classical learning after the Renaissance, made him the ideal biographer for the poet whose writing life was spent in justifying God's ways to man.
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This life of John Milton was first published in the English Men of Letters series in 1879. Its author, Mark Pattison (1813-84) spent most of his adult life in Oxford, as a student, a tutor, and eventually, from 1861, Rector of Lincoln College. Pattison's scholarly interest in religious thought in England, and in the history of classical learning after the Renaissance, made him the ideal biographer for the poet whose writing life was spent in justifying God's ways to man, and whose knowledge of Greek and Latin literature was almost unmatched. Pattison sees the life as divided into three periods: he provides a narrative of events and an analysis of Milton's literary output (both verse and prose) for each. The final chapter is a discussion of the major poems: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes, concluding with the assertion of Milton's supremacy over all English writers except Shakespeare.
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In the 1870s, the publishing house of Macmillan began to issue a series of books called English Men of Letters biographies of English writers by other English writers. The general editor of the series was the journalist, critic, politician, and supporter (and later biographer) of Gladstone, John Morley (1838 1923), and its aim was that the books should be a short introduction to the subject and his works, but also that the life should illuminate the works, and vice versa. The subjects range chronologically from Chaucer to Thackeray and Dickens, and one of the great interests of the series is that many of the authors were discussing writers of the previous generation, and some had even known their subjects personally. The series demonstrates an approach to literary biography and criticism at the end of the nineteenth century, and also reveals which authors were at that time regarded as canonical.
Table of Contents
Prefatory note; 1. Parentage, infancy, and childhood; 2. Boyhood and changes of school, with a tour in Ireland; 3. Vagrancy in North Wales and in London; 3. Mainly at Oxford, with visits to London and the Lakes; 4. Bachelor life at the Lakes; 5. Married life at the Lakes: prostration under opium; provincial editorship; 6. Partly in London, partly at the Lakes, partly in Edinburgh: the Confessions and other articles in the London Magazine, and first articles in 'Blackwood'; 8. Wholly in Edinburgh: more contributions to Blackwood, with articles in Tait's Magazine; 9. Lasswade and Edinburgh, with visits to Glasgow: more contributions to Blackwood and Tait; 10. Lasswade, and No. 42 Lothian Street, Edinburgh: the Collected Works, last days of De Quincey; 11. De Quincey's writings: general characteristics; 12. De Quincey's writings: classification and review.