Biography and Identification Glosses
- Abū Bakr, Caliph, -634 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Friend, father-in-law, and successor of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Calaph of Islam. [BDW][LD]
- Achilles—
- In Greek mythology and Homer's Illiad, a Greek hero of the
Trojan War whose exceptional strength and valor made him almost
unconquerable. Legend had it that his mother had dipped him in the River
Styx, but inadvertently left one vulnerable spot, the heel by which she
held him. He was killed by an arrow shot into this heel. [MW]
- Addison, Joseph, 1672-1719 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A poet and dramatist as well, Addison was the most popular of early
eighteenth-century periodical essayist. He collaborated with Richard Steele on the Tatler (12 April 1709 to 2
January 1711), the Guardian
(12 March to 1 October 1713), and especially the Spectator (1 March 1711 to
6 December 1712; second series, 18 June to 20 December 1714). He also
conducted the Free-holder
(23 December 1715-29 June 1716), the Whig Examiner (14 September to 12 October), and
The Old Whig, which
survived for only two numbers (19 March and 2 April 1719). None of these
attained the success of the Spectator. Addison's only successful
drama was the tragedy Cato
(1713). [MW]
- Addison, Lancelot, 1632-1703 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English clergyman, writer, traveller, and father of Joseph Addison. [LD]
- Aeschylus (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Aeschylus (c. 525 BC-456 BC) Greek playwright, born at Eleusis, near
Athens, generally considered to be the earliest important writer of the
Western theatrical tradition, the first playwright to achieve official
recognition in ancient Greece. [RD]
- Agamemnon (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- In Homer''s Iliad, Agamemnon was a king of Mycenae and
brother to Menelaus, whose wife Helen eloped
to Troy with her lover Paris. Agamemnon commanded the united Greek armed
forces in the Trojan War. As the Greeks were departing for Troy, they
found that the winds were insufficient to set sail. In response to a
prophesy that her sacrifice was demanded by the gods, Agamemnon slew his
daughter Iphigenia. In revenge, Agamemnon was killed by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus on
his return from Troy. [JP]
- Ahenobarbus, Gnaeus Domitius (d. 32 B.C.)
(Encyclopedia
Britannica)—
- Roman general, politician, and chief partisan of Mark Antony after the defeat of Julius Caesar's assassins. [LD]
- Aikin, Anna Letitia—
- See Barbauld, Mrs. (Anna Letitia).
[MW]
- Aikin, John, 1747-1822 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Physician and brother to Anna Letitia
Barbauld, John Aikin was a broad-ranging and prolific literary
man whose connections in the burgeoning late eighteenth-century print
marketplace make him exemplary of emerging literary professionalism. His
writings range through the subjects of science, medicine, reform,
history, biography, geography, nature, conduct, children's and
educational literature, politics, poetry, and literary criticism. In
addition, he was an active and productive editor, including of several
of the period's outstanding periodicals, such as the Monthly Magazine, the Athenaeum, and the Annual Register. He and
his sister collaborated on Miscellaneous
Pieces in Prose (1773) and Evenings at Home; or, the Juvenile Budget
Opened (1792-1796). [MW]
- Aikin, Lucy, 1781-1864 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Daughter of the historian and physician John
Aikin and neice of poet and essayist Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Lucy Aikin was a
versatile and successful author of poetry, fiction, children's
literature, history, memoirs, biographies, correspondence, translations,
adaptations, and edited collections. Lucy Aikin was largely educated by
her father and her aunt. At the age of 17, she began publishing
contributions in journals and soon assisted her father as an editor of
his work. Her own works were distinct in the artistic, literary, and
social lenses through which they approached her subjects, as opposed to
the more religious or strictly political lenses of many contemporary
historians and biographers. Her biographies stand out for the use of
primary materials such as letters and journals, and her work often met
with considerable success. Aikin also had an interest in early education
and published several guides to help young readers. Aikin was a staunch
feminist and remained a Unitarian throughout her life. She never married
or had children, instead spending her life living with family. Aikin
sometimes published under pseudonyms, including Mary Godolphin. Some of
her major works include Epistles on
Women, Exemplifying Their Character and Condition in Various
Ages and Nations: With Miscellaneous Poems (1810);
Juvenile Correspondence, or
Letters, Designed as Examples of the Epistolary Style, for
Children of Both Sexes (1811); Lorimer: A Tale (1814);
Memoirs of the Court of Queen
Elizabeth (1818); Memoirs of the Court of King James the First
(1822); Memoir of John Aikin, M.D.: With
a Selection of His Miscellaneous Pieces, Biographical, Moral,
and Critical (1823); The Works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld,
edited, with a memoir (1825); An English Lesson Book, for the Junior
Classes (1828); Memoirs of the Court of King Charles the First
(1828); and The Life of Joseph
Addison (1843), among others. [LD] [MW]
- Akenside, Mark, 1721-1770 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet and physician known especially for The Pleasures of Imagination (1744;
subsequently revised and expanded) and for his odes, especially those
collected in Odes on Several
Subjects (1745). [MW]
- Albemarle, George Keppel, Earl of,
1724-1772 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A prominent politician and army officer, Albemarle was a close friend
and policical ally of William, duke of
Cumberland. [RD]
- Alemán, Mateo, 1547-1614? (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Authored Vita del Picaro Guzman
d'Alfarache (1599-1604). [MW]
- Alembert, Jean Le Rond d', 1717-1783
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French philosopher and mathematician who assisted Diderot for a time
with the Encyclopédie.
[MW]
- Alexander, the Great, 356-323 B.C. (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of Macedonia from 336, Alexander demonstrated brilliance as a
general in a campaign that originated as an obsession for vengeance
against the Persians and culminated with extending his empire through
Egypt and Asia Minor into India. He is known on various occasions for
his ruthlessness, heroic bravery, courtesy, and concern for the
religious and intellectual heritage of the areas he conquered. [MW]
- Algarotti, Francesco, 1712-1764 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian novelist, poet, and essayist who travelled extensively.
Notable works include: Newtonianismo
per la dame (1737) and his letters regarding an
extended trip to Russia, collected in his posthumous Viaggi di Russia (1769). [ZP]
- Allen, Ralph, ca. 1693-1764 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A noted Bath philanthropist particularly recognized for postal
system reform, he was a friend of Samuel
Richardson, Henry Fielding,
Alexander Pope, and numerous
other Illustrious personages in eighteenth-century arts and letters.
[MW]
- Amory, Thomas, 1691?-1788? (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Authored The Memoirs of Several
Ladies by John Buncle (1755) and The Life of John Buncle,
Esq. (two volumes published separately in 1756 and
1766). [MW]
- Anacreon (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- An Ancient Greek lyric poet living from roughly 582-485 B.C.E.,
Anacreon was considered among the canonical Nine Lyric Poets of Ancient
Greece, alongside Pindar. His most famous
works are characterized by their eroticism and revelry. [LD]
- Andrew, Apostle, Saint (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Andrew the Apostle or Saint Andrew was born in Galilee and brother to
Saint Peter. In the New Testament, he was an apostle of
Jesus. [MW]
- Goodman Andrews—
- Father to the title character in Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740-1). [MW]
- Andromache—
- In Greek mythology, wife of Hector,
Prince of Troy. [MW]
- Andromeda—
- Greek mythological figure chained to a rock to appease the gods, but
rescued by Perseus, who then married her.
[MW]
- Anne, Queen of Great Britain,
1665-1714 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The last of the Stuart monarchs, Anne became queen of England,
Scotland, and Ireland in 1702 and presided over the Acts of Union in
1707 that created Great Britain. [MW]
- Annesley, George, Earl of Mountnorris,
1769-1844(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Succeeded his father Arthur Annesley, first Earl of Mountnorris, in
1816. [VW]
- Anstey, Christopher, 1724-1805 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A noteworthy eighteenth-century poet, his best known works include
the popular epistle, The New Bath
Guide (1766) and The Farmer's Daughter, a Poetical Tale
(1795). [RD]
- Anti-Jacobin
—
- The arch-conservative Anti-Jacobin,
or, Weekly Examiner, founded by George Canning and a few friends, was
published from 1797-1798, edited by William Gifford. On its demise it was followed by the less
effective Anti-Jacobin Review and
Magazine, or, Monthly Political and Literary Censor
(1798-1821). These periodicals lampooned not only "Jacobins,"
that is, supporters of the French revolution, and other radicals, but
Dissenters, Catholics, abolitionists, Whigs, those who would educate the
poor, and many other moderate groups as well. [MW]
- Antonius, Marcus, 83 B.C.?-30 B.C. (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Roman politician, general, triumvir, and relative of Julius Caesar, known presently as
"Mark Antony." Antony played a large role in the shifting of
the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire, forming a three-man dictatorship
with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and
Octavian known as the Second
Triumvirate following the assassination of Caesar. Although Antony married Octavian's sister, Octavia,
he continued his love affair with Cleopatra VII of Egypt.
Lepidus was removed from the Triumvirate in 36 B.C.E., and tensions
involving Antony's affair, his subsequent divorce from Octavia and marriage with Cleopatra, as well as
political disagreements caused a rift between him and Octavian. The conflict led to a civil
war, and Antony's forces were defeated at the Battle of Alexandria,
causing Antony to flee to Egypt to commit suicide with Cleopatra, while Octavian became the first Roman
emperor. [LD]
- Apollo—
- In classical mythology, the Greek god of the sun, music and poetry,
prophesy, and medicine. He is the son of Zeus and his prophetic powers
are expressed through the Delphic Oracle. [MW]
- Apollonius, of Tyana (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Greek philosopher and mystic from the town of Tyana, now part of
Turkey. He was author of a life of Pythagoras and is associated with
Neopythagorean thought. [JDP] [MW]
- Apuleius [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name
Authority); c.124-after 170 (Encyclopedia Britannica)—
- Lucius Apuleius, also known as Madaurensis, after Madaura in Africa,
where he was born, authored The Golden
Ass (or Metamorphosis), a darkly comic tale or
prototypical novel, which contains a version of the story of Cupid and
Psyche. [MW]
- Arblay, Alexandre Jean Baptiste Piochard, comte
d', 1754-1818 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Émigré French general and adjutant to General Lafayette. In
1793 D'arblay married Fanny Burney
[MW]
- Arblay, Madame D'—
- See Burney, Fanny. [MW]
- Arbuthnot, John, 1667-1735 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Founder of the Scriblerus Club,
which included Alexander Pope and
Jonathan Swift among the members.
Arbuthnot authored a series of pamphlets originating the fictional
figure John Bull, the personification of
English national character. [MW]
- Arcadius, Emperor of the East, 377?-408 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Emperor who ruled the Eastern half of the Roman empire while his
younger brother Honorius ruled the western
half. [MW]
- Archimedes (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and
astronomer. [JDP]
- Ariel—
- The "airy spirit" in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Although Ariel is trapped
under Prospero's command, Ariel is quite powerful himself, with a
range of abilities and a host of followers beneath him. Ultimately,
Ariel manipulates Prospero by appealing to his humanity in order to gain
his freedom. [LD]
- Ariosto, Lodovico, 1474-1533 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Italian poet best known for his chivalric romance epic, Orlando Furioso (1516).
[MW]
- Aristides, of Miletus [n.d.] (Library of Congress
Name Authority); 2nd century B.C. (Encyclopedia
Britannica)—
- His Milesian Tales were
a collection of erotic picaresque stories. [MW]
- Aristophanes (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Aristophanes was the foremost Greek comic playwright of his time.
Many works with which he has been credited are now lost, but among those
that survive, Wasps (422
B.C.), Birds (414 B.C.),
Lysistrata (411
B.C.), Plutus (also known
as Wealth, 408; revised
388), and Frogs (405 B.C.)
are among the best known. [RD], [MW]
- Aristotle (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Ancient Greek philosopher, scientist, and foremost intellect during
the Classical period. Living from 384-322 B.C.E., Aristotle was first a
student of Plato. His writings spanned across
mathematics, science, and the humanities. As the pioneer of the study of
zoology, Aristotle was considered a great scientific mind, but it is
particularly his contributions to the field of philosophy and as founder
of formal logic that his thought has pervaded Western culture. His Poetics exerted a profound
influence on European literature and its criticism, giving rise to the
neoclassical literary standards of the 16th to the later 18th centuries.
[LD] [MW]
- Arkwright, Richard, Sir, 1732-1792 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Through his inventions of a carding frame and, even more
importantly, an innovative spinning frame, Arkwright became a leader in
the mechanization of cotton manufacturing and the development of the
factory system for textile production. [MW]
- Armagnac, Louis d', Duke of Nemours,
1472-1503 (Encyclopedia
Britannica)—
- Known for his titles as Duc de Nemours and Count of Guise, Louis
d'Armagnac participated in the Italian campaigns under Charles VIII of France and later became
the French viceroy of Naples under Louis
XII. [LD]
- Armstrong, John, 1709-1779 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet, physician, essayist. Most famous for his didactic poem
The Art of Preserving
Health (1744). [VW]
- Arthur—
- A legendary king of England, the subject of a number of verse
narratives. [MW]
- Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, 1187-1203 —
- Fourth Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany, Prince Arthur had been
designated heir to the throne over his uncle, John, King of England,
1167-1216. [MW]
- Ascham, Roger, 1515-1568 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English humanist, scholar, and didactic writer who is best remembered
for his prose style, theories on education, and promotion of the
vernacular. Ascham served in the administrations of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I after serving
as Elizabeth's tutor in
Greek and Latin from 1548 to 1550. [LD]
- Aspasia—
- Mistress of Pericles often attacked in Athenian dramatic works for
her supposed undue political influence. [MW]
- Astraea—
- Personification of virtue who, when the Golden Age ended and the
earth became dominated by iniquity, ascended to the heavens and became
the constellation Virgo. [MW]
- Até —
- Goddess of error, delusion, and rash action. [MW]
- Athena (Greek deity)(Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Also known as Pallas Athene, Athena, the Greek personification of
wisdom, is goddess of strategic warfare and arts and crafts such as
spinning and weaving. She was born of Zeus and
Metis after Zeus swallowed Metis, fearing she
would have a son stronger than himself. The god Hephaestus struck Zeus on the forehead with an axe, and Athena
sprang from the opening fully armed. Athena is often equated with the
Roman goddess Minerva. [MW]
- Atkinson, Henry George, 1812-1884 (Library of
Congress Name Authority—)
- English writer and freethinker with interests in mesmerism,
naturalism, materialism, and phrenology. He advised Harriet Martineau on mesmerism
during her 5-year illness, to which she attributed her recovery. The two
went on to publish their correspondence as Letters on the Laws of Man’s Nature and
Development (1851). [LD]
- Aubrey, John, 1626-1697 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English antiquary, biographer, and pioneer archaeologist. His notable
works include Brief Lives (written between
1669 and 1696), Monumenta
Britannica (written between 1663 and 1693), and Naturall Historie [of
Wiltshire] (written between 1659 and 1671), all
published posthumously. [LD]
- Austen, Jane, 1775-1817 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Austen's major novels include Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813),
Mansfield Park (1814),
Emma (1816), Northanger Abbey (1818),
and Persuasion (1818). A
minor novel, Lady Susan,
was first published in the 1871 edition of James Edward
Austen-Leigh's A Memoir of Jane
Austen along with the fragment The Watsons and a synopsis
of the unfinished Sanditon.
Austen is also appreciated for her comic juvenilia, especially Love & Freindship [sic] (1922). [MW]
- Mr. B.—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Pamela (1740-1). [MW]
- Bacchus—
- Roman name for the Greek god Dionysus.
[KI]
- Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- After being disgraced as a public figure by accusations of
corruption, Lord Bacon turned to philosophical writing. His major works
included his Essays (1597),
The Advancement of
Learning (1605), De
Sapientia Veterum Liber (1609, translated as The Wisedome of the
Ancients, 1619), Novuum
Organum (1620), History of Henry VII (1622), De Augmentis Scientiarum
(1623), and New Atlantis
(1627), as well as numerous other historical, biographical, political,
and philosophical publications. [MW]
- Bage, Robert, 1728-1801 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Author and businessman, Bage published six novels in his lifetime:
Mount Henneth
(1781) Barham Downs (1784),
The Fair Syrian
(1787), James Wallace
(1788), Man as he is
(1792), and Hermsprong, or Man as He Is
Not (1796). [RD]
- Baglioni, Malatesta, 1491-1531 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Umbrian lord and condottiero (captain of a mercenary company),
remembered primarily for his betrayal of the Florentine army to the
Imperial forces during the Siege of Florence. [LD]
- Bale, John, 1495-1563 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English Bishop, Protestant controversialist, and dramatist. Bale is
the author of Kynge Johan,
the first known English historical play. [LD]
- Baillie, Joanna, 1762-1851 —
- Joanna Baillie stands as the most significant Romantic period
British woman playwright as well as being one of the period"s most
notable women critics. Scottish by birth, Baillie moved about with her
family after her father's death until her brother inherited a
London medical practice from his uncle. Eventually settling in
Hampstead, Baillie widened her circle of literary acquaintances to
include numerous prominent figures. Her own first publication was an
anonymous volume, Poems: Wherein It Is
Attempted to Describe Certain Views of Nature and Rustic
Manners, Etc. (1790). The first volume of A Series of Plays: In Which It Is
Attempted to Delineate the Stronger Passions of the Mind. Each
Passion Being the Subject of a Tragedy and a Comedy
(1798), with its "Introductory Discourse," was
also published anonymously, sparking much speculation about the author.
Baillie added additional volumes to this work in 1802 and 1812, with
this final volume featuring the preface "To the
Reader." Another collection, Miscellaneous Plays, appeared in 1804 and
included her tragedy Romiero, which she defended in Fraser's Magazine
(December 1836). Baillie meant her plays for the stage, but though they
were widely read, only De
Monfort was much staged. Nevertheless, Baillie
continued her project, adding more plays and extending some of those
already published, until 1836, when her three volume collection Dramas appeared. Along with
drama and dramatic theory, Baillie published narrative poetry, including
Metrical Legends of Exalted
Characters (1821). Ahalya Baee, another narrative poem,
appeared in 1849. She also published a theological tract, A View of the General Tenour of the New
Testament, examining the nature and dignity of
Jesus Christ (1831). Finally she agreed to the Longmans' request to
collect and edit her entire opus for The
Dramatic and Poetical Works of Joanna Baillie, Complete in One
Volume, published in 1851, the year she died. [MW]
- Baker, David Erskine, 1730-1767 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English dramatic writer and grandson of Daniel Defoe, most famous for his anthology of dramatic
authors, the Biographia
Dramatica (1782). [LD]
- Bandello, Matteo, 1485-1561 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian writer, soldier, monk, and bishop, best known for his Novelle, a collection of
short stories published in four volumes between 1554 and 1573.
Bandello's work popularized the genre of the short story, a trend
which influenced the literature of England, France, and Spain for the
remainder of the sixteenth century. Bandello's stories have been
adapted into plays by dramatists such as John
Webster, Philip
Massinger, and John Fletcher,
but the most famous adaptation of his work is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. [LD]
- Barbauld, Mrs. (Anna Letitia), 1743-1825 (Library
of Congress Name Authority) —
- Barbauld's career opened under her birth name, Anna Aikin, with
publication by the Warrington Academy's Eyres Press of Corsica: An Ode (1768),
followed by Poems, also
first published at Warrington by Eyres Press (1772) before being
reprinted in London by Joseph Johnson (1773). The same year, she
collaborated with her brother, John
Aikin, on a volume of Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose (1773). After
she married dissenting clergyman Rochemont Barbauld and the two opened a
school, Anna Barbauld authored children's literature and
educational materials, including the various installments of Lessons for Children
(1775-1788) and Hymns in Prose for
Children (1781), which were well loved. She began
roughly a decade of political writing with An Address to the Opposers of the Repeal of the
Corporation and Test Acts (1790), quickly followed
by the abolitionist poem Epistle to Mr.
Wilberforce on the Rejection of the Bill for Abolishing the
Slave Trade (1791). Her known career in criticism
began with a preface to Mark
Akenside's The Pleasures of
Imagination (1794), followed by the preface to William Collins's Poetical Works (1797), an
edition of Selections from
Spectator, Tatler,
Guardian, and Freeholder,
also with a prefatory essay (1804), and a selection of The Correspondence of Samuel
Richardson (1804). The British Novelists (1810) constitutes
her most ambitious critical project with its lengthy preface
"The Origin and Progress of Novel-Writing"
and the critical biographical prefaces for each author. In addition, she
pursued a long career of periodical reviewing and criticism dating from
around 1797 or 1798 up through at least 1815. Her reviews probably
included contributions to the Analytical
Review, her nephew Arthur Aikin's Annual Review, the Athenæum and the Monthly Magazine while her brother was affiliated with them, the
Gentleman's
Magazine, and most prolifically, the Monthly
Review, to which she contributed several
hundred articles on fiction, poetry, educational literature, and several
other topics. Her last major publication was the poem Eighteen Hundred and Eleven
(1812), for which she received some harsh reviews, but even after this
disappointment she continued to publish short poems and literary
criticism as well as to arrange her work for a contemplated but never
executed complete works edition. [MW]
- Barclay, Alexander, 1475?-1552 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Poet, chaplain of the Church of England, and later Benedictine monk,
Barclay is best remembered for his work The Shyp of Folys of the Worlde, a
translation of the German satire Das
Narrenschiff by Sebastian Brant. [LD]
- Barclay, John, 1582-1621 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- His Argenis (1621) was
a very popular romance narrative poem. [MW]
- Barrow, Thomas—
- Friend of William Collins and
John Home. In The History of the Rebellion in the Year
1745 (1802; 190-192) Home tells of how Barrow, an
Englishman but then a student at Edinburgh, escaped with Home and others
from the Castle of Doune after the Battle of Falkirk (1746). [MW]
- Barry, Spranger (bap. 1717, d. 1777) (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Popular Irish actor and founder of Crow Street Theatre, a
contemporary of David Garrick who
challenged Garrick's position as
the foremost actor of the era. [LD]
- Bartholomew, Apostle, Saint (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A member of Jesus's Twelve Apostles. He is referred to as
Nathanael in the Fourth Gospel and the New Testament. Stories of his
martyrdom describe two methods; in one, he was flayed alive. This
version is featured in works by several prominent artists, including
Michelangelo, Tiepolo,
and Ribera. [VW] [MW]
- Bathurst, Allen Bathurst, Baron, 1684-1775
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- English Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons and an
aquaintance of Alexander Pope. [LD]
- Bayezid I, Sultan of the Turks, approximately
1360-1403 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Also known as "The Thunderbolt," Bayezid I was Sultan of the Ottoman
Empire from 1389–1402. Bayezid I founded what would become the first
centralized Ottoman state grounded in traditional Muslim and Turkish
institutions. Bayezid was captured by Timur
at the Battle of Ankara in 1402 and died in captivity the following
year. The Ottoman Interregnum was triggered as a result of Bayezid's
death. [LD]
- Beattie, James, 1735-1803 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Scottish poet and philosopher. His best known work, Essay on the Nature and Immutability of
Truth (1770) was both successful and influential.
His poem The Minstrel
(1771-1774) details the natural education of a young shepherd who
eventually attains poetic genius. He published a number of other
philosphical, theological, and linguistic works, several collections of
poems, and, in 1778, a collection entitled Essays on Poetry and Music As They Affect the
Mind. [JDP] [MW]
- Beauclerk, Charles (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Living from 1670-1726, Charles Beauclerk was the 1st Duke of St. Albans as the illegitimate son
of King Charles II and
actress Nell Gwyn. [LD]
- Beaufort, Henry, 1374-1447 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Cardinal, Bishop of Winchester, and grandson to King Edward III, Beaufort was
influential in English politics for many years. [MW]
- Beaumont, Mme.—
- See Elie de Beaumont, Mme.
(Anne-Louise Morin-Dumesnil). [MW]
- Beaumont, Mrs.—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's The History of
Sir Charles Grandison (1754). [MW]
- Beaumont, Francis, 1584-1616 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A very prolific playwright and poet who collaborated with a number
of his contemporary authors, most notably John Fletcher, with whom he authored over a dozen works. A
few of the most notable among these include Philaster (c. 1609), A King and No King (c.
1611), The Maid's
Tragedy (c. 1611), and The Scornful Lady (c. 1615). The Two Noble Kinsmen, a
Shakespeare-Fletcher collaboration, reworks much
material from Beaumont's The Masque
of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn (c. 1613).
[MW]
- Beckford, William, 1760-1844 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Best known for his Gothic novel Vathek (Lausanne, Switz, 1787; London,
1815), William Beckford published a translation of stories by German
author Johann Karl August Musäus
as Popular Tales of the
Germans (1791). [MW]
- Behn, Aphra, 1640-1689 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Poet, novelist, playwright, pamphleteer, translator, and even spy,
Behn is one of the most significant and interesting figures in early
women's writing and is considered to be the first woman to live by
her pen. Her most important novel, Oroonoko; Or, The Royal Slave (1688) was
adapted by Thomas Southerne as his
play Oroonoko (1695). Behn
was a prolific playwright, with The
Rover. Or, The Banish't Cavaliers (1677) her
most successful play. A number of her play prefaces constitute
noteworthy literary criticism, especially the preface to The Dutch Lover (1673).
Other play productions include The Forced
Marriage (1670), The Amorous Prince (1671), Abdelazer; or, The Moor's
Revenge (1676), The
Town Fop; or, Sir Timothy Tawdry (1676), The Debauchee (1677), The Counterfeit Bridegroom; or, The
Defeated Widow (1677), Sir Patient Fancy (1678), The Feigned Courtesans; or, A
Night's Intrigue (1679), The Young King; or, The
Mistake (1679), The
Revenge: or, A Match in Newgate (1680), The False Count; or, A New Way to Play
an Old Game (1681), The Roundheads; or, The Good Old Cause
(1681), Like Father, Like
Son (1682), The City
Heiress: or, Sir Timothy Treat-all (1682), The Lucky Chance; or, An Alderman's
Bargain (1686), The
Emperor of the Moon (1687), The Widow Ranter; or, The History of
Bacon in Virginia (1689), and The Younger Brother; or, The Amorous
Jilt (1696). [MW]
- Belford—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9). [MW]
- Belisarius, ca. 505-565 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Renown Roman general. His noteworthy accomplishments included
conquering the piratical Carthaginian Vandals. The story of him having
been blinded and reduced to beggary by Justinian is probably apocryphal,
but it is featured in the 1765 novel by Marmontel, which Barbauld
read. [MW]
- Bellamy, D. (Daniel), 1687- (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English miscellaneous writer, translator, and commoner of St.
John's College, known as "Daniel Bellamy, the elder." His
most notable works include Love
Triumphant (1722) and The Young Ladies Miscellany (1723). [LD]
- Belton—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9). [MW]
- Count de Belvedere—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's The History of
Sir Charles Grandison (1754). [MW]
- Bembo, Saint Leon—
- A Roman Catholic saint remembered for his miraculous healings, Saint
Leon Bembo died in 1188. [LD]
- Bembo Pietro, 1470-1547 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Italian cardinal, poet, and grammarian. Notable works include:
Rime (1530),
Gli Asolani (1505),
and Prose della volgar
lingua (1525) in which he codified Italian grammar.
[ZP]
- Benedict XIV, Pope, 1675-1758 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Born born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, became Pope in 1740. Among
other activities, in 1741 he issued a papal bull against enslavement of
indigenous peoples in the Americas, but, unfortunately, the edict went
unenforced. [MW]
- Bentham, Jeremy, 1748-1832 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer, considered the
father of Utilitarianism. Bentham's social reform publications included
his Panopticon (1791) on
prison reform, particularly remembered today in consequence of Michel
Foucault's commentary on the idea. In Principles of Morals and Legislation
(1789), his most important work, and Fragment on Government (1776), the source
of his declaration that " it is the greatest happiness of the greatest
number that is the measure of right and wrong," he laid out the
principles of Utilitarianism, a philosophy that advocated language that
served as a vehicle for accurately communicating information, a purpose
that the figurative and imaginative aspects of poetry could only
threaten. Bentham did, however, favor the expansion of individual and
economic freedom; equal rights for women in property, voting, and
divorce; decriminalizing of homosexual acts; and the abolition of
slavery, the death penalty, and physical punishment. [JDP] [MW}
- Bentivoglio, Guido, 1577 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian diplomat, cardinal, and historian. Notable works include Relazioni in tempo delle sue
nunziature (1629) and Della guerra di Fiandra (1632-9).
Posthumous collections of his letters include a four volume set edited
by Luigi de Steffani titled La
Nunziatura di Francia del cardinale Guido
Bentivoglio (1863-70). [ZP]
- Berington, Simon, 1680-1755 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Berington authored the utopian narrative Gaudentio di Lucca (1737). [MW]
- Berkeley, George, 1685-1753 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Bishop of Cloyne, Berkeley is best known for his Treatise Concerning the Principles of
Human Knowledge (1710). [MW]
- Berquin, M. (Arnaud), 1747-1791 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- French children's author whose stories were popular with both
the French and, in translation, British audiences. L'Ami des enfants
(1782-3) is the best known of these works. [MW]
- Berry, Mary, 1763-1852 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A prominent bluestocking and salonniere, Berry edited The Works of Horatio Walpole, Earl of
Orford (1798) under the name Robert Berry. Her
memoirs and letters were published as Social Life in England and France from the French
Revolution, (1831) and Journals and Correspondence
(1865) [MW].
- Isaac Bickerstaff—
- Pseudonym. See Richard Steele and
Jonathan Swift. [MW]
- Bickerstaff, Isaac, 1735-1812 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Not to be confused with Isaac
Bickerstaff, the alias used by Richard Steele and Jonathan
Swift, this Isaac Bickerstaff (or Bickerstaffe) was an Irish
playwright and librettist. He had varying success in his works
throughout his life, but his play The
Maid of the Mill (1765) was one of his successful
ones. He also wrote Lionel and
Clarissa (1768), a comic opera. [GR]
- Blacklock, Thomas, 1721-1791 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Known as "the blind bard," the poet
Blacklock lost his sight in early his childhood. [MW]
- Blackmore, Richard, Sir, d. 1729 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The legacy of this physician and prolific poet as one admired by
Samuel Johnson and yet the butt
of scorn in Alexander Pope's Dunciad epitomizes the
controversies over his merits among his contemporaries. Creation (1712) is his most
respected poem. [MW]
- Blackstone, William, 1723-1780 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An English jurist and Tory politician, William Blackstone is best
remembered for his Commentaries on the
Laws of England, an expansive and accessible
treatise on English common law which influenced the development of the
United States legal system after the Revolutionary War. Blackstone also
studied poetry during his time at Oxford, and his notes on Shakespeare were published in
George Steevens' 1793
edition of Shakespeare's
plays. [LD]
- Blair, Robert, 1699-1746 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Scottish poet whose work The
Grave gave rise to the graveyard school, a genre of
poetry characterized by its morbid appeal and themes of mortality and
bereavement. [LD]
- Blanchard, Samuel Laman 1804-1845 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A minor poet, essayist, and editor, Blanchard was the biographer of
Letitia Elizabeth
Landon. [VS]
- Blessington, Marguerite, Countess of,
1789-1849 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Extraordinarily hard-working, particularly after her family's
finances were ruined by the extravagance of her companion, the Comte d'Orsay, Lady Blessington was
known for novels, travel writing, periodical editing and contributions,
and editing and authoring copy for popular literary gift books. [MW]
- Blount, Martha Marie, 1690-1763 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Blount, Martha Marie, 1690-1763 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—Martha Marie Blount was a close friend to author Alexander Pope, so much so that some
contemporaries speculated that she was his lover or even secret wife.
Because her family estate was concentrated on her younger brother, the
shy, quiet-tempered Martha spent many of her adult years living with her
more difficult sister Teresa (b. 1688), addressee of Pope's poems "Epistle to
Miss Blount, with the Works of Voiture" (1710) and "Epistle to Miss Blount, on her
Leaving the Town after the Coronation" (1714). Blount was also
cousin to Arabella Fermor, subject of Pope's Rape of the
Lock. When Pope
died, he left Martha a sufficient inheritance to enable her for the
first time to establish a household independent of her sister. [MW]
- Boccaccio, Giovanni, 1313-1375 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Italian writer, poet, and Renaissance humanist. The Decameron (1348-1353)
is his collection of 100 tales that inspired fiction by many subsequent
writers. [MW]
- Boccalini, Triano, 1556-1613 (British
Library)—
- Italian historical and satirical writer who served in various
government functionary positions. His best known works include Ragguagli di Parmaso
(1612), Centuria Seconda
(1613), and the posthumously published Pietra di Paragone Politico (1615). [MW]
- Boiardo, Matteo Maria, 1440 or 41-1494 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian poet Matteo Maria Boiardo was best known for the chivalric
romance epic, L'Orlando
Innamorato (1495). [MW]
- Boileau Despréaux, Nicolas, 1636-1711 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Best known for his satires, epitres, and L'Art poétique (1674), French
poet, satirist, and critic Nicolas Boileau published Dialogue des Héros de
Roman in 1688. His translation of Longinus's Peri Hypsous as Le Traité du Sublime
(1674; Treatise on the
Sublime) was followed by Réflexions critiques sur Longin (1694;
Critical Reflections on
Longinus), which argued for the necessity of
classical poetic models. [MW]
- Anne Boleyn, Queen, consort of Henry VIII, King of England,
1507-1536 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Second wife of King Henry
VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I. While married to his first wife, Henry VIII made numerous
attempts to seduce Boleyn, all of which she refused. The pope's
refusal to allow Henry an
annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon in favor of marrying Anne Boleyn led to
England's break from the Catholic church and the beginning of the
English Reformation. After Boleyn was unsuccessful in bearing Henry a son, Henry sought to break from
the marriage in favor of his mistress, Jane Seymore. Henry had Boleyn arrested for
high treason, and she was beheaded four days later. Historians have
largely dismissed the charges against her, including adultery, incest,
and conspiring to kill her husband, as false. [LD]
- Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, Viscount,
1678-1751 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- As a British Tory politician, philosopher, and political journalist,
Viscount Bolingbroke famously opposed the Walpole administration.
Bolingbroke maintained friendships with notable authors including Alexander Pope and Johnathan Swift. A prolific writer,
Bolingbroke was especially known for his histories and political
journalism, including such publications as A Dissertation upon Parties (1735); A Letter on the Spirit of
Patriotism (1736); Letters to a Young Nobleman on the Study and Use of
History (1738); Idea of a Patriot King (1738); Remarks on the History of
England (1743); Familiar Epistle to the Most Impudent Man
Living (1749); and Letters on the Study and Use of History
(1752).[RD], [VW],
[MW]
- Booth, Barton, 1681-1733 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- One of the most famous English actors of his time, Booth was a
successful tragedian and joint-manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with Colley Cibber, Thomas Doggett, and Robert Wilks. [LD]
- Boreas—
- Greek god of the north wind. [MW]
- Borgia, Cesare, 1476?-1507 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Illigitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, he served in the Italian Wars.
Though he was able to ascend to power, he was not able to solidify and
retain it, thus inspiring Niccolo
Machiavelli to write The
Prince
- Boswell, James, 1740-1795 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Judge and unsuccessful political aspirant, essayist, poet, and
critic, but most famous for The Life of
Samuel Johnson,
LL.D (1791), Boswell established the modern
biographical focus on the intimacies of private character through this
famous biography and his preface defending his methods. That publication
was preceded by The Journal of a Tour to
the Hebrides with Samuel
Johnson, LL.D. (1785), which appeared
shortly after Johnson's death and aroused reader enthusiasm for a
portrait that includes personal foibles as well as venerable
accomplishments. Also notable as a unique combination of biography of
Pascal Paoli, history, and travel journal, An Account of Corsica (1768) helped inspire
British popular support for Corsica's struggle against French
domination. [MW]
- Bowles, William Lisle , 1762-1850 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Author of Fourteen
Sonnets (1789), admired by the major Lake School authors. [MW]
- Boydell, John, 1719-1804 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- London engraver, publisher, and printseller; the various series he
sponsored included a gallery of paintings of subjects from Shakespeare, which first opened
in 1789 and expanded in subsequent years. [MW]
- Boyle, Robert, 1627-1691 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Younger brother to Roger Boyle, earl of
Orrery, Robert Boyle was primarily a scientist. His Martyrdom of Theodora and of
Didymus was printed in 1687. [MW]
- Boyle, Roger—
- See Orrery, Roger Boyle, Earl of.
[MW]
- Bradshaigh, Dorothy, Lady, ca. 1708-1785
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- née Dorothy Bellingham; frequent
correspondent with Samuel
Richardson and others; sister to Lady Echlin. She married Sir Roger
Bradshaigh, 1699-1770 (Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography) in 1731. In her essay on
Richardson, Anna Letitia Barbauld occasionally
spells the name "Bradshaw." [MW]
- Bradshaw, Lady—
- Appears as an alternate spelling of Bradshaigh. [MW]
- Brant, Sebastian, 1458-1521 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- German satirist, poet, professor of law, and imperial official.
Brandt's Das
Narrenschiff was the most popular literary work of
fifteenth-century Germany. [LD]
- Breton, Nicholas, 1545?-1626? (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet and novelist, stepson of George Gascoigne. Breton's prose and verse spanned many
genres, including satire, romance, religion, and politics. [LD]
- Breval, John, 1680?-1738 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A miscellaneous writer descended from a protestant French refugee
family, John Durant Breval dabbled in poetry, history, playwrighting,
and travel writing. Breval was also engaged in a long-standing quarrel
with Alexander Pope, both writers
mercilessly ridiculing one another in multiple publications. [LD]
- Briareus—
- Also called Aegaeon, in Greek mythology, Briareus was one of three
50-headed, 100-armed brothers, the Hecatoncheires ("hundred"
and "hands" in Greek), who aided Zeus in his defense against the Titans. [LD]
- Brooke, Arthur, -1563 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English poet best remembered for his The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and
Juliet, a narrative poem which became the key source for
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The poem
is a translation and adaptation of the French translation of a story in
Matteo Bandello's Novelle. [LD]
- Brooke, Frances, 1724?-1789 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Brooke began her literary career with The Old Maid (1755-6), a witty
essay periodical that she operated under the pseudonym "Mary
Singleton, Spinster," and that was reprinted as a single volume in
1764. This periodical staging interactions between a vivid central
voice, the perspectives of other contributors (probably fictional), and
reader correspondence (much of which may also have been fictional), it
is no surprise that her first full-length literary effort was a drama,
Virginia: A Tragedy
(1756), which she was unable to get staged. Her first two novels
similarly capitalized on dramatic dialog skills in their epistolary
form. The first, The History of Lady
Julia Mandeville (1763), was issued anonymously. It
was quite successful, going through multiple editions in its first year.
Around the time of its publication, Brooke left England, the country
where she was born and lived her early life, to join her husband, who
was serving in Canada as part of the British army. The History of Emily Montague
by"the Author of Lady Julia Mandeville"(1769) capitalizes on
her Canadian experiences. Though not as succesful as her previous novel,
this one was also well received and is lauded by some as the first
Canadian novel. A second anonymous Canadian novel, All's Right at Last
(1774), has tentatively been attributed to Brooke largely on the basis
of its subject matter. The
Excursion (1777), with its lampoon of actor and
stage manager David Garrick, followed
next. At this point Brooke began to achieve some dramatic success with
stagings of her tragedy Siege of
Sinope in 1781, and two comic operas, Rosina in 1782 and Marian in 1788. Her final
novel, The History of Charles
Mandeville, was posthumously published in 1790. In
addition to her own creative works, Brooke translated several from the
French, including Letters from Juliet
Lady Catesby (1760), an epistolary novel by Marie Riccoboni. [MW]
- Brooke, Henry, 1703?-1783 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Irish author Henry Brooke published poems, opera,
political polemics, novels, and plays. Among his most important works,
The Fool of Quality
(1765-70) and Juliet Grenville; or, The
History of the Human Heart (1774), both novels of
sensibility, mix that genre with exposition of political principles.
Though his first and best-remembered play Gustavus Vasa, the Deliverer of His Country
(1739) was banned from the stage because of its applicability to English
politics in its time, he continued to write several other dramas with
provocative political content. [MW]
- Brown, Charles Brockden, 1771-1810 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- As the first professional American author, Brown was known for his
Gothic novels, especiallyWieland (1798), Arthur Mervyn (1799), Ormond (1799), and Edgar Huntly (1799), Memoirs of Carwin, the Biloquist
(1803–1805). Brown edited or operated a number of
periodicals during his life, including the Monthly Magazine, and American Review
(1799-1800), renamed the American
Review, and Literary Journal (1801-1802), the Literary Magazine, and American
Register (1803-1807), and the American Register, or General Repository
of History, Politics, and Science (1807-1809).
[MW]
- Brown, John, 1715-1766 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- John Brown was an English priest, playwright, and essayist. One of
his notable plays is Barbarossa (1754), a tragedy about the
notorious 15th and 16th century pirate Anuj Barbarossa. [GR]
- Browne, William, 1590-approximately 1645
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- An English pastoral poet with an acute eye for nature, known for his
long poem Britannia's
Pastorals, two parts published in 1613 and 1616,
with a third unfinished part printed posthumously in 1832 (1613-16). Two
of his poems appeared as well in The
Shepheard's Pipe, a collection of ecologues by
various authors. [JDP] [MW]
- Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 1806-1861
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- As one of the most accomplished poets of nineteenth-century Britain,
Elizabeth Barrett was proposed as a possible successor to William Wordsworth as poet
laureate. Barrett enjoyed a physically active and intellectually
vigorous childhood. Under the guidance of her brother Edward's
tutor and the family's neighbor, classicist Hugh Stuart Boyd, she
studied Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and several modern continental languages,
becoming deeply versed in these literatures and eventually producing
several translations from Greek poetry, including one of Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound, first published in 1833.
She began writing poetry as a very young child, and by fourteen had
penned The Battle of
Marathon (1820), which her father had privately
printed. By age fifteen she was publishing publicly as well, two of her
poems appearing anonymously in the New
Monthly Magazine. That same year Elizabeth Barrett
and several of her siblings fell ill of an uncertain disorder that may
have been either tuberculosis of the spine or bronchitis. Sent to a spa
for treatment, she returned an invalid under physician's orders to
avoid intellectually strenuous pursuits. Nevertheless, she continued to
read, study, and write, producing An
Essay on the Mind (1826) as well as several shorter
poems by age 20. Despite her poetic success, the next decade brought her
several crushing losses and a dangerous intensification of her illness:
the unexpected death of her much-loved mother in 1828, the loss of the
family home, and, in 1838 a hemorrhage of her lungs which forced her to
a spa on England's south coast, where she spent the next three
years, and where her brother Edward, with whom she was exceptionally
close, drowned in 1840. By the time she returned to London in 1841,
again under orders to avoid intellectual stimulation, both her physical
and emotional health seemed irretrievably broken. Yet her poetry
appeared regularly in periodicals and popular gift annuals, and The Seraphim, and Other
Poems was published in 1838. Despite her illness, too,
when Barrett returned to London she enjoyed a widening circle of
literary and artistic acquaintances, including William Wordsworth, Walter Savage
Landor, Mary Russell Mitford, art critic Anna
Jameson, and painter Benjamin Robert Hayden. Her second volume
of poetry, Poems (1844),
established her beyond question as a significant poet. It also brought
her a warm letter from Robert Browning, initiating a passionate
courtship that culminated, because of her father's fervent
opposition to her marriage, in the couple's elopement and departure
for Italy in 1846. During their courtship, Elizabeth composed the
sonnets collected as Sonnets from the
Portuguese, which appeared in an expanded 1850
edition of Poems. Under the
influence of a more active life and the genial Italian climate,
Elizabeth's health improved dramatically. She continued to publish,
with Casa Guidi Windows
(1851), her response to the Italian struggle for independence the next
major work to appear. Her epic poem Aurora Leigh (1856) details the maturation
and career of a fictional female poet, and is often compared to
Wordsworth's autobiographical epic, The Prelude (1850). Strong in its criticism
of Victorian social mores, particularly the restrictive attitudes toward
women, the poem scandalized many critics, but enjoyed immediate public
success. Her last volume to be published in her lifetime, Poems before Congress
(1860), returns to the subject of Italian politics. Having enjoyed a
period of relatively good health after her marriage, Elizabeth Barrett
Browning's health again began to deteriorate, and in 1861 a rupture
in her lungs proved fatal. She left behind a body of work that
contemporaries praised as placing her at the apex of female poetic
tradition and even her detractors recognized for its combination of
sensitivity and intellectual depth. [MW]
- Bruce, James, 1730-1794(Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A Scottish explorer who discovered the source of the Blue Nile in
1770. His five volume Travels to
Discover the Sources of the Nile, in the Years
1768–73 was published in 1790. [VW]
- Brumoy, Pierre, 1688-1742 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- French Jesuit historian, classicist, and man of letters. His analyses
of Greek dramas in Le Théâtre des Grecs (1730) were especially
esteemed. [MW]
- Brutus, Marcus Junius, 85?-42 B.C. (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A notable orator and high-ranking Roman politician, Brutus became a
leader in the successful assasination plot against Julius Caesar after Caesar declared his divinity and named
himself permanent dictator. [MW]
- Bryan, Francis, Sir, -1550 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet, courtier, favorite of Henry VIII, and friend of Sir
Thomas Wyatt. [LD]
- Buchanan, George, 1506-1582 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A satirical poet and eventually preceptor to James I of England (James VI of
Scotland), Buchanan spent seven months of his life imprisoned in a
Portuguese monastery for his advocacy of Lutheranism. An incident from
Buchanan's Rerum Scoticarvm
Historia, published posthumously in 1582, was the
inspiration for Tobias
Smollett's unsuccessful play The Regicide (1749). [VW],
[MW]
- Budgell, Eustace, 1686-1737 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A cousin of Joseph Addison and a
contributor to the Spectator, the Guardian, and probably the Tatler, Budgell also
authored his own periodical, the Bee. He was one of the figures satirized in
Alexander Pope's Dunciad (1728). [MW]
- Buffon, Georges Louis Lecler, comte de,
1707-1788 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A French naturalist and author, he dedicated the majority of his life
to the forty-four volume Histoire
Naturelle (1749-1804). [VW]
- Bull, John—
- See John Bull. [MW]
- Bulwer, Edward Lytton, 1803-1873
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A prolific English novelist and dramatist known for his popular and
diverse novels and plays, Bulwer-Lytton wrote in a variety of genres
from history and mystery, to romance, science fiction, horror, and the
occult. Bulwer-Lytton was also a member of Parliament, serving two
non-consecutive terms (first as a reformer, then returning after 11
years as a Conservative) before being appointed colonial secretary in
1858. His personal life became notorious after an acrimonious divorce,
followed his ex-wife Rosina's publication of her thinly fictionalized Cheveley, or the Man of
Honour (1839), a bitter satire of her ex-husband's
infidelities. Bulwer's literary career began while he was still at
Cambridge with the award of the Chancellor's Prize for his poem
Sculpture. His
early works, novels of manners like Pelham; or, The Adventures of a Gentleman
(1828) and Paul Clifford
(1830), are said to be influenced by his friendship with William Godwin. He is best known for
historical novels like The Last Days of
Pompeii (1834) and Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes
(1835); a series of domestic novels starting with The Caxtons: A Family
Picture (1849); his utopian novel, The Coming Race (1871); and
his plays, The Lady of
Lyons (1838), Richelieu (1839), and Money (1840). The following
list of his other publications is not exhaustive, but covers most of his
novels as well as several other notable works. These include Falkland (1827); O'Neill; or, The Rebel
(1827); The Disowned
(1828); Devereux: A Tale
(1829); The Siamese Twins: A Satirical
Tale of the Times (1831); Eugene Aram: A Tale (1832); England and the English
(1833); Godolphin: A Novel
(1833); Ernest Maltravers
(1837); Alice; or, The Mysteries: A
Sequel to "Ernest Maltravers" (1838); Night and Morning (1841);
Zanoni (1842); The Last of the Barons
(1843); Lucretia; or, The Children of
Night (1846); Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings (1848);
King Arthur: An Epic
Poem (1849); What Will
He Do With It? by Pisistratus Caxton (1858); A Strange Story (1862); The Parisians (1873); and
Kenelm Chillingly: His Adventures
and Opinions (1873). [KI]
and [MW]
- Bunyan, John, 1628-1688 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Allegorical author and sometime preacher, Bunyan produced among his
more important works Grace Abounding to
the Chief of Sinners (1666), The Pilgrim's Progress
(1678), and The Life and Death of Mr
Badman (1680). [MW]
- Burgh, Hubert de, -1243 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A powerful political figure, Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, served as an ambassador and sheriff under
King John before his
promotion to Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland, a position he held
during the reigns of King John
and successor Henry III. [LD]
- Burgoyne, John, 1722-1792 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- John Burgoyne was a British general, as well as a popular playwright.
As a soldier, he took part in the Seven Years’ War as well as the
American Revolution. Burgoyne fought in several Canadian battles during
the Revolutionary War, and he led an ultimately ill-fated excursion to
cut off the New England colonies from the southern colonies. The
excursion resulted in Burgoyne surrendering, bringing him back to
England in dishonor. Burgoyne also saw success as a dramatist, having
written several plays, the most notable of which were The Maid of the Oaks (1774)
and The Heiress (1786).
[GR]
- Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Statesman, philosopher, historian, and sometime poet, Irish-born
Edmund Burke is by far the most articulate representative of the
conservative perspective on the French Revolution. His Reflections on the Revolution in
France (1790) responds critically to a
pro-revolution sermon by Rev. Richard
Price by castigating the French for their failure to respect
historically sanctioned traditional government and private property.
Burke also made a landmark contribution to eighteenth-century aesthetic
discourse with A Philosophical Enquiry
into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and
Beautiful (1757). [MW]
- Burney, Charles, 1726-1814 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Musician, composer, and highly respected musicologist; father of
novelist Fanny Burney. A contributor to
The Cyclopedia; or, Universal
Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature
(1802-1819), Burney authored and translated a number of other works on
music, musicians, and music history, the most important of which include
The Present State of Music in France
and Italy (1771), The Present State of Music in Germany, the
Netherlands, and the
United Provinces (1773), and A General History of Music, From the
Earliest Ages to the Present Period (1776-1789).
[MW]
- Burney, Fanny, 1752-1840 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A well loved novelist, Fanny (or Frances) Burney authored Evelina; or, A Young Lady's
Entrance into the World (1778), Cecilia; or, Memoirs of an
Heiress (1782), Camilla; or, A Picture of Youth (1796), and
The Wanderer; or, Female
Difficulties (1814). She also wrote Memoirs of Dr. Burney
(1832) about her father, Charles
Burney, a musician, composer, and highly respected
musicologist. After serving some years in the British court as an
attendant on Queen Charlotte, Fanny Burney became Madame D'Arblay
through her marriage to the émigré French officer Alexandre D'Arblay. [MW]
- Burns, Gilbert 1760?-1827 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Gilbert and his brother, poet Robert
Burns, took a joint lease of their father's
farm at Mossgiel near Mauchline, Scotland where they both worked as
farmers. Gilbert wrote letters to various people in his lifetime, which
have served in uncovering the life of his famous brother. [VS]
- Burns, Robert, 1759-1796 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Scottish poet and collector of rural and traditional songs, Burns
was sometimes known as the Ploughman Poet for his vocation as a farmer
and his depictions of rural life. Much of his work is written in his
native Scots. Though admired by many of his contemporaries, Burns was
continually dogged by financial strains. His Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
(1786) was repeatedly reissued in enlarged editions. He is also credited
with collecting and editing the song collection The Merry Muses of Caledonia: A Collection of Favorite
Scots Songs (c. 1800). [MW]
- Burton, Robert, 1577-1640 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Along with aspiring to summarize everything that had ever been
written about melancholy, Burton's widely admired Anatomy of Melancholy
(1621) contains a rich trove of legendary love stories. [MW]
- Busk, M. M. (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Born in London in 1779 as Mary Margaret
Blair, this author, translator, and journalist was educated by her
mother, with possible assistance from masters. In addition to history,
composition, and a seemingly unusual understanding of the sciences, she
developed proficiency in French, Italian, Latin, Dutch, German, and
Spanish. Her father was a successful non-conformist businessman with an
inclination to gamble, connected with many of the leading intellectuals
of the day, and Mary Margaret was exposed to their conversation, another
probable informal source of education. She married barrister William
Busk (1769-1849) in 1796. William was initially prosperous, but after
some losses sustained in an expensive and unsuccessful parliamentary
election campaign, he was insolvent, and Mary Margaret turned to writing
for remuneration, publishing for the first time when she was in her 40s.
Family connections to Blackwood's
Edinburgh Magazine enabled her to break into
periodical work, initially anonymously, but soon she began negotiating
with periodical editors under her own name. She contributed a large
number of articles to each of the Foreign Quarterly Review, Blackwood's Edinburgh
Magazine, and the Athenaeum, as well as perhaps a few
contributions to other periodicals, theorizing about and reviewing
literature in all the languages in which she had facility. Her work
offers a substantial contribution to familiarizing British audiences
with a broad range of foreign literature. In addition to her reviewing
work, she authored poems, plays, tales, and histories. Some of her more
noteworthy publications include the novel Zeal and Experience (1819); Tales of Fault and Feeling
(1825); History of Spain and
Portugal (1833); Plays and Poems (1837); Biographical Sketches European and
Asiatic (1847), intended for children; and Mediaeval Popes, Emperors, Kings, and
Crusaders, or, Germany, Italy, and Palestine, from a.d. 1125 to
a.d. 1268, a work in four volumes (1854-1856). Busk
died in 1863. [MW]
- Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 1713-1792 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- British politician and tutor to King George III. [VW]
- Butler, Eleanor, Lady, 1739-1829(Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Irish noblewoman, known as one of the "Ladies of
Llangollen". With Sarah
Ponsonby, the subject of William
Wordsworth's sonnet "To the Lady E.B and the
Hon. Miss P.". She and Ponsonby left conventional
marriages to move to Llangollen in Wales and cohabitate, fascinating and
scandalizing contemporaries by wearing men's clothing. Though many
observers believed that the two were a sexual couple, diary evidence
suggest that may not have been the case.
- Butler, Samuel, 1612-1680 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet and satirist, Butler is best remembered for Hudibras (1663-4), a
political satire of Puritan fanaticism and hypocrisy. [MW]
- Byrom, John, 1692-1763 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Poet, shorthand innovator and instructor, and contributor to Joseph Addison's Spectator. [MW]
- Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A phenomenally popular author also known for his flamboyant and
scandalous personal life, Lord Byron produced so much noteworthy work
that a complete list is impossible in a short note. Highlights include
English Bards, and Scotch
Reviewers (1809), Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812-19),
The Giaour (1813), The Bride of Abydos (1813),
The Corsair (1814), Lara (1814), Hebrew Melodies (1815), The Prisoner of Chillon, and Other
Poems (1816), Manfred (1817), Beppo (1818), and Don Juan (1819-24). While assisting in the
Greek struggle for independence from Turkish domination, Byron died of
fever in Missolonghi. Proclaimed a national hero, to this day he
symbolizes for many Greeks the embodiment of resistance to oppression.
[MW]
- Harriet Byron—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's History of Sir
Charles Grandison (1754). [MW]
- Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D.
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- First Roman Emperor following the demise of the republic that had
been destroyed by the dictatorship of Julius
Caesar, Augustus's great-uncle and adoptive father.
Considered as one of the greatest Roman Emperors, Augustus's reign
was characterized by relative peace and prosperity. Hence, Latin
literature flourished during the Augustan Age, with writers inspired by
the peace they enjoyed as well as their ruler who secured it. [LD]
- Caesar, Julius [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name
Authority); 100 B.C.-44 B.C. (Encyclopedia Britannica)—
- Roman general, statesman, member of the First Triumverate, and
eventually sole dictator, assassinated on the Ides of March. [MW]
- Cagliostro, Alessandro, conte di,
1743-1795 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Medium, magician, and psychic healer Count Cagliostro enjoyed a
number of years as a sensation in the fashionable circles of
eighteenth-century Europe until his wife denounced him to the
Inquisition. [MW]
- Caliban—
- The half-human, half-monster son of the banished witch Sycorax in
Shakespeare's The Tempest, one of the
only Shakespearean figures to come to have its own life outside of the
work for which it was created. Caliban's mother dies shortly before
the arrival of Prospero, the rightful Duke
of Milan, and Caliban's subsequent enslavement. Caliban worships
Setebos, the entity he believes to be his mother's god, and appeals
to her powers to free him from Prospero's torment. [LD]
- La Calprenède, Gaultier de Coste, seigneur
de, d. 1663 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Calprenède was known along with d'Urfé and
Scudéry for promoting literary and cultural aesthetics of delicate
refinement exalting chivalric virtues partly through long works of
romance fiction that constitute the most significant examples of the Roman de longue haleine, literally the
"long-winded novel." His most popular works in that genre
include Cassandre
(1642-45), which stretched to ten volumes and was translated into
English as Cassandra, the Fam'd
Romance (1652), and Cléopâtre (1646-57), a twelve
volume work, translated as Hymen's
Praeludia, or Love's Masterpiece (1665). [MW]
- Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- French theologian and Protestant reformer responsible for the
doctrine known as Calvinism. After publishing his Institution de la religion
in 1536, he moved to Geneva, where he published sermons, commentaries,
and letters developing and refining the doctrine of predestination, sin,
and grace. [MW]
- Cambridge, Richard Owen, 1717-1802 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- The best known work of this poet is The Scribleriad (1751). He contributed to
the World between 1753 and
1756. [MW]
- Camden, William, 1551-1623 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English antiquary, topographer, and king-of-arms. Camden is best
remembered for his Britannia (1586), a pioneering topographical
survey of Great Britain, and Annales (1615), the first detailed account
of the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, which became the basis for most later accounts of
Elizabeth's
reign. [LD]
- Argyll, Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of,
1659-1735 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Born Elizabeth Gunning, Elizabeth married James Hamilton, sixth duke
of Hamilton, in 1752. After his death in 1758 she married a professional
soldier, John Campbell, who succeeded to his father’s title of Duke of
Argyll. Elizabeth served for over two decades as lady in waiting to
Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, for which services she was honored
in 1776 with the title 1st Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon suo jure. [RD]
[MW]
- Campbell, Thomas, 1777-1844 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A Scottish romantic poet, biographer, historian, literary critic,
and, from 1821-1830, editor of New
Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, Thomas
Campbell was recognized most widely for the poem The Pleasures of Hope(1799) and the
seven-volume survey of canon poetsSpecimens of
the British Poets (1819). [VS] and
[MW]
- Camuccini, Vincenzo, 1771-1844 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Prominent Roman painter of classical and clerical subjects. [MW]
- Canning, Elizabeth, 1734-1773 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Disappearing on Jan 1, 1753, Canning reemerged after 28 days with
allegations that she had been abducted and held prisoner in a failed
attempt to coerce her to become a prostitute. As Justice of the Peace
for Middlesex and Westminster, Henry
Fielding heard Canning's accusations, and convinced of
her veracity, Fielding issued a warrant for her abusers’ arrest.
Subsequent recanting by some witnesses left Canning accused of perjury
and unleashed a flood of accounts, accusations, and counteraccusations
in the popular press, including John Hill’s The Story of Elizabeth Canning
Considered (1753). In 1754, despite fairly evenly
divided opinion among both the public and the court, Canning was
convicted of perjury and transported to Wethersfield, Connecticut, where
she met and married John Treat, had a family, and lived the remainder of
her life. The case has continued to draw adherents on both sides of the
question of Canning's guilt into the 20th century. [RD] [MW]
- Canning, George, 1770-1827 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Canning had been a conservative British politician since the early
1790s, serving, among other posts, as foreign minister before rising to
Prime Minister in April 1827. In addition to his memorable political
speeches, Mr. Canning wrote for both the Anti-Jacobin
Review, which he co-founded, and the Quarterly
Review. His health failed soon after his
Prime Minister appointment, and he died in August of the same year.
[KI and MW]
- Camões, Luís de, 1524?-1580 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- As the author of the epic poem Os
Lusíadas (1572), Camões is regarded as
Portugal's great national poet. The poem describes the Portuguese
explorer Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India. Some
of its details may have been partly based on Camões's own
travels in the east. [MW]
- Canova, Antonio, 1757-1822 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An Italian neoclassical
sculptor. [JDP]
- Di Belmonte, E. C. (Ernesto Capocci),
1798-1864 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian author, astronomer, mathematician, and politician. Capocci
published his fiction under the name "Belmonte" to avoid
damaging his reputation as a professional. Under this name he published
his historical novel Il primo
vicerè di Napoli in 1837. He also authored a
science fiction novella called Relazione
del viaggio alla Luna fatto da una donna nell'anno di
grazia 2057 (Report
of the Trip to the Moon done by a Woman in the Year of our Lord
2057) [LD] [MW]
- Caponi, Jacopo, 1832-1909 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Italian writer and journalist. [LD]
- Capponi, Gino, 1792-1876 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A wealthy Italian statesman,
historian, Catholic liberal, and influential figure in the Italian
Unification movement, Gino Capponi's salon in Florence was said to
be a hub for leading European liberals. Capponi founded two periodicals,
L'Antologia
("Anthology") and Archivio
storico italiano ("Italian Historical
Review"), as well as his 1875 masterpiece, Storia della repubblica di Firenze
("History of the Republic of Florence"). [LD]
- Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da, 1573-1610
—
- Italian painter whose intensely chiaroscuro effects inspired the
development of tenebrism, where such dramatic lighting dominates the
style. [MW]
- Carew, Thomas, 1595?-1639? (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English poet and one of the most famous members of the Cavalier
group. Carew's poems were admired for their mastery of mood,
imagery, and language. [LD]
- Carey, Henry, 1687?-1743 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English poet, playwright, songwriter, patriot, and anti-Walpolean satirist. Carey is best
remembered for his ballads, particularly "Sally in our
Alley." [LD]
- Carlyle, Alexander, 1722-1805 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Scottish churchman, memoirist, and political commentator. [MW]
- Carlyle, Thomas, 1795-1881 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Carlyle's humorous, idiosyncratic Sartor Resartus (1836) presents spiritual
and philosophical reflections in the form of a biography of the
fictional professor Diogenes Teufelsdröckh. The French Revolution (1837) offered a
dramatic reassessment of recent historical events that presented the
revolution as an inevitable consequence of bad government. On Heroes, Hero-Worship & the Heroic
in History (1841) argues that idolization of
charismatic heroes is the foundation of all loyalties. Both Chartism (1839) and Past and Present (1843)
discuss the chartist movement, the latter by contrasting the current
situation with that in the middle ages. [MW]
- Caro, Annibal, 1507-1566 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Roman poet, translator, and critic whose notable works include Gli Straccioni (1544), a
translation of Virgil's Aeneid
(1581), and, posthumously, Lettere
familiare (1572-74). [ZP]
- Carter, Elizabeth, 1717-1806 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A well regarded poet and member of Elizabeth Montagu's
Bluestocking Circle, Carter was also regarded as one of
eighteenth-century Britain's leading female intellectuals for her
translation, All the Works of Epictetus,
Which Are Now Extant (1758), a milestone in the
learned achievements of women. The first publication of her collected
verse appeared as Poems upon Particular
Occasions (1738). The subsequent Poems on Several Occasions
came out in 1762 and was subsequently reprinted in an enlarged edition.
She also edited the works of her friend and correspondent Catherine Talbot in The Works of the Late Mrs. Catherine
Talbot (1780). [MW]
- Cartwright, William, 1611-1643 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet, playwright, scholar, and preacher. Cartwright was a
member of the literary group "Sons of Ben," though his poor imitations of Jonson have put the legitimacy of this
status into question. [LD]
- Caryll, John, 1667-1736 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Second Jacobite Baron Caryll of Dunford and friend of Alexander Pope, deemed "John Caryll
the Younger." [LD]
- Cassandra—
- In Greek mythology, the visionary daughter of King Priam of Troy was
condemned by the god Apollo to prophesy but never be believed. [MW]
- Cassandra—
- The eponymous heroine of a sentimental novel by Calprenède. [MW]
- Cassius Longinus, Gaius, active 54 B.C.-42 B.C.
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Roman general, senator, and brother-in-law of Brutus, best known as the leader of the
conspiracy to assassinate Julius
Caesar. Following the death of Caesar, Cassius and Brutus
engaged in war with the Second Triumvirate, the three-man dictatorship
which took the place of Caesar's
rule in the Roman Republic. Cassius committed suicide after his defeat
at the Battle of Philippi. [LD]
- Castiglione, Baldassarre, conte,
1478-1529 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian diplomat, courtier, and writer, whose most well known
literary work was Il libro del
cortegiano (1528). [ZP]
- Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, 1769-1822
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The Irish-born Robert Stewart had a highly influential career in
British politics and foreign service. He played a key role in subduing
the Irish rebellion of 1798 and in the Act of Union of 1800. At that
time, he was criticized for his mild approach toward the Irish and his
tolerance for Catholicism. Later he was associated with harsh repressive
measures, especially as memorialized in Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "The Mask of
Anarchy." He became the 2nd Marquess of Londonderry in
1821, following the death of his father, the 1st Marquess. In 1822,
suffering from psychological distress associated with overwork, he
committed suicide.
- Catherine, of Aragon, Queen, consort of
Henry VIII, King of England, 1485-1536 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- As wife of King Henry
VIII, Catherine was Queen of England from June 1509 until May
1533. After many years of marriage, Henry became frustrated with the
failure of the union to produce a male heir to the throne and sought to
have the marriage annulled so he could marry Anne Boleyn. When the Pope
refused the annulment, Henry established himself as the head of the
Church of England and instituted divorce proceedings. Because Catherine
refused to acknowledge the divorce, he banished her from the court for
the duration of her life. Before her marriage, as ambassador to England
for Aragon, Catherine was the first European woman ambassador.
- Catherine, of Valois, Queen, consort of
Henry V, King of England,
1401-1437 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Daughter of Charles VI of
France, wife of Henry V, mother
of Henry VI, and grandmother
of Henry VII.
Catherine's marriage with Henry
V aimed to eventually make Henry the King of France and end the Hundred Years' War,
but Henry died before the plan
could be executed. Catherine remarried Owen Tudor, making it possible
for her grandson to ascend to the English throne. [LD]
- Catherine I, Empress of Russia,
1684-1727 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Though born a Polish peasant, Catherine became the mistress and then
the second wife of Peter the Great of
Russia. Catherine had a short two-year reign following her
husband's death. [BDW]
- Catherine II, Empress of Russia,
1729-1796 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
-
Often known as "Catherine the Great," Catherine II presided
over a period of prosperity in which Russia, after which the country
emerged as a world power. Born Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst, she came to
power in consequence of a coup overthrowing her husband, Peter III. She
saw herself as an enlightened ruler, writing on education and
patronizing the arts. [JDP] [MW]
- Cato the Younger, 95 BCE-46 BCE (Encyclopedia Britannica) —
- Roman statesman, orator, and follower of the Stoic philosophy. [MW]
- Catullus, Gaius Valerius [n.d.] (Library of Congress
Name Authority); c. 84 B.C.-c. 54 B.C. (Encyclopedia Britannica)—
- Roman poet and contemporary of Julius
Caesar, whose love poetry was particularly influential on
subsequent poets. [MW]
- Cavendish, Margaret—
- See Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish,
Duchess of. [MW]
- Cecilia, Saint (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Living in the third century C.E., the legendary St. Cecilia was among
the most revered of the Roman virgin martyrs and the patron saint of
music and musicians. Her feast day is celebrated on November 22nd. [LD]
- Cenci, Beatrice, 1577-1599 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Daughter of Count Francesco Cenci, who abused his wife and raped
Beatrice numerous times. After unsuccessfully reporting him to
authorities, Beatrice, her stepmother, and her brothers murdered the
Count. They were tortured and executed, becoming a legend of resistance
to tyranny.
- Centlivre, Susanna, 1667?-1723 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet, playwright, and actress, born Susanna Freeman and also
known professionally as Susanna Carroll. Centlivre was considered among
the most influential female playwrights of her time, alongisde Aphra Behn, with some of her plays being
performed for over two centuries. Centlivre was married thrice—her
first husband, supposedly Sir Stephen
Fox, died less than a year after the couple wed. Centlivre's
early biographeres claim that she then married an army officer by the
name of Carroll who died in a duel a year and a half into their
marriage. Centlivre kept and wrote under his name for seven years, until
her third marriage to Joseph Centlivre, a cook to Queen Anne. Historians are
divided as to how Centlivre came to the London writing scene. One
account states that Anthony Hammond,
a student of St. John's College at Cambridge, found her weeping at the
side of the road, became taken by her charms, and smuggled her into the
university. This account claims she studied grammar, logic, rhetoric,
and ethics for months before she aroused suspicion and set out for
London. A more likely account states that Centlivre joined a troupe of
strolling actors in Stamford, a town 25 miles from her hometown of
Holbeach, at which point she became popular for the breeches roles she
assumed. The breeches roles, coupled with her outspoken political
writings as an ardent Whig, led many to regard Centlivre as a masculine
figure. By the end of her life, Centlivre was held in high literary
esteem for her poems, letters, books, and plays, particularly her
comedies. Her most notable works include The Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret (1714),
A Bold Stroke for a
Wife (1718), The
Gamester (1705), The Perjur'd Husband: or, The Adventures of
Venice (1700), The
Busie Body (1709), and Love's Contrivance (1703). [BA] [LD]
- Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 1547-1616 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His most famous work, Don Quixote (1605-15), a
picaresque tale of chivalric literary influences gone wrong, is one of
the great landmarks in the history of fiction. [MW]
- Chalkhill, John, active 1600 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Lesser-known English poet whose work has been compared to that of
William Chamberlayne.
Chalkhill authored two poems in Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler and a
pastoral poem, Thealma and
Clearchus, published posthumously by Walton. [LD]
- Chamberlayne, William, 1619-1689 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- English physician, dramatist, and poet, who fought on the Royalist
side at the Battle of Newberry. [LD]
- Channing, Johannis, [n.d.] (Library of
Congress Name Authority); a.k.a. John Channing, c.1703-1775 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Apothecary and translator of Arabic medical treatises. [MW]
- Channing, William Ellery, 1780-1842
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A clergyman and literary critic, Channing was friend to a number of
important literary figures of the American Renaissance. [MW]
- Chapman, George, 1559?-1634 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English dramatist, poet, and translator. Chapman's translations
of Homer remained the standard for centuries.
[LD]
- Chapone, Mrs. (Hester), 1727-1801 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Born Hester Mulso, Chapone became a significant figure in Elizabeth Montague's
eighteenth-century bluestocking circle. Her Letters on the Improvement of the Mind
(1773) proposed a rigorous course of self education for women. [MW]
- Charlemagne, Emperor, 742-814 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- King of the Franks from 768 and legendary figure of La
Chanson de Roland (The Song
of Roland) (c. 1100), which narrates the Battle of
Roncesvalles (Roncevaux) in 778. [MW]
- Charles I, King of England, 1600-1649
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of England, Scotland, and Ireland of the House of Stuart, son of
King James VI of Scotland.
Charles I's authoritarian rule led to the English Civil War which
resulted in his execution. [LD]
- Charles I, King of Naples, 1226-1285 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Member of the French Capetian dynasty, King of Sicily and Naples,
also known as "Charles of Anjou." Charles I created an
impressive empire through his exploits in Italy, though it dissolved
prior to his death. [LD]
- Charles II, King of England, 1630-1685
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Exiled to France during the English Civil Wars and Interregnum,
Charles II returned to England in 1660 to be crowned king, bringing
French court culture as well as artistic and cultural sophistication
with him to inaugurate a reign of relative political stability and
flourishing arts but characterized by detractors as profligate and
immoral. [MW]
- Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, 1500-1558 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Archduke of Austria, King of Spain, and Holy Roman Emperor beginning
in 1519. His reign was largely characterized by his struggle to hold the
Catholic empire together in the wake of the Protestant Reformation in
Europe. [LD]
- Charles VI, King of France, 1368-1422
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- First referred to as "the Beloved" and later "the
Mad," Charles VI ascended to the throne at the age of eleven and
increasingly suffered from psychotic episodes that rendered him an
ineffectual ruler. Although Charles signed the Treaty of Troyes shortly
after the French defeat at the Battle of Agincourt, making his future
son-in-law Henry V heir to the
French throne, Henry died
shortly before Charles, leading to the French re-entering the Hundred
Years' War and earning victory for the French House of Valois.
[LD]
- Charles VIII, King of France, 1470-1498
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of France beginning in 1483, Charles VIII began the French
expeditions into Italy that lasted until the mid-16th century. [LD]
- Charles Edward, Prince, grandson of James II, King of England,
1720-1788 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" by his supporters and
"The Young Pretender" by detractors, Charles Edward Stuart was
raised in exile after his grandfather, James II, was deposed from the
British throne for his ambitions to return England to the Catholic
faith. Prince Charles Edward mounted the Jacobite Uprising from Scotland
in an effort to reclaim the throne for the Stuart royal line. [MW]
- Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte
de, 1768-1848 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- An exceptionally versatile writer, Francois-Auguste-Rene de
Chateaubriand was the foremost literary figure of early
nineteenth-century France. Chateaubriand's Atala (1801) is a novel of ill-fated love
between two American Indians of opposing tribes. His literary criticism
was highly regarded, especially his Sketches of English Literature; with Considerations on
the Spirit of the Times, Men, and Revolutions
(London: Henry Colburn, 1836), translated from Essai sur la littérature anglaise et
Considérations sur le génie des hommes, des temps et
des révolutions (1836). Other works of note
include Le Génie du
Christianisme (1802) and René (1805), the story of an
idealistic and alienated European who comes to America to find solace.
Originally part of Le Génie du
Christianisme, both Atala and René were detached for separate
publication. [MW]
- Chatterton, Thomas, 1752-1770 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Inspired by a growing English interest in antiquated and primitive
poetry, Chatterton fabricated a number of works supposedly by
fifteenth-century Bristol sheriff Thomas Rowley, whom Chatterton
fictitiously recast as a poet, providing spurious documentation for the
poems' authenticity as well. Made desperate by poverty, he
committed suicide while still in his teens, inspiring his reception
among Romantic readers as a quintessential example of tragically
neglected genius. [MW]
- Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A translatory, diplomat, and customs official as well as a poet,
Chaucer is most famous for The
Canterbury Tales, written in the late fourteenth
century and composed partly of narratives that Chaucer adapted or even
appropriated from Boccaccio's Decameron. Chaucer's
many other works include The Legend of
Good Women (c. 1386), which collects tales
primarily from Ovid and Boccaccio; Troilus and Criseyde (c. 1386), an extended
narrative poem adapted from Boccaccio's Il
Filostrato relating a dark story of ill-fated love
during the Trojan War; and three dream vision poems, The Book of the Duchess
(written c. 1370), The House of
Fame (c. 1380), and The Parliament of Fowls (c. 1380). Chaucer
also authored a number of shorter works, some comic, others lyrical, and
a prose Treatise on the
Astrolabe. His most important translations include
The Romance of the Rose
and Boethius's Consolation of
Philosophy. [MW]
- Chetwood, Knightley, 1679-1752—
- One of the Chetwoods of Queens County, Ireland and nephew of
Knightley Chetwood, Dean of Gloucester, 1650-1720 (Library of Congress
Name Authority), this Knightley Chetwood is most known for his
friendship with Jonathan Swift. [MW]
- Chetwood, W. R. (William Rufus), -1766 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English or Anglo-Irish bookseller, publisher, playwright, and
adventure novelist best known for his General History of the Stage (1749). [LD]
- Chimene—
- Character in Corneille's
Le Cid. [MW]
- Christian II, King of Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden 1481-1559 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- King of Denmark and Norway from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520
until 1521. He was the last monarch of the Scandinavian Kalmar Union,
losing his position as King of Sweden to Gustav Vasa. [BDW]
- Churchill, Charles, 1731-1764 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A premiere English
satirist and poet. His best known work, The Rosciad (1761), made him a household name.
[VW]
- Churchyard, Thomas, 1520?-1604 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet, pamphleteer, courtier, protégé of the Earl of Surrey, and mercenary soldier.
Churchyard's most notable work is his contribution to the
collection A Mirror for
Magistrates. [LD]
- Cibber, Colley, 1671-1757 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Actor, playwright, and poet laureate after 1730, Cibber was
especially known for his theatrical comedies, the most notable of which
include She Would and She Would
Not (1702) and The
Careless Husband (1704). He was also the hero of
Alexander Pope's Dunciad. [MW]
- Cibber, Susannah Maria Arne, 1714-1766
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Second wife to Theophilus
Cibber and said to be the greatest actress of eighteenth
century London, Susannah Cibber was known for her ability to emotionally
move her audiences by both her expressive singing voice and her acting
skills. At the time of her death, Susannah Cibber was the highest-paid
actress in England. [LD]
- Cibber, Theophilus 1703-1758 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Son of the successful actor, playwright, and theatre owner Colley Cibber and husband of popular
tragic actress Susannah Cibber,
Theophilus Cibber was an actor, author, and playwright whose limited
abilities and scandalous private life earned him a poor reputation with
the public. His memories of his theatrical career provide substantial if
not always accurate content for his The
Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland
(1753). [BDW]
- Cicero, Marcus Tullius (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Living from 106-43 B.C.E., Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer,
scholar, philosopher, Academic Skeptic, writer, and orator.
Cicero's writings strove to uphold republican ideals toward the end
of the civil wars which would destroy the Roman Republic. [LD]
- Cideville, Pierre-Robert Le Cornier, seigneur de,
1693-1776 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French magistrate and friend of literary figures including Boileau, Molière, and Voltaire.
[MW]
- Clairaut, Alexis-Claude, 1713-1765
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A prominent French mathematician, astronomer, and translator. [MW]
- Clanvowe, John, Sir, 1341?-1391 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An an English diplomat, soldier and poet. He was born to a Marcher
family originally of Welsh extraction. He himself was probably of mixed
Anglo-Welsh origin. He held lands that lay in the present-day
Radnorshire district of Powys and in Herefordshire. He was a personal
friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. He was
one of the "Lollard knights" (with supposedly heretical views)
at the court of King Richard
II. Clanvowe's best-known work was The Boke of Cupide, God of Love, or The
Cuckoo and the Nightingale, a 14th-century debate
poem influenced by Chaucer's
Parliament of Fowls. He
is believed to be the father of Sir Thomas
Clanvowe.[JDP]
- Clanvowe, Thomas, Sir, active 1400 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An English courtier, poet, and sheriff of Herefordshire, believed to
be the son of Sir John Clanvowe. [JDP]
- Clarissa Harlowe—
- Heroine of Samuel
Richardson's novel Clarissa (1747-9). [MW]
- Claudius
- Uncle to the title character in William Shakespear's drama Hamlet. Claudius kills the king, Hamlet's father, and ascends to the throne. [MW]
- Clayton, Thomas, 1673-1725 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English composer, violinist, and member of the king's band from 1692
to 1702. Clayton wrote the music for Joseph
Addison's libretto to create their opera Rosamond (1707). [LD]
- Clelia—
- The eponymous heroine of a novel by Mme. de Scudéry. [MW]
- Clement VII, Pope, 1478-1534 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Born Giulio de'Medici, Clement VII's eleven years of papal
authority were characterized by religious, military, and political
conflict in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. [LD]
- Clement XIV, Pope, 1705-1774 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, Clement XIV was the pope
from 1769-1774. He authored the brief Dominus ac Redemptor (1773), which
suppressed the Society of the Jesuits. [ZP]
- Clementina della Porretta —
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's The History of
Sir Charles Grandison (1753-4). Clementina, an
Italian woman, is one of the four rivals vying for the affection of the
eponymous hero. [MW] [LD]
- Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, -30 B.C.
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The prototypic romantic femme fatal, Cleopatra VII Philopator was the
lover of Julius Caesar, later wife of
Mark Antony, and final ruler of
the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. After the assassination of Caesar, Cleopatra allied herself with
the Second Triumvirate, whose foremost members were Antony and Octavian. Cleopatra and Antony began their love affair while
Antony remained married to Octavian's sister, Octavia, and Antony became heavily reliant on Cleopatra as a source of
funding and military aid. Cleopatra and Antony married after he obtained a divorce with Octavia, an event which ignited the tensions
between Antony and Octavian, resulting in civil war
between the two triumvirs. After their forces were defeated by Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra committed
suicide, leaving their children to the care of Octavia. [LD]
- Cléry, M., 1759-1809 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Jean Baptiste Cléry, the personal cameriere (valet) of King
Louis XVI during his imprisonment, published his journal of the
revolution in 1798. It contained a moving account of the king's
treatment at the hands of the revolutionary government and his last
farewell to his family before his death. [JDP]
and [MW]
- Clytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- According to The
Oresteia by Aeschylus,
Clytemnestra was enraged when her husband and king of Mycenae Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter
Iphigenia to propitiate the gods and gain favorable winds to sail to
Troy to make war. On his return from the seige of Troy, she and her
lover Aegisthus killed him. [MW]
- Colburn, Henry, d. 1855 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Particularly known as a fiction publisher, Colburn was widely
accused of "puffing" these works in the various literary
periodicals he also published, among them the New Monthly Magazine, the Literary Gazette, the Athenaeum (very briefly),
the Court Journal, and the
United Service Journal.
[MW]
- Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- One of the most important British Romantic period writers and a
mesmerizing conversationalist and lecturer, Coleridge authored poetry,
plays, criticism, journalism, and philosophical works. His most
important poetic works include Poems on
Various Subjects (1796), Fears in Solitude (1798), Lyrical Ballads (with William Wordsworth, 1798), Christabel; Kubla Khan, a Vision; The
Pains of Sleep (1816), and Sibylline Leaves (1817). His plays include
The Fall of Robespierre
(with Robert Southey 1794) and Remorse (1813). He authored
the periodicals The
Watchman (1796), The
Friend (1809-1810), and The Statesman's Manual (1816). His Biographia Literaria (1817)
is a part aesthetic, part philosophical study in the format of a
literary autobiography. Specimens of the
Table Talk of the late Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1835) provides a posthumous record of his conversation. A series of his
lectures was published posthumously as Seven Lectures upon Shakespeare and Milton (1856). [MW]
- Collier, Jane, 1715?-1755 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Author of the humorous An Essay on
the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting (1753) and
collaborator with Sarah Fielding on
The Cry: A New Dramatic
Fable (1754); with her sister Margaret (Collier,
Margaret, 1719-1794 [Library of Congress Name Authority]), one of the
Miss Colliers Barbauld refers to in her
biography of Samuel Richardson.
[MW]
- Collier, Jeremy, 1650-1726 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English theatre critic, theologin, and leading non-juror bishop
(clergy who refused to pledge allegiance to the new monarchs William III and Mary II following the
deposition of James II in the
Glorious Revolution of 1688). Collier is most remembered for his 1698
anti-theatre pamphlet, A Short View of
the Immorality and Profaneness of the English
Stage. This pamphlet attacks significant playwrights such
as John Dryden, John Vanbrugh, William Congreve, and William Wycherley. [LD]
- Collins, William, 1721-1759 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Producing only a relatively small body of work and plagued by mental
illness during his later life, Collins was nevertheless one of the most
influential poets of the pre-Romantic later eighteenth century. As
portrayed in his odes, his conception of poetry as visionary, even
prophetic, inspired many of his immediate successors. Major publications
of his works included Persian
Eclogues (1742), revised as Oriental Eclogues (1757),
Verses Humbly Address'd to Sir
Thomas Hanmer: On His Edition of Shakespear's
Works (1743), revised as An Epistle: Addrest to Sir Thomas Hanmer, on His Edition
of Shakespear's Works (1744), Odes on Several Descriptive and
Allegoric Subjects (1747), Ode Occasion'd by the Death of Mr.
Thomson (1749), The
Passions: An Ode (1750), and An Ode on the Popular Superstitions of
the Highlands of Scotland (1788). [MW]
- Collins, William, 1788-1847 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A popular English landscape and portrait painter who excelled in art
from an early age, Collins exhibited and sold his work consistently
between 1809 and his death. Collins was especially recognized for his
picturesque landscapes and rustic scenes of rural life. His painting
"The Sale of the Pet Lamb" brought his name
to the forefront in 1812, but he earned his admission as an associate of
the Royal Academy in 1814 on the merit of two other paintings,
"The Blackberry Gatherers" and
"The Birdcatchers." He is also the father
of novelist Wilkie Collins. [KI]
- Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English novelist, trained lawyer, and father of the first English
detective novels. Of his more than 30 novels, various short stories,
travel literature, and plays, The Woman
in White (1860) and The Moonstone (1868) are the most
well-known because of their contributions to the genre of detective
fiction. He was also friends with Charles Dickens, whose periodical Household Words published
many of Collins’ novels. [KI]
- Colman, George, 1732-1794 (Library of
Congress Name Authority) [George Colman, the Elder]—
- This playwright, theater manager, and close friend to actor David Garrick was also known as a
generous mentor in the eighteenth century theatrical world. Among the
most popular of his many works figure The Clandestine Marriage (1766), Polly Honeycombe (1760),
and The Jealous Wife
(1761). Colman the Elder managed the Haymarket
Theatre from 1776 to 1794. [MW]
- Colman, George, 1762-1836 (Library of
Congress Name Authority) [George Colman, the Younger]—
- Following in his father's footsteps as an actor, manager, and
comic playwright, Colman the Younger also authored a enormous body of
work that includes as some of its most substantial pieces Inkle and Yarico (1787),
The Iron Chest 1796),
The Heir-at-Law (1797),
and John Bull (1803). He
succeeded his father as manager of the Haymarket Theatre, filling that role from 1794 to 1817. [MW]
- Colonna, Prospero, 1452-1523 (Encyclopedia Britannica)—
- Italian noble and condottiero (captain of a mercenary company)
serving Spain and the Papal States during the Italian wars. [LD]
- Colonna, Vittoria, 1492-1547 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian Renaissance poet particularly esteemed for her love poems to
her husbnad, Ferrante d'Avalos, Marquis of Pescara, who died from
war wounds. [MW]
- Comte, Auguste, 1798-1857 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Isidore-Auguste-Marie-François-Xavier Comte, known as Auguste Comte,
was a French philosopher, writer, and mathematician who founded the
school of positivism and established sociology as a field of study.
[LD]
- Congreve, William, 1670-1729 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English playwright, translator, and poet whose works include The Old Bachelor (1693),
The Double Dealer
(1693), Love for Love
(1695), and The Mourning
Bride (1697). Though author of only a few plays that
were produced, Congreve was widely popular, and his works have endured
for centuries. [GR, RD]
- Constable, Archibald, 1774-1827 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Scottish bookseller and publisher. Constable is best remembered as
the publisher of the Edinburgh
Review and the novels of Sir Walter Scott. [MW]
- Constance, Duchess of Brittany,
1161-1201 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Duchess of Brittany and Countess of Richmond, widow of Geoffrey II
and Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester. Constance was the
sister-in-law of Richard I
and the mother of Arthur I, Richard I's nephew and
chosen heir. [LD]
- Cooke, George Frederick, 1756-1812 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English actor known for his erratic personal habits and commanding
stage presence. Cooke initiated the romantic acting style, drawing on
the naturalistic style of David
Garrick and Charles
Macklin. [LD]
- Coriolanus, Cnaeus Marcius (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A legendary Roman general who was said to have lived in the 6th and 5th centuries
B.C., Coriolanus received his surname for his valor at the siege of
Corioli (in 493) in the war against the Volsci. During the 491 famine
which plagued Rome, Coriolanus suggested that the government withhold
grain until the people consented to the abolition of the Tribune of the
Plebs. For this the tribunes demanded his exile, and Coriolanus took
refuge with the Volsci, eventually leading their army to battle against
the Roman forces. However, pleas from his mother and wife caused
Coriolanus to withdraw the Volscian forces from Rome. Although the
specifics of his fate remain unclear to historians, it seems that
Coriolanus did not participate in the war again, and he died among the
Volsci. The story of Coriolanus' life has been retold by such
leading historians as Plutarch, Livy, and
Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Additionally, Coriolanus is the subject of
Shakespeare's play, Coriolanus. [LD]
- Corneille, Pierre, 1606-1684 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Though his drama Le Cid
(1637), inspired by a twelfth century Spanish narrative, provoked a
critical controversy over its violation of classical standards,
Corneille came to be regarded as one of the greatest French dramatists
of his time. A non-exhaustive list of his many works includes Horace (1640), Cinna (1643), Polyeucte (1643), La Mort de Pompée (The Death of Pompey, 1644),
the comedy Le Menteur (The Liar, 1644), Rodogune (1645), Théodore (1646), Héraclius (1647), Andromède (1650), La Toison d'or (The Golden Fleece, 1660),
Sertorius (1662), Othon (1664), Agésilas (1666), Attila (1667), Psyché (1671, a comedy in
collaboration with Molière), and his
unsuccessful last play, Suréna (1674). Corneille also authored
criticism and translations, including Trois discours sur le poème dramatique (Three Discourses on Dramatic
Poetry, 1660), a defense of his methods in Le Cid hinging on the
assertion that Aristotle's principles
were never meant to be strictly literal. [MW]
- Cosimo I, Grand-Duke of Tuscany, 1519-1574 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- A member of the Medici family, Cosimo I was elected Duke of Florence
with the support of Charles V in 1537.
Cosimo I brought the whole of Tuscany under his control by 1569 and
became known as "Cosimo the Great." [LD]
- Cottin, Madame (Sophie), 1770-1807 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Her Mathilde (1805) and
Elisabeth, ou les exilés de
Sibérie (1806) were both popular throughout
Europe. [MW]
- Covent Garden Theatre (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- The Theatre Royal Covent Garden opened in 1732 under the management
of John Rich. While Rich was manager, David Garrick spent a season or so
performing there before taking over management of the theater at Drury Lane. Rich died in 1761, and by 1767 management devolved onto George Colman the elder and Thomas
Harris (died 1820). Harris became sole manager after George Colman the elder's
departure in 1774 and remained active until 1809. During that time, the
theater saw such acting innovations as Charles Macklin's 1773 performance as Macbeth in Scottish
costume. The theater was gutted and reconstructed twice, once in 1782
and once in 1792, increasing its capacity. In 1803, John Philip Kemble was persuaded to leave
Drury Lane for Covent Garden, where, along with
acting, he assumed a managing role which lasted until 1821, when his
brother Charles took over. In 1808,
the theater burned down, and when it reopened in 1809 with a reduced
capacity, Kemble tried to compensate by
eliminating the low-price shilling gallery, precipitating the Old Price
riots that, after roughly two months, forced him to reinstitute the
previous pricing policies. In 1817, Covent
Garden followed Drury Lane in
instituting gas lighting for stage and auditorium. Meanwhile, although
it featured some of the most popular actors of the day, including Kemble, his elder sister Sarah Siddons and his younger brother
Charles Kemble, Charles Kemble's daughter Fanny
Kemble, Edmund Kean and his son Charles Kean, and William Charles MacReady, Covent Garden, like most of its
counterparts in the London theater scene, proved a financial drain on
its succession of managers and proprietors, and in 1842 it closed.
Remodeled and opened as the Royal Italian Opera House with a capacity of
over 4000 in 1847, the theater burnt again in 1856, reopening in 1858
with a capacity a bit over of 2000. Known since 1939 as the Royal Opera
House, it is now the home of The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet. [MW]
- Coventry, Francis, 1725?-1759 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Coventry's picaresque novel The
History of Pompey the Little; or, The Life and Adventures of a
Lap-Dog (1751) enjoyed much success. Coventry also
authored Penshurst: A Poem
(1750). [MW]
- Sir Roger de Coverley—
- A character often featured in Joseph
Addison's Spectator papers. His name is taken from
that of a popular dance. [MW]
- Cowley, Abraham, 1618-1667 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Playwright, poet, and satirist, Abraham Cowley employed his pen on
the royalist side during the English Civil War. [MW]
- Cowley, Mrs. (Hannah), 1743-1809 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A popular comic playwright, Hannah Cowley is best remembered for A Bold Stroke for a Husband
(1783) and The Belle's
Stratagem (1780). [MW]
- Cowper, William Cowper, Earl,
approximately 1665-1723 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A prominent English politician during the reign of Queen Anne and
the first Lord High Chancellor (the highest-ranking minister in England
and Scotland). [BDW][LD]
- Cowper, William, 1731-1800 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet who is sometimes viewed as a precursor to the Romantic poets
partly for his sensitive and accurate descriptions of nature. His best
known works include The
Task (J. Johnson,
1785) and "The Castaway" (1803). He was subject
to severe bouts of depression with a strong religious overtone for much
of his life. [MW]
- Crabbe, George, 1754-1832 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An author known for his verse tales which bring sympathy and humor to
an acute observation of human failings, Crabbe is best remembered for
The Village: A Poem
(1783); The Borough: A Poem
(1810); and Tales (1812).
Other works include Inebriety, A
Poem (1775); The
Candidate; A Poetical Epistle To The Authors Of Monthly
Review (1780); The Library. A Poem (1781);
The News-paper: A Poem
(1785); A Discourse, Read in the Chapel
at Belvoir Castle, After the Funeral of His Grace the Duke of
Rutland, Late Lord Lieutenant of the Kingdom of Ireland
(1788); A Variation
of Public Opinion and Feelings Considered, as it Respects
Religion. A Sermon (1817); Tales of the Hall (1819) and his collected
The Works of the Rev. George
Crabbe (1823). [MW]
- Cradock, Charlotte, d. 1744 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- The first wife of Henry Fielding,
with whom he had five children. In the preface of Miscellanies, published one
year prior to her death, he wrote, "one from whom I draw all the
solid Comfort of my Life." [RD]
- Crashaw, Richard, 1613?-1649 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An English poet and lyricist with profoundly High Church beliefs,
Crashaw was forced to flee to the continent after the rise of the
seventeenth-century Puritan government, converting to Catholicism in
1645. He lived first in France, then Italy. He was best known for a
collection of primarily mystical religious poems, Steps to the Temple. Sacred Poems, With
other Delights of the Muses (1646) and the
posthumously-published Carmen Deo
Nostro (1652). By the nineteenth century he was
admired primarily for the musicality of his verse and the delicacy of
his language, and some of his work has inspired or been set to music.
[JDP] [MW]
- Crassus, Marcus Licinius [n.d.] (Library of Congress
Name Authority); c. 115 -53 B.C. (Encyclopedia Britannica)—
- Roman politician and a member of the First Triumvirate. [MW]
- Crébillon, Claude-Prosper Jolyot de,
1707-1777 (Library of Congress Name Authority) [Crébillon fils]—
- Son of Crébillon père,
Crébillon fils
authored several licentious and satirical novels which earned him both
popularity and a few periods of exile in the provinces. The best known
of them include L'écumoire (1735), Les Égarements du coeur et de
l'esprit (1736), and Le Sopha, conte moral (1742). [MW]
- Crébillon, M. de (Prosper Jolyot),
1674-1762 (Library of Congress Name Authority) [Crébillon père]—
- Noted for his dramas on classical subjects rather than the lascivious
novels that constitute the son's
claim to fame. [MW]
- Crispin, Saint, -approximately 287 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Legendary Christian patron saint of shoemakers, glovemakers, lace
workers, and leather workers, beheaded on the 25th of October by Roman Emperor Diocletian. [LD]
- Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English soldier, general, and statesman who led the parliamentary
armies against Charles I in the English Civil War and served as the Lord
Protector of England, Ireland, and Scotland in the period of the
republican commonwealth. While many prominent figures have denounced
Cromwell as a dictator, he was a champion of liberty in the eyes of John Milton, his private secretary for
the Council of State. [LD]
- Cruikshank, George, 1792-1878 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A satirical political cartoonist, Cruikshank was also known for his
book illustrations, including for some of Charles Dickens's novels.
[MW]
- Cumberland, Richard, 1732-1811 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Though far more known as a playwright, Cumberland did author an
occasional novel, including Arundel (1789) and Henry (1795). Two of his early plays are
among his best: The
Brothers, which debuted in 1769, and The West Indian, first
staged in 1771. Other plays of his include The Jew (1794), First Love (1795), and The Wheel of Fortune
(1795). Cumberland’s Memoirs were published in 1806 and 1807. [GR, MW, and RD]
- Cumberland, William Augustus, Duke of,
1721-1765 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Son of George II,
called "Butcher" Cumberland for his brutal suppression of
Highland Jacobites after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. [MW]
- Cunobelinus, King of the Britons, -43? (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Ruler of a large area of southeastern Britain prior to the Roman
occupation. Cunobelinus became a popular figure in British legend, most
famously immortalized by William
Shakespeare's Cymbeline, though the play is not an
accurate reflection of the events in Cunobelinus' life or career.
[LD]
- Cutler, Sir John, 1st Baronet of Tothill Street,
Westminster, 1607-1693 (History of Parliament Trust)—
- Knighted and made Baronet in 1660 for his financial support of the
Restoration, Sir John Cutler was a grocer, financier, and Member of
Parliament. [LD]
- Cyrus, King of Persia, d. 529 B.C. (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Founder of the Persian empire. [MW]
- Dacre, Charlotte, 1782?-1825 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English author of Gothic novels writing under the pseudonym
"Rosa Matilda." Dacre's romance and gothic novels often
featured unconventional female characters who displayed violence,
ambition, and sexual desire. [LD]
- Danbys—
- A family of characters in Samuel
Richardson's The History
of Sir Charles Grandison (1754). [MW]
- D'Arblay, Madame—
- See Burney, Fanny. [MW]
- Dallas, Robert Charles, 1754-1824
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A Jamaican-born poet and novelist, Dallas's fictional works
included Percival, or Nature
Vindicated (1801), Aubrey (1804), The Morelands. Tales Illustrative of the Simple and
Surprising (1805), The Knights: Tales Illustrative of the
Marvellous (1808), and Sir Francis Darrell; Or the Vortex (1820).
He also published a volume of poems, two dramas, and some polemical
works. He had a connection for some years with Byron, and his Recollections of the Life of Lord Byron from the year
1808 to the end of 1814 (1825) was published
posthumously. He also authored The History of
the Maroons from their Origin to the Establishment of their Chief
Tribe at Sierra Leone (1803).
- Daniel, Samuel, 1562-1619 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English playwright, historian, man of letters, and poet.
Daniel's poetry and prose alike were strongly characterized by his
contemplative sense of history. [LD]
- Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- One of the most revered poets in the history of western literature,
Dante is also remarkable as an early instance of a major European poet
writing in the vernacular. Caught up by the political controversies of
his time, he spent is last years exiled from his native Florence. His
most famous work, The Divine
Comedy, comprised of The Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise, narrates his imaginative journey
through these three realms guided first by the poet Virgil, then by his lover Beatrice. [MW]
- Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Credited with articulating the theory of evolution, Darwin first
attracting wide attention with the Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural
History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S.
Beagle (1839). He published widely on topics of
natural history, especially geology and botany, both before and after
the two works on which his greatest fame rests, On the Origin of Species by means of Natural
Selection (1859, subsequently revised), and the
even more controversial The Descent of
Man (1871). [MW]
- Darwin, Erasmus, 1731-1802 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Physician, botanist, poet, and grandfather of Charles Darwin. Containing a nascent
theory of evolution, The Loves of
Plants (1789) was later incorporated into The Botanic Garden (1791).
In depicting plant reproduction and generation, Darwin's imagery
sometimes becomes so erotic that some conservative authorities on
education recommended denying young ladies access to his work. In
addition to his two other major pieces, Zoonomia (1794) and The Temple of Nature
(1803), he published additional works on botany as well as commemorative
poetry and treatises on scientific topics and female education. [MW]
- D'Avenant, William, 1606-1668 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- A prolific English playwright as well as a theatre manager, Royalist
soldier, and poet laureate following the death of Ben Jonson. A few of Davenant's more
notable works include The
Witts (1634), The
Temple of Love (1635), and Madagascar (1638). Davenant also claimed to
be the illegitimate son of William
Shakespeare. [LD][MW]
- Lady Davers—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Pamela (1740-1). [MW]
- Davies, John, Sir, 1569-1626 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English poet, lawyer, member of the House of Commons, and Attorney
General for Ireland. His poem Orchestra,
or a Poem of Dancing is reflective of the
Elizabethan contemplation of the relationship between human activity and
natural order. [LD]
- Davies, Thomas, 1713-1785 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Scottish bookseller, actor, and author, best known for his Life of Garrick (1780) and Dramatic Miscellanies
(1783). [LD]
- Day, Thomas, 1748-1789 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Day's sentimental History of
Sanford and Merton (1783-9), a milestone in the
history of children's literature, took its inspiration from Henry Brooke's Fool of Quality, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile. [MW]
- Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Defoe already had a long and prolific career as a noted political
journalist when he published his first novel, The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe, in 1719. It was followed by The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the
Famous Moll Flanders (1721), A Journal of the Plague
Year (1722), and The
Fortunate Mistress: Or, A History Of The Life and Vast Variety
of Fortunes of… the Person known by the Name of the Lady
Roxana (1724). His many social and political pieces
include The True-Born
Englishman (1701), The
Shortest Way with the Dissenters (1702), Reformation of Manners (1704),
a periodical publication entitled The
Review (1704-1713), and Family Instructor (1715), and
Religious Courtship
(1729). Defoe was also well known for essays on timely social issues,
stories of the supernatural, and accounts of notorious criminals such as
True Relation of the Apparition
of one Mrs. Veal. (1705) and The History of the Remarkable Life of
John Sheppard (1724). [MW]
[RD]
- Dekker, Thomas, approximately 1572-1632 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Elizabethan pamphleteer and dramatist. Dekker's plays were
characterized by his Protestant themes and vivid depictions of London
life through colloquial speech. Dekker collaborated with many famous
dramatists of the period, including John
Ford, Philip Massinger,
Thomas Middleton, and John Webster. [LD]
- Delany, Mrs. (Mary), 1700-1788 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Letter writer and prominent bluestocking, friend to some of the
eighteenth century's most noted literary producers and patrons.
[MW]
- Della Casa, Giovanni, 1503-1556 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An Italian bishop with a talent for satirical and lyric poetry and
translations, Della Casa is best known as the author of Galateo: Or, A Treatise on Politeness and
Delicacy of Manners (1558). [RD]
- Delille, Jacques, 1738-1813. Malheur et la
pitié (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French author, primarily of poetry, whose first fame rested on his
translations of Virgil. [JDP] [MW]
- Dejmal, Rachel—
- Student contributor.
- Demosthenes (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Ancient Greek statesman and orator in opposition to Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great, Demosthenes
lived from 384-322 BCE. His speeches provide valuable insight into
fourth-century Athenian society and politics. [LD]
- Denham, John, Sir, 1615-1669 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Anglo-Irish poet, Member of Parliament, and Royalist during the
English Civil War. During the transitional literary period in which he
wrote, Denham established the genre of the local meditative poem, in
which a single, familiar landscape is leisurely explored. He is best
remembered for his poem Cooper's
Hill. [LD]
- Dennis, John, 1657-1734 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English critic and dramatist. Dennis was engaged in a long quarrel
with Alexander Pope as a result of
the former's assertion of the importance of passion in poetry.
[LD]
- Desdemona (Fictitious character) (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Wife of Othello in William Shakespeare's
tragedy, Othello, the Moor of
Venice. In the play, she is murdered by her
jealous, manipulated husband. [JDP]
- Jean Desmarais—
- Character in
Edward Bulwer Lytton’s Devereux (1829). An impeccably
dressed, philosophical French valet. [MW]
- D'Ewes, Anne, 1707-1761 (Library of Congress
Name Authority) [Mrs. Dews]—
- Cookbook author and sister to Mary
Delany. [MW]
- DeWitt, Laura —
- Student contributor.
- Dibdin, Charles, 1745-1814 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An actor, dramatist, and songwriter known for his sea songs. [MW]
- Diderot, Denis, 1713-1784 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Philosopher, novelist, playwright, translator, and critic, Diderot
was for his rationalism, religious skepticism, and scientific empiricism
a key figure in the Enlightenment. His Encyclopédie stands as a landmark in
the systemization and popular dissemination of technical and scientific
knowledge. [MW]
- Roscommon, Wentworth Dillon, Earl of,
1633?-1685 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Anglo-Irish soldier, landlord, and poet, enthusiastically praised by
his contemporaries, including Alexander
Pope and Joseph Addison.
His most notable works include his translation of Horace's Ars
Poetica and his Essay on Translated Verse. [LD]
- Dionysius I, approximately 430 B.C.-367 B.C.
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Greek tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily, also called "Dionysius the
Elder." Although his military prowess protected Sicily from
conquest by Carthage, his cruelty and greed made him an upopular public
figure. [LD]
- Dionysus—
- The Greek god of the grape harvest, wine, fertility, and theatre.
[KI]
- D'Israeli, Isaac, 1766-1848 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A British writer, essayist, and scholar, Isaac D'Israeli
created such works as Curiosities of
Literature (1791) and The Literary Character of Men of Genius, Drawn From
Their own Feelings and Confessions (1818), a
revision of An Essay on the Manners and
Genius of the Literary Character (1795). [VS] [MW]
- Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Known first as a poet, Dodsley opened a London bookselling business
in 1735. His shop became an important gathering place for literary and
publishing figures of the mid-eighteenth century. [MW]
- Donne, John, 1572-1631 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London and leading poet of the
Metaphysical school, Donne is best known for his religious verse and
love poetry. [LD]
- Donnellan, Anne (1700-1762)—
- Amateur musician and friend of George
Frideric Handel, Donnellan was friends as well with several
notable bluestockings and literary figures, especially Elizabeth Montagu and Mary Delany. [MW]
- Don Quixote—
- The eponymous hero of the novel by Cervantes muddles the line between reality and fiction as a
result of his reading chivalric romances. [MW]
- Douglas, Archibald, fourth earl of Douglas,
and first duke of Touraine in the French nobility (c.1369–1424) (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Scottish nobleman and commander in the wars against the English in
the early fifteenth century. Douglas was captured by Sir Henry Percy at the Battle of Homildon
Hill in 1402 and taken prisoner by the English king in 1403 after
fighting in a battle with his captors against the king, not to be
released until 1413. [LD]
- Downes, John, active 1661-1719 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English theatre prompter during the Restoration period, best known
for his Roscius Anglicanus
(1708), a historical review of the stage. [LD]
- Drayton, Michael, 1563-1631 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An extremely prolific English poet and playwright who worked in a
wide range of poetic genres and who frequently collaborated on plays
with Henry Chettle and Thomas Dekker. Among Drayton's many
publications, just a few of note include Idea. The Shepheards Garland (1593); Ideas Mirrour (1594); Endimion and Phobe (1595);
Englands Heroicall
Epistles (1597); Poly-Olbion (1612-1622); The Battaile of Agincourt
(1627); and Nimphidia, the Court of
Fayrie (1627). He also published several volumes of
poems on historical or mythical personages and historical subjects.
[MW]
- Drummond, William, 1585-1649 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- First noteworthy Scottish poet to pointedly write in English. Also
known as "Drummond of Hawthornden," William Drummond
introduced the canzone, a medieval Italian metrical form, into English
poetry. [LD]
- Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (London, England)
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Reputed to be the world’s oldest theater location in continuous use,
the site of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane was first transformed from a
cockfighting venue to a location for dramatic productions during the
reign of James I. Closed down
by the Puritans during the early 1640s, it was revived soon after the
Restoration under a patent issued to Thomas Killigrew. The new building boasted an audience
capacity of 700 and soon featured the period’s best-known performers,
including Nell Gwyn, the mistress of Charles II. Having escaped
the Great Fire of 1666, this building was destroyed by a separate fire
in 1672. Killigrew rebuilt,
reopening in 1674 with a capacity of about 2000. Under the management of
Colley Cibber (1710-1733), David Garrick (1747-76), Richard Brinsley Sheridan
(1776-1788, though he retained ownership of the patent after that date),
and John Philip Kemble (1788-1802),
among others, this building was the home of such eighteenth-century
theatrical innovations as the naturalistic acting of Garrick and Charles Macklin, the institution of
regular rehearsals, and the removal of audience members from the stage.
In 1791, Sheridan had the theater
demolished and rebuilt to a capacity of 3600. The new building was
destroyed by fire in 1809. Its replacement, which stands today, opened
in 1812, and in 1817 it became the first theater to be gas-lit
throughout. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane has seen performances from many
of the world’s greatest stage actors in English, including, during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Charles Macklin, David
Garrick, Susannah Cibber,
John Philip Kemble, Sarah Siddons, Edmund Kean, Charles Kean, and William
Charles Macready, who, during his tenure as manager from 1841
to 1843, introduced several noteworthy reforms. [MW]
- Dryden, Sir Erasmus, 1st Bt. (1553-1632), of
Canons Ashby, Northants (History of Parliament Trust)—
- English politician, member of the House of Commons, and founder of
Canons Ashby House, Northamptonshire. Sir Erasmus Dryden was the
grandfather of poet John Dryden, as well
as a distant relative of Jonathan
Swift and Anne Hutchison. [LD]
- Dryden, John, 1631-1700 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Poet laureate of England from 1668 until his death. Particularly
productive as a playwright, Dryden also ventured into a wide range of
other genres, including satires, lyric poetry, essays, and literary
criticism. His best-known dramatic works include an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest (1667, pub.
1670) and two other plays, Marriage A la
Mode (1671; pub. 1673) and All for Love (1677, pub. 1678). Other
highlights in his work include Of
Dramatick Poesie: An Essay (1668), one of the
classics in the canon of literary criticism; Absalom and Achitophel (1681), a political
poem in support of Charles
II; and Mac
Flecknoe (1682), a devastating satire of several rival
poets. Additional play productions include The Wild Gallant (1663), The Indian Queen Sir Robert
Howard, 1664), The Rival
Ladies (1664), The
Indian Emperor (1665), Secret Love (1667), Sir Martin Mar-All (with
William Cavendish, duke of Newcastle,1667), An Evening's Love; or, The Mock
Astrologer (1668), Tyrannic Love (1669), The Conquest of Granada
(1671), The Assignation; or, Love in a
Nunnery (1672), Amboyna (1673), Aureng-Zebe (1675), The Kind Keeper; or, Mr.
Limberham (1678), Oedipus (with Nathaniel Lee, 1678), Troilus and Cressida (from
Shakespeare's play,
1679), The Spanish Friar
(1680), The Duke of Guise
with Nathaniel Lee, 1682), Albion and
Albanius (text by Dryden, music by Louis Grabu,
1685), Don Sebastian
(1689), Amphitryou (1690),
King Arthur (text by
Dryden, music by Henry Purcell, 1691), Cleomenes (with Thomas Southerne, 1692), and Love Triumphant (1694).
[MW]
- Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse, 1743-1793
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Born Jeanne
Bécu, Du Barry was a courtesan in French aristocratic circles who
became the last maîtresse-en-titre, or official mistress, of King
Louis XV. She was beheaded during the Reign of Terror in 1793. [JDP] [MW]
- Du Châtelet, Gabrielle Emilie Le
Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise, 1706-1749 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- One of eighteenth-century France's most significant women
intellectuals, Mme. du Châtelet was also notable for her facility
with languages, her athletic ability, her success at gambling, and her
deep intellectual and emotional relationship with Voltaire, who left Paris with her when
threatened with prosecution for his Lettres
Philosophiques (1734) and with whom Mme. du
Châtelet openly carried on an affair of several years duration. Du
Châtelet left behind a substantial body of work, both original and
translations of literary, scientific, philosophical, and mathematical
work by a wide range of prominent intellectuals. Of these her 1759
translation of Sir Isaac Newton's
Principia Mathematica,
was the most important and remained the only French translation of Newton's treatise for many years.
[MW]
- Dufresnoy, Charles-Alphonse, 1611-1668
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French painter, poet, and writer on art, best known for his De arte graphica (1668), a
Latin poem which influenced centuries of aesthetic discourse. [LD]
- Duncombe, John, 1729-1786 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Author of The Feminead; or Female
Genius (1757) and, with his father William Duncombe, The Works of Horace in English
Verse (1757-9), John Duncombe married Susanna Highmore, daughter of Joseph and Susanna Highmore. [MW]
- Duncombe, Susanna 1725-1812 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- née Highmore; an artist in her own
right, she was daughter to painter Joseph
Highmore and his wife, also Susanna. [MW]
- Duncombe, William, 1690-1769 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Poet and playwright. Between 1757 and 1759, he and his son,
clergyman and writer John Duncombe,
published The Works of Horace in English
Verse. [MW]
- Dyer, George, 1755-1841 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Biographer, historian, theologian, poet, and critic, Dyer was known
for his congeniality despite his personal eccentricities. His poetry
appeared in Poems (1792),
The Poet's Fate
(1797), Poems (1801), and
Poems and Critical
Essays (1802). Poetics,
or a Series of Poems and Disquisitions on Poetry
(1812) defends his poetic method, which some of his contemporaries had
criticized as misguided. [MW]
- Dyson, Jeremiah, 1722-1776 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Dyson was not only Mark
Akenside's friend and literary patron, but he supported
Akenside's medical practice as well. As Akenside's literary
executor, Dyson edited a collection of Akenside's poetry published
as The Poems of Mark Akenside,
M.D. (1772). [MW]
- Eastlake, Charles L. (Charles Locke),
1836-1906 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Painter and art critic Sir Charles Eastlake was elected President of
the Royal Academy and knighted in 1850, served as the first President of
the Photographic Society beginning 1853 and became Director of the
National Gallery in 1855. He married the reviewer, travel author, and
art critic Elizabeth Rigby
in 1949. [MW]
- Eastlake, Elizabeth, 1809-1893
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Lady Elizabeth Eastlake, née Rigby, began her reviewing career
in 1836 at the Foreign Quarterly
Review and regularly contributed to the Quarterly
Review. After a trip to Russia, she
produced the travel memoir First
Residence on the Shores of the Baltic (1841) as
well as two works of fiction, The
Jewess: a tale from the shores of the Baltic (1843)
and the collection Livonian
Tales (1846). She married the painter Sir Charles Eastlake in 1849 and
collaborated with him thereafter on several treatises on art. Her
numerous other writings on art included Five Great Painters (1883), and she
collaborated with Anna Jameson on The History of Our Lord as Exemplified
in Works of Art (1864), the final volume of Jameson's four volume Sacred and Legendary Art.
Eastlake's essay Photography, which argued against its
inclusion among the fine arts, is one of the earliest commentaries on
the medium. Her fluency in French, Italian, and German enabled her to
translate several works by foreign art scholars and critics.
Eastlake's publications helped popularize foreign art and
literature for the nineteenth-century British public. [MW]
- Eaton, Charlotte A. (Charlotte Anne),
1788-1859 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Born Charlotte Anne Waldie, Eaton began her writing career with a
manuscript entitled "At Home and Abroad," which
she temporarily abandoned after publishing a letter in the Monthly Magazine (vol. 2,
1814) addressing the similarities between her work in progress and Maria Edgeworth's novel Patronage. After visiting the Waterloo
battlefield in 1815, Eaton authored Narrative of a Residence in Belgium, During the Campaign
of 1815, and of a Visit to the Field of Waterloo. By an
Englishwoman (1817). She spent the years 1816-1818
in Italy, thereafter producing the popular Rome in the Nineteenth Century (1820). Next
published, Continental
Adventures was issued anonymously in 1826. In 1831,
after once again picking up her abandoned manuscript, she published At Home and Abroad. She
also revised and republished Narrative
of a Residence in Belgium as The Days of the Battle, or, Quatre Bras
and Waterloo; by and Englishwoman Resident in Brussels in June
1815 (1853). In 1822 she married the banker Stephen
Eaton (1780-1832). After Stephen Eaton's death, Charlotte Eaton
continued to carry on the family banking business as a senior partner
until her own death in 1859. [MW]
- Echlin, Elizabeth, Lady, 1704?-1782? (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- née Elizabeth Bellingham; literary
patroness and an occasional author herself, Lady Echlin was sister to
Lady Bradshaigh and wife to
Sir Robert Echlin, 1699-1757 (Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography). [MW]
- Edgeworth, Maria, 1767-1849 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A popular Irish author of fiction and children's literature,
Edgeworth sometimes collaborated with her father, politician Richard
Lovell Edgeworth. Her first publication, with publisher Joseph Johnson, was Letters for Literary Ladies (1795). Johnson was both an important publisher and a family
friend, and Edgworth's publishing relationship with him continued
for the duration of Johnson's life. Her better known novels include
Castle Rackrent (1800),
Belinda (1801), The Modern Griselda: A Tale
(1805), Leonora (1806), and
Harrington (1817).
Other noteworthy works include Practical
Education (1798), Popular Tales (1804), and Tales of Fashionable Life
(1809-12), which includes, among others, the tales
"Ennui" (1809) and "The
Absentee" (1812). [MW]
- Edinburgh
Review
- Established in 1802 under publisher Archibald Constable, the extremely influential,
liberal-leaning Edinburgh
Review, was published quarterly until 1929. The
periodical did much to disseminate the ideas of the Scottish
Enlightenment and helped cement Edinburgh's reputation as a
literary capital. It's most important rival was the Quarterly
Review. Though not it's first
editor, Francis Jeffrey, who took
over in 1803, established the periodical's tone and reputation,
making it a model of the type of literary and cultural journalism that
still dominates the genre today. Not all of Jeffrey's views have enjoyed
the same longevity, however, including his condemnation of major
Romantic authors such as Wordsworth and Byron. [MW]
- Edward III, King of England, 1312-1377
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of England from 1327 to 1377, he led the country into the
Hundred Years War with France. [MW]
- Edward IV, King of England, 1442-1483
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Called, until 1459, Earl of March, Edward IV, the House of York
representative, became King of England in June 1461 during the War of
the Roses after deposing Lancastrian King Henry VI. In October 1470
Henry VI was briefly reinstalled on the throne, but was defeated and
then died in May 1471, when Edward returned to the throne and held power
until his death. [JDP]
- Edward V, King of England, 1470-1483
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The eldest surviving son of King
Edward IV, young Edward V was the King of England from April
to June of 1483, when he was deposed and possibly murdered by his uncle,
the future King Richard
III. [LD]
- Edward, Prince of Wales, 1330-1376
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Known as The Black Prince allegedly because of the black armor he
wore as a commander in the Hundred Years War, Edward was heir apparent
to Edward III. [MW]
- Edwards, Richard, 1523?-1566 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An English farmer, poet, dramatist, and composer, sometimes known as
Richard Edwardes. His play Palamon and
Arcite, now lost, was performed for the court of
Elizabeth I in 1566.
The excellent Comedie of two the
moste faithfullest Freendes, Damon and Pithias
(published 1571) is his only now-extant drama. Some of his poems
appeared in the Paradise of Dainty
Devices (1576). [JDP]
[MW]
- Edwards, Thomas, 1699-1757 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Author of Canons of
Criticism (1748) as well as a number of sonnets
respected by his contemporaries. [MW]
- Elie de Beaumont, Mme. (Anne-Louise
Morin-Dumesnil), 1729-1783 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Known for her Lettres du marquis de
Roselle (1764). [MW]
- Elizabeth I, Queen of England,
1533-1603 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The last of the Tudor monarchs, Elizabeth became queen in 1558.
Sometimes known as "the Virgin Queen" for the fact that she
never married, she presided over what many regarded as a golden age of
British arts and expansionism. [MW]
- Elizabeth, Queen, consort of Henry VII, King
of England, 1465-1503 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The daughter of Edward
IV, Elizabeth of York was married to Henry VII in 1486, thereby
uniting the houses of York and Lancaster over the British throne and
effectively ending The Wars of the Roses. [JDP]
- Elliston, R. W. (Robert William), 1774-1831—
- Elliston was an actor and theater manager, working at many different
locations throughout England. Duke Aranza in John Tobin’s The Honey
Moon is considered one of his best performances.
[LD and GR]
- Emery, John, 1777-1822—
- The son of two actors, John Emery was initially schooled for a career
as a stage musician. As an actor, he was well received in numerous
roles, including that of Tyke in the Covent
Garden premier of Thomas
Morton’s School of
Reform. [GR and MW]
- Emily Jervois—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's The History of
Sir Charles Grandison (1754). [MW]
- Epictetus (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A stoic philosopher who lived from ca. AD 50-125. He was born a slave
in Phrygian, Hierapolis in the household of the freedman Epaphroditus in
Rome; he later manumitted and started a school of philosophy in
Nicopolis. [RD]
- Erasmus, Desiderius, -1536 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Dutch humanist, Catholic priest, and first editor of the New
Testament, Erasmus is considered one of the greatest
scholars of the northern Renaissance. [LD]
- Euphrosyne—
- In Greek mythology, one of the Three Charites or Graces. [MW]
- Euripides [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name
Authority); c. 484 B.C.-406 B.C. (Encyclopedia Britannica)—
- One of the three most important early Athenian tragic dramatists.
Among the nineteen of his plays that have survived, the best known
include The Bacchae (405),
Iphigenia at Aulis
(405), Orestes (408), Iphigenia at Tauris (414?),
The Trojan Women (415),
Electra (417), Andromache (426?), and Medea (431). [MW]
- Eurydice—
- In Greek myth, wife of Orpheus, who was
killed by a snake. To rescue her, Orpheus
descended into the underworld, but his efforts were foiled when he
violated the conditions imposed on his success by looking back to
reassure himself that his wife was still with him. [MW]
- Eustace, John Chetwode, approximately
1762-1815 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Catholic priest whose travels in Greece, Sicily, and Malta resulted
in the publication of A Tour through
Italy (1813). His brief travels in France resulted
in Letter from Paris
(1814). [MW]
- Fabri, Domenico, 1711-1761 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Italian writer, author of Delle lettere
familiari d'alcuni Bolognesi del nostro secolo (1744).
[ZP]
- Fabyan, Robert, -1513 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A late fifteenth-century London sheriff who redacted a number of
sources on events in British history into The Concordance of Chronicles.
Also known as Robert Fabian. [JDP]
- Fairfax, Edward, d. 1635 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Translated Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata as Godfrey of Bulloigne; or, the Recoverie
of Jerusalem (1600). [MW]
- Farquhar, George, 1677?-1707 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Born in Northern Ireland, playwright George Farquhar was best known
for his comic plays including The
Constant Couple (1699) and The Recruiting Officer (1706).
He died at the age of 29 only days after his successful play The Beaux' Stratagem
premiered. [BDW]
- Falstaff, Sir John—
- A fictional knight appearing in three of Shakespeare's plays: King
Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Sir John Falstaff is the friend of Prince Hal, the future King Henry V, and is characterized by his vanity and fatness.
Falstaff spends much of his time drinking with petty criminals, and he
largely lives off of stolen money. Although the character does not
appear in the play, Falstaff's death at the Battle of Agincourt is
mentioned in King Henry
V. [LD]
- Faulkner, George, 1699?-1775 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Important Dublin bookseller. [MW]
- Felton, John, 1595?-1628 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A lieutenant in the English army who assassinated George Villiers, First Duke of
Buckingham. After leading multiple failed military expeditions, thereby
damaging the reputation of Charles
I, Villiers was hated by
the public, who rejoiced at the news of his assassination. [LD]
- Fénelon, François de Salignac de La
Mothe- 1651-1715 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- As preceptor for Louis, duc de Bourgogne, grandson of Louis XIV, Fénelon wrote
Les Avantures de
Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse (1699), to
impart his liberal political views to his pupil. On the surface, the
didactic romance narrates the voyage of Telemachus in the Odyssey as he searches for
his father accompanied by the goddess Minerva, who teaches him the
virtues of an enlightened monarch, while incorporating at the same time
a critique on Louis XIV's
ideology of monarchy by divine right. [MW]
- Fenton, Elijah, 1683-1730 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English biographer, translator, and poet. He is best remembered for
his collaboration with Alexander Pope
and William Broome on a translation of the Odyssey. His other significant works
include his collection Poems on Several
Occasions, his Life
of John Milton, and
the tragedy Mariamne. [LD]
- Ferdinand V, King of Spain, 1452-1516
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Ferdinand the Catholic, most commonly known as "Ferdinand of
Aragon," reigned as King of Aragon (as Ferdinand II) from 1479 to
his death, as well as joint sovereign of Spain alongside wife Queen
Isabella I from 1474-1504. His reign saw the unification of the Spanish
kingdoms and the beginnings of Spanish imperialism. [LD]
- Ferrers, Edward, 1524x7-1564 (Dictionary of
National Biography)—
- English courtier, Member of Parliament, and father of Henry Ferrers,
the antiquary. An "Edward Ferrys" was praised as a principal
poet in George Puttenham's The Arte of English Poesie,
but Puttenham was likely referring
to the work of George Ferrers. There
is no strong evidence to suggest Edward Ferrers as a poet or dramatist.
[LD]
- Ferrers, George, 1500?-1579 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English courtier, Member of Parliament, poet, dramatist, editor, and
translator, best known for his contributions to A Mirror for Magistrates. Ferrers was
mistakenly assigned the first name "Edward" in the praise of
George Puttenham in The Arte of English Poesie.
In 1524, Ferrers was arrested for outstanding debt on his way to
Parliament, leading to the "Ferrers Case" of 1543. The case
involved the notion of parliamentary privilege, and the decision
established members' immunity from civil arrest while Parliament
was in session. [LD]
- Ferrucci, Francesco, 1489-1530 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian military leader defending Florence against Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V and Pope Clement VII during the Siege of Florence.
[LD]
- Fielding, Edmund, 1680-1741 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Veteran of Marlborough's wars and father of the novelists Henry Fielding and Sarah Fielding. [RD]
- Fielding, Henry, 1707-1754 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Though a productive playwright and author of political and social
improvement tracts, Fielding is best remembered for his novels,
including The History of the Adventures
of Joseph Andrews (1742), The Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great
(1743), The History of Tom Jones, a
Foundling (1749), which constitutes one of the most
important early landmarks in the development of the British novel, Amelia (1751), and
An Apology for the Life of Mrs.
Shamela Andrews (1741), a parody of Samuel Richardson's Pamela. His Journal of a Voyage to
Lisbon (1755) recounts his travels on an unsuccessful
journey to improve his health. A select list of plays by the author
includes The Temple Beau
(1730), Tom Thumb (1730),
Miser (1732), and
The Wedding Day
(1743). Periodical publications by the author include The Champion (1737-1740),
The Covent-Garden
Journal (1752), The
True Patriot (1745), and The Jacobite Journal (1747),
among many others. Political publications by the author include
A Charge Delivered to the Grand
Jury, at the Sessions of the Peace Held for the City and Liberty
of Westminster, & c. On Thursday the 29th of June
1749 (1749), An Enquiry
into the Causes of the Late Increase of Robbers etc. with Some
Proposals for Remedying this Growing Evil (1751),
and A Proposal for Making an Effectual
Provision for the Poor, for Amending Their Morals and for
Rendering Them Useful Members of the Society
(1753), A Clear State of the Case of
Elizabeth Canning, Who Hath Sworn That She Was Robbed and Almost
Starved to Death by a Gang of Gipsies and Other Villains in
January Last, for Which One Mary Squires Now Lies under Sentence
of Death (1753). [MW]
- Fielding, John, Sir, 1721-1780 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Half-brother to the novelists Henry
Fielding and Sarah
Fielding. [RD]
- Fielding, Sarah, 1710-1768 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Sister to Henry Fielding, Sarah
Fielding (1710-1768) was also respected as a novelist. Her best known
works include The Adventures of David
Simple (1744 with a final volume added in 1753),
which has elements in common with Samuel
Johnson's later work, Rasselas (1759); The Governess; or, The Little Female
Academy (1749) ), written especially for a young female
audience to show that the path to virtue can be found through control of
emotional excess, cultivation of benevolence, and submission to parental
wisdom; The Cry: A New Dramatic
Fable (1754), which she wrote in collaboration with
Jane Collier; The Lives of Cleopatra and
Octavia (1757); The
History of the Countess of Dellwyn (1759); and The History of Ophelia
(1760). In addition, her pamphlet, Remarks on Clarissa (1749), place her as
one of the more noteworthy among mid-eighteenth century women literary
critics. Her translation of Xenophon was published in 1762. [MW]
- Fiévée, Joseph, 1767-1839 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- French novelist, playwright, and journalist who was imprisoned during
the French Revolution. His La Dot de
Suzette, ou Histoire de Mme. de Senneterre was
published in 1798, followed by Frédéric (1799) and Le divorce, le faux révolutionnaire, et
l'héroïsme des femmes (1802). [ZP] and [MW]
- Fitzherbert, William, 1712-1772
(Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Member of Parliment, of Tissington Hall. Father of William
Fitzherbert, the first Baronet of Tissington. [RD]
- Fletcher, Andrew, 1655-1716 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- As Laird of Saltoun and a member of the Scottish Parliament,
Fletcher became known for his political and historical writing. [MW]
- Fletcher, Giles, 1588?-1623 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet and cleric, known as "Giles Fletcher, the
Younger." Fletcher's most famous poem, Christ's Victory, and Triumph in
Heaven, and Earth, over, and after Death,
influenced Milton's Paradise Regained. [LD]
- Fletcher, John, 1579-1625 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English playwright of the Jacobean era who famously collaborated with
Francis Beaumont, Philip Massinger, and other
significant contemporaries, Fletcher also worked with Shakespeare on Two Noble Kinsmen (1634)
and Henry VIII (1613?).
Fletcher is revered as one of the most influential and prolific
dramatists of his time, his fame rivalling that of Shakespeare during their lives.
Fletcher succeeded Shakespeare
as the primary house playwright for the acting company the King's Men
(known as the Lord Chamberlain's Men prior to 1603) following Shakespeare's death in 1616.
Fletcher's major works include The
Faithfull Shepheardesse (c. 1608-1609), The Loyall Subject (1618),
The Chances (1617?),
Rule a Wife and Have a
Wife (1624), Philaster (with Beaumont, c. 1608–10), The Maides Tragedy (with
Beaumont, c. 1608–11), A King and No King (with
Beaumont, 1611), and The False One (with Massinger, 1620). [MW][LD]
- Fletcher, Lady—
- See Lintot, Catherine. [MW]
- Fletcher, Phineas, 1582-1650 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Poet of the Spenserian school and
writer of parallel poems in English and Latin. [LD]
- Fletcher, Richard (1544/5-1596) (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Priest and bishop of the Church of England and father of John Fletcher, successively holding the
titles Dean of Peterborough, Bishop of Bristol, Bishop of Worcester, and
Bishop of London. [LD]
- Florian, 1755-1794 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian authored Galatée (1783) and Gonsalve de Cordoue (1791).
[MW]
- Dramatist, actor, and theater manager. Shortly after the Restoration,
Foote was awarded a patent to open the Haymarket Theatre, which he operated until his death. [MW]
- Ford, John, 1586-approximately 1640 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet and playwright, best known for his revenge tragedies.
Ford's plays are notable for their poetic diction, exacting sense
of beauty, and contemplations over human passions. Ford collaborated on
plays with Thomas Dekker and William
Rowley. His most famous works include 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore, The Broken Heart, and The Lover's
Melancholy. [LD]
- Forsyth, Joseph, 1763-1815 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Scottish writer Joseph Forsyth took advantage of the 1802-1803 Peace
of Amiens to travel to Italy. He was returning to England when the Peace
failed and was captured by the French and imprisoned until the capture
of Napoleon in 1814. While in captivity he
published Remarks on Antiquities, Arts,
and Letters, during an Excursion in Italy in the years 1802 and
1803 (1813). [MW]
- Foscolo, Ugo, 1778-1827 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Revered Italian poet and novelist whose works express Italian
sentiments and anxieties during the Napoleonic Wars and French
Revolution. Early an enthusiast for Napoleon, he debuted on the literary scene with a poem
entitled A Bonaparte
liberatore (1797). His disillusionment soon after was
expressed in his novel Ultime lettere di
Jacopo Ortis (1802), modeled on Goethe's Sorrows of Young Werther. Foscolo's
most famous work was Dei
Sepolcri (1807). [LD] [MW]
- Fox, Stephen, 1627-1716 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Royal administrator and courtier to King Charles II. Fox came
from a humble background but became wealthy through his career as the
Paymaster of the Forces (financing of the British army). [BA] [LD]
- Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1768-1835 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- The last Holy Roman Emperor from 1792-1806. Francis II also held the
titles of King of Hungary and King of Bohemia, eventually naming himself
Emperor of Austria in response to Napoleon's coronation as Emperor of the French. [LD]
- Francklin, Thomas, 1721-1784 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Thomas Francklin was a moderately successful writer and playwright.
One of his most successful plays was The
Earl of Warwick (1766). He also collaborated with
Tobias Smollett on the Critical Review. [GR]
- Fraser, James Baillie, 1783-1856 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Scottish picturesque watercolorist, romance author, and travel
writer. [MW]
- Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor,
approximately 1123-1190 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Son of a Duke and Duke's daughter, Frederick I was Duke of
Swabia, German king, and finally Holy Roman Emperor beginning in 1152.
Also known as Frederick Barbarossa, his reign was characterized by his
defiance of papal power and struggle for German predominance in Europe.
Remembered for his political and military brilliance, Frederick I died
during the Third Crusade. [LD]
- Frederick I, King of Naples, 1451-1504 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Last king from the House of Trastámara, ruling from 1496-1501,
more commonly known as "Frederick IV" as the fourth ruling
Frederick of Sicily. In 1501 Frederick was deposed by Louis XII of France and his cousin King
Ferdinand II of Aragon. [LD]
- Fuseli, Henry, 1741-1825 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Primarily a visual artist, Swiss-born Henry Fuseli produced some
literary achievements as well, including Aphorisms on Man (1788), a translation of
Lavater's Vermischte
unphysiognomische Regeln zur Selbst- und
Menschenkenntniß (1787). Among his visual works,
The Nightmare (1781) is
probably the most famous. His Milton
Gallery from the 1790s was also widely known. [MW]
- Lady G.—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's The History of
Sir Charles Grandison (1754), sister to the title
character. [MW]
- Gainsborough, Earl of—
- Anna Letitia Barbauld suggests as a
possible model for Samuel
Richardson's Pamela (1740-1) the story of Noel Baptist,
Fourth Earl of Gainsborough (1708-1751, Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the
Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage), who married
Elizabeth Chapman, the daughter of his gameskeeper, Christopher Chapman.
[MW]
- Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who, by
means of telescopic observation, disproved the Ptolomeaic theory of the
universe. Works include: La
Billancetta (1586), De Motu Antiquiora (1590), Le mecaniche (1600), Le operazioni del compasso geometrico et
militare (1606), Sidereus Nuncius (1610), Discorso intorno alle cose che stanno in
su l'acqua, o che in quella si muovono (1612),
Istoria e dimostaziono intorno alle
macchie solari (1613), Discorso del flusso e reflusso del mare
(1616), Discorso delle
Comete (1619), Il
Saggiatore (1623), Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del
mondo (1632), and Discocorsi e Dimostrazioni Matematiche, intorno a due
nuove scienze (1638). For his Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del
mondo he was tried by the Inquisition and forced to
recant. He was sentenced to house arrest, where he remained for the rest
of his life, still continuing his scientific work. [ZP] and [MW]
- Garrick, David, 1717-1779 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An exceptionally productive playwright and adapter, Garrick was also
an effective theater manager and one of the most powerful and popular
actors in the history of British theater. Most of Garrick's
dramatic compositions consisted of adaptations of existing plays,
especially those of Shakespeare.
In addition to those from Shakespeare's works, Garrick's plays include
Lethe; or Esop in the
Shades (1740); The
Lying Valet (1741); The Provok'd Wife (1744); Miss in Her Teens: or, The Medley of
Lovers (1747); Every Man in His Humour (1751); The Chances (1754); Lilliput (1756); The Male Coquette (1757);
Isabella; or, The Fatal
Marriage (1757); The Gamesters (1757); The Guardian (1759);
Harlequin's
Invasion (1759); The
Enchanter; or, Love and Magic (a libretto; 1760);
The Farmer's Return from
London (1762); The
Clandestine Marriage (1766); The Country Girl (1766);
Neck or Nothing
(1766); Cymon (1767);
Linco's
Travels (1767); A Peep
Behind the Curtain; or, The New Rehearsal (1767);
The Jubilee (1769);
The Institution of the Garter;
or, Arthur's Roundtable Restored (1771);
The Irish Widow
(1772); A Christmas Tale
(1773); The Meeting of the
Company (1774); Bon
Ton; or, High Life above Stairs (1775); The Theatrical Candidates
(1775); and May Day; or, The Little
Gipsy (also a libretto; 1775). [MW]
- Garth, Samuel, Sir, 1661-1719 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English physician and poet whose mock-heroic poem The Dispensary gained
instant success. In the poem, Garth ridicules apothecaries and their
physician supporters. [LD]
- Gascoigne, George, -1577 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English lawyer, soldier, member of Parliament, and poet. An important
literary figure in the English Renaissance, Gascoigne's writing
innovatively adapted foreign literary forms to the English language.
[LD]
- Gascoigne, Sir William (c.1350–1419) (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- The Chief Justice of England during the reign of Henry IV, Gascoigne refused the
king's orders to pronounce sentences upon prisoners who had not
been tried by their peers. [LD]
- Gay, John, 1685-1732 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Best known for The Beggar's
Opera, which debuted in London in 1728, Gay
authored numerous other noteworthy works, a few of which include the
play The Distress'd
Wife (1734), a body of poetry, some collections of
fables, and the libretto for Handel's Acis and
Galatea (1731). [MW]
- Gayot de Pitaval, François, 1673-1743
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A French advocate whose Causes
célèbres et interesantes avec les jugemens qui les out
decidees, a collection of notorious critimal cases
that had come to his attention in his official capacities, was published
in periodic installments and various expanded editions beginning in 1734
and continuing throughout the eighteenth century. [MW]
- Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott,
1715-1769 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- In addition to plays, a novel, verse, fables, and aesthetic
treatises, this distinguished author of the German Enlightenment
translated Samuel
Richardson's The History of
Sir Charles Grandison (1753-4). [MW]
- Genlis, Stéphanie Félicité,
comtesse de, 1746-1830 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Among French women writers, Mme. de Genlis was one of the more
popular with Romantic-era British women writers. Her didactic fiction
and educational works included Adèle et Théodore (1782), which
features the characters Cecile, the Duchesse de C***, and M. and Mad.
Lagaraye. Les Veillées du
Chateau (1784) was translated into English as Tales of the Castle; or, Stories of
Instruction and Delight (1785). Les petits
émigrés (1798) appeared in English as The Young Exiles, or, Correspondence of
some Juvenile Emigrants in 1799. Les Mères rivales, ou la
calomnie (1800) was translated as Rival Mothers; or, The
Calumny (1800). [MW]
- Geoffrey, of Monmouth, Bishop of St. Asaph,
1100?-1154 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- As the author of Prophetiae
Merlini (The
Prophesies of Merlin) and Historia regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of
Britain) as well as the manuscript Vita Merlini, Geoffrey of
Monmouth is an important source for the Arthurian legends. [MW]
- George I, King of Great Britain,
1660-1727 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The first British monarch of the House of Hanover, George ascended
to rule over Great Britain in 1714 on the death of his second cousin
Anne. [MW]
- George II, King of Great Britain,
1683-1760 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of Great Britain from 1727-1760. [MW]
- George III, King of Great
Britain, 1738-1820 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of Great Britain from 1760-1820. The latter part of his reign
was punctuated by periods of intermittent madness so that in 1811
Parliament named as Regent his son, then Prince of Wales, but later to
become George IV. [MW]
- George IV, King of Great Britain,
1762-1830 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Prince Regent for George III from 1811, he became king with his
father's death in 1820. [MW]
- George, Saint, -303 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Born in Cappadocia in Asia Minor, he
became one of the most venerated saints in Christianity. As a soldier in
Roman service, he was sentenced to death for refusing to repudiate his
Christianity. In legend, he slew a dragon that was terrorizing a village
populace by demanding human sacrifices. England is one of several
nations claiming George as a patron saint. [MW]
- Gertrude, Queen of Denmark
- Character in William
Shakespear's drama Hamlet, she is Hamlet's mother. She takes Hamlet's uncle Claudius as
spouse after Claudius kills the king, Hamlet's father, and ascends to the
throne. [MW]
- Gibbon, Edward, 1737-1794 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English historian, scholar, and Member of Parliament. The reputation
of this eminent historian rests mostly on his masterwork, The History of the Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire (1776-1788), noted for the irony
in its representation of the rise of Christianity. [LD] [MW]
- Gifford, William, 1756-1826 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English critic, editor, and poet. Gifford authored the anti-Della
Cruscan satires The Baviad
(1791) and The Maviad
(1795). He edited the Anti-Jacobin
from 1797-1798 and was the first editor of the Quarterly
Review, a position he held until 1824. [MW]
- Gildon, Charles, 1665-1724 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English writer who was largely paid to write low-quality and rushed
works. As a "hack writer," Gildon was a biographer, essayist,
translator, playwright, poet, short story writer, and critic. Alexander Pope denounced Gildon's
opportunist writing in his Dunciad. Gildon was likewise engaged in a
long-term quarrel with Jonathan
Swift. [LD]
- Giraldi, Giambattista Cinzio, 1504-1573
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian novelist, dramatist, and poet, one of the first tragicomedy
authors, writing under the nickname "Cinthio." Cinthio's
most famous work, his collection of short stories entitled Hecatommithi (1565),
provided the source material for Shakespeare's Measure
for Measure and Othello. [LD]
- Glasse, Hannah, 1708-1770 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English cookbook writer whose The Art
of Cookery Made Plain and Easy was a bestselling
recipe book for over a century after its initial publication. [LD]
- Glover, Richard, 1712-1785 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Playwright, poet, and writer on various aspects of the West Indies
question, Glover published "Admiral Hosier's
Ghost" in 1740. [MW]
- Godwin, William, 1756-1836 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Novelist, historian, biographer, political theorist, and spouse to
Mary Wollstonecraft, William
Godwin published An Enquiry concerning
Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and
Happiness in 1793. His most important novels,
including Things As They Are; or, The
Adventures of Caleb Williams (1795) and St. Leon (1799), dramatize
the theories that Political
Justice advances. Fleetwood; or, The New Man of Feeling
(1805) critiques the character type made famous by Henry Mackenzie's novel The Man of Feeling. Mandeville. A Tale of the Seventeenth
Century in England (1817) is a historical novel in
the style of Scott. Cloudesley: A Tale (1830)
returns to the theme of aristocratic tyranny that was the subject of Caleb Williams. [MW]
- Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Goethe anonymously published Die
Leiden des jungen Werthers in 1774 (translated as
The Sorrows of Young
Werther, 1779). The eponymous hero eventually commits
suicide over a hopeless passion for a woman engaged to another. Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre
(1795-1796) was translated as Wilhelm
Meister's Apprenticeship by Thomas Carlyle in 1824. Goethe was
eminent as a poet and dramatist as well, with the two part verse drama
Faust (1808 and 1832)
as the foremost of his works. [MW]
- Goldoni, Carlo, 1707-1793 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A prolific Italian playwright known for his innovations in the
dramatic form commedia dell'arte who also introduced elements of
realism into dramatic characterizations to help reform the Italian
stage. Among his extensive list of dramatic works, his stage adaptations
of Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740-1) include Pamela Nubile (1750) and
Pamela Maritata (1759).
[MW]
- Goldsmith, Oliver, 1730?-1774 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Goldsmith is often regarded as the epitome of a grub street writer,
living much of his life in poverty and debt despite authoring a massive
body of histories, biographies, plays, poems, novels, and literary
criticism. Goldsmith's authorial importance was acknowledged by the
literary community with his poems The
Traveller (1764) and The Hermit (1765), but later
texts would give him fame. Satirical and paradoxical, The Vicar of Wakefield
(1766) was his most popular novel. The
Deserted Village (1770), his best known poem,
depicts a traveler's reflections on the demise of Auburn, the
village of his youth, after the native inhabitants are forced out by an
avaricious local landowner. As a prolific literary journalist, Goldsmith
contributed to the Critical
Review as well as other periodicals. In 1759,
Goldsmith published a weekly paper named The Bee. A collection of his works from the Monthly
Review were published under the name
The Citizen of the
World in 1762. A further selection of Goldsmith's
nonfiction includes History of England
in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to His Son
(1764), Life of Henry St. John, Lord
Viscount Bolingbroke (1770), Life of Thomas
Parnell (1770), The Roman History: from the foundation of
the city of Rome, to the destruction of the western
Empire (1769), and Retaliation, The History of Greece (1774). She Stoops to Conquer; or, The Mistakes
of a Night (1773), Goldsmith's most famous
dramatic comedy, features the heroine Kate Hardcastle, who descends to
playing a servant in her own house after a potential suitor mistakes it
for an inn. Less popular than She Stoops
to Conquer was Goldsmith's dramatic comedy
The Goodnatured Man
(1768). An History of the Earth, and
Animated Nature was published in 1795. [MW]
- Fernández de Córdoba, Gonzalo,
1453-1515 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Spanish general and statesman whose military brilliance earned him
the title "The Great Captain." His most famous military
campaigns included the Italian Wars and the Conquest of Granada. [LD]
- Gordon, John —
- A surgeon at the University of Glasgow and mentor to Tobias Smollett and Dr. John Moore. H.L. Fulton writes,
"[John Moore] was apprenticed to
William Stirling and John Gordon, surgeons in a large practice and
formerly masters to Moore's distant
cousin Tobias Smollett."
(Fulton, H.L. "Moore, John (1729-1802)." Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography. Ed. H.C.G. Matthew and Brian Harrison.
Vol. 38. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. 970.) [VW][RD]
- Gosling, Lady—
- neé Elizabeth
Midwinter, she married bookseller and banker Sir Francis Gosling
(Gosling, Francis, Sir, d. 1768 [Library of Congress Name Authority]).
[MW]
- Sir Henry Gould, 1643/4-1710 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Judge of the king's bench and maternal grandfather to the
novelist Henry Fielding. [RD]
- Gower, John, 1325?-1408 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- An English poet, contemporary of William Langland and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. He is remembered
primarily for three major works, the
Mirour de l'Omme (c. 1376-1379), Vox Clamantis (c. 1377-1381),
and Confessio Amantis (c.
1390-1392), three long poems written in French, Latin, and English
respectively, which are united by common moral and political themes.
[JDP]
- Grafigny, Mme de (Françoise
d'Issembourg d'Happoncourt), 1695-1758 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Mme de Grafigny's novel Lettres
d'une Péruviennes (1747) tells the story
of Zilia, an Incan princess captured by the Spanish. [MW]
- Grainger, James, 1721?-1766 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The most interesting literary work by West Indian poet and physician
James Grainger is The
Sugar-Cane (1764). His "Solitude, an
Ode" was reprinted, among other places, in
Southey's Specimens of the Later
English Poets (1807). He translatesd several Latin
works, including the elegies of Tibullus. Grainger also authored
groundbreaking medical treatises on the care of slaves. [MW]
- Sir Charles Grandison—
- Hero of Samuel
Richardson's The History of
Sir Charles Grandison (1754). [MW]
- Grantham, Thomas Robinson, Baron, 1695-1770
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Diplomat and politician. [MW]
- Lansdowne, George Granville, Baron, 1667-1735
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- English Tory politician, Secretary at War, poet, and playwright.
Influenced by the writing of Dryden,
Lord Landsdowne was best known for his stage adaptations, including The Heroick Love (1698) and
The Jew of Venice
(1701). [LD]
- Graves, Richard, 1677-1729 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Antiquary and father of the author Rev. Richard Graves. [RD]
- Graves, Richard, 1715-1804 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A gifted novelist, Graves published The Festoon, a collection of Epigrams in
1765, The Spiritual Quixote; or, The
Summer's Ramble of Mr. Geoffry Wildgoose in
1773 and Columella; or, The Distressed
Anchoret in 1779. Senilities; or, Solitary Amusements: in Prose and
Verse appeared in 1801. Other publications by the
author include Euphrosyne; or,
Amusements on the Road of Life (1776); Eugenius; or, Anecdotes of the Golden Vale,
an Embellished Narrative of Real Facts (1785);
Lucubrations: Consisting of
Essays, Reveries etc. in Prose and Verse (1786);
Recollections of some
Particulars in the Life of Recollections of Some Particulars in
the Life of the Late William
Shenstone, Esq. in a Series of Letters from an
Intimate Friend of His to----Esq. F. R. S. (1788);
Plexippus, or the Aspiring
Plebeian (1790); The Reveries of Solitude; Consisting of Essays in Prose, a New
Translation of the Muscipula, and Original Pieces in
Verse (1793); The
Coalition; or, The Opera Rehears'd: A Comedy in Three
Acts (1794); The
Farmer's Son: A Moral Tale Inscribed to Mrs. Hannah More by
the Rev. P. P. M. A. (1795); and The Invalid, with the obvious Means of
enjoying Long Life, by a Nonagenarian (1804). Also
proficient in Latin, Greek, and several modern languages, Graves
translated Galateo; or, A Treatise on
Politeness and Delicacy of Manners, from the Italian of Monsig.
Giovanni De La
Casa (1774), Goethe's Sorrows of
Werther(1779), probably from a French version, Fénelon's Fleurettes, Containing an Ode on
Solitude (1784), Herodian, The Heir Apparent; or, The Life of
Commodus, Translated from the Greek (1789),
The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus: A New Translation, with a Life, Notes
Etc. (1792), and Hiero on the Condition of Royalty: A Conversation from the
Greek of Xenophon
(1793). [MW]
- Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- The rather reclusive Thomas Gray, one of the most esteemed poets of
the eighteenth century, left a comparatively small body of work,
highlights of which include An Ode on a
Distant Prospect of Eton College (1747), An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church
Yard (1751), and a collection of Odes (1757) that included
"The Progress of Poesy" and
"The Bard" (1754). [MW]
- Greene, Robert, 1558-1592 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Popular English playwright and pamphleteer, graduate of Cambridge and
Oxford. Greene's works provided Shakespeare with models of pastorals, romance, and dramatic
comedy. As one of the period's "university wits," Greene
was known for his criticisms of colleagues, including a derisive
reference to Shakespeare in the pamphlet Greene's Groats-worth of Wit. [LD]
- Gresset, 1709-1777 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- French poet and dramatist, Jean Baptiste Louis Gresset's
narrative poem Vert-Vert
garnered wide acclaim from his contemporaries for its creativity and
wit. [LD]
- Greville, Fulke, Baron Brooke, 1554-1628
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- English statesman, member of the House of Commons, dramatist,
biographer, and philosophical poet, endorsing a plain style of writing.
On his tomb, Greville fashioned himself "Servant to Q. Eliz., councellor to
King James, and friend to
Sir Philip Sidney." [LD]
- Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- British Whig Prime Minister from 1830-1834. [MW]
- Grey, Frances, duchess of Suffolk, 1517–1559
(Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Née Lady Frances Brandon, Frances Grey was an English noblewoman and
the eldest daughter of Princess Mary, King Henry VIII's younger
sister, and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of
Suffolk. Frances Grey was the wife of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk
and the mother of Lady Jane Grey.[LD]
- Kent, Henry Grey, Duke of, 1671?-1740 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English politician and courtier who served as Lord Chamberlain from
1704-1710, Lord Steward of the Household from 1716-1718, and Lord Privy
Seal from 1719-1720. Survived by none of his sons, Grey's title of Duke
of Kent became extinct upon his death. [LD]
- Grey, Jane, Lady, 1537-1554 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Born to Henry Grey and
Lady Francis Brandon, a
granddaughter of Henry
VII, Lady Jane, also known as "The Nine Day Queen," was
well-educated and brought up in a zealously Protestant household. Her
upbringing and presence at court with her first cousin once-removed,
King Edward VI of England, led the dying Edward at age 15 to pronounce
her his heir. Following Edward's death, she was proclaimed Queen by the
Privy Council, but nine days later, on July 19, after Mary had roused much popular
support, the Privy Council proclaimed Mary queen instead. Jane was imprisoned, tried for treason,
and beheaded along with her husband the following year on Febuary 12th, 1554. [BDW] [LD]
- Griffiths, Ralph, 1720-1803 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- In addition to publishing books on a wide array of topics,
bookseller Ralph Griffiths was also the proprietor of several literary
journals, including the London
Advertiser and Literary Gazette (1751-1753), the
Grand Magazine of Universal
Intelligence (1758-1760), and the Library (1761-1762). Two of
the periodicals Griffiths founded continued long after his death: the
St. James's
Chronicle (1761-1866) and, most famously, the Monthly
Review (1749-1845), the first and for
nearly half a century the most important British literary review. [MW]
- Grove, Henry, 1684-1738 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Clergyman and conduct and theological writer, Grove contributed as
well to Joseph Addison's Spectator. [MW]
- Guarini, Battista, 1538-1612 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian poet and drama theorist who is credited with establishing the
pastoral drama. Works include: Aminta (1573), Il pastor fido (1590), and Compendio della poesia
tragicomica (1602). His Lettere appeared in 1593. [MW]
- Guerrazzi, Francesco Domenico, 1804-1873 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian politician, historical novelist, and translator involved in
the Italian unification movement. His novels La battaglio di Benevento (1827) and L'assedio di Firenze
(The Siege of Florence,
1836) were particularly designed to inspire fervent patriotism. Included
among his other more important works of fiction were Veronica Cybo (1838), Isabella Orsini (1844), Serpicina (1847), Beatrice Cenci (1853), Storia di un moscone
(1858), Pasquale Paoli
(1860), and Il buco neor
(1862). [LD] [MW]
- Guicciardini, Francesco, 1483-1540
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Florentine general of the papal army, governor, and historian, best
known for his work The History of Italy.
[LD]
- Guido—
- See Reni, Guido. [MW]
- Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden, 1496-1560
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of Sweden from 1523 until 1560, Gustav I deposed King Christian II of
Demark, Sweden, and Norway through the Kalmar Union in the Swedish War
of Liberation, thus establishing a hereditary monarchy through the House
of Vasa. He later established Protestantism in Sweden. [BDW] [LD]
- Gwyn, Nell, 1650-1687 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English actress, mistress of Charles II, and mother of James and Charles Beauclerk. Deemed
"pretty, witty Nell" by Samuel
Pepys, Gwyn was among the most famous of the Restoration
figures of celebrity, regarded as the embodiment of the anti-Puritan
attitudes of the Restoration period. [LD]
- Habington, William, 1605-1654 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet and historian, son of Mary Habington and Sir Thomas
Habington and nephew of Sir Edward Habington, all of whom had been
implicated in political conspiracies surrounding the crown.
Habington's most notable work, Castara, is a collection of poems dedicated
to his wife and revered for its powerful sense of imagination. [LD]
- Hall, John, 1627-1656 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English poet, essayist, pamphleteer, and educational reformer,
denouncing the misuse of university revenue and advocating for the
inclusion of new mathematics, science, and foreign language in
curriculum. [LD]
- Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English bishop, moralist, and satirist, noted for the versatility of
his writing as well as his literary innovations. [LD]
- Hallam, Henry, 1777-1859 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English barrister, historian, fellow of the Royal Society, and
trustee of the British Museum. He is best remembered for his works View of the State of Europe during the
Middle Ages, The
Constitutional History of England, and Introduction to the Literature of
Europe, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries. [LD]
- Halleck, Fitz-Greene, 1790-1867 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- American poet and leading member of the Knickerbocker Group,
remembered primarily for his satires. His Alnwick Castle, with Other Poems was
published in 1827, followed by his collected Poetical works of Fitz-Greene Halleck in
1847. [LD] [MW]
- Haller, Albrecht von, 1708-1777 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Swiss physiologist, poet, and romance writer, whose scientific work
did much to establish the reputation of the recently founded University
of Göttingen. He translated Samuel
Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9) into German. [MW]
- Hamilton, Anthony, Count, 1646-1720 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Known for his Memoires de la vie du
comte de Grammont (1715). [VW]
- Hamilton, Douglas Hamilton, Duke of,
1756-1799 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Second son of Elizabeth
Campbell, duchess of Hamilton and Argyll. His older brother
James having died at the age of fourteen, Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 8th
Duke of Hamilton and 5th Duke of Brandon, also inherited the title Baron
Hamilton of Hameldon upon the death of his mother. He lived in Europe
between 1772 and 1776 under the tutelage of Dr.
John Moore. He was a patron of Moore's son, the future Sir
John Moore. [RD]
- Hamilton, Elizabeth, 1758-1816 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Many, including Hays herself, believed that Hamilton composed the
anonymously published Memoirs of Modern
Philosophers (1800) to satirize London's
radical circle in general, and author Mary
Hays in particular. Hamilton's other novels include Translation of the Letters of a Hindoo
Rajah (1796) and The Cottagers of Glenburnie (1808). She
also authored several biographies, including Memoirs of the Life of Agrippina, Wife of
Germanicus (1804). She was respected as well for
her educational and conduct literature, the most prominent of which are
her Letters on the Principles of
Education (1801) and Letters Addressed to the Daughter of a
Nobleman (1806). [MW]
- Hamilton, James George Hamilton, Duke of,
1755-1769 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- First son of Elizabeth
Campbell, duchess of Hamilton and Argyll. James died from an
illness in 1769 at the age of fourteen. [RD]
- Hamlet—
- Title character in William
Shakespear's c. 1660-1661 play. [MW]
- Hammond, Anthony, 1668-1738 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English official, politician, poet, and pamphleteer who was admitted
to St. John's College at Cambridge in 1685. A popular story states that
Hammond found young Susanna
Centlivre weeping at the side of the road and decided to
smuggle her into St. John's College, where she attended class under the
guise of a man. [BA][LD]
- Hammond, James, 1710-1742 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English poet and politician, best remembered for his elegies. [LD]
- Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- German composer who emigrated to London, Handel was a prolific and
much loved author of well over 100 operas, oratorios, concertos, and
other musical pieces, including his most famous work, Messiah (1742). An
extremely abbreviated list of other major works includes Ode for the Birthday of Queen
Anne (1713), Water
Music (1717), Acis
and Galatea (1718), The Harmonious Blacksmith (1720), Giulio Cesare (1724), Tamerlano (1724), Zadok the Priest (1727), Alcina (1735), Alexander's Feast
(1736), Ode for St. Cecilia's
Day (1739), Saul (1739), Israel in Egypt (1739), Semele (1743), Hercules (1745), and Fireworks Music (1749).
[MW]
- Hanmer, Thomas, Sir, 1677-1746 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Known mostly for his political career, Hanmer also made a few minor
contributions to the field of literature. [MW]
- Hannibal, 247 B.C.-182 B.C. (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Carthaginian statesman and general leading the forces of Carthage
against Rome during the Second Punic War. Alongside Scipio Africanus and Alexander the Great, Hannibal is
considered to be one of the greatest military minds of Mediterranian
antiquity. [LD]
- Hardyng, John, 1378-1465? (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A late fourteenth and early fifteenth-century soldier turned
historian, author of The Chronicle of
John Hardyng, printed in London by Grafton in 1543
and recently suggested as a source for Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur. [JDP]
- Harley, Robert—
- See Oxford, Robert Harley, Earl
of, 1661-1724. [MW]
- Harmodius—
- Ancient writer whose work is known through later quotations rather
than through surviving texts. [MW]
- Harpokrates (Egyptian deity)
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Also Harpocrates; the Greek version of one aspect of the Egyptian
god Horus, who represented in
this form the rising sun. [JDP]
- Harrington, James, 1611-1677 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Political philosopher James Harrington authored The Common-wealth of Oceana
(1656), in which he promotes his ideas on the ideal design of a
republic. [MW]
- Hart, Charles, -1683 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Prominent English actor and Royalist soldier during the English Civil
War, most likely the the son of William Hart, nephew of William Shakespeare. Hart was
known for his natural air of dignity which resulted in his frequently
playing royal roles. [LD]
- Hartley, David, 1705-1757 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- In his Observations on Man, his
Frame, his Duty, and his Expectations (1749),
physician David Hartley expounded a physiological theory of
"vibrations" to explain his conviction that the moral sense
was not inborn, but rather a consequence of the association of ideas.
Particularly after his work was popularized by Joseph Priestley in his abridgment
Hartley's Theory of the Human
Mind on the Principle of the Association of Ideas
(1775), Hartley's ideas exerted broad influence on literature,
philosophy, medicine, psychology, and issues such as education and
reform. [MW]
- Hartson, Hall, -1773 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Hall Hartson was an Irish poet and playwright who produced only a few
works, one of which was the tragedy The
Countess of Salisbury (1767), adapted from Thomas
Leland’s novel Longsword
(1762). [GR]
- Hastings, William Hastings, Lord,
1430?-1483 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The 1st Baron of Hastings, William Hastings
was an English diplomat and soldier, as well as the Master of Mint and
Lord Chamberlain of the royal household of King Edward IV. Hastings
raised troops for Edward
during the Earl of Warwick's Rebellion, supporting the House of York
during the Wars of the Roses. Following Edward's death, Hastings took
Edward's royal mistress,
Jane Shore, as his concubine. Shore encouraged Hastings to oppose the
ascension of the Yorkist Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III, to the throne.
Upon seizing the throne, Richard had Hastings executed for treason. [LD]
- Hawes, Stephen, -1523? (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English poet, author of The Example
of Vertu (1504); The Passetyme of Pleasure (1509); The Conuercyon of Swerers
(1509); A Joyfull Medytacyon to all Englonde of the Coronacyon of Our
Moost Natural Soverayne Lorde Kynge Henry the Eyght (1509); and The Comforte of Lovers
(1515). [JDP][MW]
- Hawkesworth, John, 1715?-1773 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A schoolmaster, poet, dramatist, novelist, and periodical editor,
Hawkesworth had almost no formal education. His literary career began
first with poetry, some of which was published in the Gentleman’s Magazine, where he
later worked as editor. His stage productions include: Amphitryon; or, The Two Sosias: A
Comedy, adapted from John Dryden (1756); Oroonoko: A Tragedy, adapted
from Thomas Southerne, (1759); Zimri: An
Oratorio (music by Thomas Stanley) (1760);
Edgar and Emmeline: A Fairy
Tale (1761); and The Fall of Egypt: An Oratorio (music by Thomas
Stanley) (1774). Almoran and Hamet: An
Oriental Tale, his only novel, was published
anonymously in 1761. He published a translation of Fénelon'sThe Adventures of
Telemachus in 1768. Hawkesworth incorporated a
noteworthy biographical sketch of Jonathan
Swift to his edition of The
Works of Jonathan Swift ... with Some Account of the
Author's Life and Notes Historical and
Explanatory (1754-1765), and he edited as well a
collection of accounts of recent south sea exploratory voyages,
An Account of the Voyages
undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for making
Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere ... by Commodore Byron,
Captain Wallis, Captain Carteret, and Captain Cook, in the
Dolphin, the Swallow, and the Endeavour (1773). His
periodical The Adventurer
(1753, 1754) was modeled on Samuel
Johnson's Rambler. It’s combination of essays, Eastern tales,
and anecdotes of English life, about half of which were authored by
Hawkesworth, proved highly popular. [MW]
- Hawkins, John, 1719-1789 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English magistrate, author, and friend of Dr. Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole. Sir John Hawkins was
author of A General History of the
Science and Practice of Music (1776), the first
history of music to be published in English, as well as the first full
biography of his close friend, the Life
of Samuel
Johnson (1787). [LD]
- Hayley, William, 1745-1820 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English poet, biographer, essayist, patron of the arts, and friend of
William Cowper and William Blake.
Hayley is best remembered for his Life
of Cowper, a
biography which contributed to the foundation of the modern biography.
[LD]
- Haymarket Theatre (London, England) (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The Haymarket Theatre opened in late 1720, only to struggle
financially for its first several years. In the 1730s, Henry Fielding staged a series of
satires parodying prime minister Robert
Walpole. These pieces drew audiences, but they also enraged
Walpole sufficiently to prompt him to engineer passage of the Stage
Licensing Act of 1737, which initiated the censorship of British drama
that continued through most of the twentieth century. The act closed the
Haymarket, but beginning around 1741, Samuel
Foote, Colley Cibber, and
Charles Macklin staged dramas
illegitimately for several years, until finally Foote was awarded a limited license,
which restricted performance of legitimate drama to the summer months,
when the Patent theatres were closed. He opened under the name Theatre
Royal Haymarket in 1767. After Foote,
the Haymarket was managed by George
Colman the elder from 1776 to 1794 and by his son from 1794-1817. The
younger Colman's extravagance
and inept management led to the sale of the theater to his
brother-in-law, David Morris. At the behest of the Prince Regent, the
theater was rebuilt in 1820 by architect John Nash at its current
location, adjacent to the original site. It reopened on July 4, 1821
with a production of Sheridan's The Rivals. Over the next
two centuries, it has been remodeled or refurbished several times,
incorporating such theatrical innovations as gas lighting and a full
bar. As one of London's top theaters, it has staged scores of
outstanding dramas and seen the performances of many of the world’s most
celebrated theatrical actors. [MW]
- Hays, Mary, 1759 or 60-1843 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A close friend of Mary
Wollstonecraft and William
Godwin, feminist, philosopher, biographer, historian, literary
critic, novelist, and educational writer Mary
Hays was among the most radical of British women writers
during the 1790s. Mary Hays's early education reflected the views of her
parents, rational dissenters John and Elizabeth Hays, and was heavily
informed by debates at the Dissenting meeting house. Her career as an
intellectual began with her publication of Cursory Remarks on an Enquiry into the Expediency and
Propriety of Public or Social Worship: Inscribed to Gilbert
Wakefield (1791), a defense of nonconformist
religious practices, which she published under the pseudonym Eusebia.
Next followed a collection for the improvement of young women, Letters and Essays, Moral and
Miscellaneous (1793), a collaborative work with her
sister Elizabeth. Hays published two major novels, Memoirs of Emma Courtney
(1796), drawn substantially from autobiography, and The Victim of Prejudice
(1799), and three lesser novels, Harry
Clinton (1804), The
Brothers; or, Consequences (1815), and Family Annals; or, The
Sisters (1817). Her anonymously published Appeal to the Men of Great Britain in
Behalf of Women (1798) is her most important
feminist statement, but her views on the condition of women are evident
in much of her work, including her novels and her biographical series
such as Female Biography; or, Memoirs of
Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of all Ages and
Countries (1803) and Memoirs of Queens (1821). Hays was brought
in to complete History of England, from
the Earliest Records, to the Peace of Amiens: In a Series of
Letters to a Young Lady at School (1806), which
Charlotte Smith had begun but
become too ill to continue. Hays contributed at least some novel reviews
to the Analytical Review
while Mary Wollstonecraft was a
regular contributor, and it is believed she may have edited the novels
section of the periodical for a few months as well. Hays met Wollstonecraft through a London
circle of radical and dissenting intellectuals, and the two became fast
friends. After Wollstonecraft's
death in 1797, Hays became the primary target of antifeminist attacks in
the press during a period of regressive attitudes. Hays never married,
and with limited income and only moderate acclaim for her work, the last
20 years of her life were difficult. Following her death, Hays's work
received little academic or critical attention until the feminist
movement of the twentieth century.[LD] [MW]
- Haywood, Eliza Fowler, 1693?-1756 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Among the better-known productions of the almost inexhaustible actor
and writer Eliza Haywood are the novels Love in Excess; or, The Fatal Enquiry
(1719-1720), The History of
Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751), and The Invisible Spy (1755).
Her Anti-Pamela; or, Feign'd
Innocence Detected, in a Series of Syrena's
Adventures (1741) satirized Samuel Richardson's popular
novel. Haywood penned a large number of plays as well, and conducted an
essay periodical loosely modeled on Joseph
Addison's Spectator which she called Female Spectator
(1744-1746). After that paper ended, she followed it for a few months by
another, the Parrot (1746),
a name she had already used for a periodical during 1728. She was among
the many writers attacked by Alexander
Pope in The
Dunciad. [MW]
- Hazelrig, Sir Arthur—
- Sir Arthur Hesilrige, 7th Baronet, d. 1763 (Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of
the Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage) presided
over the demise Noseley Hall, the family seat. The story of Hesilrige
and his wife Hannah was one of several suggested as the original for
Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740-1). [MW]
- Hector—
- A Trojan prince at the time of the fall of Troy, from Greek mythology
and the poetry of Homer. [MW]
- Helen of Troy—
- Greek mythology attributes the cause of the Trojan War to Helen,
daughter of Zeus and Leda, who though married to Menelaus, King of
Sparta, ran away with Paris, the young, handsome Prince of Troy. [MW]
- Heliodorus, of Emesa [n.d.] (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Born in Emesa in Syria, author Heliodorus wrote The Æthiopica or Theagenes and Charicleia in
the third or fourth century CE. He became Bishop of Tricca or Trieca in
Thessaly. [MW]
- Hemans, Felicia, 1793-1835 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Coming of age during the Napoleonic wars, Felicia Dorothea Browne
Hemans was regarded as a sort of prodigy, though her first published
volume, Poems, by Felicia Dorothea Browne
(1808), did not meet with critical approval. She eventually became
well-known for her patriotic, religious, sentimental, and historical
poetry, song lyrics, and translations, eventually attaining popularity
with the reading public as well as critical acclaim. Her work included
themes of home, homesickness, and exile, connecting them to wartime
sacrifice and suffering and to claims for nationhood through relations
between land, gender, and class. Writing and publishing prolifically to
support her large family, she eventually produced, in addition to Poems, the following substantial list of
publications: England and Spain; or, Valour and
Patriotism, by Felicia Dorothea Browne (1808); The Domestic Affections, and Other Poems
(1812); The Restoration of the Works of Art to
Italy: A Poem (1816); Modern Greece. A
Poem (1817); Translations from
Camoens, and other Poets, with Original Poetry (1818); Tales, and Historic Scenes in Verse
(1819); Wallace's Invocation to Bruce. A
Poem (1819); The Sceptic: A Poem
(1820); Stanzas to the Memory of the Late
King (1820); Dartmoor, A Poem: Which
Obtained the Prize of Fifty Guineas proposed by The Royal Society of
Literature (1821); A Selection of
Welsh Melodies (with music arranged by John Parry, 1821); The Siege of Valencia; A Dramatic Poem. The
Last Constantine: with Other Poems (1823); The Vespers of Palermo; A tragedy, in five
acts (1823); The Forest Sanctuary; and
Other Poems (1825); Hymns on the Works
of Nature. For the Use of Children (1827); Records of Woman: with Other Poems (1828);
A Set of Original Songs (with music
composed by J. Z. Herrmann and H. F. Chorley, 1830); A Collection of Peninsular Melodies, 2
volumes, (with music arranged by G. L. Hodges, 1830); Songs of the Affections, with Other Poems
(1830); Scenes and Hymns of Life, with other
religious poems (1834); National
Lyrics, and Songs for Music (1835); and the posthumous Poetical Remains of the late Mrs. Hemans,
edited by D. M. Moir (1836). [VS] and [MW]
- Hénault, Charles-Jean-François,
1685-1770 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French writer, historian, President of the Chamber of Inquiries, and
friend of Voltaire. Hénault's
most notable work was his Abrégé chronologique de l'histoire de
France, a popular history of France's
political and military spheres. [LD]
- Henderson, John, 1747-1785 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Popular English actor who was became known as the greatest
Shakespearean actor after the death of David
Garrick. [LD]
- Henry IV, King of England, 1367-1413
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Previously known as Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, King Henry
IV asserted his claim to the thrown as the heir of the house of
Lancaster, usurping the throne of King Richard II. During his reign, Henry IV successfully
gathered power, despite repetitive uprisings by English nobles. However,
the administrative and financial issues faced by Henry IV's rule
eventually led to the demise of the Lancaster dynasty. [LD]
- Henry IV, King of France, 1553-1610
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of Navarre from 1572 and of France from 1589, Henry IV was
known almost as much for his numerous love affairs as for his political
effectiveness during a period of extreme hostility and widespread
violence between Catholics and Protestants. [MW]
- Henry V, King of England, 1387-1422
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The son of Henry IV, father
of Henry VI, and Prince of
Wales prior to his coronation as king, Henry V continued the Lancaster
dynasty and became known as one of the greatest warrior kings for his
success in the Hundred Years' War against France, particularly his
victory in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Henry V's profligate
youth was dramatized by Shakespeare in his Henriad plays. Although Henry V was known
to be occasionally cruel and unchivalrous, he was generally acknowledged
to be a brave, pious, and honorable king. [LD]
- Henry VI, King of England, 1421-1471
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The timid and reclusive King of England and proclaimed King of
France, Henry VI was an ineffective ruler who inherited a turbulent
political climate. Henry VI's reign saw the continuation of the
Hundred Years' War, and his ineptitude as a king led to the
dynastic conflict which resulted in the Wars of the Roses. [LD]
- Henry VII, King of England, 1457-1509
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of England, reigning from when he siezed the crown from Richard III in August 1485
to his death in April 1509. [JDP]
- Henry VIII, King of England, 1491-1547
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A representative of the Tudor line and father to Elizabeth I, Henry became
king in 1509. He led the separation of the Church of England from papal
authority and the Roman Catholic church. A patron of the arts, he was a
capable musician and poet in his own right. [MW]
- Heraclius, Emperor of the East, approximately
575-641 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Eastern Roman Emperor whose reign lost Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and
Byzantine Mesopotamia to the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate. [BDW][LD]
- Heracles (Greek) or Hercules (Latin)—
- Hero known for his strength, stamina, and courage, and particularly
for his accomplishment of a series of extraordinary labors. [MW]
- Herbert, George, 1593-1633 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Welsh-born poet and priest, George Herbert is associated with the
Metaphysical literary movement and best remembered for his religious
poetry and strong dictional selection. [LD]
- Herbert, Mary, Countess of Pembroke—
- See Pembroke, Mary Sidney
Herbert [MW]
- Herodian (Library of Congress Name Authority)‚
- A Greek historian who lived c. 170 to c. 240. He wrote History of the Roman Empire since Marcus
Aurelius, which was published after the year 240.
[RD]
- Herodotus (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Living from roughly 484-420 B.C.E., Herodotus was an ancient Greek
historian and geographer, his most notable work being the Histories, an expansive
account of the Greco-Persian Wars. Much like Homer, his works are known for their storytelling quality.
Although the Histories
contain many fantastical elements, much of the narrative's content
has been found to be credible and accurate. As the creator of the first
cohesive and comprehensive account of such an extensive topic, Herodotus
has been deemed "The Father of History." [LD]
- Herrick, Robert, 1591-1674 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Counted among the "sons of Ben" and the Cavalier poets, Robert Herrick was a cleric and
poet best known for his revival of the ancient classic lyric. [LD]
- Hesiod [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name Authority); c.
700 B.C. (Encyclopedia
Britannica)—
- Major works of this early Greek poet include Theogeny, Works and Days, and, more questionably, Shield of Heracles. [MW]
- Heywood, John, approximately 1497?-1580? (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- English musician, poet, and playwright. As a playwright, Heywood
primarily wrote comedy scripts for his boy actors. He is best remembered
for his adaptions of French farce and innovations in the development of
the English stage comedy through his interludes. [LD]
- Mr. Hickman—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9). [MW]
- Highmore, Joseph, 1692-1780 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- British portrait and historical painter and painting theorist. His
wife Susanna (1689/90-1750 [Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography]) was a poet.
[MW]
- Highmore, Miss Susanna—
- See Dunscombe, Susanna. [MW]
- Hildesley, Mark, 1698-1772 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Bishop of Sodor and Man. With his predecessor Thomas Wilson he translated the Bible
into Manx. [MW]
- Hill, Aaron, 1685-1750 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A versatile but only moderately successful playwright, theater
manager, and essayist, Hill was one of Alexander Pope’s targets in The Dunciad. As a business man, Hill not
only managed the Drury Lane and the
Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket for brief periods, but was involved in
concerns as varied as lumber for Navy ships, potash production, beech
nut oil, winemaking, and more. As an author, he began with A full and just Account of the Present
State of the Ottoman Empire (1709), the account of
his impromptu solo journey as a teenager from Britain to his uncle's ambassadorial post in
Turkey. After that, he ranged from a libretto for George Frederic Handel's Rinaldo (1711) through
subjects as varied as plays, poetry, theatrical reporting, history,
biography, financial speculation, and business. His periodical
miscellany The Plain Dealer
ran from March 1724-May 1725, while the theatrical periodical The Prompter ran from
November 1734-July 1736. His plays, to mention only more successful,
include The Fatal
Extravagance (1721), a one-act play that deals with the
South Sea bubble, The Tragedy of
Zara (1735), which was translated from Voltaire’s play Zaïre, Alzira (1736), also an adaptation from Voltaire, and Merope (1749) from Voltaire's play of the same title. [GR] [MW]
- Hill, Isabel, 1800-1842 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Translator of Madame de
Staël's 1807 workCorinne; Or, Italy
(1833).[VS]
- Hill, John, 1714?-1775 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Also known as Sir John Hill, he was a notable botanist, writer, and
journalist. Many of his publications are collected in The letters and papers of Sir John Hill,
1714-1775 (1982). Between the years of 1752 and
1753, Hill engaged in a "paper war" with rival authors
including Tobias Smollet and Henry Fielding. In particular,
The Story of Elizabeth Canning
Considered (1753) was hostile to Canning and
Fielding, arguing in favor of the perjury verdict that resulted in
Canning's transportation to Connecticut.[RD] and [MW]
- Hoadly, Dr. (Benjamin), 1706-1757 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Physician and researcher into electricity, Hoadly authored one
enormously popular dramatic comedy, The
Suspicious Husband (1747). [MW]
- Hoccleve, Thomas, 1370?-1450? (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An English poet and clerk, sometimes known as Thomas Occleve. Some
of his better works include "The Letter of Cupid," The Regement of Princes
(1411-1412), "The Complaint," "The Dialogue with a
Friend," "How to Die," "Prologue and a Miracle of
the Blessed Virgin," and "Mother of God." [JDP] [MW]
- Hogarth, William, 1697-1764 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English painter and engraver, Hogarth produced numerous popular
satirical series, including The March to
Finchley, A
Harlot's Progress, A Rake's Progress, and
Marriage A-la-Mode.
[RD]
- Hogg, James, 1770-1835 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Indeed born in the Ettrick Forest and following the occupation of
shepherd, James Hogg published several of his works under the sobriquet
the "Ettrick Shepherd," a character he was to continue into
his Edinburgh writing career, including his contributions to Blackwood's Edinburgh
Magazine. His first major publication, The Mountain Bard (1807) was a collection
of ballads. His most significant work was a novel, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a
Justified Sinner (1834). [MW]
- Holcroft, Thomas, 1745-1809 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Radical journalist, critic, novelist, translator, and playwright;
Holcroft's two most important novels include Anna St. Ives (1792), a
novel that reworks plot and character elements of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9) to shape
a response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France
(1790), and The Adventures of Hugh
Trevor (1794), which offers a more general satire
on the established order. The majority of his plays were comedies,
though later work includes the dark, unsuccessful drama, The Inquisitor (1798). A
few other highlights include Alwyn; or,
The Gentleman Comedian (1780), Duplicity (1781), Seduction (1787), The School for Arrogance
(1791), The Road to Ruin
(1792), his most popular piece, The
Deserted Daughter (1795), and He's Much to Blame
(1798). [MW]
- Holinshed, Raphael, approximately 1525-1580?
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- English chronicler whose popular The
Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande
provided much source material for Elizabethan authors such as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe. [LD]
- Holland, Henry Fox, Baron, 1705-1774 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- First Baron Holland of Foxley and notable eighteenth-century British
politician. He attended Eton College in 1775 where he became acquainted
with Henry Fielding. [RD]
- Home, John, 1722-1808 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Scottish poet, dramatist, historian, and clergyman. Douglas, his best
remembered drama, opened in 1756. His The History of the Rebellion in the Year
1745 appeared in 1802. [MW]
- Homer [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Greek poet reputed to be the author of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Considered during the
eighteenth century to be the paradigmatic example of the inspired and
primitive bardic poet, Homer became the single most influential poet of
all time. [MW]
- Honorius, Flavius, Emperor of Rome, 384-423 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Younger brother of Arcadius, Emperor of the
East, Honorius ruled the western half of the Roman empire.
[MW]
- Horace [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name Authority); 65
B.C.-8 B.C (Encyclopedia
Britannica)—
- A poet known for his satires, odes, and verse epistles, Horace also
authored Ars Poetica (c. 19
B.C.), a major landmark in the history of literary criticism and theory.
[MW]
- Horus (Egyptian deity) (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- One of the most significant ancient Egyptian dieties. He served many
functions, most notably god of kingship and the sky. He was known as
Harpocrates to the
Ptolemaic Greeks, and was represented in a youthful form, which
signified the rising sun. [JDP]
- Berkshire, Charles Howard, Earl of,
approximately 1615-1679 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English peer, son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire, and
brother-in-law of John Dryden. [LD]
- Howard, Gorges Edmond, 1715-1786 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Irish miscellany writer, architect, and playwright, best remembered
for his The Female Gamester
(1778).[LD]
- Surrey, Henry Howard, Earl of, 1517?-1547
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- English nobleman, politician, translator, and poet. Alongside Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard
introduced the conventions of Italian humanist poetry into English
literature. [LD]
- Howard, James, -1669 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English dramatist, Royalist during the English Civil War, and
brother-in-law of John Dryden.
Howard's most famous adaptation was his 1662 staging of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, in which
both characters survive. His two original plays are All Mistaken (1667) and The English Mounsieur
(1666). [LD]
- Howard, John, 1726-1790 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A highly respected Dissenting hospital and prison reformer. [MW]
- Miss Anna Howe—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9). [MW]
- Huet, Pierre-Daniel, 1630-1721 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Scholar, skeptical philosopher, and bishop of Avranches. [MW]
- Hughes, John, 1677-1720 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Playwright, poet, librettist, translator, editor, and critic;
Hughes's plays include Amalasont,
Queen of the Goths (possibly c. 1697-1700), Calypso and Telemachus
(1712), Apollo and
Daphne (1716), and The Siege of
Damascus
(1720). [MW]
- Hull, Thomas, 1728-1808 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English author, dramatist, actor, theatre manager, and friend of William Shenstone. [LD]
- Hume, David, 1711-1776 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Noted as a philosopher and historian, Hume was among those who
exerted the most powerful and lasting influences on eighteenth-century
thought. His best-known publications include A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Essays, Moral and Political
(1741), Philosophical Essays Concerning
Human Understanding (1748), An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of
Morals (1751), Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, 4
volumes (1753), and The History of Great
Britain (1754-1762). [MW]
- Hunt, Leigh, 1784-1859 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English critic, essayist, journalist, poet, and co-founder of The Examiner, a radical
intellectual journal advocating for Catholic emancipation, the abolition
of the slave trade, and parliamentary reform. Hunt was the first
publisher of John Keats, Percy Shelley, Alfred Tennyson, and
Robert Browning. In his Examiner, Hunt famously defended Romantic poets
against Blackwood
Magazine's denunciation of "Cockney poetry."
Hunt's most notable works include "Abou Beh
Adhem" and "Jenny Kissed Me."
[LD]
- Huntingdon, Selina Hastings, Countess of,
1707-1791 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Occasional writer on religious subjects. [MW]
- Hutcheson, Francis, 1694-1746 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Scottish moral philosopher who further developed the ideas of Shaftesbury. [MW]
- York, Anne Hyde, Duchess of, 1637-1671 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Daughter of Edward Hyde, member of the English gentry, and first wife
of King James II. Hyde and
James conceived a child
out of wedlock in 1659 and married in 1660. The couple developed a
reputation for their overt public displays of affection. Hyde bore eight
of James's children, only two
of whom survived past early childhood, future queens Mary II and Anne. [LD]
- Iago—
- The main antagonist in Shakespeare's Othello, Iago is the
trusted advisor of Othello, having fought
at his side for several years. Believing that Othello unfairly promoted Michael Cassio to lieutenant
instead of himself, Iago plots to manipulate Othello into demoting Cassio, effectively bringing about the
downfall of Othello, as well. Iago
convinces Othello that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with
Cassio. After Othello kills Desdemona, Iago's wife, Emilia,
reveals Iago's deception to Othello.
Iago kills Emilia in a fit of rage, and Cassio, the new authority in the
wake of Othello's suicide, condemns
Iago to imprisonment and torture as punishment for his crimes. [LD]
- Inchbald, Mrs., 1753-1821 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- One of the most successful among Romantic-era women authors,
Elizabeth Inchbald did only moderately well in her early career as an
actress but went on to produce numerous theatrical adaptations and
original plays, two novels (A Simple
Story, 1791, and Nature and Art, 1796), and a substantial
body of literary criticism, most of which appeared as prefaces to the
plays included in The British
Theatre (1806-1808).
Born in 1753 and
raised near Bury St. Edwards, Elizabeth Simpson’s interest in the
theater began when her family attended touring productions of the
Norwich Theater Company, a troupe which she later unsuccessfully tried
to join. In 1772 she moved to London against her family’s wishes, hoping
to become an actor there. After some unsuccessful attempts that also
brought her unwanted sexual harassment, she married Joseph Inchbald,
also an actor. Despite Elizabeth’s persistent stammer, the couple toured
as provincial players. Joseph Inchbald died suddenly in 1779, and
Elizabeth returned to London in 1780, where she first appeared on the
London stage in 1780 as Bellario in the Covent Garden production of Beaumont and Fletcher’s Philaster.
In 1784, Inchbald’s
first play, A Mogul Tale,
debuted with Inchbald playing the leading role. Thereafter, her plays
included I'll Tell You What!
(1785); Appearance is
Against Them (1785); The Widow's Vow (1786); Such Things Are (1787), a
highly-successful piece exposing social ills and celebrating reformer
John Howard; The Midnight Hour (1787),
the first of her reworkings of French dramas; All on a Summer's Day (1787), which
received only one performance; Animal
Magnetism (1788); The Child of Nature (1788); The Married Man (1789); The Hue and Cry (1791); Next Door Neighbors (1791);
Young Men and Old Women
(1792); Every One Has His
Fault (1793); The
Wedding Day (1794); Wives as They Were, and Maids as They Are
(1797); Lovers' Vows
(1798), the play that threw the Bertram family into turmoil in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, which was Inchbald's
adaptation of Das Kind der
Liebe by August Friedrich von Kotzebue; Wise Men of the East
(1799), also an adaptation from Kotzebue; and To Marry, or Not to Marry (1805). In 1792,
she arranged herself for the printing of The Massacre, her drama of the St.
Bartholomew's day massacre of 1572, but then complied with friends'
advice to suppress it for its potentially inflammatory parallels to the
French revolution.
As a critic, Inchbald is best known for her
“Remarks” to the plays issued in The
British Theatre; Or, a Collection of Plays: Which Are Acted at
the Theatres Royal, Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and
Haymarket, published by Longman, Hurst, Reese, and
Orme and collecting 125 recently performed plays. She was also credited
in Longman’s subsequent collections, A
Collection of Farces and Other Afterpieces Which are Acted at
the Theatres Royal, Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and Hay-Market
... Selected by Mrs. Inchbald (7 vols., 1809) and
The Modern Theatre; A Collection of
Successful Modern Plays, As Acted at the Theatres Royal, London,
selected by Mrs. Inchbald (10 vols., 1811), though
in her own account, her role in both these productions consisted of
little more than lending her name. Under the title “To The
Artist,” Inchbald published the satirical essay usually
referred to as "On Novel Writing" (1807) in Prince
Hoare’s journal The
Artist.
Inchbald died in 1821, after burning the
manuscript of her memoirs some two years earlier.
- Ine, King of Wessex (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Ine, also spelled Ini or Ina, was king of the West Saxons from 688
until his retirement to Rome in 726. As the first West Saxon king to
issue a code of laws, Ine and his reign are valuable to the study of
early English society. [LD]
- Ireland, W. H. (William Henry), 1777-1835 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Better known as a forger of Shakespeare manuscripts and documents, author William Henry
Ireland also produced poetry, much of it satirical, a biography of
Napoleon, a few volumes of verse tales (The Fisher Boy [1808] and The Sailor Boy [1809]),
several picturesque travel volumes in collaboration with minor landscape
artists, some largely spurious histories, and the novels The Abbess, a Romance
(1799), Rimualdo; or, The Castle of
Badajos (1800), and The Woman of Feeling (1804). [MW]
- Krystal Iseminger—
- Student contributor.
- Jacob, Giles, 1686-1744 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English legal writer, poet, and biographer best remembered for his
A New Law Dictionary
(1729) which became the most popular of its kind in the
newly-independent United States. Jacob is also remembered for his
collection of biographies, Poetical
Register, or Lives and Characters of the English Dramatic
Poets, (2 vols., 1719–20). However, Jacob's
literary works were not as well-received as his legal ones, and he
feuded with Alexander Pope publicly
and in writing, culminating in Pope
making Jacob a dunce in the 1728 edition of his The Dunciad. [LD]
- James I, King of Scotland, 1394-1437
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- James I of Scotland spent much of his early life as a prisoner of
the English, then part of the household of Henry V. He returned to
Scotland and was crowned in 1424. Thereafter he exercised a strong, even
despotic, royal hand in a country that had long been dominated by
semi-autonomous lords, meanwhile extending his international influence
through both marital alliances and successful warfare. His methods
compromised Scottish internal stability, however, and in a February 1437
coup attempt he was attacked, cornered, and, after a desperate fight,
killed. [MW]
- James I, King of England, 1566-1625
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Son of Mary, Queen of Scots,
King James VI of Scotland became King of England in 1603 with the death
of Elizabeth I. [MW]
- James II, King of England,
1633-1701—
- [James VII of Scotland]- Brother to Charles II, James succeeded him
to the throne in 1685. A convert to Catholicism, he made sweeping legal
decisions consolidating royal power and extending tolerance to and
empowering Catholics, leading to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which
placed the Dutch Protestant William of Orange on the British throne. [MW]
- James, Prince of Wales, 1688-1766 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Known as the "Old Pretender," or James Edward, James Francis Edward
Stuart was the son of King James
II and Prince of Wales until his father's deposition in the
Glorious Revolution of 1688. James Edward became the claimant to the
throne after his father's death in 1701 as James III of England and
Ireland and James VIII of Scotland. With the support of his Jacobite
followers and King Louis XIV of
France, his father's cousin, James Edward made few
half-hearted attempts to reclaim the crown. [LD]
- Jameson, Mrs. (Anna), 1794-1860 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Travel writer, art historian, and feminist Anna Brownell Jameson
pursued her varied and prolific writing career by necessity. Daughter of
a miniature painter, by age 16 she was already helping to support her
family as a governess. In one of her assignments she toured France and
Italy with her employer, resulting in her first significant publication,
A Lady’s Diary (1826),
a fictionalized account of her travels that was republished by Henry Colburn as Diary of an Ennuyée
later the same year. In 1825 she married Robert Jameson but separated
from him a few years later. She published The Loves of the Poets anonymously in 1829,
then republished it as Memoirs of the
Loves of the Poets in 1831 and The Romance of Biography; or, Memoirs of
Women Loved and Celebrated by Poets, from the Days of the
Troubadours to the Present Age in 1837. Memoirs of Celebrated Female
Sovereigns appeared in 1831 and was followed by Characteristics of Women
(1832), a collection of essays on Shakespeare's heroines that was repeatedly enlarged.
Other publications included The Beauties
of the Court of King
Charles the Second (1834); Visits and Sketches at Home and
Abroad (1834); Sketches of Germany (1837); Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in
Canada (1838); Sketches of Italy (1841); A Handbook to the Public Galleries of
Art In and Near London (1842); Companion to the Most Celebrated Private
Galleries of Art in London (1844); Memoirs and Essays Illustrative of Art,
Literature, and Social Morals (1846); A Commonplace Book of Thoughts,
Memories, and Fancies (1854); A Hand-Book to the Courts of Modern
Sculpture (1854); Sisters of Charity (1855); The Communion of Labour
(1856); Sketches of Art, Literature, and
Character (1857); Memoirs of Early Italian Painters (1859);
and Studies, Stories, and
Memoirs (1859). Her best known work, Sacred and Legendary Art,
comprised the four volumes Legends of
the Saints (1848); Legends of the Monastic Orders (1850); Legends of the Madonna
(1852); and The History of Our Lord as
Exemplified in Works of Art (with Elizabeth Eastlake, 1864).
Jameson also edited and/or introduced a number of other works and
translated Social Life in Germany,
Illustrated in the Acted Dramas of Her Royal Highness the
Princess Amelia of Saxony, by Amelia, Princess of
Saxony (1840). [MW]
- Jeffrey, Francis Jeffrey, Lord, 1773-1850
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Minimally successful in the legal profession for which he was
trained, Jeffrey found his calling in 1802 when he and a few of his
friends founded the Edinburgh
Review, with Jeffrey taking over as editor in
1803. Though Jeffrey often expressed literary views vigorously
unsympathetic to the Romantic authors of his day, espousing judgments
that have not stood the test of time, he remains a major figure in the
history of literary criticism, journalism, and the development of the
modern periodical. With the rise of the reform movement in the early
decades of the nineteenth century, Jeffrey also began a career as a whig
politician before returning to the legal profession in 1834 as a judge.
[MW]
- Jeffreys, George, 1645-1689 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Called to the bar in 1668, Jeffreys rose to prominence through
vigorous activity and astute cultivation of business and political
contacts. As recorder of London and later Chief Justice of Chester, his
royalist sympathies were apparent in his decisions and opinions, and
Charles II made him a
baronet in 1681. In 1683 he was appointed to the king's bench,
where he presided over some of the proceedings consequent on the Rye
House plot to assasinate Charles
II as well as a large number of prosecutions for seditious
libel. In 1685 Jeffreys presided in the western assizes, also remembered
as "The Bloody Assizes" after the unsuccessful rebellion
mounted by the Duke of Monmouth
culminated in nearly 1400 cases tried under Jeffreys, most resulting in
conviction and sentencing for execution. Many were transported, but
roughly 200 were actually put to death, earning Jeffreys the epithet
"The Hanging Judge." In the political upheaval of the Glorious
Revolution, Jeffreys was himself accused of treason and imprisoned in
the Tower, where he died the following spring. [MW]
- Jephson, Robert, 1736-1803 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Robert Jephson was an Irish politician and dramatist. His most
notable works include his tragedy Braganza (1775), The Conspiracy (1796), Julia (1797), The Law of Lombardy (1779),
and The Count of Narbonne
(1781). Jephson also published a satire on the excesses of the French
Revolution. [GR]
- Mrs. Jervis—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Pamela (1740-1). [MW]
- Mrs. Jewkes—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Pamela (1740-1). [MW]
- Jewsbury, Maria, 1800-1833 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Within the span of her short life, Maria Jewsbury's work
included poetry, fiction, satire, reflective essays, and literary
criticism. Upon her mother's death, Jewsbury assumed responsibility for
her six siblings at the age of 19, a role she filled for over 12 years,
during which time she published in The
Manchester Gazette, The Athenaeum, and a number of gift
annuals. She anonymously published Phantasmagoria; or, Sketches of Life and Literature, (1825) a
collection dedicated to William
Wordsworth, which he praised. Around the same time,
Jewsbury became close with Felicia
Hemans, dedicating her next volume Lays for Leisure Hours (1829) to her. The Three Histories: The History of an
Enthusiast. The History of a Nonchalant. The History of a
Realist (1830) was Jewsbury's last full-length publication
and also contains a tribute to Hemans in the form of a portrait of a gifted
woman artist. From 1830-1832, Jewsbury published a number of significant
literary critical essays in the Athenaeum. Jewsbury was also friends with Letitia E. Landon, who commended
Jewsbury's eloquence of prose. In 1832, Jewsbury married Rev. William K.
Fletcher, a chaplain with the East India Company, and soon after, the
couple left for India, where, a few weeks short of her thirty-third
birthday, Jewsbury died of cholera, cutting short a promising literary
career. Jewsbury's writing is known for its elegance, fluency of
expression, and emotional intensity, as well as its exploration of
female identity, loss, and the necessity of human connection to nature.
[LD] [VS]
- Saint John—
- Believed to have authored the biblical book of Revelation while in
exile on the island of Patmos, Saint John is by some also regarded as
the same apostle of Jesus credited with the gospel of John. [MW]
- John Bull—
- A fictional personification of English character originating in a
series of pamphlets by John Arbuthnot
that later figures in satires, caricatures, and cartoons. [MW]
- John, King of England, 1167-1216 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- The youngest surviving son of Henry II and a controversial ruler,
King John became a popular figure for fictionalization after his death,
his most popular portrayals being the eponymous character in Shakespeare's King John and the villain
of the Robin Hood legends. During his reign, King John lost the Angevin
Empire with his French lands being seized by King Philip II of France.
Landowner dissatisfaction with this loss as well as with John's
despotic rule led to the sealing of the Magna Carta. While some historians
acknowledge John's capabilities as an administrator and military
leader, many believe his strengths to be overshadowed by his petty,
spiteful, and cruel tendencies. [LD]
- Johnson, Joseph, 1738-1809 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Frequently described as radical or at least progressive,
eighteenth-century bookseller and publisher Joseph Johnson made
important contributions to the careers of several women critics,
including Anna Letitia Barbauld, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Mary Hays, all of whom contributed to his
literary review, the Analytical
Review, which ran from 1788 to 1799. Johnson also
published creative work by all three of these writers among many others.
[MW]
- Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Literary biographer, critic, fiction writer, moralist, and poet,
Samuel Johnson was one of the two or three most important figures in
eighteenth-century British literary history. His most notable poem, The Vanity of Human Wishes
(1749), makes its content clear in its title. His fable Rasselas, first published
under the title The Prince of
Abissinia (1759), narrates the story of the
residents of a fictional Happy Valley, who enjoy gratification of all
wants, but nevertheless find themselves discontented because they have
nothing to long or hope for and so no outlet to exercise imagination. He
is also known for his allegorical moral tale Vision of Theodore(1748). His two essay
periodicals, The Rambler
(1750-1752) and The Idler
(1758-1760), were well received, though not as popular as predecessors
such as Joseph Addison's Spectator. Johnson's
Dictionary of the English
Language (1755), a massive undertaking for a single
researcher, remained the standard for a century after its publication.
Johnson's own commentary in The
Plays of Shakespeare (1765) was later supplemented
with the remarks of George Steevens
(1773) to become one of the landmarks in the history of Shakespeare criticism. But
Johnson's most important contribution to criticism is his Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, to
the Works of the English Poets (1779-81), better
known as The Lives of the
Poets. [MW]
- Johnstone, Charles, 1719?-1800? (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Irish novelist whose best-known work is Chrysal; or, The Adventures of a Guinea
(1760-65). [MW]
- Jonas, Philip—
- A conjurer or magician specializing in card tricks who was active
during the mid to late eighteenth century in London. He was challenged
briefly by a second Mr. Jonas in 1769, and for a time advertised himself
as "the famous Jonas (who is the real and only Mr. Jonas)." A third Mr.
Jonas performed under royal patronage at Bath as late as 1814. [MW]
- Jones, Henry, 1721-1770 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Henry Jones was an Irish poet. Though he made promising connections
in the nobility and with actor, playwright, and theatre manager Colley Cibber, his drunkenness and
irascible temper often got in the way of his success. He wrote The Earl of Essex, staged
in 1753. [GR]
- Jones, Stephen, 1763-1827 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English literary editor best remembered for his 1812 revision of David Erskine Baker's Biographia Dramatica. [LD]
- Jonson, Ben, 1573?-1637 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- An English playwright, poet, and literary critic, whose artistry
exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. He
popularised the comedy of humours, a genre of comedy based on characters
who each show one or two overriding traits based on the dominance of
corresponding bodily humours. Known for satirical plays and for his
lyric poetry, he is generally regarded as the second most important
English dramatist, after William
Shakespeare, during the reign of James I. Among his works are the
dramas Every Man and his
Humour (1598); Every
Man Out of His Humour (1599); The Fountaine of Selfe-love; or,
Cynthias Revells (1600); Poetaster (1601); Sejanus his Fall (1603); The Mask of Blackness
(1605); Volpone; or, the
Foxe (1605-6); Epicene,
or the Silent Woman (1609-10); The Alchemist (1610); Love Restored (1612); Bartholomew Fayre (1614);
The Devil is an Ass
(1616); Mercurie Vindicated from the
Alchemists at Court (1616); The Staple of News (1626);
The Magnetic Lady
(1631); and A Tale of a Tub
(1633). [JDP]
- Jordan, Dorothy, 1761-1816 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Born Dorothea Bland, Dorothy Jordan was an Anglo-Irish actress who
changed her name to avoid rumors regarding her illegitimate child with
the future King William IV. Jordan ultimately bore ten of William's
children, all out of wedlock. A lively actress, Jordan was best known
for her comic breeches roles. [LD]
- Jupiter (Roman deity)(Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Jupiter, often called Jove in English, is the king of gods in the
ancient Roman pantheon. He is often considered equvalent to the Greek
deity Zeus. [MW]
- Juvenal (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Living from approximately 55-127 CE, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, the
most influential of the Roman satiric poets, is known in English as
"Juvenal." Juvenal's collection of poems, Satires, has been studied
for its representation of ancient Rome and its critique of Roman
paganism. [LD]
- Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- German philospher who marked the transition from the Enlightenment to
the nineteenth century. His Observations
on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime was
published in 1764 as Beobachtungen
über das Gefühl des Schönen und
Erhabenen. Among his major works that followed, the
Kritik der reinen
Vernunft (1781; translated as Critique of Pure Reason, 1855)
established his fame when its ideas were condensed and reformulated in
Prolegomena zu einer jeden
künftigen Metaphysik (1783; translated as
Prolegomena to Every Future
Metaphysic, 1819). Kritik der praktischen Vernunft (1788; Critique of Practical Reason)
and Kritik der Urteilskraft
(1790; Critique of
Judgement) then followed. Kant also published a number
of essays in the Berliner
Monatsschrift. [VW] and
[MW}
- Kean, Charles John, 1811?-1868 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Actor, theater manager, and son of the more famous Edmund Kean, with whom Charles sometimes
shared the stage. More successful in the provinces than in London,
Charles Kean nevertheless appeared at Drury
Lane, Covent Garden, and
Haymarket theatres, as well as
several performances on the American stage. [MW]
- Kean, Edmund, 1787-1833 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English tragic actor. Kean's sensational stage celebrity was
undermined by his ferocious temper and chronic drunkenness. Kean began
his stage career under his mother's supervision while still a child.
After quite a few years as a provincial actor, his career was launched
in earnest in 1814 with his spellbinding and original portrayal of Shylock in the Drury Lane production of Shakespeare's Merchant of
Venice. Despite the unreliability that stemmed from
his frequent intoxication, he enjoyed some years of success in fiery or
villainous roles, but as his compulsions overtook him, his performances
deteriorated. In 1833 he collapsed on stage while playing Othello and
died a few weeks later. [MW]
- Keats, John, 1795-1821 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- One of the principal figures of the Romantic movement, John Keats
belonged to the second generation of Romantic poets, alongside Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. Having received little
formal education, Keats was initially apprenticed to a surgeon, and he
eventually broke off his apprenticeship to work as a dresser, becoming
more involved in the literary realm as he began to dabble in poetry in
1814. By 1817, his literary interests had come to fruition, and he left
his position to dedicate himself entirely to poetry. Early in his
writing career, Keats was influenced by the writings of Wordsworth and Spenser, as well as Chapman's translations of Homer. The year 1818 was tumultuous for Keats,
experiencing worsening tuberculosis symptoms while falling in love with
Fanny Brawne, the two becoming engaged later that year. Keats died of
tuberculosis in Rome before he could marry Brawne. Although he had
achieved some acknowledgement during his lifetime, Keats was convinced
that his poetry would attain no lasting significance, having experienced
the harsh criticism of John Lockhart,
derisively deeming Keats as a member of the vulgar "Cockney
School." Despite the minimal success Keats experienced in his six
short years as a writer, posthumously, he has become among the most
critically acclaimed poets in English history, remembered for his vivid
imagery, sensuality, and profound philosophical expressions informed by
classical legend. In addition, Keats' articulation of
"negative capability" (the capacity of a poet to pursue an
artistic vision even when it leads to confusion and uncertainty) has
influenced generations of poets. Keats' most notable works include:
"Ode to a Nightengale," "The Eve of St. Agnes,"
"Hyperion," "Lamia," and "Ode on
Melancholy." [LD]
- Kelly, Hugh, 1739-1777 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- An English dramatist, Kelly is best known for his sentimental comedy,
False Delicacy
(1768). Also a periodical essayist, Kelly assisted Charlotte Lennox with her popular
Lady's Museum
(1760-1). [VW and MW]
- Kemble, Charles, 1775-1854 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A member of the prominent theatrical Kemble family, Charles Kemble
was an actor and theatre manager who initiated the practice of
historically accurate sets and costuming in stage productions. Kemble
was among the most popular of early nineteenth-century actors, and he
had several siblings who were also among London's top-tier performers.
He was joint proprietor of Covent Garden
Theatre. Formally retiring from the stage at the end of 1836,
he then served as Examiner of Plays until 1840. He also translated at
least one play, producing The Point of
Honor (1800) from Le Déserteur (1782) by Louis-Sébastien
Mercier. [GR] [LD]
- Kemble, Fanny, 1809-1893 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Daughter of actor and theater manager Charles Kemble and niece to the more famous John Philip Kemble and his elder sister
Sarah Siddons, Francis Anne
Kemble, better known as Fanny, was nevertheless a reluctant entrant into
the profession of acting. She debuted as Shakespeare's Juliet in 1829
largely to help her father recoup his
finances as manager of Covent Garden
Theatre. Her performances were very well-received, and in
subsequent roles she seems to have been equally successful in comic and
tragic parts. In 1832, she left with her father for America to tour the
New York and Philadelphia stages. In Philadelphia she met and married
Pierce Mease Butler, heir to several Georgia plantations, who over time
became the owner of hundreds of slaves. The marriage failed, partly
because of Fanny's strong-minded abolitionist views and partly because
of her husband's infidelities. Her
Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation,
recounting her observations on her husband's Sea Islands plantation, was
written during 1838-9 but not published until 1863. Fanny Kemble
remained in America for 20 years, and when she returned to England, she
spent a few years appearing occasionally on London and provincial stages
with limited success, faring better with dramatic readings from Shakespeare. She authored and
translated plays, including her Francis
the First (1832) and The Star of Seville (1837), and she
published a number of volumes of journals, memoirs, and personal
reflections as well as a volume of poetry. Her Notes on Some of Shakespeare's Plays was published in
1882. [MW]
- Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Popular English actor, theatre manager, and member of the significant
Kemble theatrical family. Kemble's popularity dramatically
increased in 1785 after acting opposite of his renowned sister, Sarah Siddons, in a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. As the manager of
the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres in London,
Kemble's innovations led to improvement in the reputation of the
theatrical profession. [LD]
- Kemble, Stephen, 1740-1822 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- From the prominent Kemble theatrical family, Stephen Kemble was a
successful theatre manager, actor, and writer. [LD]
- Khālid ibn al-Walīd, -641 or 642 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Military commander and convert to Islam who, under both Muhammad and Abū
Bakr, was renowned for his military prowess. [BDW][LD]
- Killigrew, Thomas, 1612-1683 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Dramatist and theater manager. Having gaines a theater patent shortly
after the English Restoration, Killigrew founded the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which he opened
in 1662 under the name Theatre Royal on Brydges Street. [MW]
- Klinger, Friedrich Maximilian, 1752-1831
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Klinger's play Sturm und
Drang (1776) gave the title to the
eighteenth-century German literary movement of the same name. [MW]
- Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb, 1724-1803
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Germany's first major poet of the eighteenth-century, Klopstock
was a significant influence on the Sturm
und Drang poetic movement to follow. A few of his
most important works include The
Messiah (1748-1773); a number of religiously
inspired stage tragedies, especially The
Death of Adam (1757), Solomon (1764), and David (1772); and a large
body of shorter poetry. His essay, "On Divine
Poetry," written as an introduction to The Messiah, inaugurates a
new critical concern with the emotional effects of poetry in its claim
that a work of genius must "move the soul." [MW]
- Klopstock, Margareta, 1728-1758 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Also known as Meta, the Danish wife of the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was
an esteemed literary intellectual whose letters charmed her
contemporaries. [MW]
- Knight, Samuel, approximately 1677-1746 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)‚
- Archdeacon of Berkshire from 1735 to 1746. [RD]
- Knowles, Charles, Sir, 1704?-1777 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The Rear-Admiral of Great Britain, Sir Charles Knowles famously and
successfully sued Tobias Smollett
for libel in 1761. [VW]
- Knowles, Mary, 1733-1807 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Born Mary Morris, Knowles married physician Thomas Knowles. A poet,
friend of Samuel Johnson, and a
gifted conversationalist, Knowles published her "Dialogue
between Dr. Johnson and Mrs.
Knowles" in the Gentleman's Magazine in June 1971. [RD] and [MW]
- Kock, Paul de, 1793-1871 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Known for racy novels about sophisticated Parisian life, such as Georgette (1820), Gustave, ou le Mauvais
Sujet (1821), Mon
voisin Raymond (1822), and L'Amant de lune (1847). [MW]
- Kotzebue, August von, 1761-1819—
- An extremely prolific German novelist, playwright, historian, and
political appointee whose political career was as controversial as his
literary output. He is probably best known to English-speaking audiences
for his Das Kind der Liebe, the play which, adapted by
Elizabeth Inchbald as Lover's Vows (1798), threw the Bertram family
into chaos in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814). [GR]
- Kyd, Thomas, 1558-1594 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Elizabethan playwright whose The
Spanish Tragedy; or, Hieronimo is Mad Again was
among the most popular productions during its time, inaugurating the
genre of the revenge tragedy. A close friend of Marlowe, Kyd was arrested in 1593 under charges of atheism.
[LD]
- Laertes
- Character in William
Shakespear's drama Hamlet. [MW]
- La Fayette, Madame de (Marie-Madeleine Pioche
de La Vergne), 1634-1693 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French author whose best-known work, La Princesse de Clèves (1678), was
initially believed to have been written by a man, with Bishop Huet and Jean Regnauld de Segrais among those
proposed as candidates for author. [MW]
- Lafontaine, August Heinrich Julius,
1758-1831 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- German author of novels and moral tales, August Lafontaine was one
of the most popular writers of his time. [MW]
- La Fontaine, Jean de, 1621-1695 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- La Fontaine's poetic Fables were drawn from eastern and
classical sources. He updated the Cupid and Psyche story in Les Amours de Psiché et de
Cupidon (1669). [MW]
- Lake School—
- The poets who for a time lived and collaborated in the northern
English lake district, including William Wordsworth, Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, and Robert
Southey. [MW]
- Lamb, Charles, 1775-1834 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Charles Lamb's modest family
origins included a father who was a servant and a mother who was the
daughter of a female domestic. Though his parents bore seven children,
only Charles, his older sister Mary, and
the oldest boy John survived infancy. Charles was educated at
Christ's Hospital, joining the East India Company soon after he
left the school. During 1795 he suffered a mental breakdown and was
confined for six weeks. In 1796, Mary also
suffered a breakdown, stabbing and killing their mother. Mary, too, was confined for insanity and
released only on condition that Charles agree to care for her, a
responsibility he held to despite the trials of returning her to an
asylum periodically for treatment. Charles Lamb began publishing
literary work first with poems, then his novel Rosamund Gray in 1798, followed by some
unsuccessful farces, profuse literary journalism, and successful
children's literature, most notably his well-loved collaboration
with Mary, Tales from Shakespear (1807). His
compilation Specimens of English
Dramatic Poets who Lived about the Time of
Shakespeare (1808) was admired. Lamb is best remembered
for his series of essays in the London
Magazine under the pseudonym “Elia.” He formed
close friendships with many of the literary notables of the period,
especially Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
William and Dorothy Wordsworth, and William Godwin. [MW]
- Lamb, Mary, 1764-1847 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Lamb, Mary, 1764-1847 (Library of Congress Name Authority)— Sister of
the author Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb
collaborated with her brother on Tales
from Shakespeare (1807) as well as some other works
for children. After Charles left
school, he and Mary resided in their family home until 1796. At that
point, exhausted from the strain of caring for aged parents, Mary
stabbed and killed their mother and was institutionalized for insanity.
Eventually released to Charles's
care, she experienced periodic recurrences of instability, several
requiring temporary rehospitalization. Her essay "On
Needleworking" appeared in the British Lady's Magazine in April 1815.
Lamb argued for the professionalization of needlework to provide a
respectable and reliable source of income for women thus employed,
thereby enabling them to enjoy greater equality with men. [MW]
- Lambard, Lady—
- Jane, née Fowler (b. 1695), wife
of Sir Multon Lambard (1675-1758), of Seven Oaks in Kent. [MW]
- L. E. L. (Letitia Elizabeth Landon), 1802-1838
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A celebrity sensation for her best-selling poetry and the erotic
scandal that is inextricable from her fame, Letitia Landon, better known
as L. E. L., enjoyed a wide and appreciative audience for her poetry and
literary essays. Less known to her readers and still often unsung today
was her periodical editing work and anonymous reviewing, especially for
the Literary Gazette,
edited by Landon's literary mentor and eventual lover, William
Jerdan. In addition, Landon made momentous contributions to the popular
early-Victorian gift annuals, authoring and editing entire volumes of
some of the more successful and contributing poetry to many others.
Landon first began writing poetry for her own enjoyment, but when her
family found itself in financial crisis, Landon's mother showed
some poems to Jerdan, who lived nearby. First publishing only in the Literary Gazette, Landon
brought out her debut volume of poetry, The Fate of Adelaide, A Swiss Romantic Tale; and Other
Poems in 1821. Though only moderately successful,
this volume was soon followed by The
Improvisatrice; and Other Poems (1824), which
quickly went into several editions. This success coupled with the death
of her father the same year placed Landon as the main financial support
for both her mother and her brother. She continued regular contributions
to the Literary Gazette and
other periodicals, especially the New
Monthly Magazine, meanwhile bringing out a number
of other poetry volumes, including The
Troubadour; Catalogue of Pictures, and Historical
Sketches (1825), The Golden Violet, with its Tales of Romance and
Chivalry; and Other Poems (1827), The Venetian Bracelet, The Lost Pleiad,
A History of the Lyre, and Other Poems (1829), and
The Vow of the Peacock, and Other
Poems (1835). Landon also authored three novels,
Romance and Reality
(1831), Francesca Carrara
(1834), and Ethel Churchill; or The Two
Brides (1837). She wrote a play, several
translations, and some children’s literature as well. Landon died rather
mysteriously shortly after her marriage to George Maclean, governor of
the Cape Coast settlement on the African Gold Coast. The inquest
officially assigned the cause of death to accidental prussic acid
poisoning, but Landon’s romantic public image and the stormy course of
her relationship with Maclean have left doubts about the verdict to this
day. [MW]
- Langland, William, 1330?-1400? (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A cleric from the Malvern Hills sometimes referred to as Robert De
Langlonde or Robert Langley, author of the dream vision poem Piers Plowman (c.1367-70).
[JDP]
- Lathom, Francis, 1774-1832 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Originally an actor and playwright, Lathom soon turned gothic
novelist, eventually authoring over a score of novels and some half a
dozen plays, including some translations and adaptations. His first
novel was called The Castle of
Ollada (1795). The
Midnight Bell (1798) is one of the novels Isabella
Thorpe plans to peruse with Catherine Morland in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (1818).
Men and Manners (1799)
is regarded as his best work. [MW]
- Latimer, Hugh, 1485?-1555 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Made Bishop of Worcester under Henry VIII, Latimer was martyred for his Protestant views by
Mary, Queen of Scots [MW]
- Lavallée, Joseph, 1747-1816 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Joseph Lavallée, the marquis de Bois-Robert, was a prolific
French author, translator, and man of letters. [JDP and MW]
- Laura—
- The addressee of many love sonnets by the Italian author Petrarch. [KI and MW]
- Lavater, Johann Caspar, 1741-1801 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Founder of the pseudo-sciences of physiognomy and animal magnetism,
Lavater was also known for his Vermischte unphysiognomische Regeln zur Selbst- und
Menschenkenntniß (1787), translated by Henry Fuseli as Aphorisms on Man (1788). [MW]
- Lauderdale, James Maitland, Earl of,
1759-1839 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Politician, political economist, and eighth earl of Lauderdale. He
was was Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and represented Scotland in
the House of Lords. [RD]
- Layamon, active 1200 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Laȝamon was a late twelfth-century priest, author of the
Brut, a history of
England during the Arthurian era. He is also sometimes known as Laweman
or Lawman, among other spellings. [JDP] [MW]
- Leake, James, -1764 (Library of Congress Name
Authority); 1686-1764 (Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography)—
- Brother to Samuel
Richardson's second wife, Elizabeth, and Bath's
most important bookseller, James Leake was Richardson's longtime
friend. [MW]
- Lear, King of England (Legendary character)
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Protagonist of William
Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear. King Lear begins the play as a
conceited, shallow character, concerned with power and appearances
rather than responsibility and genuine devotion. After a period of
increasing insanity, King Lear experiences an epiphany that leads to his
remorse, humility, and empathy. However, the play ends tragically, with
the death of King Lear's daughter and Lear's return to
madness. The play takes its eponymous protagonist from the mythological
Leir of Britain, whose story appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's
twelfth-century pseudohistory, Historia
Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain).
According to that text, Leir ruled in the eighth century B.C.E. However, no account
of Leir is recognized as verifiable history. [LD]
- Leda—
- A figure in Greek mythology, the daughter of a king and wife of King
Tyndareos of Sparta. After being seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan, Leda bore four children, two sets
of twins in two eggs—Helen and Clytemnestra in one egg, Castor and
Pollux in the other. [LD]
- Lee, Nathaniel, 1653?-1692 —
- A leading tragic dramatist in his time and an occasional collaborator
with John Dryden, Lee was an early
leader in the dramatic use of blank verse. He is known as well for the
violent content of some of his work. His plays include The Tragedy of Nero, Emperour of
Rome (1674), Sophonisba, or Hannibal's Overthrow
(1675), Gloriana, or the Court of
Augustus Caesar (1676), The Rival Queens, or the Death of Alexander the
Great (1677), Mithridates King of Pontus (1678), Oedipus (with John Dryden, 1678), Caesar Borgia; Son of Pope Alexander the
Sixth (1679), Theodosius: or, The Force of Love (1680),
Lucius Junius Brutus; Father of his
Country (1680), The
Duke of Guise (with John
Dryden, 1682), The Princess of
Cleve (1683), Constantine the Great (1683), and The Massacre of Paris
(1689). [MW]
- Lee, Richard, 1611-1684 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Presbyterian clergyman, rector of Hatfield, chaplain to George Monck,
and father of Nathaniel Lee. After the
Restoration, Dr. Lee conformed to the Church of England. [LD]
- Le Fevre, John—
- Often mentioned friend of Samuel
Richardson. [MW]
- Lennox, Charlotte, ca. 1729-1804 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Born Charlotte Ramsay, Lennox is known as a versatile woman of
letters, part of the eighteenth-century Bluestocking circle and friend
to numerous other literary luminaries such as Samuel Richardson, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, and Fanny Burney. She is best remembered for
her 1752 novel The Female Quixote; or,
The Adventures of Arabella, an update and parody of
Cervantes's Don Quixote, though in the
case of The Female Quixote
the heroine's delusions are set in motion by her voluminous reading
of recent French fiction. It was preceded by The Life of Harriot Stuart
(1751), Lennox's first novel, and by Poems on Several Occasions, Written by a
Young Lady (1747), her first publication. Her next
novel, Henrietta (1758),
took a story by Marivaux for its model. It
was popular enough that Lennox adapteded it for the stage as The Sister, but the play
survived only one performance in 1769. Meanwhile, Lennox began a career
of editing and translating, including Shakespear Illustrated (1753-1754), which collects
novels and stories from which Shakespeare drew many of his plots. She also produced an
essay periodical, the Lady's
Museum (1760-1) under the pseudonym "The
Trifler". Though not the only woman writer of this time to run a
periodical, she was something of an innovator, partly because with a
title page blazoning "by the author of The Female Quixote"
anonymity was a mere fiction, and partly for use of the forum to
serialize her next novel, Sophia (1762), which appeared in the Lady's Museum under the
title "The History of Harriot and Sophia" from 1760-1.
Lennox's play Old City
Manners (1775) was much more successful than her
previous drama. Her final and far less successful novel Euphemia (1790) was her first
attempt at the epistolary form. Lennox completed a number of
translations, including Memoirs of Maximilian de Bethune, Duke of
Sully (1751), Voltaire's The Age of
Louis XIV (1752), The Memoirs of the Countess of Berci (1756),
Memoirs for the History of
Madame de Maintenon and of the Last Age (1757),
The Greek Theatre of Father Brumoy
(1759), and Meditations and Penitential
Prayers by the Duchess de la Vallière (1774).
[MW]
- Lepidus, Marcus Aemilius, -13 B.C. (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Roman general, statesman, ally of Julius
Caesar, and later triumvir. Alongside Mark Antony and Octavian, Aemilius helped to form the
Second Triumvirate which ruled the Roman Republic following the death of
Caesar. However, Aemilius was the
least powerful of the three triumvirs, and in 36 B.C.E., he was removed
from power. [LD]
- Le Sage, Alain René, 1668-1747 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- French novelist Alain Le Sage was also a prolific playwright. His
major works include the Histoire de Gil
Blas de Santillane (1715), Le Diable Boiteux (1707), Le Bachelier de Salamanque
(1736), and Histoire de Guzman
d'Alfarache (1732), an adaptation of Vita del Picaro Guzman
d‘Alfarache (1599-1604), by Mateo Alemán. [MW]
- Le Tourneur, P. (Pierre), 1736-1788 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- French translator of English poetry, particularly the works of Shakespeare, Young, Johnson, and Macpherson.
[MW]
- Lewis, William Thomas, 1746?-1812—
- Lewis was an actor at Covent Garden
for the entirety of his career, performing there for 35 years. He was
called “Gentleman Lewis” because of his refined acting style. [GR]
- Lillo, George, 1693-1739 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English jeweler and dramatist. Lillo's most famous work, a
domestic tragedy entitled The London
Merchant, depicted members of the middle class as
the play's protagonists, rather than the typical royal or
aristocratic heroes of the time. [LD]
- Lintot, Catherine, 1733-1816 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- After inheriting her father's bookselling business, Lintot went
into partnership with Samuel
Richardson and withdrew from active management. She married
Henry Fletcher (Fletcher, Henry, 1727?-1807 [Library of Congress Name
Authority]), who was awarded a baronetcy in 1782. [MW]
- Livy [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name Authority); c.
59/64 B.C.E.-19 C.E. (Encyclopedia
Britannica)—
- Titus Livius, one of the three great Roman historians, alongside
Sallust and Tacitus, known as "Livy." His
monumental History of Rome
(c. 9-27 B.C.E.), spanning 142 books, influenced historical writing
until well into the eighteenth century. [LD]
- Lobb, Samuel, d. 1760 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A clergyman and friend to Samuel
Richardson. He authored The
Benevolence Incumbent on Us as Men and Christians
(1746). [MW]
- Lobo, Jerónimo, 1596-1678 (Library of
Congress Name Authority) —
- A Jesuit priest who began
missionary work in Abyssinia in 1625. Samuel Johnson's translated account of his travels,
A Visit to
Abyssinia was published in 1735. [VW]
- Lockhart, J. G. (John Gibson), 1794-1854
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Scottish biographer, novelist, editor, and critic, as well as close
friend, son-in-law, and biographer of Sir
Walter Scott. He contributed to Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and the
Quarterly Review, editing the
latter from 1825-1853. Among other works, he published a Life of Robert Burns in 1828 and is best
remembered for his Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott (1837-8),
which is considered as one of the great biographies in the English
language. [LD] [MW]
- Locke, John, 1632-1704 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Locke's Essay Concerning Human
Understanding (1690) and Thoughts Concerning Education (1693) both
exerted a profound influence on educational and psychological theory
during the eighteenth century and beyond. He argues against absolute
monarchy in favor of government based on civil contract in Two Treatises of Government
(1690). Some Thoughts Concerning
Education (1693) also influenced the views on
childrearing and education of a number of his eighteenth-century
successors. He published a long list of additional works on topics such
as government, economics, human psychology, and religion. [MW]
- Lodge, Thomas, 1558?-1625 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English author, poet, and dramatist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean
periods. Lodge is best known for his Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie (1590),
the source of William
Shakespeare's As You Like
It. [LD]
- Longinus, 1st cent. (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Unidentified Greek author of On the
Sublime, which was for a time thought to be the
work of rhetoretician and philosopher Cassius Longinus, c. 213-273.
After his text was translated into French by Boileau in 1674, it become one of the central works in
eighteenth-century aesthetic theory. [MW]
- Longus [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Daphnis and Chloe by Longus
dates from the mid-third century CE. The English language edition by
George Thornley and J.M. Edmonds (1935) opens its introduction
explaining, "Nothing is known of the author of the Pastoralia. He describes
Mytilene as if he knew it well, and he mentions the peculiarities of the
Lesbian vine. He may have been a Lesbian, but such local colouring need
not have been gathered on the spot, nor if so, by a native. His style
and language are Graeco-Roman rather than Hellenistic; he probably knew
Vergil's Bucolics;
like Strabo and Lucian he writes in Greek and yet bears a Roman name.
Till the diggers discover a dated papyrus-fragment, we can say
provisionally that he may have written as early as the beginning of the
second century after Christ, probably not much later than the beginning
of the third." [MW]
- Lothario—
- Character in Nicholas Rowe's
The Fair Penitent
(1703), whose name became a byword for a cavalier seducer. [MW]
- Louis XII, King of France, 1462-1515 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- King from 1498, Louis XII had immense domestic popularity despite his
disastrous mishandling of the Italian wars. [LD]
- Louis XIV, King of France, 1638-1715
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Often called "The Sun King," Louis XIV presided over a
period of great military success and artistic and architectural
achievement. He was responsible for the construction of the Palace of
Versailles, an architectural marvel. [MW]
- Louis XV, King of France, 1710-1774
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Sometimes known "Louis the Beloved," Louis XV was the King
of France for fifty-nine years, the second longest in French history.
Notwithstanding this, his reign is sometimes criticized for failing to
address those issues that led to the French Revolution and Reign of
Terror. [JDP]
- Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of France beginning 1774, Louis XVI was guillotined by the
French Revolutionary National Convention in 1793. His failed efforts to
reform the French aristocracy undermined his popularity, and a debt
crisis consequent on his support for the North American colonists in
their war for independence from Britain as well as an extravagant court
left him vulnerable to the hostility of the French middle and lower
classes, and his palace was stormed by a revolutionary mob in 1789.
[MW]
- Louis XVIII, King of France, 1755-1824
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Born the Count of Provence, Louis XVIII, sometimes known as
"the Desired," was the King of France from 1814-1824. Before
his reign, he spent twenty-three years in exile during the French
revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic empire, and was exiled again
during the "Hundred Days" reign of Napoleon after his escape from prison on the island of Elba.
While Louis XVIII's 1814 Charter established France as a constitutional
monarchy and instituted progressive reform, he subsequently retracted or
violated several key measures. [JDP] [MW]
- Louvet de Couvray, Jean-Baptiste, 1760-1797
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Louvet authored the licentious novel Les Amours du Chevalier de Faublas
(1786-91). [MW]
- Lovelace—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9). A deceptively attractive but
vicious seducer and rapist, Lovelace became a byword for a licentious
and predatory aristocrat. [MW]
- Lovelace, Richard, 1618-1658 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Cavalier poet and Royalist soldier during the English Civil War. His
most notable works include "To Althea, from
Prison" and "To Lucasta, Going to the
Warres." [LD]
- Widow Lovick—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9). [MW]
- Lucas, Richard, 1648-1715 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Lucas authored a number of theological works, the most famous being
An Enquiry after
Happiness, the first volume of which appeared in 1685,
and Practical Christianity
(1677). [MW]
- Lucian—
- See Apuleius, Lucius. [MW]
- Lucy, Thomas, 1532-1600 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English magistrate, member of the House of Commons, and squire. Lucy
is most remembered for his conflicts with young William Shakespeare, the latter
having been said to have poached deer from the property of the former.
Lucy is thought to be the inspiration for the comically vain character
of Justice Shallow from Shakespeare's Henry IV,
Part 2. [LD]
- Luther, Martin, 1483-1546 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- The German theologian whose challenges to church practice formed the
foundation of the Protestant Reformation. [MW]
- Lycurgus (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A Spartan political figure, said to have
founded the institutions of ancient Sparta, possibly around the ninth-
or eighth-century B.C., though scholars are unable to conclusively
determine whether he is a historical or purely legendary figure.
Included in the laws he is credited with is a provision that newlyweds
meet by night in the manner of secret lovers so as to preserve the
husband from exhaustion due to excessive lovemaking. [JDP]
- Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451? (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An English poet associated for most of his life with the Benedictine
Abbey at Bury St Edmunds. He deeply admired Geoffrey Chaucer, and many of his
works show that influence. He authored The Complaint of the Black Knight; The Temple of Glas; The Floure of Curtesy; Reson and Sensuallyte; The Life of Our Lady; Troy Book; The Siege of Thebes; The Serpent of Division;
The Pilgrimage of the Life of
Man; The Dance of
Death; Fall of
Princes; The Lives
of Saints Edmund and Fremund (1433); The Lives of Saint Albon and Saint
Amphabel; Secrees
of the Old Philosoffres; and The Testament of Lydgate.
[JDP] [MW]
- Lyly, John, 1554?-1606 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English poet and dramatist known for his contributions to prose
dialogue in English comedy. Lyly's most famous work, Euphues, resulted in
Euphuism, a style of English prose characterized by its ornate language,
excessive use of literary devices, and displays of classical knowledge.
[LD]
- Lyttelton, George Lyttelton, Baron, 1709-1773
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A prominent Whig politician and author, George Lyttelton was
satirized by author Tobias Smollett
in his novel The Adventures of Peregrine
Pickle (1751). He was also a friend of notable
writers of his day including Alexander
Pope and Henry Fielding.
His most famous satirical work, Dialogues of the Dead was published in 1760.[VW][RD]
- Lytton, Rosina Bulwer Lytton, Baroness,
1802-1882 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Born Rosina Doyle Wheeler, Rosina Bulwer Lytton garners at least as
much attention for her tumultuous biography as for her prolific writing.
She married Edward
Bulwer-Lytton, but the couple divorced following scandals around
the husband's infidelities, which Rosina Lytton satirized in her
first novel, Cheveley: or, The Man of
Honour (1839). Her children were taken from her in
consequence of the divorce, and, determined to disrupt her
ex-husband's life and political aspirations, she continued to
denounce him during a campaign for a seat in Parliament. For that, he
had her incarcerated as insane, an ordeal that she chronicles in A Blighted Life (1880). Her
other novels include: The Budget of the
Bubble Family (1840); The Prince-Duke and the Page: An Historical
Novel (1843); Bianca Cappello: An Historical Romance
(1844); Memoirs of a
Muscovite (1844); The
Peer's Daughters: A Novel (1849); Miriam Sedley, or the Tares and the
Wheat: A Tale of Real Life (1850); The School for Husbands: or
Moliére's Life and Times (1852); Behind the Scenes, A Novel
(1854); The World and His Wife, or a
Person of Consequence, a Photographic Novel (1858);
Very Successful (1859);
The Household Fairy
(1870); Where there's a Will
there's a Way (1871); Chumber Chase (1871); Mauleverer's Divorce
(1871); Shells from the Sands of
Time (1876); and Refutation of an Audacious Forgery of the Dowager
Lady's name to a book of the Publication of which she was
totally Ignorant (1880). [MW]
- Macbeth, King of Scotland, active 11th century
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The monarch of Scotland from 1040 until his death in 1057,
Macbeth's reign was largely characterized by peace until the
English invasion in 1054. Macbeth was killed three years later in battle
by the forces of the future Malcolm III. Prior to becoming king, Macbeth
held the title of Mormaer of Moray, and it is believed that he was
responsible for the death of the previous mormaer, Gille Coemgáin.
Although Macbeth is best remembered as the eponymous character of Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, the play, largely
based on Holinshed's Chronicles, is not accurate
to the life of the historical figure. [LD]
- Machiavelli, Niccolò, 1469-1527
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian statesman and writer known for his strategies on securing
rulership, relying when necessary on duplicity and force. His most
famous text, Principe [The Prince] (1532), was not
published until after his death, but it circulated widely in manuscript
form among his friends. The dialog Arte
della guerra (1520) and the posthumously published
Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito
Livio (1531) round off the body of his major
political works. In addtion, he published a number of lesser political
tracts, some histories, a couple of black comedies, a biography of
Castruccio Castracani (1520), a novella, and some poetry. [ZP] and MW]
- Mackenzie, Henry, 1745-1831 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Two of Mackenzie's novels, The
Man of Feeling (1771) and Julia de Roubigné (1777) rank in the
forefront of eighteenth-century literature of sensibility. Mackenzie
also published The Man of the
World (1773) and edited two periodicals, The Mirror and The Lounger. [MW]
- Macklin, Charles, approximately 1697-1797
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Irish actor and playwright whose controversial career spanned most of
the eighteenth century. Macklin introduced the naturalistic style of
acting to the English stage and became a prominent actor at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where he
accidentally killed a man while fighting over a wig. Macklin was best
known for his performance of Shylock in
Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, a
role he assumed at Drury Lane in 1741. He
also wrote The Man of the
World (1781), a comedy. [LD and
GR]
- Macpherson, James, 1736-1796 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Poet and historian James Macpherson is best known for his
“translations” of the Gaelic epic poems by the fictitious ancient bard
Ossian. Though the authenticity of these poems came under attack almost
immediately, they nevertheless exerted a powerful influence on the
British Romantic literature that soon followed. Born in a small town in
the Scottish highlands, Macpherson began his career collecting, then
translating Gaelic verse, and was encouraged by literary antiquarian
Hugh Blair to publish some of these efforts as Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Collected in the Highlands
of Scotland, and Translated from the Galic or Erse
Language (1760). Supported by funds contributed in
response to this publication, Macpherson set out to search for ancient
Celtic poetry, returning with the alleged third century epics Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem in Six
Books: Together with Several Other Poems (1761) and
Temora, an Ancient Epic Poem, in
Eight Books: Together with Several Other Poems
(1763), both professedly "Composed by Ossian, the Son of Fingal" and
translated by Macpherson. The authenticity of Macpherson’s Celtic works
was vehemently debated during his lifetime, but only after his death was
it determined that the poems consisted partly of some Gaelic verse
dating as far back as the fifteenth century and partly of Macpherson’s
own material. Macpherson’s historiography and political writing includes
An Introduction to the History of
Great Britain and Ireland (1771); The History of Great Britain from the
Restoration to the Accession of the House of
Hannover (1775); The
Rights of Great Britain Asserted against the Claims of America:
Being an Answer to the Declaration of the General
Congress (1776); Original Papers relative to Tanjore (1777),
also possibly a Macpherson forgery; A
Short History of the Opposition during the Last Session of
Parliament (1779); and The History and Management of the East-India Company,
from its Origin in 1600 to the Present Times
(1779). [MW]
- Macready, William Charles, 1793-1873 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- After getting his start as a Shakespearian actor in the provinces,
Macready performed in London at Covent
Garden and Drury Lane, as well
as other London stages and in the U.S. and Paris. Macready managed Covent Garden from 1837-1839 and Drury Lane from 1841-1843. [MW]
- Mallet, David, 1705?-1765 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Scottish poet, dramatist, and fellow-student of Alexander Pope and James Thomson. Mallet's best known
work, William and Margaret,
is an adaptation of a traditional ballad. [LD]
- Malone, Edmond, 1741-1812 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor who pioneered the effort to
establish a chronology for Shakespeare's works. Malone also evaluated the
authenticity of works supposed to be Shakespeare's, leading him to the discovery of the Ireland Shakespeare forgeries. [LD]
- Malthus, T. R. (Thomas Robert), 1766-1834
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Malthus is one of the most famous (and notorious) British reform
writers of the nineteenth century, so much so that
"Malthusian" entered our language and appears to be here to
stay. His views on the growing problem of poverty in early industrial
society shaped the terms of debates on the subject throughout his
lifetime and beyond. His An Essay on the
Principle of Population, conceived as a reaction to
the utopian vision of William
Godwin's An Enquiry into
Political Justice (1793) and first published in
1798, was repeatedly revised and extended over the next three decades.
There Malthus expounds his most famous notion that because population
increases geometrically while food supply increases only arithmetically,
amelioration of the miseries associated with poverty and disaster will
only result in more widespread and intense future misery. [MW]
- Manfred, King of Naples and Sicily, approximately
1232-1266 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Ruler of Italy during a period of civil war and succession disputes.
Manfred was overthrown and killed by Charles of Anjou at the Battle of Benevento. [LD]
- Manley, Mrs. (Mary de la Rivière), 1663-1724
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Author of the satirical roman a clef The New Atalantis (1709),
Manley was also well-known as a playwright. Her Secret
Memoirs and Manners of Several Persons of Quality
(1709) resulted in her arrest for libel. [MW]
- Manzoni, Alessandro, 1785-1873 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian novelist and poet whose historical novel I promessi sposi [The
Betrothed] (1827) gained popularity for its patriotic
themes and earned Manzoni's status as a keystone Italian author.
[LD]
- Map, Walter, fl. 1200 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Author of a miscellany known as De
nugis curialium. [MW]
- Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome, 121-180
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Roman emperor and philosopher; born 26 April 121 in Rome, son of
Annius Verus and Domitia Lucilla; originally named M. Annius Verus;
became emperor 3 July 161, with name M. Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; at
first joint ruler with Lucius Verus; upon Verus's death in 169,
Marcus Aurelius ruled alone; he died on a military campaign in
Viminacium and Sirmium on 17 March 180. Also known as Antoninus, author
of Meditations. [RD]
- Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry II,
King of Navarre, 1492-1549 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron was published posthumously
in 1558-59 with only seventy-two tales complete. [MW]
- Marino, Giambattista, 1569-1625 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian poet and founder of Marinism, the most dominant school of
poetry in seventeenth-century Italy, characterized by a flamboyant
style, extravagant imagery, and ornate conceits. [LD]
- Marius, Gaius, ca. 157-86 B.C. (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Roman general and consul. [MW]
- Marivaux, Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de, 1688-1763
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Especially for his unfinished La Vie
de Marianne (1731-41), Marivaux is often regarded
as anticipating the novels of sensibility by Samuel Richardson. Marivaux also
authored Le Paysan Parvenu
(1734–35). [MW]
- Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke
of, 1650-1722 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Consequential general and statesman whose political career was
marked by dramatic swings between favor and disfavor during the volatile
shifts in political power and perspective of the late seventeenth and
early eighteenth centuries. [MW]
- Marlowe, Christopher, 1564-1593 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Playwright, poet, translator, and alleged spy, the volatile
Christopher Marlowe was a significant influence on the work of Shakespeare. Marlowe's major
plays include The Tragedie of Dido,
Queene of Carthage (in collaboration with Thomas
Nashe, 1594); Tamburlaine
(1590); Edward II (1594);
Dr. Faustus (1604); and
The Jew of Malta
(1633); He was stabbed to death in a tavern argument for reasons that
remain unclear to this day. [MW]
- Marmontel, Jean François, 1723-1799 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Author and literary theorist Jean François Marmontel's
philosophical novel Bélisaire (1765) caused an uproar
amongst the religious establishment for its advocacy of religious
tolerance. Les Incas, ou la destruction
de l'empire du Pérou (1777) denounces the
fanaticism of the conquistadors. He also authored Contes Moreaux (1755-65).
His Éléments de
littérature collects his essays on literary
theory (1787). His Mémoires were published 1792-4. [MW]
- Marston, John, 1575?-1634 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English dramatist, poet, and satirist, largely writing plays to be
performed by children's companies, organized groups of exclusively
boy actors. [LD]
- Martin, Henry, d. 1721 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A British customs official, Martin (or Martyn) is described by Richard Steele as a chief contributor
to the Spectator. [MW]
- Martin, Martin, d. 1719 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Author of A Description of the
Western Islands of Scotland (1703). [MW]
- Martineau, Harriet, 1802-1876 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Novelist, social theorist, and literary critic. Martineau was born to
a Unitarian textile manufacturing family of Huguenot ancestry. From her
early childhood, Martineau experienced health problems that included
partial deafness that increased in severity as she aged. In 1829, upon
the failure of her family's textile business, Martineau turned to her
writing to support herself and her family. Martineau remained unmarried
throughout her life and was one of few female writers of her time able
to earn enough to support herself. From 1834 to 1836, Martineau lived in
the United States and became an avid supporter of the abolitionist
movement, which she espoused in her writings for the remainder of her
life. In 1846, Martineau travelled to the Middle East, which prompted
her study of the evolution of religions. Martineau became skeptical of
religion, including her own Unitarianism, and turned toward philosophic
atheism, eventually supporting Charles
Darwin's emerging theory of evolution. Her most notable works
include Illustrations of Political
Economy (1834), Deerbrook (1839), The Hour and the Man (1841), Society in America (1837),
The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte, Freely
Translated and Condensed (1853), Illustrations of Taxation
(1834), The Crofton Boys
(1841), Letters on the Laws of Man’s
Nature and Development (1851, with H.G. Atkinson), The History of the Thirty Years’ Peace, A.D.
1816–1846 (1849), and her Autobiography (published posthumously in
1877). She was a prolific literary critic as well, having gotten her
start as a professional writer with "Female Writers on Practical
Divinity," a piece she submitted pseudonymously to The Monthly Repository, a
small, struggling Unitarian periodical. Her work caught the attention of
the editor who assigned her criticism in a wide range of subjects,
including religion and metaphysics, aesthetics, prison reform, the
condition of women, even the expansion of the British empire. This work
contributed to her intellectual growth and brought her to the attention
of other periodical editors, extending her range of influence. Martineau
is also remembered as an overlooked founder of sociology. [LD] [MW}
- Mary I, Queen of England, 1516-1558
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Known as Mary Tudor or "Bloody Mary," Mary I was the first queen to
rule England in her own right. Mary I was termed "Bloody Mary" for her
persecution of Protestants in a failed attempt to restore Roman
Catholocism to England following her father, Henry VIII's, initiation of
the English Reformation. [LD]
- Mary II, Queen of England, 1662-1694
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning alongside
husband William III. Mary
legitimated her husband's rule as the daughter of King James II. Mary sided with
her husband in the overthrow of her catholic father's rule, as she
wished for more protestant policies. [LD]
- Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542-1587 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Forced to flee to England after being deposed from rule over a
fractious Scotland, the great niece of Henry VIII of England and
mother of James I of England
was beheaded as a threat to the throne of her distant cousin, Elizabeth I. [MW]
- Mascardi, Agostino, 1591-1640 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian philosopher, poet, and rhetorician. Among other works, he
published Congiura del conte
Fieschi in 1629 and Arte istorica in 1636. [MW]
- Azeglio, Massimo D', 1798-1866 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian painter, novelist, and statesman who campaigned for the
consolidation of the fragmented Italian states into a centralized union.
He was author of two historical novels, Ettore Fieramosca (1833) and Niccolò dei Lapi
(1841). [LD] [MW]
- Massinger, Philip, 1583-1640 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A prolific Jacobean dramatist, frequent collaborator with John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, and others.
Scholars tend to agree that Massinger wrote at least 15 plays
independently and was a part of 23 collaborations. Many also believe
that there may be upwards of a dozen of his works which have been lost.
Among his many dramas, some of the more important include The Fatal Dowry (c.
1617-1619), Sir John van Olden
Barnavelt (1619), The Custom of the Country (c. 1619), The Maid of Honour (c.
1621-1622), The Duke of
Milan (c. 1621-1622), The Bondman (1623), The Renegado (1624), The Parliament of Love
(1624), The Unnatural
Combat (c. 1624-1625), A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1625), The Roman Actor (1626), Believe As You List (1631),
The Emperor of the East
(1631), The City Madam
(1632), A Very Woman
(1634), and The Bashful
Lover (1636). [LD] [MW]
- Maturin, Charles Robert, 1780-1824 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Irish Protestant clergyman, Gothic romance novelist, and dramatist,
best known for his Melmoth the
Wanderer (1820), a novel considered among the last
of the classic English Gothic romances. [LD]
- Rabanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mainz, 784?-856
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A prominent Frankish monk, poet, and scholar whose work was so
influential as to grant him the title of Praeceptor Germaniae
("Teacher of Germany"). [LD]
- Mazzini, Giuseppe, 1805-1872 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An Italian revolutionary exiled to London for instigating
insurrection. Founder of the journal Pensiero ed azione ("Thought and
Action") and author of numerous essays and several pamphlets as
well as Dei Doveri dell'uomo [The
Duties of Man] (1860). [LD]
- Medici—
- The Florentine Medici family rose to power on the temendous wealth
created through the family bank that, during the fifteenth century, was
the largest bank in Europe. On that basis, they created a political
dynasty that ruled Florence and Tuscany from the fifteenth to eighteenth
centuries, yielding four popes and many marriages into powerful families
across Europe. [LD]
- Medici, Alessandro de', 1510-1537
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Nicknamed "the Moor" for his dark complexion, Alessandro
was most likely the illegitimate son of Giulio
de' Medici, born to a servant of African descent. As Pope Clement VII, Giulio selected
Alessandro as the Duke of Florence. Alessandro ruled from 1532 until his
assassination by a distant cousin in 1537. Although initially admired by
his subjects, Alessandro became regarded as a corrupt figure due to his
misuse of taxes and attempts to extend his power. [LD]
- Medici, Giovanni de', 1498-1526 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Born Lodovico de' Medici, Giovanni assumed the name of his
father, who had died shortly after his son was born. The younger
Giovanni became the most distinguished soldier in the history of the
Medici family, serving the Papal States,
the French, and Emperor Charles V before
returning to the French service against the Emperor. Giovanni died from
a battle wound received in the War of the League of Cognac. [LD]
- Medici, Giuliano de', 1453-1478 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Co-ruler of Florence alongside his brother, "Lorenzo the Magnificent."
Giuliano was assassinated as part of the Pazzi Conspiracy to displace
Medici rule. [LD]
- Medici, Lorenzo de', 1449-1492 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Florentine banker, ruler, and patron of Renaissance artists,
including Michelangelo. He
was known as "Lorenzo the Magnificent" for his political
brilliance and enthusiastic patronage of art which furthered the
cultural development of Florence. [LD]
- Memnon—
- In Greek myth, King of the Ethiopians, and slayer of Achilles in the
Trojan War. The colossi of Memnon consist of two huge statues on the
Nile near Luxor. One of them was reputed to "sing" at dawn,
probably in consequence of an earthquake during the first century
producing fissures through which air currents moved, sometimes producing
a sound. [MW]
- Hurtado de Mendoza, Diego (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Son of the powerful Castillan family of Mendoza and general in the
Italian wars, living from 1469-1536 and eventually serving under Gonzalo Fernández de
Córdoba. [LD]
- Menippus, of Gadara [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Cynic philosopher of the third century B.C. [MW]
- Mephistopheles—
- A demon in German folklore, appearing in Faustian legend. He serves
as agent for the bargain in which the Faust character sells his soul to
the devil in exchange for earthly knowledge and power. [LD]
- Mérimée, Prosper, 1803-1870 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- A versatile and prolific
author from the French Romantic period. Mérimée's first
two publications, Le Théâtre
de Clara Gazul (1825) and La Guzla (1827), are spurious productions
attributed to fictitious authors or translators. His full length
literary writings include the dramas La
Jacquerie (1828) and La Famille de Carvajal (1828) as well as
the novel La Chronique du règne de
Charles IX (1829). His novellas and stories include
Mateo Falcone (1829),
Vision de Charles X
(1829), L'Enlevement de la
Redoute (1829), Tamango (1829), Federigo (1829), La Vase étrusque (1830), La Partie de trictrac
(1830), La Double Meprise
(1833), the collection Mosaïque (1833), La Vénus d'Ille
(1837), Carmen (1845), the
story that later formed the basis for Georges Bizet's opera of that
name, Colomba (1840), Lokis (1868), and the
posthumously published La Chambre
bleue (1871) and Djoûmane (1870). Merimee was by
profession an inspector of historical monuments, and his work led him to
publish numerous historical works and travel accounts. He also
translated several works from Russian and published criticism of Russian
literature. [MW]
- Merlin—
- Legendary wizard from the Arthurian legends. [MW]
- Merlin, John Joseph, 1735-1803 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The Belgian born Merlin was known in eighteenth-century London for
the ingenius devices exhibited at Merlin's Mechanical Museum,
including complex mechanical toys and household devices, sickroom
supplies such as an innovative wheelchair and an adjustable wheeled bed,
and musical instruments both whimsical and practical. Merlin's best
known patron would probably have been Dr.
Burney, who commissioned from him a pianoforte with an
extended keyboard for playing duets. [MW]
- Metastasio, Pietro, 1698-1782 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian poet, dramatist, and librettist. Works include: Poesie (1717), Giustino (1718), Didone abbandonata (1724),
Demetrio (1731), Demofoonte (1733), Olimpiade ((1733), La clemenza di Tito (1734),
Achille in Sciro
(1736), Ciro riconosciuto
(1736), Attilio Regalo
(1740), L'eroe cinese
(1752), Il trionfo di
Clelia (1762), Ruggerio (1771), and Estratto della Poetica
d'Aristotele (1782). His librettos and vocal
pieces include Siroe, re di
Persia (1728), Cantone in Utica (1727), Ezio (1728), Semiramide riconosciuta
(1729), Alessandro
nell'Indie (1730), Artaserse (1730), La Libertà (1733), and La partenza (1746). [ZP] and MW]
- Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian sculptor, painter, poet, and architect during the High
Renaissance, Michelangelo is considered as one of the quintessential
figures influencing Western art. His best known works include his
sculpture David, his scenes of
Genesis painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel,
and his architectural design of St. Peter's Basilica. Michelangelo
also participated in the Siege of Florence from 1528-1529, designing the
city's fortifications to protect against the rule of the Medici. [LD]
- Middleton, Thomas, -1627 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Late-Elizabethan and early-Jacobean poet and playwright, baptized in
1580. A prolific and popular writer, Middleton was known for his talent
with both tragedies and comedies, sometimes combined in his famous
tragicomedies. Middleton collaborated with playwrights such as Thomas Dekker, Philip Massinger, and John Webster. Middleton's most
famous plays include The
Changeling, A Fair
Quarrel, The Old
Law, and Revenger's Tragedy. [LD]
- Miller, Anna Riggs, Lady, 1741-1781 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet, woman of letters, heiress, traveler, and salon hostess.
Although she donated the proceeds to charity, Lady Miller's
collection of compositions was harshly criticized by Horace Walpole and Samuel Johnson. [LD]
- Miller, James, 1706-1744 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- James Miller was an English minister, playwright, and poet. He
followed his father and became a preacher for the church, but continued
writing poems and plays to supplement his income. Miller’s last work was
Mahomet, the Imposter
(1744), translated from Voltaire. His
most-known poem is a satire titled Harlequin Horace. [GR]
- Miller, Joe, 1684-1738 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Joseph Miller was a London comic actor whose humor inspired the
compilation Joe Miller's Jests: or,
the Wit's Vade-Mecum. Being a collection of the most
brilliant jests, the politest repartees, the most elegant bons
mots, and the most pleasant short stories in the English
Language. First carefully collected in the company, and many of
them transcribed from the mouth, of the facetious gentleman
whose name they bear, and now set forth and published by his
lamentable friend and former companion, Elijah Jenkins,
Esq. [pseudonym for John
Mottley]. [MW]
- Miller, Philip, 1691-1771 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- The eighteenth century's most noted horticulturist, Miller was
the author of several important works on gardening, the most notable of
which were The Gardeners
Kalendar (1731) and The Gardener's Dictionary (1732), both
of which were updated for numerous additional editions. [MW]
- Milner, John, 1718-1779 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Founder of the Peckham Academy and author of A Practical Grammar of the Greek
Tongue (1740). Milner also worked as a doctor of
chemistry at the Peckham Academy where he instructed Oliver Goldsmith. [VW]
- Milton, John, 1608-1674 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- By the late eighteenth century Milton was regarded as one of
Britain's most important literary figures, second only to Shakespeare. His most influential
poetic works included his masque Comus (1637),
"Lycidas" (1638),
"L'Allegro" (1745) and "Il
Penseroso" (1745), Paradise Lost (1667), Paradise Regained (1671),
and Samson Agonistes
(1671). In addition, his sonnets offered inspiration to the Romantic
period sonnet revival. Among his prose works, Areopagitica (1644), originally written as
a speech, defends freedom of the press. [MW]
- Minerva (Roman deity)(Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- The Roman personification of wisdom, Minerva is goddess of strategic
warfare and arts and crafts such as spinning and weaving. She was born
of Jupiter and Juno, springing from the
forehead of Jupiter fully armed. She is
often equated with the Greek goddess Athena.
[MW]
- Molière, 1622-1673 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Pseudonym of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. An actor and director as well,
Molière is probably the best known playwright in the history of
French drama. Some of his most important works include Les Précieuses
ridicules (1660, The
Affected Young Ladies), Sganarelle, ou Le Cocu imaginaire (1660,
The Imaginary Cuckold),
L'École des
maris (1661, The School
for Husbands), Le
Misantrope (1666, The Misanthrope), L'École des femmes (1663, The School for Wives), La Critique de L'École des
femmes (1663, Critique of The School for Wives), Le Mariage forcé
(1664, The Forced
Marriage), Le Tartuffe, ou L'Imposteur (1669, Tartuffe, or The Impostor),
L'Avare (1669, The Miser), and George Dandin, ou Le Mari
confondu (1669, Georges Dandin, or The Defeated Husband).
[MW]
- Monimia—
- The orphan character in Otway's The
Orphan. She dies tragically, poisoning herself out of
guilt over the consequences of romantic entanglements that constitute
the play's plot. [MW]
- Monmouth, James Scott, Duke of, 1649-1685
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Illegitimate son of Charles
II, he was executed for his role in the Monmouth Rebellion of
1685, which attempted to overthrow James II. [MW]
- Montagu, Mrs. (Elizabeth), 1720-1800
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Wealthy literary hostess, critic, patron of the literary arts, and
head of the Bluestocking Circle of women intellectuals, Montagu presided
for many years over salon-style parties famed for their intellectual
vivacity. A landmark in literary criticism by women, her Essay on the Writing and Genius of Shakespeare
(1769) refuted Voltaire's critique of
the poet. As a literary patron, she was especially generous to Elizabeth Carter, on whom she
bestowed an annuity. [MW]
- Montagu, Mary Wortley, Lady, 1689-1762
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Though the subject of lampoon in the verse of Alexander Pope, Lady Montagu was
respected by many of her contemporaries for her poetry, which she
circulated among a coterie that included a number of the period's
notable literary figures. She is best remembered today, however, for her
letters, particularly the vivid accounts of her travels in Turkey after
her husband's appointment as ambassador to Constantinople. In
addition, after being introduced to Turkish methods of smallpox
inoculation, she worked to introduce the practice in England. [MW]
- Montalvo—
- See Rodríguez de
Montalvo. [MW]
- Monthly Review,
1749-1845—
- The first true literary review, the Monthly Review was founded by dissenting
bookseller Ralph Griffiths in 1749.
Griffiths aimed for comprehensive coverage of the entire range of new
publications, aspiring “to register all the new Things in general,
without exception to any, on account of their lowness of rank, or price”
(The Monthly Review, vol.
1, 1749, p. 238). The leading review for the half century when Griffiths served as editor, the Monthly Review provided
summary and extract of all but the most specialized publications. Griffiths died in 1803, and his son
George Edward Griffiths took over management. In the face of competition
from rivals like the Edinburgh Review
and the Quarterly Review George Edward
Griffiths slowly converted to the now more familiar evaluative format.
During his tenure, Ralph Griffiths
assembled an expert staff of contributors, including Oliver Goldsmith, Dr. Charles Burney, and other notables
in their fields, to produce a journal respected for its high
intellectual standards and appealing as well for its Whig,
antiestablishment perspective. It was also the first major literary
review to employ women as regular contributors (Elizabeth Moody and Anna Letitia Barbauld). George Edward
Griffiths attempted to maintain this high standard when he took over
management, but though he tried to adapt to the changing critical
environment springing from the rise of the new quarterlies, his efforts
proved inadequate. The younger Griffiths relinquished control in 1825,
after which the publication survived another two decades. Benjamin
Nangle has assembled indexes of Monthly
Review articles from marked copies running up to
1815 (The Monthly Review, First Series,
1749-1789: Indexes of Contributors and Articles
[Oxford, Clarendon P, 1934] and The
Monthly Review, Second Series, 1790-1815: Indexes of
Contributors and Articles [Oxford, Clarendon P,
1955]). [MW]
- Monti, Vincenzo, 1754-1828 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Italian poet and man of letters. He authored a substantial body of
poetry, including several significant translations, but is best
remembered for his translation of Homer's Illiad.
Initially opposed to the French Revolution, he switched to admiring Napoleon during his ascendancy and empire,
converting again to supporting the Austrian Empire after Napoleon's fall. Monti's poetry
is criticized by some as emphasizing formal precision while reflecting
obsequious political inconsistency. [MW]
- Montolieu, Isabelle de, 1751-1832 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Swiss novelist and translator, Montolieu was the author of Caroline de Lichtfield, ou Mémoires
d'une Famille Prussienne (1786). She was a
close friend of Madame de Genlis,
whose encouragement was crucial to Montolieu's decision to publish.
In addition, Montolieu produced over 100 volumes of translations and is
cited as the first translator of Jane
Austen's work into French. She married Benjamin de
Crouzas in 1769, but the marriage lasted only a few years before Crousaz
died in 1775. In 1786 she married Baron Louis de Montolieu, who also
pre-deceased her in 1800. In 1813 she published Le Robinson suisse ou Journal d'un père de
famille naufragé avec ses enfants from the
German text by Johann David Wyss. Montolieu's text then served as
the source for the beloved English translation, Swiss Family Robinson by William Henry
Giles Kingston (1879). [MW]
- Moody, Christopher Lake, 1743-1815
(Benjamin Christie Nangle, The Monthly Review, First Series,
1749-1789)—
- Dissenting clergyman Christopher Lake Moody was a hard-working
literary professional who served for many years as one of the most
productive reviewer at Ralph
Griffiths's Monthly
Review. He was so integral to the periodical's
operation that there has been speculation that he may have taken on
editorial responsibilities in addition to his reviewing duties. Moody
also operated with Griffiths the St. James’s Chronicle and
contributed to other periodicals as well. He published at least one
sermon, The Value of the Poor, the
Duties Owing to Them and the Importance of Leading Them to an
Early Acquaintance with Religion (1786). He also
edited A sketch of Modern France : In a
Series of Letters. Written in the Years 1796 and 1797, during a
Tour through France. By a Lady [Louise Albanis Beaumont].
[MW]
- Moody, Elizabeth, 1737-1814 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Elizabeth Moody (1737-1814) Born Elizabeth Greenly, Elizabeth Moody
grew up in fashionable circles in the outskirts of London. She was an
avid reader and an apt scholar in modern languages, acquiring unusual
fluency in French and Italian, skills that are evident in her literary
criticism. As a young woman, she circulated her verse compositions
within a small literary coterie until shortly after her 1777 marriage to
Dissenting clergyman Christopher
Lake Moody, a versatile literary professional. Soon after the
wedding and probably with Dr. Moody's encouragement, Elizabeth Moody began publishing
poetry in the General Evening
Post and the Gentleman's Magazine. The following
year, Christopher Moody and
publisher Ralph Griffiths founded
the St. James’s Chronicle
featuring the poetry of Elizabeth Moody, now dubbed "The Muse of
Surbiton." Griffiths was editor
as well of the Monthly Review, where Christopher Moody frequently
reviewed arts and letters publications, and in 1789 Elizabeth Moody
became the periodical's first regular woman reviewer. French and
Italian literature makes the bulk of Moody's twenty-six reviews
between 1789 and 1808. In 1798, Moody published Poetic Trifles, containing a selection of
her periodical verse as well as many new poems. [MW]
- Moore, Edward, 1712-1757 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Moore's most significant works include the plays The Foundling (1748) and
The Gamester (1753) as
well as the periodical The
World (1753-6). [MW]
- Moore, John, 1729-1802 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Scottish physician and author. Titles by the author include his most
popular novel Zeluco
(1789), A View of Society and Manners in
France, Switzerland, and Germany (1779), Medical Sketches (1786),
A View of Society and Manners in
Italy (1787), A
Journal during a Residence in France, from the Beginning of
August to the Middle of December (1792), An Account of the most remarkable Events
that happened at Paris, from that Time to the Death of the late
King of France, Edward (1796), and Mordaunt (1800). [RD]
- Moore, Sir John (1761-1809) (Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography)—
- Son of John Moore, the physician and
novelist. Sir John Moore became famous in his own right for his
successful military career. He died from an injury he sustained in the
1809 Battle of Corruna during the Napoleonic invasion of Spain. [RD]
- Moore, Thomas, 1779-1852 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An Irish poet, biographer, and lyricist, Moore was best loved in his
time for works such as Irish Melodies
(1808-1834) and Lalla Rookh, An Oriental
Romance (1817). His 1830 biography of Byron remains valuable today. [VS]
- Morais, Francisco de, ca. 1500-1572
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- This Portuguese author produced Palmerin de Inglaterra (Palmerin of England), a
chivalric romance. [MW]
- Colonel Morden—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9). [MW]
- More, Hannah, 1745-1833 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- The highly successful evangelical writer Hannah More was also a
noted poet and playwright. Her poem The
Bas Bleu (1786) commemorated Elizabeth Montagu's
bluestocking circle, most of whom she knew well. Her most important
plays included Percy (1778)
and The Fatal Falsehood
(1779). The abolitionist Slavery: A
Poem appeared in 1788. She was best known for a
collection of moral tales and instruction for the poor published as Cheap Repository Tracts
(1795-98). Strictures on the Modern
System of Female Education (1799) contributed to
the period's debates on the woman question. Her only novel, Coelebs in Search of a Wife
(1808), was also one of her most popular works. [MW]
- More, Thomas, Sir, Saint, 1478-1535 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Rhetorician and religious writer Sir Thomas More published Utopia in 1516. [MW]
- Morgan, Lady (Sydney), 1783-1859 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Irish writer Sydney Owenson tended to be coy about her age, perhaps
because she may have been several years older than her husband. Date of
birth speculations range from 1776-1785. Owenson began writing poetry
and fiction while working as a governess. Her first publication, Poems, Dedicated by Permission to the
Countess of Moira (1801) appeared the same year
that the Act of Union shattered nationalist hopes for Irish
independence. She perhaps imbibed the theme of Irish patriotism from her
father, an actor and theater manager who had hoped to establish an Irish
national drama. Her first novel, St.
Claire, or First Love (1802), was republished the
following year under the title St.
Clair, or, the Heiress of Desmond. Its strong
female protagonist and themes of Irish patriotism and regional detail
recur in much of her later work. The success of that novel enabled
Owenson to leave her governess position and pursue writing fulltime. As
with some of Sir Walter Scott's
work, Owenson intended her best known and first major novel, The Wild Irish Girl (1806),
to present a sympathetic vision of Ireland’s history and people. The
enormously popular O'Donnel. A
National Tale (1814) and The O'Briens and the O'Flahertys; a National
Tale (1827), which many regard as her best work,
also offer powerful political works of Irish fiction. Both novels
succeeded despite being savaged in the Tory review periodicals. Other
works include A Few Reflections,
Occasioned by the Perusal of a Work entitled "Familiar
Epistles" (1804), the attribution of which is
uncertain; The Novice of Saint
Dominick (1806); France (1817); Florence Macarthy, an Irish Tale (1818);
Italy (1821); The Life and Times of Salvator
Rosa (1824); Absenteeism (1825); The Book of the Boudoir
(1829); Dramatic Scenes from Real
Life (1833); The
Princess, or the Beguine (1835); Woman and Her Master
(1840); The Book Without a
Name (1841; collaboratively with Sir Charles Morgan);
and Letter to Cardinal
Wiseman (1851). Her play The First Attempt, or Whim of a Moment
opened at the Theatre Royal in Dublin in 1807. Sydney Owenson became
Lady Morgan in 1812, when she married physician Thomas Charles Morgan,
who was knighted during the couple's courtship. In need of income,
both Sir Charles and Lady Morgan produced literary journalism for a
variety of periodicals, including the Athenæum, to which Lady Morgan contributed
well over one hundred identifiable reviews on an extraordinary variety
of topics and often incorporating explicitly political content. In 1837
Lady Morgan was awarded a government pension for her literary work, and
soon after, she and her husband moved from Dublin to London, where they
established permanent residence. Although deeply grieved by Sir
Charles's unexpected death in 1843, she remained active both
socially and in the world of letters until shortly before her own death
in 1859. A versatile professional writer, Sydney Owenson became in the
course of her career not only a productive critic, but a popular
novelist, poet, translator, travel and historical writer, and
playwright, and key figure in the development of the national tale.
[MW]
- Morton, Thomas, 1764-1838—
- After unsuccessfully attempting to become a lawyer, Thomas Morton
turned to writing plays instead, authoring some two dozen overall. His
first play was Columbus, or A World
Discovered (1792), based on Les Incas, ou la destruction de l'empire
du Pérou (1777) by Marmontel. Morton’s most successful plays include The Way to Get Married
(1796), The Cure for the Heart
Ache (1797), Speed
the Plough (1798), and The School of Reform, or, How to Rule a
Husband (1805). [GR and MW]
- Mottley, John, 1692-1750 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A writer in several genres, Mottley was most prolific as a dramatist.
He authored The Imperial Captives: a
Tragedy (1720); Antiochus: a Tragedy (1721); Penelope, a Dramatic Opera
(1728; with Thomas Cooke); The
Craftsman: Or Weekly Journalist, a Farce (1728);
the comic The Widow
Bewitch'd (1730); and The Devil To Pay; Or, the Wives
Metamorphos'd (1731; with Charles Coffey. He
also compiled several volumes of jokes. Some of his publications
appeared under the pseudonyms Robert Seymour and Elijah Jenkins. See
Joe Miller. [MW]
- Muḥammad, Prophet, -632 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- The Arabic prophet of Allah and the founder of the Abrahamic religion
of Islam, born roughly 570 C.E. [BDW] [LD]
- Mulso, Hester—
- See Hester Chapone. [MW]
- Mulso, Mrs.—
- See Mary Prescott. [MW]
- Mulso, Thomas [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Brother of Hester Chapone, née Mulso, Thomas Mulso was author of
Callistus; or, The man of fashion.
And Sophronius; or, The country gentleman (1768).
[MW]
- Munden, Joseph Shepherd, 1758-1832—
- Munden was a comedic actor and a part of the company at Covent Garden
for 20 years, from 1790 to 1810, before performing at Drury Lane until
retiring in 1824. [GR]
- Murphy, Arthur, 1727-1805 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A prolific and popular Irish actor, playwright, and eventually
barrister, Murphy also translated classical history and modern poetry
and plays, contributed to and/or edited a number of journals, and
authored biographies on Henry
Fielding, Samuel Johnson,
and David Garrick. A few of his more
notable plays include The Englishman
from Paris (1756), The Orphan of China (1759), and The Way to Keep Him (1760).
Murphy also contributed drama criticism and political essays to a number
of journals, including the Covent Garden
Journal, the Gentleman's Magazine, the World, the London Chronicle, his own
Gray's Inn
Journal, which he edited and authored under the
pseudonym Charles Ranger, Esq., and publications. He also published
political journalism throughout his writing career. In 1762 he published
The Works of Henry Fielding,
Esq; with the Life of the Author. [RD and MW]
- Murray, John, 1778-1843 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Son of the founder of the publishing house bearing his name. This
John Murray was probably the most important among early nineteenth
century British publishers, bringing out work by authors that included
Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Walter Scott, Robert Southey, and many others. He
helped establish and published the Quarterly
Review and participated for a time in Blackwood's Edinburgh
Magazine. [MW]
- Musäus, Johann Karl August, 1735-1787
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Musäus's stories were translated and published as Popular Tales of the
Germans (1791) by Gothic novelist William Beckford. Musäus
anonymously published Physiognomische
Reisen, voran ein physiognomisch Tagebuch
(1778-1779), a satire of the work of Johann
Kaspar Lavater, founder of the pseudo-sciences of physiognomy
and animal magnetism. Anne Plumptre
translated the satire as Musaeus's
Physiognomical Travels, Preceded by a Physiognomical
Journal (1800). [MW]
- Nairne, William, Sir, d. 1811 (Library of
Congress Name Authority); baptized 1731 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- 5th Baronet of Dunsinnan; a Scottish judge who became close enough
to Samuel Johnson to accompany him
during part of his Scottish travels. Nairne was celebrated as highly
principled, reputedly once paying for a poor man to take Nairne's
own judgment to an appellate court after realizing his original judgment
had been mistaken. [MW]
- Nanteuil, Robert, 1623-1678 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- French portrait engraver Robert Nanteuil is credited with elevating
engraving from the status of a craft to that of an art. As an official
engraver for Louis XIV he
produced hundreds of portraits, including likenesses of many of the
notable and high ranking figures of his day [MW]
- Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
- Born in Corsica, Napoleon Bonaparte began his career in the French
army, rising to the rank of General for his success during the wars
following the French Revolution. In 1799 he brought about a coup
d'etat, assuming the title of First Consul of the French Republic.
In 1804 he was crowned Emperor of France, leading the French to military
conquest over most of Europe. He reigned as Emperor until April 1814,
when he was forced by the allied European armies to abdicate. Exiled to
the Mediterranean island of Elba, he remained only until his escape in
February 1815, when he returned to France to resume his title of
Emperor. In June of that year he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
and exiled once again, this time to the Atlantic island of Saint Helena,
where he remained until his death. His legacy is mixed; he was
responsible for extensive modernizing reform in France, and the
Napoleonic Code widely influenced the legal systems of many nations. On
the other hand, his ambition for world power seemed inexhaustible and
his campaigns were often marked by extraordinary devastation and cruelty
towards non-combatants, including women and children. Napoleon's
battle strategies are still studied in military schools today. [MW]
- Nardini, Leonardo (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Author of various selections and editions of drama, poetry, opera,
and prose, including Scelta di Lettere
familiari, degli Autori pieù Celebri (1800).
[ZP] [MW]
- Nash, Thomas, 1567-1601 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Elizabethan pamphleteer, poet, playwright, and author of the first
English picaresque novel, The
Unfortunate Traveller; or, The Life of Jacke
Wilton, a collaboration with Marlowe. Nashe's collaboration with Ben Jonson on their satirical play, The Isle of Dogs, resulted
in the prosecution of both men. [LD]
- Necker, Jacques, 1732-1804 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Director General of Finance under Louis XVI, Necker had much of the
responsibility for the late eighteenth-century French financial crisis
that precipitated the events leading to the French revolution. He was
father to Germaine de Staël. [MW]
- Nemesis—
- In Greek myth, the personification of anger. [MW]
- Nestor —
- Elder statesman and eventually King of Pylos in Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. Wise but often long-winded and
rather boastful, his portrayal includes an undercurrent of humor. [MW]
- Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of,
1624?-1674 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Playwright, philosopher, memoirist, and fiction writer, Margaret
Cavendish is probably best remembered for her CCXI Sociable Letters (1664). She first
published Poems, and
Fancies in 1653, subsequently revising and republishing
it several times. In addition to the poems, it is notable for its
preface, which overtly intervenes to negotiate the publishing of her own
work, an unconventional step for a woman of her class and time. [MW]
- Newton, Isaac, Sir, 1642-1727 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Profoundly influential mathematician and natural scientist. His
writings were voluminous, with his most important publications being Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia
Mathematica (1687), which included his formulation
of the law of universal gravitation, Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions,
Inflexions and Colours of Light (1704), and Arithmetica Universalis
(1707). [MW]
- Normanby, Constantine Henry Phipps,
Marquess of, 1797-1863 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Constantine Henry Phipps, the first marquess of Normanby, began his
career as a reform-leaning Member of Parliament. In 1820 he left for
Italy, where he wrote the stories that made up the three volumes of The English in Italy
(1825). Subsequent works included a collection of essays and tales
entitled The English in
France (1828) and four novels, Matilda (1825), Yes and No (1828), Clorinda (1829), and The Contrast (1832).
Normanby served in various administrative and diplomatic capacities at
locations such as Jamaica, Ireland, and France. During his French
residence, he witnessed some of the events during the 1848 Paris
uprising, which he chronicled in A Year
of Revolution (1857). [MW]
- North, Thomas, Sir, 1535-1601? (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English translator, lawyer, military officer, and justice of the
peace, whose 1579 translation of Plutarch's Parallel
Lives became the main source for many of Shakespeare's Roman plays.
[LD]
- Octavia, -11 B.C. (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Elder sister of first Roman Emperor
Augustus, fourth wife of Mark Antony, and
great-great-grandmother of Emperor Nero, also known as "Octavia the
Younger." Octavia was revered for her humanity, nobility, and
depiction of traditional Roman femininity. Octavia helped to secure
peace between her brother and husband as they ruled the Roman state. In
36 B.C.E., Mark Antony left for a military excursion in the East, and
while gone, he resumed relations with his former wife, Cleopatra VII of
Egypt, leaving Octavia to rule their children alone, heartbroken. [LD]
- Odin (Norse deity) (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Odin (from Old Norse Óðinn, "The Furious One")
is a significant deity in most if not all branches of Germanic
mythology, especially in the Norse mythology branch of Germanic
mythology. Among his many attributes, he is associated with wisdom,
healing, poetry, frenzy, war, and death. [JDP]
[MW]
- Odysseus —
- Hero of Homer's Odyssey, which recounts
the adventures of this Ithacan king during his decade-long return from
the ten year Trojan War. [MW]
- Oedipus (Greek mythological figure) (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- A Greek mythological figure who rises from being an orphan to become
King of Thebes, but in doing so inadvertently fulfills a prophecy in
which he kills his father and sleeps with his mother, as recounted in
Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus Rex. [JDP]
- O'Keeffe, John, 1747-1833 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- John O’Keefe was an Irish librettist and playwright. He wrote the
comic operas The Castle of
Andalusia (1782) and Fontainbleau (1784). He also wrote the play
Wild Oats, or The Strongest
Gentlemen (1791). [GR]
- Oldfield, Anne, 1683-1730 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A highly lauded London actress, Oldfield was among the highest paid
of her profession during her time. [LD]
- Lady Olivia —
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's The History of
Sir Charles Grandison (1754). [MW]
- Olivia—
- A central character in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night,"
Olivia is a countess admired by Malvolio, Sir Andrew, and Duke Orsino.
However, Olivia falls in love with Cesario, the identity with which Viola disguises herself whilst shipwrecked in
Illyria. Olivia mistakenly marries Sebastian, Viola's twin brother, and the two are happy, as the
twins are extremely similar in looks and personality. [LD] [MW]
- Onslow, Arthur, 1691-1768 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Speaker of the House of Commons from 1728-1761. [MW]
- Ophelia
- Character in William
Shakespeare's drama Hamlet. [MW]
- Opie, Amelia Alderson, 1769-1853 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Popular as a poet, novelist, and author of short tales, Amelia
Alderson was the wife of artist John Opie,
a significant figure in the circle of Norwich religious dissenters. Her
better-known novels and tales include The Father and Daughter, A Tale, in Prose
(1801), Adeline Mowbray; or, The Mother
and Daughter (1805), Tales of Real Life (1813), and Tales of the Heart (1820). Her volume Poems appeared in 1802. Her
contributions to the abolition debate include The Negro Boy's Tale (1824) and The Black Man's Lament; or, How to
Make Sugar (1826). [MW]
- Opie, John, 1761-1807 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- British portrait and history painter. [MW]
- Orestes—
- Subject of Euripides's Oresteia, Orestes was
pursued by the Furies for killing his mother. [MW]
- Orithyia—
- Daughter of King Erechtheus, this Athenian princess was abducted by
Boreas, the wind god of the north. Her
story appears in Ovid's Metamorphosis [MW]
- Orléans, Philippe, duc d',
1674-1723 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Born
Philippe Charles, duke of Chartres, later known as Philip II, duke of
Orleans, regent of France, Philippe Charles was a member of the royal
French family, and nephew to Louis XIV, with whom he had a feud
regarding assigned military commands, due to which he spitefully
neglected his wife, Louis's daughter, and earned a lasting
reputation for scandal and debauchery. He ruled over France as regent
during the interim period between Louis XIV's death and Louis XV's
maturity. [JDP]
- Orpheus—
- In Greek myth, a singer and lyre-player whose music was so beautiful
it could tame wild beasts. When his wife Eurydice was killed by a snake, Orpheus descended to the
Underworld to bring her back. After charming Hades with his music,
Orpheus was permitted to retrieve his wife on condition that he not look
back at her until they had returned to daylight. Just before reaching
safety, Orpheus violated this condition, and Eurydice was returned to the Underworld permanently. [MW]
- Orrery, Roger Boyle, Earl of, 1621-1679 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Orrery published a romance called Partheuissa (1664) as well as a number of
dramatic works. [MW]
- Orsay, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, comte d',
1801-1852 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French artistic and literary dandy who spent much time in England
and became the companion of Lady
Blessington. He was reputed to display notable generosity, and
his extravagance contributed to Blessington's financial ruin. [MW]
- Osborne [or Osborn], John, Sr.—
- Bookseller often associated in business with Samuel Richardson and Charles
Rivington, among others. [MW]
- Othello (Fictitious character from Shakespeare) (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Titular character of William
Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, the Moor of Venice. In the play, he is
manipulated through jealousy into madness and murders his wife, Desdemona. [JDP]
- Otway, Thomas, 1652-1685 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Playwright Thomas Otway's dramatic productions include Alcibiades (1675), Don Carlos (1676), Titus and Berenice (1676),
The Cheats of Scapin
(1676), Friendship in
Fashion (1678), Caius
Marius (1679), The
Orphan (1680), The
Souldiers Fortune (1680), Venice Preserved (1682), and The Atheist (1683). Plagued
with pecuniary difficulties for much of his short life, he died
destitute. [MW]
- Ovid, 43 B.C.-17 or 18 A.D. (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Roman poet whose Metamorphoses inspired many British
writers, especially during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries. [MW]
- Oxford, Robert Harley, Earl of, 1661-1724
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Important literary patron and effective politician who survived
multiple assassination attempt as he rose to the position of Lord
Treasurer under Queen Anne,
only to be impeached and imprisoned on treason charges under George I. [MW]
- William Paget, 6th Baron Paget
(1637-1713)—
- William Paget, 6th Baron Paget and uncle to author Aaron Hill, was English ambassador to Vienna between
1689 and 1692, at which point he was appointed ambassador to the Ottoman
Empire, where he served until 1701. [MW]
- Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- The most important reform writer of the late eighteenth century. His
revolutionary writings made him a hero of the American revolution. His
works were plentiful, but he is most remembered for Common Sense: Addressed to the
Inhabitants of America (1776), encouraging American
independence from England; The
Rights of Man: Being an
Answer to Mr. Burke's
Attack on the French Revolution (1791 with a second
part issued in 1792); and The Age of
Reason (1793), an attack on Christianity that Paine
published from France, where he fled on being alerted of his impending
arrest for sedition. In France, Paine was arrested and nearly
guillotined for his opposition to the execution of Louis XVI. [MW]
- Palmer, Elizabeth—
- née Echlin, she was the daughter of
Lady Echlin. [MW]
- Pamela Andrews—
- Heroine of Samuel
Richardson's Pamela: or,
Virtue Rewarded. [MW]
- Pan (Greek deity) (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- The Greek equivalent of the Roman deity Lupercus, Pan is the deity of
fertility and the wild, including shepherds and their flocks, mountain
wilds, and rustic music. Pan was typically represented as a lustful
figure sharing the ears, horns, and legs of a goat, often accompanied by
nymphs. [LD]
- Parker, Zachary—
- Student contributor.
- Parmenides (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Fifth century BCE Greek philosopher. [MW]
- Parnell, Thomas, 1679-1718 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet, translator, and classicist. His best regarded narrative poem,
"The Hermit," appeared in Poems on Several Occasions
(1721). Parnell was one of the contributors to the Spectator and the Guardian. [MW]
- Pasta, Giuditta Maria Costanza, 1797-1865
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Pasta was an Italian operatic soprano whose vocal and physical
expressiveness revolutionized opera and made her the foremost performer
of her day. [MW]
- Patrick, Saint, 373?-463? (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- The primary patron saint of
Ireland. In legend, he banished all snakes from the
island.
- Patroclus (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- In Homer's Iliad, a close wartime companion of Achilles. [MW]
- Paul, the Apostle, Saint (Library of
Congress Name Authority); c. 4 B.C.E.-62–64 C.E. (Encyclopedia
Britannica)—
- Born as Saul of Tarsus, Saint Paul, or Paul the Apostle, was among
the first generation of Christians to spread the teachings of Jesus. He
is commonly regarded as the most important figure in the history of
Christianity after Jesus himself. [LD]
- Pearce, Zachary, 1690-1774 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Author of several papers in the Guardian and the Spectator, Pearce also offered modest
assistance to Samuel Johnson in the
compilation of his dictionary. He was made Bishop of Rochester and Dean
of Westminster in 1756. [MW]
- Peele, George, 1556-1596 (Library of Congress
Name Authoritye)—
- Poet and playwright during the Elizabethan period. Peele dabbled in
many genres of theatre, including history, pastoral, melodrama, folk,
and tragedy, as well as pageants. [LD]
- Pellico, Silvio, 1789-1854 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian author, dramatist, and patriot. Writings of his hardship as a
political prisoner inspired sympathy for the Italian nationalist
movement. [LD]
- Pembroke, Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess
of, 1561-1621 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Sister to Sir Philip Sidney and
aunt to Lady Mary Wroth, this literary
patroness was a poet and translator in her own right, authoring a
substantial body of religious verse. [MW]
- Percy, Henry, Lord, 1364-1403 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An English knight and rebel who fought in campaigns against Scots on
the Anglo-Scottish border as well as the French in the Hundred
Years' War, Henry Percy was nicknamed "Hotspur" by the
Scots for his speed and attack readiness. Percy aided Henry IV in the usurpation of
Richard II, but
eventually, Percy led a series of uprisings against Henry IV. Percy is a major
character in Shakespeare's
Henry IV, Part 1. [LD]
- Percy, Thomas, 1729-1811 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet, translator, and antiquarian Thomas Percy is best remembered
today for his Reliques of Ancient
English Poetry (1765), which inspired widespread
interest in British folk literary forms such as ballads and verse tales
as well as contributing to the late eighteenth century formation of a
British literary canon. Percy also published Hau Kiou Choaan or The Pleasing History
(1761), consisting of partly his own translation from a Portuguese
version of the Chinese narrative, and partly a redaction of a previous
English translation by a representative of the British East India
Company in China. The novel's heroine, Shuy Ping Sin, suffers
trials somewhat similar to those of the eponymous heroines of Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740-1) and Clarissa (1747-9). Percy is
also the author of The Friar of Orders
Grey (1765). [MW]
- Pericles, ca. 495-429 B.C. (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Athenian statesman. [MW]
- Perseus—
- Greek mythological figure who slew the Gorgon and rescued Andromeda. [MW]
- Perticari, Giulio, conte, 1779-1822 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian poet and scholar, son-in-law to Vicenzo Monti. Peticari aided Monti in the debate against linguistic purism in Italy. [LD]
- Pepys, Samuel, 1633-1703 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English naval administrator, politician, and diarist. Pepys' Diary, spanning from 1660
to 1669 and first published in 1825, is a valuable account of
upper-class life during the English Restoration period. [LD]
- Peter I, Emperor of Russia, 1672-1725 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Also known as Peter the Great, Peter I ruled the Tsardom of Russia
and later the Russian Empire 1682 until his death in 1725, jointly
ruling before 1696 with his elder half-brother. Through a number of
successful wars, he expanded the Tsardom into a much larger empire that
became a major European power. He led a cultural revolution that
replaced some of the traditionalist and medieval social and political
systems with ones that were modern, scientific, Westernised and based on
the Enlightenment. Peter’s reforms made a lasting impact on Russia, and
many institutions of Russian government trace their origins to his
reign. [BDW]
- Petrarca, Francesco, 1304-1374 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The Italian humanist and
lyric poet referred to as "Petrarch" by English speakers was
named Poet Laureate of Rome in 1341. He is best known for his series of
sonnets to "Laura," whose true
identitiy is unknown, and through these poems, for the inspiration he
provided to the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century British sonneteers.
[MW]
- Pharamond—
- A legendary early king of the Franks from some time before the fifth
century. [MW]
- Phidias, approximately 500 B.C.-approximately 430
B.C. (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Athenian painter, sculptor, and architect, frequently considered the
key founder of the Classical Greek sculptural design. His most notable
works include his artistic design of the Parthenon, his statue of Athena on the Athenian Acropolis, and his
Statue of Zeus at Olympia, which is considered
one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. [LD]
- Philibert, Prince of Orange, 1502-1530
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The last member of the House of Chalon to hold the title of Prince of
Orange, Philibert served as a commander under Charles V in the War of the League of Cognac, the Sack of
Rome, and the Siege of Florence. Philibert died in battle toward the end
of the siege. [LD]
- Philip II, King of Macedonia, 382 B.C.-336
B.C. (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Member of the Argead Dynasty and father of Alexander the Great. Philip II,
also known as "Philip of Macedon," controlled the entirety of
Greece by the end of his reign, using both diplomatic and military
endeavors to solidify his power. This foundation allowed for Alexander's expansion of
power after Philip's death. [LD]
- Philips, Ambrose, 1674-1749 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Known best for his pastoral poetry, playwright and poet Ambrose
Philips was praised by Joseph Addison
and Richard Steele, and he probably
contributed to their periodical The
Spectator. His best-known play was The Distrest Mother (1712).
Philips also established and authored much of the content of the
periodical The Freethinker
from 1718-1721. [MW]
- Philips, John, 1676-1709 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An English poet, author of The
Splendid Shilling. A Poem, In Imitation of Milton (1701) and
Blenheim (1705). [JDP]
- Phillips, R. (Richard), Sir, 1767-1840
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- One of the most important publishers of the early nineteenth
century. In addition to his many book and pamphlet publications, he
operated several periodicals over his career, including the Leicester Herald, the Museum, the Antiquaries Magazine, and
most importantly, the Monthly
Magazine. He was convicted and imprisoned for a
time for selling Thomas Paine's
Rights of Man. [MW]
- Philostratus, the Athenian, active 2nd
century-3rd century (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus, called "the
Athenian," authored the biography of first-century C.E. philosopher
Appolonius of Tyana in which
he attempts to construct his subject as an alternative to Jesus Christ.
[JDP]
- Phocion, -318 B.C. (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A highly respected Athenian statesman and general. [MW]
- Pilkington, Laetitia, 1712-1750 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- An Irish-born poet and occasional playwright who was known for her
witty conversation. Her Memoirs (1748-9) and correspondence offer a
lively picture of a number of noteworthy eighteenth-century literary
figures. [MW]
- Pindar (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Living from roughly 518 to 438 B.C.E., Pindar is frequently
considered to be the greatest of the ancient Greek lyric poets. He was
the first known Greek poet to have reflected on the nature of poetry and
the role of the poet. His poetry is a valuable reflection of the beliefs
and values of the Archaic Grecians at the beginning of the classical
period. [LD]
- Pinkerton, Jonathan—
- Student contributor.
- Chatham, Hester Grenville Pitt, Countess of,
1720-1803 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Formerly, Lady Hester Grenville; Wife of William Pitt, first earl of Chatham. Through their marriage,
Pitt formed new political alliances
with the men of the Grenville family. [RD]
- Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Also known as Pitt the Elder to distinguish him from his son, Pitt
the younger. William Pitt is best known for his long politicial career
and controversial political activism; he held the office of British
Prime Minister from 1766 to 1768. [RD]
- Plato [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Eminent Greek philosopher who lived from c. 428 B.C.-347 B.C. He was
a friend and admirer of Socrates, whom he
features as a character in many of his dialogues and treatises. Among
these, some of the most important include Apology, Crito, Gorgias, Ion, Republic, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Symposium, Timaeus, Critias, and Laws. [MW]
- Plautus, Titus Maccius (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Roman comic dramatist living from 245-184 B.C.E., known simply as
"Plautus." Plautus' comedies, strongly influenced by
Greek theatre, are the earliest complete works of Latin literature which
have survived. Although Plautus' writing has been widely criticized
by scholars, his works remained influential long after his death,
influencing such literary figures as Shakespeare and Molière.
[LD]
- Plumptre, Anne, 1760-1818 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Novelist, translator, and travel writer, Plumptre was part of the
late eighteenth-century Norwich dissenting community. She authored
several novels, with Something New, or,
Adventures at Campbell-house (1801) now the best
remembered. A Narrative of a Three
Years' Residence in France (1810) is the
publication that did the most for her fame. She also published Musaeus's Physiognomical Travels,
Preceded by a Physiognomical Journal (1800), her
translation of Johann Karl August
Musäus's anonymously published Physiognomische Reisen, voran ein
physiognomisch Tagebuch (1778-1779), a satire of
the work of Johann Kaspar Lavater.
[MW]
- Plutarch (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Greek historian, essayist, biographer, philosopher, and priest,
living from roughly 46-119 C.E. Plutarch's works heavily influenced
the development of the biography, the essay, and historical writing in
Europe from the 16th to 19th centuries. He is best known for his Parallel Lives, a set of
biographies of eminent Greeks and Romans, as well as his Moralia, a collection of
essays on ethical, political, religious, physical, and literary
subjects. [LD]
- Polidori, John William, 1795-1821 (Oxford
Reference)—
- English-Italian writer, physician, son of Gaetano Polidori and uncle to Dante
Gabriel and Christina Rossetti. . Some consider John Polidori as the
creator of modern vampire fiction with his work "The
Vampyre." John Polidori was Lord Byron's personal physician and participated in the
famous ghost story competition in Geneva which resulted in Mary
Shelley's Frankenstein. Inadequately financially supported by
his writing or medical career and suffering from debt and depression,
Polidori committed suicide in 1821. [LD]
- Polidori, Gaetano, 1764-1853 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An Italian scholar, translator, and author who settled in London in
1790, Polidori was father to John William Polidori, author of The Vampyre and grandfather
to Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti. [JDP]
[MW]
- Polonius
- Character in William
Shakespear's drama Hamlet, he is father to Laertes. [MW]
- Pomfret, John, 1667-1702 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An English poet and clergyman, author of The Choice (1700). [JDP]
- Pompey, the Great, 106 B.C.-48 B.C. (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, known presently as "Pompey the
Great," was considered among the greatest Late Roman generals and
statesman. A senatorial noble, triumvir, and opponent of Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great was an
influential figure in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the
Roman Empire. [LD]
- Ponsonby, Sarah, 1755-1831 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- One of the "Ladies of Llangollen". With Lady Eleanor Butler, the subject
of William Wordsworth's
sonnet "To the Lady E.B. and the Hon. Miss P.".
She and Butler left conventional marriages to move to Llangollen in
Wales and cohabitate, fascinating and scandalizing contemporaries by
wearing men's clothing. Though many observers believed that the two
were a sexual couple, diary evidence suggest that may not have been the
case.
- Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Pope was so significant to the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century
writers who followed him that an exhaustive catalog of his work is far
beyond the scope of a brief note. Among the most important are An Essay On Criticism
(1711); Windsor-Forest
(1713); The Rape of the
Lock (1714); Eloisa to
Abelard (1719); The
Dunciad (1728); Of
False Taste (1732); An Essay On Man (1733-1734); An Epistle From Mr. Pope, To Dr. Arbuthnot
(1735); Of The Characters of Women: An
Epistle To A Lady (1735); a series of Horatian
satires; and a sequence of pastoral poems. His edition of The Works of Shakespear
(1725) was also a landmark, as were several of his translations, most
notably those of Homer's Iliad (1715-1720) and Odyssey (1725-1726). [MW]
- Portinari, Beatrice, 1266-1290 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The woman admired by the
poet Dante Alighieri, mentioned in a number
of his poems and the inspiration or model for his fictional guide in Paradiso. [MW]
- Poussin, Nicolas, 1594?-1665 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A French painter known for his heroic, mythological, and religious
themes, and especially for the landscape painting that occupied much of
his later years, Poussin was powerfully influential on French painters
of the Romantic period. [MW]
- Poyntz, John, approximately 1485-1544 (History of
Parliament Trust)—
- English courtier, politician, member of Parliament, and friend of
Sir Thomas Wyatt. [LD]
- Pratt, Mr. (Samuel Jackson), 1749-1814
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Pratt's Emma Corbett; or, The
Miseries of Civil War (1780) sets a love story
against the backdrop of the American Revolution. [MW]
- Prescott, Mary—
- Friend of Hester Chapone, and later
wife to Chapone's brother, Thomas
Mulso. [MW]
- Prévost, abbé, 1697-1763 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The Abbé Antoine-Francois Prévost authored Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de
Manon Lescaut (1767). He also translated Samuel Richardson's major
novels into French. [MW]
- Price, Richard, 1723-1791 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Radical Unitarian minister and close friend of Joseph Priestley, Rev. Price is best
remembered for his sermon A Discourse on
the Love of Our Country (1789), which provoked Edmund Burke to write Reflections on the Revolution in
France. [MW]
- Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Unitarian minister Joseph Priestley was a well known radical
philosopher, theologian, historian, scientist, and reform writer. An
important member of the Dissenting circle that frequented Joseph
Johnson's publishing establishment, he was also a particularly
close friend of Anna Letitia Barbauld.
During the 1791 "church and king" riots in Birmingham,
Priestley's home and laboratory were destroyed by the mob, and in
1794 he emigrated to America. [MW]
- Prior, Matthew, 1664-1721 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An important and influential poet, Prior was most successful with
his publication of Poems on Several
Occasions (1718), which included his longest poem,
"Solomon on the Vanity of the World," a
soliloquy on the failure to find worldly happiness. [MW]
- Proserpine—
- Roman goddess of the Underworld. [MW]
- Prospero—
- The fictional protagonist of Shakespeare's The
Tempest, Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan,
banished to sea by his usurping brother, Antonio. Prospero and his
daughter, Miranda, find refuge on an island, where Prospero learns
sorcery from books and uses it to protect his daughter and control the
other characters, such as Ariel and Caliban, whom he has enslaved. At the end of
the play, Prospero sinks his books in the sea, likely in an effort to
appease Shakespeare's
audiences, who viewed magic as devilish. [LD]
- Psalmanazar, George, 1679?-1763 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Though probably born in France, Psalmanazar claimed to be a native
of the island of Formosa kidnapped by European missionaries and brought
to Europe against his will. In that capacity he authored several works,
including the far-fetched yet very successful An historical and geographical description of
Formosa (1704) and a number of contributions to the
seven volume An universal history; from
the earliest account of time to the present (with
G. Sale, A. Bower, G. Shelvocke, J. Campbell, J. Swinton, etc.,
1736-44). His Memoirs of ****, commonly
known by the name of George Psalmanazar: a reputed native of
Formosa (1764) was published posthumously. [MW]
- Puttenham, George, -1590 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English courtier and literary critic, generally accepted as the
author of The Arte of English
Poesie, an influential critical work on poetry and
rhetoric. Although the authorship of the work has been disputed, with
some suggesting his brother, Richard, to be the true author, the style
and ideas of the book strongly align with Puttenham's other
writings, affirming his claim to authorship. [LD]
- Quarles, Francis, 1592-1644 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet, best known for Emblems (1635) and Heiroglyphikes of the Life of Man (1638).
[JDP] [MW]
- Quarterly
Review
- The conservative Quarterly
Review, first edited by William Gifford and published by John Murray from 1809 to 1967, was
the Edinburgh
Review's most important rival. [MW]
- Rabelais, François, ca. 1490-1553?
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Rabelais's Gargantua and
Pantagruel (1532-64) is a satirical epic that
earned its author wide acclaim. [MW]
- Racine, Jean, 1639-1699 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- French dramatist, poet, and historiographer best known for his
mastery of the French classical tragedy, particularly through his adept
use of the alexandrine line, a prominent feature of the poetic meter of
seventeenth century French tragedy. He is also renowned for his
characters, crafted through the Racinian view of humanity as driven by a
need for acceptance in order to compensate for consuming feelings of
inadequacy. Among his many works, a few of Racine's most notable
ones include Andromaque
(1668), Britannicus (1670),
Bérénice
(1671), Bajazet (1672), Phèdre (1677), and Athalie (1691). [LD]
- Radcliffe, Ann Ward, 1764-1823 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The foremost author in the development of the Gothic novel,
Radcliffe also also produced a travel narrative, A Journey Made in the Summer of 1794,
through Holland and the Western Frontier of Germany, with a
Return Down the Rhine (1795), which features the
same proficiency in natural description that delighted readers of her
fiction. Her novels include The Castles
of Athlin and Dunbayne (1789), A Sicilian Romance (1790),
The Romance of the
Forest (1791), The
Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), The Italian, or The Confessional of the
Black Penitents (1797), and the posthumously
published Gaston de
Blondeville (1826). Her essay "On the
Supernatural in Poetry" appeared posthumously in the New Monthly Magazine 16
(February 1826): 145-52. [MW]
- Raleigh, Walter, Sir, 1552?-1618 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Knighted by Queen
Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh was an author, explorer, and
statesman. Although Sir Walter was a favorite of the Queen, he was accused of
treason by her successor, James
I, making Sir Walter a controversial figure during his
lifetime. Sir Walter's writing addresses the Queen's betrayal in
allowing his imprisonment, as well as endeavors to disprove the charges
of atheism brought against him. [LD]
- Ramirez, Gabrielle—
- Student contributor.
- Ramsay, Allan, 1686-1758 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Though known for his Scottish songs and fables, Ramsay's
greatest success was the pastoral drama The Gentle Shepherd (1725). [MW]
- Ramsay, Chevalier (Andrew Michael),
1686-1743 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Scottish writer Andrew Michael Ramsay settled in France in 1710,
where he published Les Voyages de
Cyrus in 1727. [MW]
- Randolph, Thomas, 1605-1635 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet and dramatist who employed Aristotelian logic in the
creation of unique comedies. Randolph was part of the "Sons of Ben," a group of dramatists following
in the footsteps of Ben Jonson. [LD]
- Raphael, 1483-1520 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Italian painter appreciated for the harmonious grace of his
painting. [MW]
- Rapin de Thoyras, M. (Paul), 1661-1725
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Paul de Rapin authored a notable history of England (1724),
translated from the French and published in English in 1725. [MW]
- Read, John—
- A clerk assistant to the House of Commons, Read was close enough
friend to Samuel Richardson that
Richardson intended to leave Read a mourning ring, but was prevented by
Read's own death. [MW]
- Redi, Francesco, 1626-1697 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Italian biologist, physician, linguist, and poet. His best-known
literary work was Bacco in
Toscana (1685). [ZP] and
[MW]
- Reed, Isaac, 1742-1807 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English theatrical editor and Shakespearean scholar, best known for
his Biographia Dramatica
(1782). [LD]
- Reeve, Clara, 1729-1807 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A landmark figure in the development of the Gothic novel, Reeve was
also a poet, educational writer, and literary critic. Her Original Poems in Several
Occasions appeared in 1769 under the initials C.R.
Reeve's most significant novel was The Champion of Virtue. A Gothic Story
(1777), republished as The Old English
Baron (1778). Its preface offers important comments
on the theory of the Gothic novel. Her historical novel Memoirs of Sir Roger de Clarendon, the
Natural Son of Edward Prince of Wales, Commonly Called the Black
Prince (1793) is also noteworthy. Reeve's
other novels include The Two Mentors: A
Modern Story (1783), The Exiles; or, Memoirs of the Count de
Cronstadt (1788), The School for Widows: A Novel (1791), Plans of Education; With Remarks on the
Systems of Other Writers. In a Series of Letters Between Mrs.
Darnford and Her Friends (1792), and Destination; or, Memoirs of a Private
Family (1799). The
Phoenix; or, The History of Polyarchus and Argenis,
is her translation of Argenis (1621) by John
Barclay. In literary criticism Reeve was best known for The Progress of Romance
(1785) and an exchange with Anna Seward
in a series of letters to the Gentleman's Magazine. [MW]
- Reich, Erasmus—
- A Leipzig bookseller. [MW]
- Reni, Guido, 1575-1642 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Italian baroque painter of mythological and religious subjects, very
much admired in England during the Romantic period. A portrait of Beatrice Cenci ascribed to him
inspired Percy Bysshe Shelley's
play The Cenci (1819).
[MW]
- Retz, Jean François Paul de Gondi de,
1613-1679 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- An French churchman, who claimed literary fame for his memoirs,
published in 1717, which detail the political intriques of France
between 1648 and 1652. [JDP]
- Reynolds, Frederick, 1764-1841 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Frederick Reynolds was a prolific if only moderately successful
English playwright. Among his many plays was the comedy The Dramatist, or Stop Him Who
Can (1789). [GR]
- Ribera, Jusepe de, 1591-1652 —
- Spanish artist also known as José de Ribera and as "Lo
Spagnoletto." His paintings followed those of Caravaggio in style but emphasized scenes of agony and horror
such as The Martyrdom of Saint
Bartholomew, depicting the saint's flaying. [MW]
- Riccoboni, Marie Jeanne de Heurles Laboras de
Mezières, 1713-1792 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- A French epistolary novelist, Riccoboni's influence in England
depended on early translations of several of her novels, including Histoire de M. le marquis de
Cressy (1758; translated as The History of the Marquis de
Cressy in 1759), Lettres de Milady Juliette Catesby (1759;
translated as Letters from Juliet Lady
Catesby by Frances
Brooke, 1760), Histoire de
Miss Jenny (1764; translated as The History of Miss Jenny
Salisbury the same year), Lettres d'Adélaïde de Dammartin, comtesse
de Sancerre (1767; translated as Letters from the Countess de
Sancerre the same year), and Lettres d'Elisabeth-Sophie de
Vallière à Louise-Hortence de Canteleu, son
amie (1772; translated as Letters from Elizabeth Sophia de Valiere
the same year). [MW]
- Rich, John, 1682?-1761 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- An English theatre manager and actor. He is responsible for the
popularization of English pantomime. Rich built and opened the first
Covent Garden Theatre in 1732 with
profits from his successful management of Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre.
[VW] [MW]
- Richard I, King of England, 1157-1199
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Known as "the Lionhearted," for his brave fighting in the
Crusades, Richard I's legend was popularized through a number of
sources as part of the Robin Hood legends. [MW]
- Richard II, King of England, 1367-1400
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399 by Henry
Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, who became Henry IV. Probably his most
noteworthy act was facing down the Peasant's Revolt (or Wat Tyler
Rebellion) in 1381. [JDP] [MW]
- Richard III, King of England,
1452-1485 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The controversial brother of King Edward IV, Richard reigned as King of England from 1483
until his death in 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field in The Wars of
the Roses. The victor, Henry Tudor, thereby became Henry VII. [JDP]
- Richardson, Anne (a.k.a. Nancy; baptized in
1737)—
- Samuel Richardson's daughter
with his wife Elizabeth.
[MW]
- Richardson, Elizabeth—
- Samuel Richardson's daughter.
[MW]
- Richardson, Elizabeth, née Leake—
- Samuel Richardson's second
wife, whom he married in 1733. [MW]
- Richardson, Martha, née Wilde —
- Daughter of Samuel
Richardson's master during his apprenticeship, she became in
1721 his first wife. She died in 1731. [MW]
- Richardson, Martha (a.k.a. Patty;
baptized in 1736)—
- Samuel Richardson's daughter
with his wife Elizabeth.
She married Edward Brigden. [MW]
- Richardson, Mary (a.k.a. Polly;
baptized 1753—
- Samuel Richardson's daughter
with his wife Elizabeth.
She married Philip Ditcher. [MW]
- Richardson, Samuel, 1689-1761 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Richardson is known as the inventor of the epistolary novel, which
he developed while working on a collection of model letters, Letters Written to and for Particular
Friends, on the Most Important Occasions, better
known as Familiar Letters
(1741). His three most famous works are all named after the sentimental
heroes or heroines whose stories they relate. Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded (1740-1) tells
of a virtuous servant who holds out against her employer's immodest
advances until ultimately he rewards her with marriage. In Clarissa (1747-9), one of
the best-loved novels of the eighteenth century, the heroine is locked
up by her parents in an attempt to force her to marry a wealthy but
abhorrent neighboring landowner. Rescued by Lovelace, a rakish local
aristocrat, she is kept prisoner and subjected to his relentless
advances and eventual rape before her prolonged and dramatic death. The
eponymous and infinitely kind and virtuous hero of Richardson's History of Sir Charles
Grandison (1754) rescues the heroine, Harriet Byron,
after she has been abducted by an iniquitous nobleman. The Italian
Clementina della Porretta is one of Harriet's rivals for the
hero's affection. [MW]
- Richardson, Sarah (a.k.a. Sally; baptized
1740)—
- Samuel Richardson's daughter
with his wife Elizabeth.
She married Richard Crowther. [MW]
- Ridley, James, 1736-1765(Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- James Ridley is remembered mainly for his Tales of the Genii, published
in 1764 under the pen name Sir Charles Morell. [VW]
- Rimius, Henry, d. ca. 1757 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Author ofa number of
tracts on the Moravians, Rimius translated Stinstra's A Pastoral Letter against
Fanaticism into English. [MW]
- Ritson, Joseph, 1752-1803 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English antiquary, supporter of the French Revolution, and vegetarian
activist. Ritson challenged editors of early English poetry, firmly
believing in maintaining textual accuracy in the editing of early texts.
As a publisher of children's songs, verses, and fairy stories,
Ritson is best remembered for his Robin
Hood: A Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs and Ballads
Now Extant Relative to That Outlaw. [LD]
- Rivington, Charles, 1688-1742 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A long-standing business associate and friend to Samuel Richardson, Rivington
founded one of the most important family bookselling concerns of the
late eighteenth century. Among other significant works, his firm
published the first volume of Pamela (1740-1). [MW]
- Robespierre, Maximilien, 1758-1794 —
- A French lawyer and persuasive public speaker who rose to power
during the French Revolution, Robespierre was the primary force
responsible for the bloody Reign of Terror and the guillotining of tens
of thousands. Robespierre himself lost his life to the guillotine in
July 1794. [MW]
- Robinson, Mary, 1758-1800 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Mary Robinson was a novelist, poet, actress, and notable personality
in British fashionable society. Married at fifteen after her father
became insolvent in a whaling venture, Mary lived a fashionable life in
London until the gambling and financial incompetence of her husband
Thomas Robinson forced them into exile in Wales. Soon after, the
Robinsons arranged publication of Mary's Poems (1775) as a means of raising money to
satisfy creditors. Nevertheless, Thomas Robinson was arrested for debt
and Mary and her infant daughter joined him for ten months in
King's Bench Prison. Inspired by the experience, she composed Captivity, a Poem, and Celadon and
Lydia, a Tale (1777). Having earlier attracted the
attention of the celebrated actor David
Garrick, Mary Robinson made her acting debut late in 1776.
Three years later, King
George III, Queen Charlotte, and their eldest son attended
a performance of Shakespeare's A
Winter's Tale with Robinson playing Perdita.
Thus began a widely known but relatively short-lived relationship with
the Prince of Wales
that, because of the scandal, ended Robinson's acting career but
resulted in an irregularly paid £500 annuity. After this affair
ended, she began a long-time relationship with Colonel Banastre
Tarleton. In 1783, Robinson miscarried Tarleton's child, and the
subsequent complications left her legs almost completely paralyzed.
After a sojourn in France to escape Tarleton's creditors, the
couple returned to London in 1788, where Robinson began, under the
pseudonym "Laura Marie," composing sentimentally delicate
Della Cruscan poetry for the World. These pieces were collected in Poems (1791), with numerous
other publications following, including Sappho and Phaon (1796). The preface of
this volume, outlining the current place of the sonnet in English
literature, helped inaugurate the sonnet revival during the romantic
period. Though primarily a poet, Robinson authored numerous novels, the
most noteworthy of which include Vancenza (1792), The Widow (1794), Angelina (1796), Hubert de Sevrac (1796), Walsingham (1797), The False Friend (1799),
and The Natural Daughter
(1799), and these did the most toward improving her financial stability.
Her operetta, The Lucky
Escape (1778) and her satirical drama, Nobody (1794) were
produced, while her tragedy The Sicilian
Lover (1796) appeared in print. Under the names
"Tabitha Bramble" and "Laura", she contributed
poetry and for a time edited the poetry section of The Morning Post. A Letter to the Women of England, on the
Cruelties of Mental Subordination (1799, later Thoughts on the Condition of
Women), published under the pseudonym "Anne
Frances Randall," champions the woman writer. Lyrical Tales (1800), the
last volume published in her lifetime, appeared only a few days before
her death in December, 1800. [MW]
- Robinson, Thomas—
- See Grantham, Thomas Robinson, Baron. [MW]
- Rochefoucauld, François
de La, 1558-1645 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French aristocrat known for his sometimes ascerbic Maximes, which he revised
and added to until the end of his life. [MW]
- Rochester, John Wilmot, Earl of,
1647-1680 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Regarded by many of his time as one of the day's best poets,
Rochester was known for his ribald wit, elegance, cynicism, and incisive
satire, which he exhibited in works that circulated in a coterie
associated with the court of Charles II. His work presents a particularly impressive
example of the collaborative composition and resulting complexities of
attribution associated with coterie poetry. [MW]
- Rodríguez de Montalvo, Garci [n.d.]
(Library of Congress Name Authority); c. 1440-c. 1500 (Oxford Companion to Spanish
Literature)—
- Rodríguez de Montalvo's Amadis de Gaula (1508) is a romance
narrative reworked from a previously existing story dating from at least
the late thirteenth century. Robert
Southey's translation into English appeared in 1803.
[MW]
- Rogers, Woodes, -1732 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Rogers, later Royal Governor of The Bahamas, led the Dampier
expedition against the Spanish which rescued Selkrik on February 1, 1709. His
book, A Cruising Voyage Round the
World (1712), sold well due largely to public
fascination with Selkrik's
rescue. [RD]
- Roland—
- Originally a historical character who served under Charlemagne, Roland is the legendary
hero of the French chanson de gesteLa Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland) and, as
Orlando, in the L'Orlando
Innamorato of Boiardo and Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. [MW]
- Rosa, Salvatore, 1615-1673 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Especially known for his wild, dramatic landscapes and battle scenes,
Italian painter Salvator Rosa influenced many Romantic writers’ literary
evocations of the sublime. [MW]
- Rosalind—
- Rosalind is the protagonist and heroine of Shakespeare' As You Like It. Daughter of
the exiled Duke Senior and niece of his usurper, Duke Frederick,
Rosalind disguises herself as a shepherd named Ganymede. [LD] [MW]
- Roscius Gallus, Quintus (d. 62 B.C.; Encyclopedia
Britannica)—
- Roman comic actor; the most famous of his time. [MW]
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
- Characters in William
Shakespear's drama Hamlet. [MW]
- Rosini, Giovanni, 1776-1855 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian novelist, poet, playwright, historian, and intellectual.
[LD]
- Rossini, Gioacchino, 1792-1868 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Italian composer particularly respected for his numerous operas. His
best known work is Il barbiere di
Siviglia (The
Barber of Seville, 1816). [MW]
- Rousseau, Jean-Baptiste, 1670-1741
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French poet and dramatist whose Odes
sacrées (1702) were well regarded. He was
exiled in 1710 for some defamatory verses attributed to him, and died in
poverty. [MW]
- Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- One of the most influential among eighteenth-century writers,
Rousseau was one of the period's most controversial figures as
well. His most important works translated into English include Discours qui a remporté le prix à
l'Académie de Dijon, en l'année 1750, sur
cette question proposée par la même Académie:
"Si le rétablissement des Sciences et des Arts a
contribué à épurer les moeurs" (1750
as "a citizen of Geneva"; translated as A Discourse on the Arts and
Science, 1751), Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de
l'inégalité parmi les hommes (1755;
translated as Discourse on the Origin
and Foundations of the Inequality among Mankind,
1762), Julie, ou la Nouvelle
Héloïse (1761; translated 1761), Emile (1762; translated
1762), Du Contrat social, ou principes
du droit politique (1762; translated as A Treatise on the Social Compact; or,
The Principles of Political Law, 1764), Essai sur l'origine des
langues (1781; translated as Essay on the Origin of
Languages, 1966), and his autobiographical Les Confessions de J.-J.
Rousseau
suivies des Rêveries du promeneur solitaire
(1782-89; translated as The Confessions
of J. J. Rousseau;
with The Reveries of the Solitary Walker, 1783-91).
Julie, ou la Nouvelle
Héloïse was an immediate and lasting
sensation, exerting a powerful influence on late eighteenth century
European views of sensibility and romantic love. Emile exploits the
popularity of the novel form to champion Rousseau's views on
education. [MW]
- Mr. Routh—
- French language teacher and author of Observations sur l'éducation des jeunes gens, depuis la
fin de leur études, jusqu'à l'epoque de leur
entrée dans le monde: ouvrage destiné uniquement à
L'Angleterre. [SS]
- Rowe, Nicholas, 1674-1718 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English Restoration dramatist. Rowe's play productions include
The Ambitious
Stepmother (1700), Tamerlane (1701), The Fair Penitent (1703), The Biter (1704), Ulysses (1705), The Royal Convert (1707),
The Tragedy of Jane
Shore (1714), and The
Tragedy of the Lady Jane Gray (1715). Samuel Johnson's Life of Rowe
first appeared as a preface to the volume of Works of the English Poets (1779-81)
devoted to Rowe and Thomas Tickell.
[MW]
- Sack, Antoinette—
- Daughter of August Friedrich Wilhelm Sack, 1703-1786 (Library of
Congress Name Authority), chaplain to Friedrich Wilhelm I, and sister to
Friedrich Samuel Gottfried Sack, 1738-1817 (Library of Congress Name
Authority), chaplain successively to Frederick the Great, Frederick
Wilhelm II, and Frederick Wilhelm III. [MW]
- Dorset, Thomas Sackville, Earl of, 1536-1608
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- An English statesman, poet, and dramatist; co-author of the first
English drama written in blank verse; described in the Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography as "representative of his period and
its culture as a renaissance man: poet, scholar, traveller, courtier,
statesman, a lover and patron of music and fine art. He was a religious
man with the experience and pragmatism to tolerate his neighbours'
(and his family's) freedom of conscience in private, and not only a
loyal servant of the crown but also a discreet man of personal charm and
moral integrity." [JDP]
- Sadler, Michael Thomas, 1780-1835
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Sadler was a member of the British House of Commons during the period
when the Great Reform Bill was crafted. Directly opposing the views of
Thomas Malthus, Sadler
argued for extension of the poor laws, and he introduced legislation for
a ten hour work day. [MW]
- Saint-Pierre, Bernardin de, 1737-1814
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Saint-Pierre is the author of Paul
et Virginie (1788) and La Chaumière Indienne (1790). [MW]
- Saltoun—
- See Fletcher, Andrew. [MW]
- Sand, George, 1804-1876 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- The pseudonym of nineteenth-century French author and feminist,
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, baronne Dudevant. Sand was a prolific and
immensely popular writer of fiction, drama, travel accounts, and
correspondence as well as autobiographical work. A political writer
during the French Revolution of 1848, she was critical of the Napoleonic
Code for its inequitable treatment of women. Unhappy in her marriage,
she separated from her husband and pursued an unconventional lifestyle
that included dressing as a man and affairs with many lovers, most
notable being the composer Frédéric Chopin. A few of the best
known among her many works include Indiana (1832), Valentine (1832), Lélia (1833), Consuelo (1842-1843) and its sequel La Comtesse de Rudolstadt,
(1843-1844), Jeanne (1844),
and Marianne (1876). [JDP] [MW]
- Sappho (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The Lesbos-born Greek lyric poet, probably from the mid-seventh
century B.C.E., widely viewed as the mother of all female poetic
tradition, was especially noted for love poems to the boatman Phaon.
[MW]
- Saumaise, Claude, 1588-1653 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- French classical scholar known by Latin name "Claudius
Salmasius." During the English Civil War, Salmasius published a
defense of England's absolute monarchy. The popularity of this
publication disturbed John Milton, who
published his Defensio pro Populo
Anglicano (Defence
of the People of England) in response. Milton's publication included
personal attacks of Salmasius and his wife. [LD]
- Savage, Richard, d. 1743 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Savage was best known for satirical poems and occasional verse,
including The Authors of the
Town (1725), The
Bastard (a poem dedicated to his mother on his own
illegitimate birth, 1728), The
Wanderer (1729), and An Author to Be Lett (1729). He also
authored two dramas, Love in a Veil: a
Comedy (1719) and The Tragedy of Sir Thomas Overbury (1724).
Savage lived a colorful life marked, among other events, by a conviction
and later pardon on murder charges. He died destitute in prison. [MW]
- Scarron, Monsieur, 1610-1660 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Dramatist and novelist Paul Scarron is best remembered for his
picaresque Le Roman Comique
(1651-59). [MW]
- Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- As a playwright and lyric poet, Schiller was the most important
author in the German Sturm und
Drang movement. Only after it was published
anonymously in 1781 did Die
Räuber, with its theme of taking from the rich
to redress the wrongs done to the dispossessed, attract the attention of
a director willing to bring it to the stage. His Der Geisterseher was
published in 1788. Wallenstein (1799), the most successful among
his many dramas, was translated in part by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as The Piccolomini (1800) and
The Death of
Wallenstein (1800). Wilhelm Tell (1804) was translated into
English as William Tell in
1829. Schiller authored some admirable criticism, especially
" Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen
in einer Reihe von Briefen" ("On the
Aesthetic Education of Man in a Series of Letters,"
1795) and "Über naive und sentimentalische
Dichtung" ("On Naive and Sentimental
Poetry," 1795-1796). He was appreciated for his poetry
as well, with the two volumes of Gedichte being issued in 1800-1803. [MW]
- Schlegel, August Wilhelm von, 1767-1845 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Appointed professor at Jena in 1798, August Wilhelm von Schlegel was
a poet, playwright, satirist, translator, literary critic, periodical
editor, and propogandist. With his brother Friedrich he edited the periodical The Athenäum. His translations of Shakespeare's plays brought
the English dramatist to a broad German audience. Schlegel's
lectures beginning in Jena and continuing over the next fourteen years
in Berlin and Vienna spread the Romantic aesthetic throughout Europe.
[MW]
- Schlegel, Friedrich von, 1772-1829 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Friedrich Schlegel was a poet, novelist, classicist, philologist, and
literary critic. He was highly influential in the development of German
Romanticism, especially through his contributions to his brother August Wilhelm's periodical The Athenäum. [MW]
- Scipio, Africanus, approximately 236
B.C.-183 B.C. (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, also known as "Scipio
Africanus the Elder," was a famed general and chief magistrate for
the Roman Republic. He is primarily regarded for his strategic
brilliance, which was most strongly evidenced in his defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama during the
Second Punic War. [LD]
- Scott, Walter, Sir, 1771-1832 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Poet, novelist, biographer, critic, translator, editor, historian,
antiquarian, and collector of literary curiosities, Scott was especially
well loved for his representations of the culture and scenery of his
native Scotland. His initial fame derived from Romantic poems such as
The Lay of the Last
Minstrel (1805), Marmion (1808), and The Lady of the Lake
(1810). But though he continued to publish poetry, it became apparent to
Scott by the time The Lady of the
Lake appeared that public taste was changing, and
he responded by turning most of his attention to novel writing,
inaugurating the "Waverly Novels" series with Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years
Since (1814). Among the many novels and tales that
followed, the most important include Guy
Mannering (1815), The Antiquary (1816), Rob Roy (1817), The Heart of Midlothian
(1818), The Bride of
Lammermoor (1819),
Ivanhoe (1819), Kenilworth (1821), and Redgauntlet (1824). Scott
also produced important literary biographies of Dryden and Swift, and an
extensive body of literary criticism, authoring prefaces to reissues of
major works and discussing some of the most memorable literary works of
the early nineteenth century as a reviewer for Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, the
Edinburgh Review, the Quarterly
Review, and other periodicals. [MW]
- Scriblerus Club—
- Founded by John Arbuthnot, the
loose association of writing collaborators included Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift as well as other
members. Their work was collected as Memoirs of the extraordinary Life, Works, and
Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus (1741). [MW]
- Scudéry, M. de (Georges), 1601-1667
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Brother to Madeleine de
Scudéry, his works include the play L'Amour tyrannique
(1640) and the epic poem Alaric (1655). [MW]
- Scudéry, Madeleine de, 1607-1701
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Novelist and salonnière, Mme. de Scudéry was known along
with d'Urfé and Calprènede for promoting literary
and cultural aesthetics of delicate refinement exalting chivalric
virtues partly through long works of romance fiction that constitute the
most significant examples of the Roman de
longue haleine, literally the "long-winded novel."
She published most of her work under the name of her brother, Georges, but her authorship was
recognized. Artamène ou Le Grand
Cyrus (1649-1653), Clélie (1654-1660), and Mathilde d'Aguilar
(1667) are her best-remembered works. She also published conduct
literature in the form of a series of Conversations excerpted from her novels.
[MW]
- Secker, Thomas, 1693-1768 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Archbishop of Canterbury from 1758. [MW]
- Sedley, Charles, Sir, 1639?-1701 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Dramatist and poet, he was part of a drinking and literary coterie
attached to the court of Charles
II. His plays include Pompey
the Great (1664), translated from Corneille, The Mulberry-Garden (1668),
Antony and Cleopatra
(1677), and Bellamira, Or The
Mistress (1687). [MW]
- Segrais, Jean Regnauld de, 1624-1701 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- French poet, novelist, translator, and collaborator with Mme. de La Fayette. [MW]
- Sejanus, Lucius Aelius, -31 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Commonly known as "Sejanus," Lucius Aelius
Sejanus was the chief administrator and close friend of Roman
Emperor Tiberius. Sejanus became the chief suspect in the murder of
Tiberius' son, Drusus Julius Caesar, as well as a conspiracy to
overthrow Tiberius himself. Sejanus was executed in 31 C.E., the
year he attained a consulship, for these alleged crimes. [LD]
- Selkirk, Alexander, 1676-1721 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Selkirk, a Scottish sailor, spent four years shipwrecked on the South
Pacific island. His story was well known at the time and likely served
as Defoe's inspiration for The Life and Strange Surprizing
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. [RD]
- Selwyn, George Augustus, 1719-1791 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English Member of Parliament, friend of Horace Walpole, and member of the Hellfire Club, an exclusive
society for high-society rakes. Selwyn was a controversial figure due to
his reputation for interest in the macabre and various sexual
eccentricities. [LD]
- Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, approximately 4 B.C.-65 A.D.
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Roman statesman, orator, dramatist, and Stoic philosopher, also known
as "Seneca the Younger." Seneca was the time period's
leading intellect and carried significant political influence as the
tutor of Emperor Nero. He is primarily remembered for his tragedies and
essays on Stoicism. In 65, Seneca was accused of participation in the
Piso conspiracy to assassinate Nero and ordered to commit suicide.
Although he was likely innocent, Seneca faced his death with exemplary
Stoicism, a scene which has inspired numerous works of art. [LD]
- Sethos—
- A priest of Hephaistos, mentioned briefly in Herodotus, who has at
times been confused with Seti I, father of Ramesses II. [MW]
- Seward, Anna, 1742-1809 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Known as "The Swan of Lichfield," poet, critic, and
literary biographer Anna Seward often contributed poetry to the Gentleman's Magazine.
She and novelist Clara Reeve carried out
a literary debate there as well through an exchange of letters, with
Seward signing hers "Benvolio." Seward also revised and edited
her personal letters for publication, and though they did not appear
until 1811, they made a noteworthy contribution to the field of literary
criticism. [MW]
- Somerset, Charles Seymour, Duke of, 1662-1748
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- English courtier, aristocrat, and Whig known by the byname "The Proud
Duke." Seymour helped secure the ascension of George I of Hanover to the
crown alongside other Whig nobles. Seymour also served as the patron and
political ally of Nicholas Rowe. [LD]
- Sforza—
- The Sforza was an Italian family that came to power in the mid-15th
century through a marriage with the Visconti family. The family ruled Milan for nearly a century.
[LD]
- Sgricci, Tommaso, 1789-1836 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- The best known of the Italian improvisational poets, Sgricci
performed to large audiences and great acclaim. His method was to
memorize prefabricated sentences, which he put together quickly to
achieve the effect of spontaneity, dazzling huge audiences and gaining
him wealth, prizes, fame, and eventually a place among the nobility. His
celebrity enabled him to live semi-openly as a homosexual, protected in
part by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had also granted Sgricci a
pension after witnessing him improvise a full-length verse tragedy on
Mary, Queen of Scots. [MW]
- Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley
Cooper, Earl of, 1671-1713 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- British philosopher and historian whose emphasis on feeling in his
writing on history, moral philosophy, and aesthetics helped to establish
the eighteenth-century culture of sensibility. His most important work
is Characteristicks of Men, Manners,
Opinions, Times (1711). [MW]
- Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- While Shakespeare work is so widely known and biographies and
criticism so abundant that a brief sketch can only be redundant, it is
useful to be reminded that through the work of the eighteenth-century
British literary history and criticism establishment, Shakespeare had by
the later part of the century attained the status of the most exemplary
of British writers, a national treasure and incontestable proof of
Britain's supposed cultural superiority over the rest of the world.
Dramatic productions include Henry
VI, parts 1, 2, and 3 (c. 1589-1592), Richard III (c. 1591-1592),
The Comedy of Errors
(c. 1592-1594), Titus
Andronicus (1594), The
Taming of the Shrew (1594), The Two Gentlemen of Verona
(1594), Love's Labor's
Lost (c. 1594-1595), King John (c. 1594-1596), Richard II (c. 1595), Romeo and Juliet (c.
1595-1596), A Midsummer Night's
Dream (c. 1595-1596), The Merchant of Venice (c. 1596-1597), The Merry Wives of Windsor
(1597), Much Ado About
Nothing (c. 1598-1599), Henry V (1599?), Julius Caesar (1599), As You Like It (c.
1599-1600), Hamlet (c.
1600-1601), Twelfth Night
(1601-1602?), Troilus and
Cressida (c. 1601-1602?), All's Well That Ends Well (c.
1602-1603), Measure for
Measure (1604), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606), Timon of Athens (c. 1605-1608), Macbeth (1606), Antony and Cleopatra
(c.1606-1607), Pericles (c.
1606-1608), Coriolanus (c.
1607-1608), Cymbeline
(1609), The Winter's
Tale (1611), The
Tempest (1611), Cardenio, probably by Shakespeare and John Fletcher (c. 1612-1613), Henry VIII, by Shakespeare
and possibly John Fletcher (1613), and
The Two Noble Kinsmen,
by Shakespeare and John Fletcher
(1613). Non-dramatic verse includes his sonnets, which were published in
1609; Venus and Adonis
(1593), The Rape of Lucrece
(1594), and The Phoenix and
Turtle (1601). [MW]
- Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 1792-1822 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Though his life was short, Percy Bysshe Shelley was a prolific poet,
authoring a list of works far too extensive to name in full in a brief
note. Some of the more important of them include the Gothic novel Zastrozzi (1810); The Necessity of Atheism
(1811), a treatise that caused him to be expelled from Oxford; a variety
of political pamphlets; Queen
Mab (1813); Alastor (1816); Adonais (1821); Julian and Maddalo (1824); The Masque of Anarchy
(1832); and many sonnets, odes, and other shorter poems. Among his verse
dramas, The Cenci (1819)
and Prometheus Unbound
(1820) stand out. His Defense of
Poetry (1821) represents a major landmark in
literary criticism. In 1816, after his first wife's suicide over
his 1814 elopement, Shelley married Mary
Wollstonecraft Godwin, who was to become the author of Frankenstein. [MW]
- Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Most famous as the author of Frankenstein (1818) and wife of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley was
daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. She authored
a significant body of travel narrative, biographical essays, and some
literary criticism as well as numerous novels, novellas, and tales. In
addition to Frankenstein,
her novels include Valperga
(1823), The Last Man
(1826), The Fortunes of Perkin
Warbeck
(1830), Lodore (1835), and
Falkner (1837). Among
her shorter works, those that stand out include Mathilda (1959), "The
Transformation" (1831), and "The Mortal
Immortal" (1834), the latter two originally published
in the gift annual The
Keepsake. Her work in editing and introducing her
deceased husband's poems did much to define his reception for many
years. [MW]
- Shenstone, William, 1714-1763 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Writer and longtime friend of Richard
Graves. Shenstone publised his first poetical volume,
Poems upon Various
Occasions (1737), anonymously. It contained his
most important work, The
Schoolmistress, revised versions of which were
published in later years. His later writings included The Judgement of Hercules
(1741), adressed to George
Lyttleton. [RD]
- Sheridan, Frances Chamberlaine, 1724-1766
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Playwright and novelist Frances Sheridan was wife to actor and
theater manager Thomas Sheridan and
mother of Richard Brinsley
Sheridan, one of the eighteenth century's most important
playwrights, who was influenced by his mother's work. Frances
Sheridan published the novel Memoirs of
Miss Sidney Bidulph in two parts in 1761 and 1767.
Her play The Discovery
(1763) is worthy of at least as much attention as any of her fiction.
[MW]
- Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Though few in number, some of R. B. Sheridan's plays are still
well remembered. His more important work includes The Rivals (1775), The Duenna (1775), The School for Scandal
(1777), The Camp (1778),
and The Critic (1779).
[MW]
- Sheridan, Thomas, 1719-1788 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An Irish actor, theater manager, and educator, Thomas Sheridan was
husband to Frances Sheridan and
father to Richard Brinsley
Sheridan. In addition to his other pursuits, he delivered a series
of lectures on elocution, which he then published in 1762, and a series
on reading, published 1775. [MW]
- Shirley, James, 1596-1666 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English educator, poet, and dramatist, a popular playwright before
Parliament's restriction of stage plays in 1642. Shirley's
comedies of London court society are considered his best works,
including The Wittie Faire
One, Hyde
Park, and The Lady of
Pleasure. [LD]
- Shirley, Mrs.—
- Probably Henrietta Maria, d.1792 (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography),
née Phillips- wife of Walter
Shirley (Shirley, Walter, 1725-1786 [Library of Congress Name
Authority]), a Methodist clergyman and hymnist actively patronized by
Lady Huntingdon. He coauthored
A Narrative of the Most Remarkable
Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an
African Prince, as Related by Himself (1770). [MW]
- Shirley, William, active 1739-1780 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Little is known about British playwright William Shirley, though it
is said that he spent time in both Britain and Portugal. He wrote a
small number of plays, the most notable of which is Edward the Black Prince
(1750), inspired by Shakespeare.
Its debut featured David Garrick.
[GR]
- Shore, Jane, -1527? (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Jane, probably born Elizabeth, Shore was one of the mistresses of
Edward IV. Following Edward's death, Shore became
mistress of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of
Dorset, also the stepson of Edward via his widow, Elizabeth Woodville. Shore also became
the concubine of the powerful William
Hastings, 1st Baron of Hastings. It
is likely Shore helped unite the Woodville and Hastings factions against
the protector, Edward's
younger brother and ultimate successor, Richard III. Richard had Shore arrested
shortly before taking the throne in 1483, charging her with conspiracy.
As a result, Shore was forced to do public penance as a harlot. Shore
was imprisoned for her crimes following her public penance, at which
point she met Thomas Lynom, the King's Solicitor. The two married and
had one child. It is believed Shore and Lynom finished their lives in
relative comfort, though some accounts state that Shore died in
destitution. [BDW][LD]
- Shylock (Fictitious character) (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- The primary antagonist in Shakespeare's The
Merchant of Venice, Shylock is a Venetian Jewish
moneylender characterized by Jewish stereotypes, such as vindictiveness
and greediness. The defeat of Shylock and his subsequent conversion to
Christianity form the climax of the play's plot. [LD]
- Siddons, Sarah, 1755-1831 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- One of the most popular tragedians of the eighteenth century, Sarah
Siddons was the eldest child in the theatrical Kemble family. Siddons is
best remembered for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth. Deeply identifying
with the character, Siddons offered a profound performance that set the
standard for future portrayals. [LD]
- Sidney, Philip, Sir, 1554-1586 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Sidney's major works include Arcadia (1590), which he dedicated to his
sister, Mary Herbert, Countess of
Pembroke; the sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella (1591); and a landmark
essay in the history of literary criticism, The Defence of Poesie (1595). [MW]
- Silenus (Mythological character) (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- In Greek mythology, Silenus was the tutor and companion of Dionysus. While the satyr followers of Dionysus were half-goat, Silenus had the
characteristics of a horse. [LD]
- Sinbad (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Sinbad the sailor—also spelled Sindbad—is a character of
Arabic literature and hero of The
Thousand and One Nights, stories based on the
trials of seafaring merchants from Iraq. The narrative frame assigns the
stories to Scheherazade, a Persian princess whose royal husband's
lack of faith in female fidelity prompts him to execute each of his
wives the morning after he marries them. Sheherazade tells the stories
night after night, so intriguing her husband that day after day he
extends her life long enough to hear the next night's installment.
[VS] [MW}
- Sismondi, J.-C.-L. Simonde de
(Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde), 1773-1842 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Swiss historian and political economist, born under the surname
Simonde. Sismondi is most remembered for his research on French and
Italian history. He also provided the first liberal criticism of
laissez-faire economics, advocating for such social supports as sickness
benefits and unemployment insurance. [LD]
- Skelton, John, 1460?-1529 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English poet and satirist. Phyllyp
Sparowe is his best-known poem. [JDP]
- Skelton, Philip, 1707-1787 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An Irish scholar and friend of Samuel Richardson. [MW]
- Skrine, William, of Arlington Street, London,
?1721-83 (The History of Parliament: the
House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J.
Brooke., 1964)—
- Member of UK Parliment for Callington, 1771-1780. Born of Claverton
Manor; he sold the estate to Ralph Allen
in 1758. [RD]
- Slocock, Benjamin, b. 1691 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Chaplain of St. Saviour's in Southwark. [MW]
- Smith, Charlotte Turner, 1749-1806 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Poet and novelist Charlotte Turner Smith provides an unusual example
of a Romantic period woman who began as a coterie poet, but out of
necessity became a professional writer. Charlotte Turner was born into a
well-to-do family, but after the early death of her mother, she was
consigned first to the care of an aunt, then to boarding school. Soon
after she reached her teens, her father remarried, and having thus
become an inconvenience, Charlotte was married off at the age of fifteen
to the dissipated, unfaithful, and violent Benjamin Smith, who kept the
family perpetually in debt and with whom she ultimately bore twelve
children. The groom's father clearly understood his son's
nature, for at his death he left a significant fortune specifically for
his daughter-in-law and grandchildren. The will was so complex, however,
that the money was tied up in litigation until after both Charlotte and
her husband were dead and the children matured. In the meantime,
Smith's husband was consigned to prison for debt, where she joined
him, there composing poetry for sale in an attempt to relieve their
financial distress. The result was Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Essays (1784),
which was revised and enlarged numerous times until 1797 and eventually
included prefatory essays that delineate principles of sonnet
composition. Though she separated from her husband soon after, Smith
continued to support herself, her children, and to some extent her
estranged spouse through her writing. She first tried translating, and
then in 1788 she published her first novel, Emmeline, the Orphan of the Castle. The
novels that followed include Ethelinde;
or, The Recluse of the Lake (1789), Celestina (1791), Desmond (1792), The Old Manor House (1793),
The Wanderings of
Warwick (1794), The
Banished Man (1794), Montalbert (1795), Marchmont (1796), and The Young Philosopher
(1798). The Letters of a Solitary
Wanderer (1800-1) is a collection of short
narratives. Smith's second major poetic publication was The Emigrants: A Poem, in Two
Books (1793). Beachy Head: With Other Poems (1807) was
published posthumously. Smith's contributions to youth literature
are also extensive, beginning with Rural
Walks: In Dialogues. Intended for the Use of Young
Persons (1795), and continuing through Rambles Farther: A Continuation of Rural
Walks, in Dialogues. Intended for the Use of Young
Persons (1796), Minor Morals, Interspersed with Sketches of Natural
History, Historical Anecdotes, and Original Stories
(1798), Conversations Introducing
Poetry: Chiefly on the Subjects of Natural History. For the Use
of Children and Young Persons (1804), The History of England, from the
Earliest Records to the Peace of Amiens, in a Series of Letters
to a Young Lady at School (1806), which was begun
by Smith but completed by Mary Hays when
Smith became too ill to finish the project, and The Natural History of Birds: Intended Chiefly for Young
Persons (1807). Smith also published two
translations, the first in 1785 translates Manon Lescaut by Abbé Antoine-Francois Prévost.
The second translates anecdotes from François Gayot de Pitaval's Causes Célèbres et
interessantes as The Romance of Real Life, (1787). [MW]
- Smith, Lawrence, 1656-1728 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Author of Conversation in Heaven.
Being Devotions; consisting of meditations and prayers on
several considerable subjects in practical divinity
(1693). [MW]
- Smith, Sydney, 1771-1845 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English wit, Anglican preacher, and advocate for parliamentary
reform. His writings were incredibly influential in changing the public
opinion of Roman Catholic emancipation. [LD]
- Smollett, Anne Lassells, 1721-1791 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Tobias Smollett's wife. Daughter of a Jamaican Plantation owner.
Anne lived in Jamaica with her mother, then twice widowed, in Kingston.
Smollett met and married Anne on a visit to Jamaica in 1743. Smollett
described her as 'a delicate creature, who had scare ever walked a
mile in her life.' [VW]
- Smollett, James, d. 1714 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography) —
- The second son of Sir James
Smollett and uncle to Tobias
Smollett. [VW]
- Smollett, James of Bonhill, d. 1775
(Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography) —
- This James Smollett was grandson of Sir James Smollett, grandfather also to Tobias Smollett, and was therefore
Tobias Smollett's cousin. On the
death of his grandfather, Sir
James, James Smollett inherited the grandfather's Bonhill
estate. [MW]
- Sir James Smollett, 1648-1731 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- The grandfather of Tobias
Smollett. He sat on a variety of parliamentary commissions and
committees; however, his most important position was the commissioner
for union with England, first in August 1702, and more successfully in
February 1706. He helped frame the articles of the union, and in 1707
was the elected member for Dunbartonshire to the first parliament of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain. His manuscript Memorials of Certain Passages of the
Lord's Signal Mercies provide his comments on
the affairs of the time. [VW]
- Smollett, T. (Tobias), 1721-1771 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A versatile author who produced satire, history, drama, poetry,
polemical pamphlets, and journalism, Smollett is best known for his
picaresque novels such as The Adventures
of Roderick
Random (1748, modeled after Lesage's Gil Blas, which Smollett
translated), The Adventures of Peregrine
Pickle (1751), The
Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753), and
The Expedition of Humphry
Clinker (1771). At the age of eighteen, he authored
his first play, The
Regicide (1749). His literary journalism was important
as well. He reviewed at the Monthly
Review before helping to found and for many years
conduct the Critical
Review, which became the Monthly
Review's most important rival. Smollett was
founder of the British
Magazine and the
Briton as well. Smollett also wrote many poems,
including The Ode to Leven
Water (1746), The Tears
of Scotland (1746), Verses to a young Lady playing on a Harpsichord and Singing
(1746). His satirical epistles Advice: A Satire (1746) and Reproof: A Satire
(1747) were the cause of much trouble. Smollett
considered his major work to be A
Complete History of England which was published in
four volumes from 1758-1765. Not afraid to share his opinion regarding
British politics, Smollett also wrote The History and Adventures of an Atom (1769),
which satirized the British handling of the Seven Years' War. A
rare, first-hand account of his travels and domestic life were published
in his Travels through France and
Italy (1766). [MW]
- Socrates [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name
Authority); c. 470-399 B.C. (Encyclopedia Britannica)—
- Greek philosopher whose teachings caused him to be condemned to
death. [MW]
- Solon, ca. 630-ca. 560 B.C. (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Greek statesman and poet whose reform-oriented writings are known
mostly through quotation by later Greek historians. [MW]
- Sophocles, 496-406 BCE (Encyclopedia Britannica)—
- The greatest of the Greek tragedians from the golden age of Athens,
Sophocles is believed to have authored over 120 plays, only seven of
which have survived in their entirety. Those include Antigone, Philoctetes, Oedipus at Colonus, Women of Trachis, Ajax, Oedipus Rex, and Electra. [MW]
- Southerne, Thomas, 1660-1746 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Irish dramatist Thomas Southerne adapted his best-known play Oroonoko (1695) from the
1688 novel, Oroonoko; Or, The Royal
Slave, by Aphra Behn
(1640-1689). Many of his other plays are adaptations as well, including
both Sir Anthony Love, or, The Rambling
Lady (1690), adapted from the Aphra Behn novel The Lucky Mistake (1689), and The Fatal Marriage,
sometimes referred to as Isabella after the title character, taken
from Behn's work The History of the Nun (1689). The Wives' Excuse, or, Cukolds Make
Themselves (1691) depicts the plight of a woman
trapped in a bad marriage. Other plays included The Loyal Brother, or, The Persian Prince
(1682), The Disappointment, or, The
Mother in Fashion (1684), The Maid's Last Prayer, or, Any Rather Than
Fail (1693), The Fate
of Capua (1700), The Spartan Dame (1719), and Money The Mistress (1726).
[MW] [GR]
- Southey, Caroline Bowles, 1786-1854
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Poet Caroline Bowles contributed to gift annuals and periodicals and
published several books of verse, prose tales, and essays. She began her
career with Ellen Fitzarthur: A
Metrical Tale (1820), which she sent to poet
laureate Robert Southey, whom she did
not at the time know. Southey was
impressed with the work and assisted her with revisions and locating a
publisher, beginning what proved to be a long and close friendship.
Thereafter followed The Widow's
Tale and Other Poems (1822); Solitary Hours (1846); Chapters on Churchyards
(1842); The Cat's Tail, being the
History of Childe Merlin (under the pseudonym
Baroness de Katzleben; 1831); Tales of
the Factories (1833); and The Birth-Day; A Poem, in Three Parts, to Which Are
Added, Occasional Verses (1845). Bowles and Southey published a collaborative
volume, Robin Hood: A Fragment, By the
Late Robert Southey and
Caroline Southey, with Other Fragments and Poems in
1847. Caroline Bowles married Robert
Southey in 1839. Southey
died a few years later, setting in motion family conflicts with one of
his daughters, in which several major literary figures, including William Wordsworth, took sides.
Though Caroline Southey was regarded by many as a talented writer, her
literary reputation suffered in consequence. [MW]
- Southey, Robert, 1774-1843 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An important translator, biographer, travel writer, and critic as
well as poet laureate from 1813, Southey enjoyed his most enthusiastic
audience for his romantic verse tales such as Thalaba the Destroyer (1801), Madoc (1805), Metrical Tales, and Other
Poems (1805), and The
Curse of Kehama (1810). His early drama, The Fall of Robespierre
(1794), was authored in collaboration with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Some of his
other more important works include the epic Joan of Arc (1796), Roderick, the Last of the
Goths (1814), Wat
Tyler (1817), and A
Vision of Judgement (1821). His literary journalism
appeared in the Critical
Review, the Annual
Review, the Quarterly
Review, and the Foreign Quarterly Review. [MW]
- Souza-Botelho, Adélaïde-Marie-Emilie
Filleul, marquise de, 1761-1836 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Born Adélaïde-Marie-Emilie Filleul in Paris, Souza-Botelho
married the comte de Flahaut de La Billarderie and became a noted late
eighteenth-century Parisian salonnière. In 1792, events of the
revolution forced her to emigrate, first to England, then other
locations in continental Europe, before returning to Paris in 1798. She
met and married the Portuguese nobleman Dom José Maria de Souza Botelho
in 1802. She authored several novels, including Adéle de Senange, ou lettres de Lord
Sydenham (1794); Charles et Marie (1802); and Eugène de Rothelin
(1808), among others. [JDP and MW]
- Spenser, Edmund, 1552?-1599 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- One of the most revered of English poets, Spenser is best known for
his allegorical epic The Faerie
Queene (1590-1596), which features among its
subjects the adventures of the Redcrosse Knight as he attempts to save
the virgin Una from the machinations of the villainous Archimago and
Duessa. Another of his long poems, The
Shepheardes Calender (1579) combines the form of
pastoral eclogue with political satire. Spenser's important shorter
poems include a series of love sonnets that follow a unique rhyme
pattern of Spenser's origination. [MW]
- Spinoza, Benedictus de, 1632-1677 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Amsterdam-born rationalist philosopher whose arguments against the
immortality of the soul and the possibility of a transcendent God
resulted in his excommunication. [MW]
- Spurzheim, J. G. (Johann Gaspar), 1776-1832
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- German physician and prominent phrenologist. [MW]
- Staal, Marguerite-Jeanne, baronne de,
1684-1750 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Born de Launay, she became lady-in-waiting to the Duchesse du Maine.
Implicated in a plot against the Duke of Orléans, she spent two
years in the Bastille. Her memoirs are entitled Mémoires de Madame de Staal de Launay
(1755). [ZP]
- Staël, Madame de (Anne-Louise-Germaine),
1766-1817 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Staël's Delphine (1803) was popular among British
women, but her Corinne, ou
l'Italie (1807) exerted a crucial influence on
Romantic women's conceptions of the female artist. Her career as a
critic, literary philosopher, and analyst of national character began
with Lettres sur les ouvrages et le
caractère de J.-J.
Rousseau (1788), translated as Letters on the Works and Character of
Jean-Jacques
Rousseau (1789). Some of the most
important of her publications that followed include De l'influence des passions sur le
bonheur des individus et des nations (1796),
translated as A Treatise on the
Influence of the Passions upon the Happiness of Individuals and
of Nations (1798); De la littérature considérée dans ses
rapports avec les institutions sociales (1800),
translated as A Treatise on Ancient and
Modern Literature (1803); and De l'Allemagne
(1810-1813), translated as Germany (1813). Also a dramatist,
Staël authored some fourteen plays, a number of which were
performed in salons, but were little-known outside those settings. She
was the daughter of Jacques Necker,
Director General of Finance under Louis XVI. [MW]
- Buckingham, Edward Stafford, Duke of,
1478-1521 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- The third Duke of Buckingham, Edward Stafford was a first cousin once
removed of King Henry VIII.
Stafford held immense political power during the reign of Henry VIII, until he was
accused, likely falsely, of plotting to kill the king and thus beheaded
a month later. [LD]
- Statius, P. Papinius (Publius Papinius)
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- 1st century CE Roman poet, author of Thebaid, which recounts the struggle between Oedipus's sons for control of Thebes.
[JDP]
- Steele, Richard, Sir, 1672-1729 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Poet, dramatist, and satirist, Irish writer Sir Richard Steele is
best remembered for his collaboration with Joseph Addison and Jonathan
Swift in essay periodicals such as the Spectator, the Tatler, and the Guardian, many of which he
penned, as did Addison and especially Swift, under the pseudonym
"Isaac Bickerstaff."
[MW]
- Steevens, George, 1736-1800 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English Shakespearean commentator best remembered for his
collaboration with Samuel Johnson on
a 10-volume publication of the complete plays of William Shakespeare. Steevens
later produced a 15-volume revision of the work, altering and adding
material seemingly for the purpose of proving his superiority to fellow
Shakespearian scholar Edmond Malone.
Steevens also exposed the poetic forgeries of Thomas Chatterton. [LD]
- Sterne, Laurence, 1713-1768 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Sterne's two most important novels, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy
(1760-67) and The Sentimental
Journey (1768), mark him as a major figure in the
history of both sentimental and experimental fiction. [MW]
- Stevenson, William, -1575 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English clergyman and likely playwright of Grammer Gurton's Needle, a play of
disputed authorship from the beginnings of English comedy. [LD]
- Stewart, Dugald, 1753-1828 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Son of a mathematician, Stewart became a major figure in the
Scottish Enlightenment, teaching at the University of Edinburgh on
mathematics and moral and political philosophy, and through his lectures
and writings profoundly influencing many British literary and political
figures. He was joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [JDP] [MW]
- Stewart, Victoria—
- Student contributor.
- Still, John, 1543?-1608 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Bishop of Bath and Wales and fellow of Christ's College at
Cambridge. Still was long presumed to be the author of Grammer Gurton's
Needle, though evidence has since suggested William Stevenson as its true
author. [LD]
- Stinstra, Johannes, 1708-1790 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Controversial Dutch theologian and translator. [MW]
- Strada, Famiano, 1572-1649 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Strada's Prolusiones
academicæ (1617) were published in numerous
editions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Joseph Addison adapted sections into
English prose for the Spectator and the Guardian. [MW]
- Stuart, Charles Edward—
- See Charles Edward, Prince, grandson of James II, King of England.
[MW]
- Strozzi, Giovan Battista, 1504-1571 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Member of the important Florentine family Strozzi and the elder of a
father and son of the same names, both of whom were prolific authors of
madrigals. [MW]
- Sulla, Lucius Cornelius [n.d.] (Library of
Congress Name Authority); 138-78 B.C. (Encyclopedia Britannica)—
- Dictator of Rome. [MW]
- Sully, Maximilien de Béthune, duc de,
1559-1641 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- French statesman and financial minister to Henry IV of France. [MW]
- Sunderland, Dorothy Sidney, Countess of,
1617-1684 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Woman of letters known for her beauty, wit, and charm. Poet Edmund Waller addressed poems to her
under the name "Sacharissa" (from the Latin word "sacharum," meaning
"sugar"). In 1635, Dorothy rejected Waller's marriage proposal, and
she soon married Henry Spencer at Penhurst. Spencer was killed during
the English Civil War, and Dorothy remarried with Sir Robert Smythe
nearly a decade later. [LD]
- Sutton, Robert, Sir, 1671-1746 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Diplomat Robert Sutton married Judith, née Tichborne, Countess of Sunderland (Sutton, Judith,
ca. 1702-1749 [Library of Congress Name Authority]), with whom he had a
daughter, Miss Isabella Sutton. [MW]
- Swift, Jonathan, 1667-1745 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A prolific poet, satirist, and political pamphleteer, Swift began
his career in satirical fiction with A
Tale of a Tub (1704). His most famous work is Travels into Several Remote Nations of
the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon,
and Then a Captain of Several Ships (1726).
A Modest Proposal for Preventing
the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to Their
Parents, or the Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the
Publick (1729) is his best remembered non-fiction
satire. He collaborated with Joseph
Addison and Richard Steele
on the Tatler, publishing
essays both there and independently in the character of "Isaac Bickerstaff," a penname
he sometimes shared with his collaborators. Swift's Examiner is one of the
three or four most important early eighteenth-century essay periodicals,
a genre best exemplified by Addison's Spectator. Referring to his Dublin origins,
he is sometimes called "the Irish dean." [MW]
- Sylvester, Josuah, 1563-1618 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet and translator, best remembered for his translation of
the popular biblical epic Divine Weekes
and Workes by Guillaume du Bartas, a French
protestant. [LD]
- Tacitus, Cornelius, ca. 55-ca. 120 A.D. (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- One of the most respected among Roman historians and politicians.
[MW]
- Shrewsbury, Anna Maria Brudenell Talbot, Countess
of, 1642-1702 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Wife of Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of
Shrewsbury, and mistress of George
Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham,
Henry Jermyn, 1st Baron Dover, Colonel Thomas
Howard. After Francis Talbot died in duel with George Villiers, Anna moved
into the home of Villiers and his wife and gave birth to Villiers'
illegitimate son. After the affair was broken off in 1673, Anna's
child went to her parents, and she lived in a convent in France. She
returned to England in 1677 and remarried with George Rodney Brydges, MP
for Haslemere and Winchester. [LD]
- Talbot, Catherine, 1721-1770 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Noted eighteenth-century bluestocking, author, and scholar Catherine
Talbot declined to publish any but a very few of her writings during her
lifetime. They were edited by her friend Elizabeth Carter as The Works
of the Late Mrs. Catherine Talbot (1780). On her
father's early death she was adopted by her father's friend,
Thomas Secker, later Archbishop of
Canterbury. [MW]
- Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot, Duke of, 1660-1718
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- English Whig politician who served as Chief Minister of Great
Britain, Lord High Treasurer, Lord Chamberlain, Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland, Secretary of State for the Southern Department, and Secretary
of State for the Northern Department. Talbot was part of the Immortal
Seven group which sent for William of Orange to depose King James II during the
Glorious Revoluation of 1688. [LD]
- Timur, 1336-1405 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Known as "Tamerlane" in English, Timur Lenk was a Turco-Mongul
conqueror and founder of the Timurid Empire around modern-day Iran,
Afghanistan, and central Asia. Timur is remembered for his military
prowess as well as the barbarity of his conquests. His life has been
memorialized in numerous plays, operas, films, and poems, perhaps most
notably in Nicholas Rowe's Tamerlane (1701), Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great, Parts I and
II (1563-1594), Edgar Allan Poe's
"Tamerlane" (1827), Antonio Vivaldi's Bajazet (1735), and George Frideric Handel's Tamerlano (1724). [LD].
- Tasso, Torquato, 1544-1595 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- The Italian poet whose La
Gierusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered) dates from 1581 also
garnered much sympathy among later readers for his long confinement to a
mental asylum. Rinaldo
(1562), his first publication, is an epic poem. Aminta, written in 1573 and published in
1591, and Torrismondo
(1586) are dramas. His shorter poems include many odes and love sonnets.
He authored criticism as well, especially Discorsi dell'arte poetica (1587) and
Discorsi del poema
erico(1594). [MW]
- Tate, Nahum, 1652-1715 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Playwright and librettist known more for adaptations than for
original compositions, he became poet laureate in 1692. [MW]
- Taylor, Emily, 1795-1872 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Emily Taylor was born into a family of notable Unitarians including
an uncle, the hymnist John Taylor of Norwich and a great-grandfather, Dr
John Taylor, a Hebrew scholar. Her brother, the solicitor Edgar Taylor
(1793-1839), was an author and translator especially noted for his
rendering of work by the Brothers Grimm. Scarlet fever at age 7 left
Emily Taylor partially deaf. Despite this obstacle, she operated a
school, assisted by Sarah Ann Glover (1786-1867), a musical theorist
with notable work in a cappella singing. The school was successful, and
several of its students attained a reputation in music and music theory.
Taylor is best remembered as a hymnist, and her hymns were well known
throughout the 19th century. She also authored numerous children's
books and was a leading contributor to the Monrhly Repository, authoring devotional
verse, reviews, and short prose pieces on religious subjects. She left
the Monthly Repository soon
after it was fully taken over in 1831 by William James Fox (1786-1864),
who transitioned the periodical toward a more secular direction.
Taylor's publications include Letters to a Child on the Subject of Maritime
Discovery (1820); Letters to a Very Little Girl (1821); Frank and George; or, The Prison
Friends (1823); The
Vision of Las Casas, and Other Poems (1825); Poetical Illustrations of Passages of
Scripture (1826); Sabbath Recreations; or Select Poetry, of a Religious
Kind (1829); Tales
of the Saxons (1832); Tales of the English: William de Albini, of Buckenham
Castle (1833); A
Memoir of Sir Thomas More (1834); Tales of the English. The
Knevets (1835); The
Boy and the Birds (1835); Old Testament Biography (1837); Help to the Schoolmistress, or Village
Teaching (1839); The Ball I Live On, or, Sketches of the
Earth (1839); The Irish
Tourist; or, Tales of the People and the Provinces of
Ireland (1837); England and Its People; or, A Familiar History, for
Young Persons (1845); Conversations with the Birds (1850); Chronicles of an Old English Oak, or,
Sketches of English Life and History: As Reported by Those Who
Listened to Them (1860); Flowers and Fruit Gathered by Loving Hands from Old
English Gardens (1864); Dear Charlotte's Boys: And Other Stories
(1864); and Memories of Some
Contemporary Poets: with Selections from Their
Writings (1868). [MW]
- Taylor, Jeremy, 1613-1667 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Author of The Great
Exemplar (1649) and Cases of Conscience (1671). [VW]
- Telemachus—
- In Homer's The Odyssey, the son of Odysseus. [MW]
- Teniers, David, 1610-1690 (Library of Congress Name
Authority);—
- Teniers was the most famous in a family of celebrated Flemish
painters that included his father, David Teniers the Elder (1582–1649),
himself, David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690), his son, David Teniers
III (1638–1685), and a much less well known grandson, David Teniers IV.
Teniers the Younger specialized in depictions, often comic, of Flemish
peasantry. He was related by marriage to the Bruegel family of painters.
[RD] and [MW]
- Terence (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Roman-African dramatist living from roughly 195-159 B.C.E. The
senator Terentius Lucanus brought Terence to Rome as a slave, later
providing the latter an education as well as his freedom. Terence's
comedies formed the foundation of what would become the modern comedy of
manners, and his works have been imitated by many famous playwrights,
most notably William
Shakespeare. [LD]
- Terrasson, Jean, 1670-1750 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- The Abbé Terrasson's Sethos (1731) fictitiously purports to
recount incidents in the life of an ancient Egyptian as translated from
a Greek manuscript. It served as the source for much of the material on
Freemasonry for Mozart's The Magic
Flute (1791). [MW]
- Thalaba—
- Character in Robert Southey's
Thalaba the Destroyer
(1801). [MW]
- Theobald, Mr. (Lewis), 1688-1744 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An English author and editor, Theobald was the first Shakespearean
scholar to study the plays with the respect that had until then been
reserved for classical works. [LD]
- Theophrastus (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Also known as Theophrastus of Eresus. He was a peripatetic
philosopher who studied in Athens as a pupil of Alcippus; he may have
studied with Plato and probably had contact
with Aristotle. After Aristotle's death, he became the head of the
peripatetic school in Athens. [RD]
- Thicknesse, Ann, 1737-1824 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Née Ann Ford, Mrs. Thicknesse was an Engish instrumentalist and
singer who attained professional standing. She was the third wife of
Philip Thicknesse. Her The School for Fashion
(1800) is a roman a clef that includes
easily discernable portraits of many well-known figures of her day.
[JDP] [MW]
- Thicknesse, Philip, 1719-1792 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Primarily a travel writer, Thicknesse had an early career as a
military officer during a Maroon rebellion in Jamaica. After the deaths
of his first two wives, he married the singer Ann Ford, thereafter known as Ann
Thicknesse. [JDP]
- Tobin, John, 1770-1804—
- Tobin wrote plays for many years and struggled to get them produced.
His most famous play, The Honey
Moon (1805), was his first to be accepted. However,
he died soon after and did not get to see The Honey Moon debut. Tobin was known for
taking plots from other plays for his own, and he became more well-known
posthumously, having his previously-rejected plays reevaluated and
staged.[GR]
- Thomas, à Becket, Saint, 1118?-1170
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his assasination in 1170 in
Canterbury Cathedral on the orders of King Henry II. Soon after his
death, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III and is venerated as a
saint and martyr by both the Catholic and Anglican Churches. His shrine
at Canterbury is the object of the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. [JDP]
- Thompson, Benjamin, 1776?-1816 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Benjamin Thompson was an English dramatist. He saw little success
with his original works, but successfully translated many plays,
including The Stranger
(1798) by August von Kotzebue. [GR]
- Thomson, James, 1700-1748 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Scottish poet James Thomson's nature and landscape poem The Seasons (1730) was much
revered by his contemporaries and influenced Romantic period poetic
depiction of nature. Thomson published several republican political
poems, including the unsuccessful Liberty (1735-1736). Other works include
The Castle of Indolence
(1748), a Spenserian allegory ; and
five dramatic tragedies: The Tragedy of
Sophonisba (1730), Agamemnon (1738); Edward and Eleonora (1739), Tancred and Sigismunda
(1745), and Coriolanus
(1749). [MW]
- Tibullus (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Albius Tibullus is a first century BCE Latin poet and elegist. The
Library of Congress lists his birth date between 60 and 50 BC; death
date between 19 and 17 BC. [MW]
- Tickell, Thomas, 1686-1740 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet, translator, friend of Joseph
Addison, and occasional contributor of essays on pastoral
poetry to the Guardian,
Tickell was also connected by marriage to Lady Echlin's circle. Tickell's elegy on Addison
was thought by many of his contemporaries to be one of the finest in the
language. [MW]
- Tighe, Mary, 1772-1810 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A well-educated Irish poet known for Psyche;
or the Legend of Love (1805), a rewrite of the legend of Psyche
and Eros which reverses the male's objectification of the female.
Psyche was successful and recieved
tributes from Felicia
Hemans and Thomas
Moore.[VS] and [MW]
- Titian, approximately 1488-1576 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Tiziano Vecellio, commonly known as "Titian," is considered
to be the greatest Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. A
phenomenally versatile painter, Titian's artistic methods
influenced generations of Western artists. [LD]
- Tolomei, Claudio, 1492-1555 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Italian linguist and poet. His Il
Polito was published in 1525, Versi et regole de la nuova poesia
toscana in 1539, and Il Cesano in 1555. De le lettere di M. Claudio Tolomei lib.
sette appeared in 1547. [MW]
- Tourneur, Cyril, 1575?-1626 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English soldier, diplomat, and playwright, best known for his work
The Atheist's
Tragedy. The play reflects the conventions of medieval
morality plays, using macabre imagery to highlight its Protestant
themes. [LD]
- Turberville, George, 1540?-1610? (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet who popularized the Elizabethan practice of publishing
verses to his lady. Multiple of Turberville's collections are
addressed to his lady, the Countess of Warwick. [LD]
- Turpin, Archbishop of Reims, fl. 748 or
9-753 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Said to be a peer of Charlemagne,
Turpin appears in La Chanson de
Roland. [MW]
- Tusser, Thomas, 1524?-1580 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A farmer and writer on agricultural methods, Tusser first published
A Hundreth Good Pointes of
Husbandrie in 1557, then repeatedly expanded it to
become Fiue Hundred Pointes of Good
Husbandrie by 1580. [MW]
- Udall, Nicholas, 1505-1556 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)
- English playwright, translator, and educator. Udall's Ralph Roister Doister is
considered to be the first known English comedy. [LD]
- Ulysses —
- Latin form of Odysseus. [MW]
- Upton, John, 1707-1760 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- English clergyman, critic, fellow of Oxford University, and early
editor of Spenser. Upton is best
remembered for his 1758 edition of Spenser's Faerie
Queene, the notes of which made connections between
the poem's plot and Spenser's life, as well as linked the characters in the poem
with historical figures. [LD]
- Urfé, Honoré d', 1567-1625
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- L'Astrée appeared
in installments between 1607 and 1627, and was translated into English
as Astrea (1657-1658).
Along with Calprènede and Scudéry, d'Urfé was
known for promoting literary and cultural aesthetics of delicate
refinement exalting chivalric virtues partly through long works of
romance fiction that constitute the most significant examples of the Roman de longue haleine, literally the
"long-winded novel." [MW]
- Vanbrugh, John, 1664-1726 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Both an architect and playwright, John Vanbrugh is best known for
designing Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. His comedies The Relapse (1696) and The Provoked Wife (1697) engendered much
controversy for their sexually explicit content. The Provoked Husband; or, A Journey to
London (1782) was completed by Colley Cibber from a stub begun by
Vanbrugh. [BDW]
- Vane, Frances Anne. Viscountess, 1713-1788
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Wife to the eccentric William Holles Vane (1713-1789), 2nd Viscount
Vane. She was known for her many marital infidelities. Her Memoirs of a Lady of Quality
were included in Tobias
Smollet's novel The
Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751). [VW]
- Vaux, Thomas Vaux, Baron, 1510-1556 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English essayist, novelist, dramatist, and poet of the Tudor era,
strongly associated with Sir Thomas
Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey.
[LD]
- Ventidius Bassus, Publius, active 1st century B.C.
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Roman general and politician, a favorite of Julius Caesar, and later, an ally of
Mark Antony. [LD]
- Venus—
- Roman goddess of love. [MW]
- Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of,
1592-1628 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- An English statesman, courtier, patron of the arts, and favorite of
King James I, George
Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham, was an extremely influential and
unpopular political figure whose aggressive and capricious foreign
policies contributed to the eruption of the English Civil War. [LD]
- Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of,
1628-1687 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet and statesman, son of George Villiers, 1st Duke of
Buckingham, brought up in the household of Charles I alongside Charles II and James II. Villiers fought
alongside the future Charles
II for the royalist effort during the English Civil War,
subsequently accompanying Charles into a period of exile prior to the Restoration.
Villiers' life ended in poor health and depleted finances, with an
embellished image of his end presented by Alexander Pope. His most notable works include The Rehearsal (1671), a
satire on Dryden's Conquest of Granada, and
his adaptation of Beaumont and Fletcher's The Chances (1682). [LD]
- Viola—
- The protagonist of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night,"
(1601-1602?) producing all of the momentum within the play. After being
shipwrecked on the shores of Illyria and separated from her twin
brother, Sebastian, Viola disguises herself as a eunuch named Cesario so
she may serve the Duke Orsino. Viola falls in love with the Duke,
although he is in love with the Countess
Olivia, who, in turn, falls in love with Cesario. When
Sebastian arrives in Illyria, he and Olivia
marry, as she believes him to be Cesario. When Viola's identity is
subsequently revealed, Duke Orsino decides to make her his wife. [LD] [MW]
- Virgil [n.d.] (Library of Congress Name Authority);
70-19 B.C. (Encyclopedia
Britannica)—
- Roman poet whose rich and complex Eclogues (c. 37 B.C.) and Georgics (29 B.C.) provided
the model for poetry about rural life to subsequent ages. His Aeneid (written c. 29-19
B.C.), an epic poem on the founding of the city of Rome that centers on
the story of the hero Aeneas, was incomplete at the time of his death.
[MW]
- Visconti—
- The Visconti family ruled Milan from the late thirteenth to the
mid-fifteenth century.
- Vitriarius, Johann Jakob, 1679-1745 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Notable lawyer and professor of law at Heidelberg University and
Leyden University. [RD]
- Voiture, Monsieur de (Vincent), 1597-1648 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- French court and occasional poet, Voiture was admired for the
letters and poems he circulated among a fashionable literary coterie.
[MW]
- Voltaire, 1694-1778 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- French author of a voluminous body of poetry, criticism, history,
and drama, Voltaire was probably best known for his comic yet
philosophical fiction. Among his most notable works, his first dramatic
tragedy, Oedipe (1718), was
a tremendous success. His epic poem La
Henriade (1723) celebrates the life of Henry IV of
France. Zaire (1732) is a
tragic love drama. Letters Concerning
the English Nation (1733) offers a comparison
between England and France that is favorable to England particularly for
its religious tolerance. Le Siècle
de Louis
XIV (1751) celebrates the humanistic achievements
during the era of that monarch's reign. Le Monde Comme Il Va, Vision De Babouc
(1748) and Candide; ou,
L'optimisme (1759) satirize overly naïve
optimism. L'Ingénu (1767) offers social satire
through a depiction of innocent simplicity in the "noble
savage" vein. [MW]
- Wace, ca. 110 0-ca. 1175 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Author of the Brut
d'Angleterre (Le Roman de Brut, 1155). [MW]
- Wächter, Leonhard, 1762-1837 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- German writer who often published under the pseudonymn Viet Weber.
Among other works published under that name, he published Teufelsbeschwörung,
which was translated into English as
The Sorcerer and published in 1795 by Joseph Johnson. [MW]
- Wallace, William, Sir, 1272(?)-1305 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Leader in the Wars of Scottish Independence, Wallace became
Scotland's greatest national hero and the subject for several
literary works as well as the film biography Braveheart. [VW]
- Waller, Edmund, 1606-1687 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet and notable legislator, Waller
authored a variety of coterie verse, including "The Story of
Phoebus and Daphne, Applied"
(1645). [MW]
- Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Son of British Prime Minister Robert
Walpole, Horace Walpole was a prolific letter writer,
memoirist, poet, dramatist, novelist, antiquarian, and critic. He is
best known for inaugurating the Gothic novel with The Castle of Otranto
(1764), a tale of aristocratic decadence, incest, and the supernatural.
He privately printed and circulated among his acquaintances copies of a
second gothic work, The Mysterious
Mother (1768), this time a blank verse tragedy on
the theme of Catholicism and incest. His biographical account of Roger Boyle appears in A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble
Authors of England, With Lists of Their Works
(1758). Walpole's other works include Anecdotes of Painting, enlarged from
Vertue (1762) and An Essay on modern Gardening (1780). Walpole is
also well known for his "little jeu d'esprit" with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. One of
Walpole's publically circulated letters to David Hume openly mocked what Walpole percieved to be Rousseau's self-important
nature. The letter offered a spurious invitation to Potsdam from the
King of Prussia to Rousseau.
The letter caused quite a stir among British and French high society.
Walpole succeeded as the fourth Earl of Orford in 1791 on the death of
his nephew George Walpole, the third Earl of Orford. [MW]
- Walpole, Robert, Earl of Orford, 1676-1745
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Father of Horace Walpole, British
Prime Minister from 1721 to 1742, and the author of Bob—Lynn against Franck—Lynn,
or, A full history of the controversies and dissentions in the
family of the Lynn's (1732). Incensed by 's theatrical satires of his
administration, Walpole was responsible for the passing of The Licensing
Act of 1737, which granted the Lord Chamberlain's office the
responsibility of theatrical censorship, whether by the modification or
outright veto of a play. [LD] [RD] [VW] [MW]
- Warburton, William, 1698-1779 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Eventually to become Bishop of Gloucester, Warburton entered the
clergy largely to pursue his interest in literature. Controversial as
both a theologian and critic, he held a collaborative view of literary
creation, particularly evident in his friendship with Alexander Pope. Warburton's
edition of the works of Shakespeare is an early landmark in the body of the criticism
that brought Shakespeare to the
apex of the British literary canon. [MW]
- Warner, William, 1558?-1609 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- William Warner is best remembered for his verse chronicle entitled
Albion's England
and his romance novel Pan, His
Syrinx, both drawing on British history and
Elizabethan England. [VS]
- Warton, Joseph, 1722-1800 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Poet, critic, literary editor, and brother to Thomas Warton. His major poetic works
include Fashion: An Epistolary Satire to
a Friend (1742), The Enthusiast; or, the Lover of Nature
(1744), Odes on Various
Subjects (1746), Ranelagh House: A Satire (1747), and An Ode, Occasioned by Reading Mr.
West's Translation of Pindar (1749). An Essay on the Writings and Genius of
Pope was
published in 1756, then revised as An
Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope (1762), with additional revised
editions thereafter. [MW]
- Warton, Thomas, 1728-1790 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Also a poet and critic, Thomas Warton, brother to Joseph Warton, is best remembered as a
literary historian, particularly for The
History of English Poetry, from the Close of the Eleventh to the
Commencement of the Eighteenth Century (1774-1781).
His poem The Triumph of Isis: A Poem.
Occasioned by Isis: An Elegy appeared in 1750.
Warton's sister Jane appears to have been a critic as well,
assisting him with some of his work. [MW]
- Waters, Mary A., 1954- (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Project editor.
- Watts, Isaac, 1674-1748 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Clergyman, theologian, and poet, Watts was interested in the
application of Lockean theories of sensation to theological questions.
His hymns, the genre for which he is best known, established the form
for subsequent generations. [MW]
- Weber, Viet—
- Pseudonym of Leonhard Wächter. See Wächter. [MW]
- Webster, John, 1580?-1625? (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Jacobean dramatist and contemporary of Shakespeare. Webster's
tragedies The White Devil
and The Duchess of Malfi
are regarded as the principal plays of the seventeenth century, aside
from those of Shakespeare. [LD]
- West, Mrs. (Jane), 1758-1852 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- The works of novelist, poet, and conduct book author Jane West
(1758-1832), including the novel A
Gossip's Story (1796), tended toward
conservative didacticism. [MW]
- Westcombe, Sarah (or Wescomb), later Mrs. John
Scudamore—
- Not a formally adopted daughter of Samuel Richardson, but a close correspondent. She married
John Scudamore of Kentchurch, Herefordshire. [MW]
- The
Westminster Review
- Founded in 1823 by Jeremy Bentham, the Westminster Review continued publication
until 1914, becoming one of nineteenth-century Britain's great
literary reviews. [MW]
- Whalley, Peter, 1722-1791 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English clergyman, schoolmaster, antiquary, and editor. Whalley
edited the work of such authors as Ben
Jonson and John Bridges. His original works include An Essay on the Manner of Writing
History, An Enquiry
into the Learning of Shakespeare, and Vindication of the Evidences and
Authenticity of the Gospels from the Objections of the late Lord
Bolingbroke. [LD]
- Wharton, Philip Wharton, Duke of, 1698-1731
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Politically controversial and personally profligate politician who
flaunted his Jacobite sympathies. He published the True Briton from 1723 to
1724 with Samuel Richardson as
printer. Some believe that Wharton served as Richardson's model for
the character Lovelace in Clarissa. [MW]
- Wharton, Thomas, first marquess of Wharton,
1648-1715 (Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography)—
- Father to Philip, Duke of Wharton. After a rather colorful youth,
Thomas Wharton rose to political influence in the Protestant regime
installed through the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He became lord
lieutenant of Ireland in 1688 and appointed Joseph Addison as his secretary. [MW]
- Whetstone, George, 1544?-1587? (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- English dramatist and author whose The Right, Excellent and Famous Historye of Promos and
Cassandra (1578) inspired Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
[LD]
- Whitehead, Charles, 1804-1862 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- An English poet and novelist, Charles Whitehead published The Solitary in 1831.
Whitehead additionally published novels such as Richard Savage in 1842 and left a drama
entitled The Spanish
Marriage unfinished at his death in 1862. [VS]
- Whitehead, Paul, 1710-1774 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A poet and satirist, Whitehead authored humorous poetry and commented
on political issues of his time. His work State Dunces (1733) was an immitaion of
Alexander Pope's The Dunciad (1728). [BDW] [LD]
- Whitehead, William, 1715-1785 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- William Whitehead was Poet Laureate of England from 1757 until his
death. A dramatist, one of his most popular plays was the tragedy The Roman Father (1750).
[GR]
- Wieland, Christoph Martin, 1733-1813
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Geschichte des Agathon
(1776-7, expanded in 1773 and 1794) is Wieland's fictionalized
autobiography. Wieland's novel Geheime Geschichte des Philosophen Peregrinus
Proteus (1791) examines fanaticism over scientific
and philosophical developments. [MW]
- Wife of Bath (Fictitious character) (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A character and the eponymous narrator of "The Wife of
Bath's Tale." in Geoffrey
Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales, [JDP]
- Wilde, John—
- Samuel Richardson's master
during his apprenticeship from 1706-1713, and the father of
Richardson's first wife, Martha. Wilde's son Allington remained Richardson's
lifelong friend. [MW]
- Wilkes, John, 1725-1797 (Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- A political leader and reformer, Wilkes was elected to parliment in
1757. He began to publish an anti-Tory weekly, the North Briton, in 1762. [VW]
- Wilkie, David, Sir, 1785-1841 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A Scottish painter, Wilkie is best known for his genre paintings.
[VW]
- Wilks, Robert, 1665-1732 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Popular as an actor, Wilks was also one of the managers of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane during the early
eighteenth century. [BDW]
- William I, King of England, 1027 or
1028-1087 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Known as "William the Conqueror," William I was the first
Norman monarch of England, serving as Duke of Normandy before rising to
the throne of England in 1066. Due to his illegitimacy as the son of a
concubine, William faced massive challenge to his power. William came to
rule England through the Battle of Hastings in 1066, in which his army
of Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxon forces. As King of England, William
struggled to secure and maintain his power in England and the continent.
[LD]
- William III, King of England,
1650-1702 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Known as William of Orange, this Protestant Dutch prince deposed his
father-in-law James II and
ascended to the British throne in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. His
marriage to James's protestant
daughter Mary helped
legitimate his rule. [MW]
- Williams, Lady Betty—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's The History of
Sir Charles Grandison (1754). [RD]
- Williams, Helen Maria, 1762-1827 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- English poet, novelist, translator, salonnière, radical social
critic, and proponent of such causes as the French Revolution and
abolitionism. A first-hand witness to much of the French Revolution,
Williams published her account of events in a series of letters
beginning with Letters Written in France
in the Summer of 1790 (1790), followed by four more
volumes of Letters from
France (1792-1796). Other works of note include Edwin and Eltruda: a Legendary
Tale (1782), An Ode
on the Peace (1783), Peru (1784), Collected Poems (1786), her Poem on the Slave Bill
(1788), Julia (1790),
another collected volume of Poems in 1791, A Tour of Switzerland (1798), Perourou, the
Bellows-Mender (1801), Sketches of the State of Manners and Opinions in the
French Republic (1801), Narrative of the Events which have Taken Place in France
from the Landing of Napoleon Bonaparte ... to the Restoration of
Louis XVIII (1815), Letters on the Events which have Passed in France since
the Restoration (1819), and Poems on Various Subjects
(1823). Although she was imprisoned in Paris during the Reign of Terror,
Williams spent much of her life in France. [LD]
[MW]
- Williams, Mr.—
- Character in Samuel
Richardson's Pamela (1740-1). [MW]
- Wilmot, John—
- See Rochester, John Wilmot, Earl
of. [MW]
- Wilson, Harriette, 1786-1846 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- A London Regency courtesan
and author of the scandalous Memoirs of
Harriette Wilson, written by herself (1825), as
well as two novels, Paris Lions and
London Tigers (1825) and Clara Gazul (1830). [JDP]
- Wilson, Thomas, 1663-1755 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- Bishop of Sodor and Man before Mark
Hildesley, Wilson began a translation of the bible into the
local dialect that Hildesley later completed. [MW]
- Wither, George, 1588-1667 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- An English poet, pamphleteer, satirist, and hymnist, also referred
to as Withers or Wyther. His Abuses
Stript and Whipt (1613) earned him a jail term (not
to be his last). Other works include A
Satyre: Dedicated to His Most Excellent Majestie
(1614); The Shepheard's
Hunting; Fidelia (1617); a song, "Shall
I, wasting in despair" (1615), reprinted in Percy's Reliques (1765); Motto (1621); Faire-Virtue, the Mistresse of
Phil'Arete (1622); and, over the next four and a
half decades, a large body of religious, topical, and political verse as
well as numerous political pamphlets. [JDP]
[MW]
- Woffington, Margaret, -1760 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Irish actress and socialite professionally known as "Peg Woffington."
Woffington became famous for her masculine roles, such as that of Sir
Harry Wildair in George Farquhar's
The Constant Couple
(1699). [LD]
- Wollstonecraft, Mary, 1759-1797 (Library
of Congress Name Authority)—
- Wife of radical author William
Godwin and mother of novelist Mary
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft was a versatile professional
writer who attained fame for her radical ideas through her two political
treatises, A Vindication of the Rights
of Men (1790), which responded to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in
France, and A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), her most
famous publication and one of the greatest landmarks in the history of
writing about women. Wollstonecraft's first publication was an
educational treatise, Thoughts on the
Education of Daughters (1787), which was published
by radical London bookseller Joseph
Johnson, for whose publishing business Wollstonecraft worked
as a writer, translator, and editor for a number of years.
Wollstonecraft's fiction includes Mary, A
Fiction (1788), Original Stories, from Real Life (1788),
and the incomplete Maria; or, The Wrongs
of Woman (1798), published posthumously. Her
conduct book, The Female Reader;
Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose and Verse; Selected from the Best
Writers and Disposed under Proper Heads; For the Improvement of
Young Women., appeared under the pseudonym Mr.
Cresswick, teacher of Elocution (London, 1789) An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress
of the French Revolution (1794) was the fruit of
Wollstonecraft's residence in France during the Revolution. Letters Written During a Short Residence
in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796) compiled her
correspondence with her lover, the American Gilbert Imlay, for whom she
traveled to Scandinavia as a business emissary. "On Artificial
Taste," an essay that appeared in the Monthly Magazine (April 1797), was revised,
probably by William Godwin, for
republication as "On Poetry" in Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the
Rights of Woman (1798). Wollstonecraft also
produced at least one additional fictional sketch, translations of texts
from French, Dutch, and German, a few adaptations, and a large body of
reviews for Joseph Johnson's Analytical Review. [MW]
- Wolsey, Thomas, 1475?-1530 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English Archbishop and Catholic clergyman. Wolsey became almoner for
King Henry VIII in 1509,
and eventually was appointed cardinal by Pope Leo X in 1515. Wolsey
attained the position of Lord Chancellor, the chief adviser to the king,
becoming an incredibly influential political figure. Wolsey was stripped
of his government titles after failing to attain an annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. [LD]
- Woodburn, Bernadette D.
- Student contributor.
- Woodward, Henry, 1714-1777 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- English actor among the most famous comedians of his time. [LD]
- Wordsworth, Dorothy, 1771-1855 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Sister to poet William
Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth is best known for her journals,
especially those from her time at Grasmere and Alfoxden. She and William resided together after
1795, and she became an important part of the creative community that
included Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
Robert Southey and others. In
addition to her journals, she authored a number of poems, a travel diary
of a tour of Scotland, and an account of a Grasmere couple who died in a
snowstorm, leaving eight orphan children. With the exception of three
poems that appear in Poems by William
Wordsworth: Including Lyrical Ballads, and the Miscellaneous
Pieces of the Author (1815), none of these works
were published in Dorothy Wordsworth’s lifetime. [MW]
- Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Wordsworth's most famous publication is Lyrical Ballads (with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1798;
repeatedly revised and expanded, including its famous Preface, added in
1800 and expanded thereafter). Some of his other more important poetic
works include An Evening
Walk (1793), Descriptive Sketches (1793), Poems, in two Volumes
(1807), The Excursion,
which was to be a portion of the never-completed The Recluse (1888), and
which included "The Ruined Cottage," Poems (1815), The White Doe of Rylstone
(1815), Peter Bell (1819),
Yarrow Revisited
(1835), Poems, Chiefly of Early and Late
Years (1842), which included a tragic drama that
was not staged in Wordsworth's lifetime, and The Prelude, Or Growth of a Poet's
Mind (1850, posthumous), which was substantially
complete by 1805, but which Wordsworth continued to work on until his
death. [MW]
- Wroth, Mary, Lady, ca. 1586-ca. 1640 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Niece of Sir Philip Sidney and
Mary Herbert, Countess of
Pembroke, Wroth authored, among other works, The Countesse of Mountgomeries
Urania (1621) and a sonnet sequence, Pamphilia to Amphilanthus,
which was printed at the end of Urania. [MW]
- Wyatt, Thomas, Sir, 1503?-1542 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Poet and member of Henry
VIII's court circle, Sir Thomas is credited with
introducing the Italian sonnet and terza rima into English literature,
along with the French rondeau. [LD]
- Wycherley, William, 1640-1716 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Playwright who wrote four popular plays in his lifetime: the
Love in a Wood
(1671), the Gentleman
Dancing-Master (1672), the Country Wife (1675), and the
Plain Dealer
(1676). [RD]
- Wynn, Victoria—
- Student contributor.
- Xenophon [n.d.} (Library of Congress Name
Authority); 431-c. 350 B.C. (Encyclopedia Britannica—
- Greek historian. A devotee of Socrates,
he authored several laudatory works about him. [MW]
- Xerxes I, King of Persia, 519 B.C.-465 B.C. or 464
B.C. (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- Persian king from 486 to 465 BCE. In revenge for the humiliation of
his father, Darius I, at Marathon, Xerxes attacked Greece and briefly
occupied Athens, which he sacked and pillaged. [VS] and [MW]
- Yates, Mrs. (Mary Ann), 1728-1784 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Popular English actress who succeeded Susannah Cibber as the country's leading tragedienne.
[LD]
- Young, Edward, 1683-1765 (Library of Congress
Name Authority)—
- A versatile poet, Young is best remembered for his Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, &
Immortality (1742-1746), which attained phenomenal
popularity and went through hundreds of printings over the century
following its publication. His satires were published as The Universal Passion
(1725-1728) and revised as a single volume, Love of Fame, the Universal Passion (1728).
He also authored the tragedies Busiris (1719), The Revenge (1721), and The Brothers (1752) as well
as the poem Resignation
(1762). [MW]
- Zanotti, Francesco Maria, 1692-1777 (Library of
Congress Name Authority)—
- Scientific author and Professor of Philosophy at the University of
Bologna, Zanotti also wrote on literature. [MW}
- Zeus (Greek deity)(Library of Congress Name
Authority)—
- Zeus is the king of gods in the ancient Greek pantheon. He is often
considered equvalent to the Roman deity Jupiter. [MW]
- Zinzendorf, Nicolaus Ludwig, Graf von, 1700-1760
(Library of Congress Name Authority)—
- German Moravian religious and social reformer, missionary to the
Americas, and prolific theological writer, Zinzendorf authored hymns,
poetry, philosophical treatises, and sermons. [MW]