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Biography and Identification Glosses

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]
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. [JDP]
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 John Aikin and niece of Anna Letitia Barbauld, Lucy Aikin was a versatile and successful author of poetry, fiction, children’s literature, history, memoirs, biographies, correspondence, translations, adaptations, and edited collections. 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. Aikin's biographies stand out for the use of primary materials such as letters and journals, and her work often met with considerable success. [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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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, 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]
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]
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]
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]
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 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]
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]
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]
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]
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, Barbauld occasionally spells the name "Bradshaw." [MW]
Bradshaw, Lady—: Appears as an alternate spelling of Bradshaigh. [MW]
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)—: Brooke authored The Fool of Quality (1765-70), a novel of sensibility, and Gustavus Vasa, the Deliverer of His Country, a drama written in 1739 whose performance was forbidden because of its applicability to English politics in its time. [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]
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]
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] [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]
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]
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]
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]
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] [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] [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]
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]
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]
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]
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 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]
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.
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]
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]
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 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 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]
Chimene—: Character in Corneille's Le Cid. [MW]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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] [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]
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). [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). [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]
Congreve, William, 1670-1729 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—: English playwright and poet whose works include The Old Bachelor (1693), The Double Dealer (1693), and Love for Love (1695). [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]
Corneille, Pierre, 1606-1684 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—: Corneille's drama Le Cid (1637) was inspired by a twelfth century Spanish narrative. [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]
Coventry, Francis, 1725?-1759 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—
The History of Pompey the Little; or, The Life and Adventures of a Lap-Dog
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, 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]
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. Cumberland's Memoirs were published in 1806 and 1807. [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]
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]
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).
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]
Lady Davers—: Character in Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740-1). [MW]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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, 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 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]
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]
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]
Faulkner, George, 1699?-1775 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—: Important Dublin bookseller. [MW]
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]
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]
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, John, 1579-1625 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—: Playwright collaborator with Francis Beaumont and others, Fletcher also worked with Shakespeare on Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) and Henry VIII (1613?). [MW]
Fletcher, Lady—: See Lintot, Catherine. [MW]
Florian, 1755-1794 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—: Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian authored Galatée (1783) and Gonsalve de Cordoue (1791). [MW]
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]
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]
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]
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)—: The reputation of this eminent English historian rests mostly on his masterwork, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1788). [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]
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]
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]
Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—: British Whig Prime Minister from 1830-1834. [MW]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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. 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), 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 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. [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] [MW]
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 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]
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, 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]
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]
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 moderately successful playwright, theater manager, and essayist, Hill was one of Alexander Pope's targets in the Dunciad. [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] [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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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). Her most noteworthy theatrical pieces include her first play, A Mogul Tale (1784); I'll Tell You What! (1785); Such Things Are (1787), a piece exposing social ills and celebrating reformer John Howard; The Child of Nature (1788); Every One Has His Fault (1793); 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; and To Marry, or Not to Marry (1805). She arranged herself for the printing of her drama of the St. Bartholomew's day massacre of 1572, The Massacre (1792), but complied with friends' advice to suppress it for its potentially inflammatory parallels to the French revolution. [MW]
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]
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]
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]
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. 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. A few weeks short of her thirty-third birthday, Jewsbury died of cholera, cutting short a promising literary career. [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]
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)—: Author of 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]
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]
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]
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] [MW}
Kean, Edmund, 1787-1833 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—: A celebrated British Shakespearean actor. [MW]
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] [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] [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]
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)—: Her 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]
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. [LD]
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] [MW]
Laura—: The addressee of many love sonnets by the Italian author Petrarch. [KI] [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]
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]
Le Fevre, John—: Often mentioned friend of Samuel Richardson. [MW]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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] [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]
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]
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]
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]
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.
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. 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). [MW]
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] [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]
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]
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]
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]
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] [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]
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]
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]
Lady Olivia —: Character in Samuel Richardson's The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1754). [MW]
Olivia—: Character in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. [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]
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]
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]
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]
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, 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]
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]
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]
Philips, Ambrose, 1674-1749 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—: Playwright and poet who probably contributed to the Spectator. He was known primarily for his pastoral poems and for his play The Distrest Mother (1712). He established and authored much of the content of 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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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] [MW]
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]
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. [VW]
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, having been defeated in The Wars of the Roses by Henry Tudor, who 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]
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—: Character in Shakespeare's As You Like It. [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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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, 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]
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]
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]
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). [MW]
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] [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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Tacitus, Cornelius, ca. 55-ca. 120 A.D. (Library of Congress Name Authority)—: One of the most respected among Roman historians and politicians. [MW]
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]
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] [MW]
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]
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]
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]
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] [MW]
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]
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]
Ulysses —: Latin form of Odysseus. [MW]
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]
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]
Venus—: Roman goddess of love. [MW]
Viola—: Character in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or What You Will (1601-1602?). [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)—: The Sorcerer probably refers to Teufelsbeschwörung, by Viet Weber, Wächter's pseudonym. [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). [RD] [VW]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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 unifinished at his death in 1862. [VS]
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]
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. [MW]
Williams, Lady Betty—: Character in Samuel Richardson's The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1754). [RD]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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] [MW]
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]