Thomas Carlyle (1795 1881) was one of the most influential authors of the nineteenth century, and his essays and historical biographies led to him being regarded for much of the Victorian period as a literary genius and eminent social philosopher. This two-volume work, published in 1881, is a collection of Carlyle's reminiscences, which were edited by his friend, the historian J. A. Froude (1818 94). In 1871, Carlyle had given Froude a collection of his own papers, including these sketches, and of those belonging to his deceased wife, Jane, to be edited and published after his death. Froude...

Throughout his professional life, the poet Thomas Moore (1779 1852) was variously celebrated and vilified for both his verse and his politics. Born in Dublin, he remained an ardent Irish patriot until his death. This eight-volume collection of Moore's memoirs, diaries and letters, edited by his friend Lord John Russell (1792 1878) and first published between 1853 and 1856, provides rare insights into a man whose genius was applauded by the Morning Chronicle as 'embracing almost all sides of imaginative literature, of criticism and philosophy'. Volume 8 opens with a portrait of Moore in later...

Throughout his professional life, the poet Thomas Moore (1779 1852) was variously celebrated and vilified for both his verse and his politics. Born in Dublin, he remained an ardent Irish patriot until his death. This eight-volume collection of Moore's memoirs, diaries and letters, edited by his friend Lord John Russell (1792 1878) and first published between 1853 and 1856, provides rare insights into a man whose genius was applauded by the Morning Chronicle as 'embracing almost all sides of imaginative literature, of criticism and philosophy'. Volume 1 contains Moore's incomplete memoir,...

The literary career of Anna Seward (1742 1809) had many frustrations. Erasmus Darwin once printed her poetry under his own name. Horace Walpole accused her of having 'no imagination'. And despite her evident talents, she was unable to find a patron willing to support a woman. Yet her letters reveal the breadth of her interests and the strength of her literary criticism. In addition to writing to newspapers and magazines, she counted many eminent figures among her correspondents, including James Boswell (who begged for a lock of her hair) and the young Walter Scott. This six-volume selection...

The most influential actor of his age, David Garrick (1717 79) shaped the London stage for over three decades as theatre manager at Drury Lane. He popularised a more natural style of acting, and did much to make Shakespeare the most revered English playwright. First published in 1780 and reissued here in the second edition of that year, this two-volume biography was written by Thomas Davies (c.1712 85). Samuel Johnson, a friend of the Garrick family, notably provided Davies with anecdotes and information on Garrick's early life. The work does not dwell on gossip or private life; it offers...

Following her advantageous second marriage, the famous beauty Marguerite, Countess of Blessington (1789 1849), presided over one of London's most glittering salons, variously attended by Thomas Moore, Disraeli, Bulwer Lytton, and Dickens. After her husband's death in 1829, she augmented her income by writing, most notably her Conversations with Lord Byron, which recounted her acquaintance with the poet in Genoa. Despite considerable success, her debt-ridden establishment collapsed in 1849 and Lady Blessington fled to Paris, where she died. This 1855 biography and letters, in three volumes was...

Following her advantageous second marriage, the famous beauty Marguerite, Countess of Blessington (1789 1849), presided over one of London's most glittering salons, variously attended by Thomas Moore, Disraeli, Bulwer Lytton, and Dickens. After her husband's death in 1829, she augmented her income by writing, most notably her Conversations with Lord Byron, which recounted her acquaintance with the poet in Genoa. Despite considerable success, her debt-ridden establishment collapsed in 1849 and Lady Blessington fled to Paris, where she died. This 1855 biography and letters, in three volumes was...

Following her advantageous second marriage, the famous beauty Marguerite, Countess of Blessington (1789 1849), presided over one of London's most glittering salons, variously attended by Thomas Moore, Disraeli, Bulwer Lytton, and Dickens. After her husband's death in 1829, she augmented her income by writing, most notably her Conversations with Lord Byron, which recounted her acquaintance with the poet in Genoa. Despite considerable success, her debt-ridden establishment collapsed in 1849 and Lady Blessington fled to Paris, where she died. This 1855 biography and letters, in three volumes was...

Highly educated and accustomed to intellectual society, the writer Hester Lynch Piozzi (1741 1821) became a close friend of Samuel Johnson through her first husband, the brewer Henry Thrale. Her second marriage, to the Italian musician Gabriel Mario Piozzi in 1784, estranged her from Johnson, but following his death she published her groundbreaking Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson, anticipating Boswell's biography. In addition to publishing essays, memoirs, poetry and travel diaries, she was one of the first women to produce works on philology and history. Edited by the essayist Abraham...

The English writer Robert Charles Dallas (1754 1824) was a relative by marriage of Lord Byron (1788 1824), with whom he maintained a 'frequent' correspondence between 1808 and 1814. As a friend and the editor of some of Byron's poems, Dallas had been entrusted with several of the poet's personal letters. First published in France in 1825, this book contains letters Byron wrote to his mother while travelling across Europe as a young man, his correspondence with Dallas, and Dallas' 1824 'Recollections' of the poet. It includes a long statement by Dallas's son, describing the disputes that arose...