This three-volume set brings together a diverse selection of essays by Sir Leslie Stephen (1832 1904), author, philosopher and literary critic. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, he was the founding editor of the Dictionary of National Biography and father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. He wrote critiques of many authors and works, which were published in periodicals such as the Cornhill Magazine (of which he was editor from 1871), Fraser's Magazine and the Fortnightly Review. The Second Series, first published in 1876, includes commentaries on the works of Sir Thomas Browne, Samuel...

George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale (1788 1824) is one of the central writers of British Romanticism and his 'Byronic' hero the charming, dashing, rebellious outsider remains a literary archetype. But to what extent is this character a portrayal of the author himself? Byron was known for his extremely unconventional, eccentric character and his extravagant and flamboyant lifestyle: Lady Caroline Lamb, one of his lovers, famously described him as 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'. This two-volume work, compiled by his friend Thomas Moore, to whom Byron had given his manuscript...

This 1902 book, originally intended for private circulation, is a memoir of George Smith (1824 1901), founder, proprietor and publisher of The Cornhill Magazine and later the Dictionary of National Biography. The small volume, compiled by Smith's wife, consists of a memoir of Smith by Sidney Lee, followed by four short autobiographical pieces that Smith wrote for The Cornhill. He recalls his years at the publishing house of Smith, Elder and Co.; his encounters with Charlotte Bronte, who stayed with the Smiths in London; his idea of founding a magazine; and the 'lawful pleasures' of court...

Leslie Stephen (1832 1904), the founding Editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, was one of the leading literary figures of the nineteenth century. Stephen, the father of artist Vanessa Bell and writer Virginia Woolf, began his career writing for London publications before being appointed Editor of The Cornhill Magazine in 1881. The magazine's proprietor approached him with the idea for the Dictionary, and the first volume appeared in 1885 to much acclaim but by 1889 Stephen had collapsed from overwork and finally stepped down from his editorial role in 1891. However, he continued to...

Valuable for the wealth of documentary evidence it contains, this two-volume work remains the authoritative biography of Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Valuable for the wealth of documentary evidence it contains, this two-volume work remains the authoritative biography of Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Drawing on his own papers and first published in 1799, this two-volume account traces the colourful life of the actor and playwright Charles Macklin (c.1699 1797). His long career serves as the focal point in a history of the eighteenth-century theatre and its most celebrated performers. Hailed for his enduring interpretation of Shakespeare's Shylock, a role he played for some fifty years, Macklin has been credited with the theatre's move towards realism. His life was just as dramatic offstage, marked as it was by a series of controversies and fierce rivalries. In 1735 he was convicted of the...

Drawing on his own papers and first published in 1799, this two-volume account traces the colourful life of the actor and playwright Charles Macklin (c.1699 1797). His long career serves as the focal point in a history of the eighteenth-century theatre and its most celebrated performers. Hailed for his enduring interpretation of Shakespeare's Shylock, a role he played for some fifty years, Macklin has been credited with the theatre's move towards realism. His life was just as dramatic offstage, marked as it was by a series of controversies and fierce rivalries. In 1735 he was convicted of the...

First published in 1908, this two-volume collection was prepared by journalist, critic and Bronte enthusiast Clement King Shorter (1857 1926), following the appearance of Charlotte Bronte and her Circle (1896) and Charlotte Bronte and her Sisters (1905). Building on the research of Elizabeth Gaskell, the volumes document through correspondence the remarkable lives and literary careers of Charlotte (1816 55), Emily (1818 48) and Anne (1820 49). The use of previously unpublished manuscripts and letters served to broaden significantly the scope of the work. Volume 2 covers the period 1848 55,...

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 4 contains Moore's diary for the period...