Thomas Carlyle (1795 1881) was one of the most influential authors of the nineteenth century. His satirical essays and perceptive historical biographies caused him to be regarded for much of the Victorian period as a literary genius and eminent social philosopher. These volumes, first published in 1884, form the second part of Carlyle's official biography, describing his life and literary work after his move to London in 1834. Carlyle's fame and scholarly reputation were firmly established during this period of his life. Written by his close friend James Anthony Froude (1818 1894), this...

Thomas Carlyle (1795 1881) was one of the most influential authors of the nineteenth century. His satirical essays and perceptive historical biographies caused him to be regarded for much of the Victorian period as a literary genius and eminent social philosopher. These volumes, first published in 1882, form the first part of Carlyle's official biography, describing his early life and literary work in Scotland. Carlyle's early career was spent as a teacher and part-time writer before his move to London in 1834. Written by Carlyle's close friend James Anthony Froude (1818 1894), this candid...

Thomas Carlyle (1795 1881) was one of the most influential authors of the nineteenth century. His satirical essays and perceptive historical biographies caused him to be regarded for much of the Victorian period as a literary genius and eminent social philosopher. These volumes, first published in 1882, form the first part of Carlyle's official biography, describing his early life and literary work in Scotland. Carlyle's early career was spent as a teacher and part-time writer before his move to London in 1834. Written by Carlyle's close friend James Anthony Froude (1818 1894), this candid...

Wisbech in north Cambridgeshire was a wealthy port in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and was home to bankers, writers and influential social reformers including Thomas Clarkson. Its museum, founded in 1847, contains about six thousand books bequeathed by Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798 1868), a friend of Charles Dickens who shared Dickens' fascination with mesmerism and the occult. His library was typical of 'a gentleman of wealth and great culture' and contained works of fiction in several languages, non-fiction and science, many of which were rare and finely bound. Since 1877 the...

F. D. Maurice (1805 72), the widely published theologian and Christian socialist, served as both Professor of English Literature at King's College, London, and Professor of Moral Philosophy at Cambridge. He was a founding member of the Cambridge Apostles and later founded the Working Men's College in London. Most of Maurice's publications derive from his sermons and lectures. This book serves as an instructional guide to students of literature. The title is taken from the first lecture, in which Maurice argues that books 'help us in knowing ourselves the part of history of our land, the...

The great English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840 1928) worked with his second wife, Florence, on this account of his life. It was published under her name, in two separate volumes, after his death. Its origins are as fascinating as the man himself: written in the third person, it was compiled from Hardy's selections from his diaries, notebooks and letters, typed up by Florence and further edited by her after he died. The work provides an invaluable, if idiosyncratic, record of Hardy's life and complex, contradictory character. This is the second volume, published in 1930 and covering...

The great English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840 1928) worked with his second wife, Florence, on this account of his life. It was published under her name, in two separate volumes, after his death. Its origins are as fascinating as the man himself: written in the third person, it was compiled from Hardy's selections from his diaries, notebooks and letters, typed up by Florence and further edited by her after he died. The work provides an invaluable, if idiosyncratic, record of Hardy's life and complex, contradictory character. This is the first volume, published in 1928 and covering the...

A leading figure in Romanticism and a political campaigner committed to social reform, Lord Byron (1788 1824) is regarded as one of the greatest of British poets. First published in 1922, this two-volume work is a compilation of letters Byron wrote between 1808 and 1824 to some of his close friends, including Lady Melbourne, John Cam Hobhouse, a fellow-student at Cambridge, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The introduction and biographical notes by the publisher John Murray IV (1851 1928), grandson of Byron's own publisher John Murray II, supplement the letters and restore their narrative thread....

The biographer and novelist E. J. Trelawny (1792 1881) published Recollections in 1858. It is a memoir of the time Trelawny spent in the Mediterranean with the Romantic poets Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 1822) and Lord Byron (1788 1824) from 1822 until the early deaths of both poets. Trelawny's vivid and personal account quickly became popular, comfortably out-selling other biographies, and was republished in 1878 under the title Records of Shelley, Byron and the Author. The work, based on Trelawny's notes and correspondence, describes their expatriate lifestyle in Italy, Shelley's sudden...

Assembled in 1891 by Sir Sidney Colvin (1845 1927), this collection of John Keats' correspondence contains 164 letters written to the poet's family and friends during his short life. Colvin was at various times Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, and Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. He had a long-standing interest in Keats and eventually published a biography of the celebrated poet (also reissued in this series) in 1917. Among the letters included here are those written to Keats' publisher John Taylor, his sister Fanny Keats, his...