Victorian Literature: Sixty Years of Books and BookmenShorter, Clement King
History
Victorian Literature: Sixty Years of Books and Bookmen
Shorter, Clement King
English literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism
Jefferies (1848-1887)= published his "Gamekeeper at Home" in the _Pall
Mall Gazette_. "Wood Magic" (1881), "Bevis" (1882), and "The Story of My
Heart" (1883), are his best books.
These names suggest a hundred others. The most honoured journalist of
to-day is =Frederick Greenwood (1830- )=, who has edited "The
Cornhill Magazine" and more than one newspaper. He has written poems,
stories, and essays, his "Lover's Lexicon" and "Dreams" being two of his
latest volumes.
Another editor of _The Cornhill Magazine_, =James Payn (1830- )=, has
written many successful novels, of which "Lost Sir Massingberd" (1864)
and "By Proxy" (1878) are perhaps the most popular. Mr Payn's many
accomplishments, his delightful humour and gift of genial anecdote, have
endeared him to a wide circle.
A journalist of equal distinction was =Richard Holt Hutton
(1826-1897)=, the editor of the _Spectator_, who in that journal
maintained for thirty-five years the high-water mark of dignified and
independent criticism, in an age in which the extensive intercourse of
authors and critics, the constant communication between the writers of
books and the writers for newspapers, has made independent criticism a
difficult, and, indeed, almost impossible achievement. Mr Hutton wrote
many books, two of the most notable being "Essays Literary and
Speculative," which were full of thoughtful and discerning estimates of
the works of Wordsworth, George Eliot, and other writers.
Memoirs abound in the epoch, although we are mainly indebted to
translations. Amiel's "Journal," translated by Mrs Humphry Ward, "Marie
Bashkirtseff's Diary," translated by Mathilde Blind, reflect one side of
this literary taste; while the thousand and one memoirs concerning
Napoleon I. represents another. The most popular series of political
memoirs in English we owed to =Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville
(1794-1865)=, who became Clerk to the Privy Council in 1821, and held
that post until 1860. After his death his diary was edited by Mr Henry
Reeve. The first series of the "Greville Memoirs" dealing with the reign
of George IV. and William IV., appeared in 1875 and created immense
excitement.[19] The later volumes excited less interest.
"The Life of the late Prince Consort" (1874) by =Sir Theodore Martin
(1816- )=, naturally contained no indiscretions although it did much to
enhance, if that were possible, kindly memories of the Queen's husband.
Sir Theodore Martin made his first fame under the pseudonym of Bon
Gaultier. His "Book of Ballads," written in conjunction with Professor
Aytoun, had much success. Sir Theodore Martin also wrote Aytoun's
"Memoir" (1867), and "The Life of Lord Lyndhurst" (1883). He has
translated the Odes of Horace, "The Vita Nuova" of Dante, Goethe's
"Faust," and Heine's "Poems and Ballads." In 1885 he published a "Sketch
of the Life of Princess Alice."
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