Oscar Fay Adams

“ Author of some 30 novels and tales, all bearing marks of genius and originality. He is widely read and admired, and his novels delight readers of all ages. His principal faults consist in elaborating and dwelling on the grotesque and unattractive side of humanity, and in overstraining the pathetic portions of his novels. Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby, Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and the Christmas Carol are among the best of his works. See Fields's Yesterdays with Authors, and Lives by Forster and Mackenzie. ”

“ A correct, polished poet whose verse lacks sentiment and feeling. The heroic couplet is his usual measure. His translation of Homer, though a fine effort, lacks the freshness and spontaneity of its original. His chief poems are Essay on Man, Moral Essays, The Dunciad, a talented but terrible satire, and The Rape of the Lock, a brilliant, glittering piece of literary trifling. See editions of, by A. W. Ward, Cowden-Clarke, and Rossetti. See Lowell's My Study Windows; also Leslie Stephen's Pope in Eng. Men of Letters. ”

“ Poet. A writer who has an honorable place among modern minor poets. Author of The Roman, Balder, etc. See Stedman's Victorian Poets; Ward's Eng. Poets, vol. 4. See complete English edition, 1875; also, Life and Letters of, London, 1879.
Dobson, Austin. 1840 ——. Poet and critic. Author Vignettes in Rhyme, Proverbs in Porcelain, etc. An exceedingly graceful writer, whose poems all show a cultivated imagination and much tenderness of expression. Among the best are After Sedan, The Dead Letter, and The Young Musician. Fielding, in Eng. Men of Letters, is his chief prose work. ”

“ A robust, dignified writer, more popular in his day than Shakespeare. Volpone, Silent Woman, Alchemist, Every Man in his Humor, and Every Man out of his Humor are his best comedies: Catiline and Sejanus his only tragedies. His pastoral drama, The Sad Shepherd, is graceful and sweet. See Cunningham's edition of Johnson, 1870, and Schlegel's Dramatic Literature. ”

“ Author of The Economy of Manufactures and Machinery, A Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, etc.
Bacon, Francis. Viscount St. Albans and Baron Verulam. 1561–1626. Philosopher. The Founder of Inductive Philosophy. He wrote, in both Eng. and Latin, The advancement of Learning, Novum Organum and Historia Naturalis et Experimentalis [7] from the Instauratio Magna, which embodies his system of philosophy. His Essays are his most important English work. A man of great genius and wonderful intellectual activity whose writings cover a wide range. He awakened the scientific spirit in England and gave it form. ”

“ Humorist. Author of Tristram Shandy and The Sentimental Journey, two rambling, fantastic books, with a slender thread of story in each. The quaintness is affected, and the humor sometimes obscure, but the character drawing is inimitable. See Life, by Fitzgerald, Taine's Eng. Lit., Masson's Eng. Novelists and Their Styles, and H. D. Traill's Sterne, in Eng. Men of Letters. ”

“ Author Philosophical Essays, Hist. of England, etc. His style possesses originality and spirit, but as a historian he is inaccurate. See Life and Correspondence of, by T. Hill Burton, Edinburgh, 1847; also Hume, by T. H. Huxley in Eng. Men of Letters. Pub. Har. Lip. Por.
Hunt, James Henry Leigh. 1784–1859. Poet and essayist. Francesca da Rimini and Legend of Florence are his finest poems, but Abou-Ben-Adhem is the best known. A writer whose happy, genial spirit expresses itself in his prose and verse. See Autobiography edited by his son, 1850. See Ward's Eng. ”

“ A prolific writer, the best of whose works are A Daughter of Heth, Princess of Thule, Strange Adventures of a Phaeton, and Macleod of Dare. They evince rare powers of description and much constructive skill. ”

“ Scotch poet. His Sonnets are his best production. See Memoirs by Masson, 1863. Ward's Eng. Poets, vol. 1. [41]
Dryden, John. 1631–1700. Poet and dramatist. His verse takes a wide range: in satire we have Absalom and Achitophel, MacFlecknoe, etc.; in theology, Religio Laici, Hind and Panther, etc.; in drama, some thirty plays; in translation, his Virgil; and in lyric poetry, his magnificent Ode for St. Cecilia's Day. D. had great genius, not always worthily employed. His dramas, when not stilted, are licentious, and as a satirist he is bitter, personal, and coarse. ”

“ Cousin to W. F. A. Novelist. His historical novels are numerous, but Jack Sheppard is his most famous work, and has been 8 times dramatized. His popularity has been very great, many of his works having been translated into most European languages, yet their literary merit is not high, and the influence of Jack Sheppard, in particular, is pernicious. ”

“ Even so small a work as this must necessarily contain many names that have achieved this conventional immortality through the accident of circumstance. Some literary fames are among the legacies left by preceding centuries to the present one to account for and explain. ”

“ Author Caleb Williams, St. Leon, Cloudesly, Answer to Malthus, Political Justice, etc. See Life, by Kegan Paul, 1876, and Leslie Stephen's Hours in a Library. Pub. Har.
Goldsmith, Oliver. 1728–1774. Irish poet and novelist. A writer of great delicacy and purity of sentiment, possessing a simple, delightful style. His poems, The Deserted Village and The Traveller, are charming pieces of description; his comedies, The Good-Natured Man and She Stoops to Conquer, [55] are bright and sparkling, the latter being perennially fresh; and his novel, The Vicar of Wakefield, is an Eng. ”

“ Poet and essayist. His poetry is pervaded by a vein of doubt and mistrust, although elevated in character and of great merit. Tristram and Iseult, and Thyrsis, an elegy on the poet Clough, are among his best poems. His prose works are numerous and important. Literature and Dogma, and Essays in Criticism are among the best known. The phrase "sweetness and light" was made familiar by him. See Hutton's Essays, Swinburne's Essays and Studies, Stedman's Victorian Poets, Edinburgh Rev. April, 1869. Pub. Har. Mac. Ho. Ste.
Arnold, Thomas. 1795–1842. Head Master of Rugby. Author Hist. Rome and Lect. ”

“ Poet and littérateur. Author of St. Paul, a poem, The Renewal of Youth and other Poems, Wordsworth in Eng. Men of Letters, and Essays Modern and Classical. A thoughtful writer, possessing a graceful and scholarly style. ”

“ See Chatterton, a Biographical Study, by Daniel Wilson, London, 1870. Pub. Hou.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. 1340–1400. Poet. Author of numerous lesser poems, but The Canterbury Tales is his greatest work. He is rightly called the Father of Eng. Song, since it is with him that Eng. poetry really begins. He gave form to the language, and blended the French and Eng. influences into a harmonious whole. His verse, in the main, is easy and musical, and shows a love of nature. See publications of the Chaucer Society. Chaucer, by A. W. Ward. See Gilman's edition of Chaucer in 3 vols., 1879. Pub. Hou. ”

“ Religious writer. Author Poems, Hist. Ch. of Ireland, etc.
Mantell, Gideon Algernon. 1790–1852. Geological writer of note. Author Thoughts on a Pebble, Medals of Creation, etc.
Map, or Mapes, Walter. 1150–1196. Anglo-Norman poet and romancer.
Marlowe, Christopher. 1564–1593. Dramatist and poet. The greatest dramatist before Shakespeare. His Tamburlaine was the first blank verse play acted. Faustus, Jew of Malta, and Edward II. are powerful dramas. The influence of Marlowe is traceable in several of Shakespeare's plays. See editions by Cunningham and Dyce. See Schlegel's Dramatic Lit. Pub. Mac. ”

“ Dramatist and poet. Author Chrononhotonthologos, The Dragon of Wantley, the ballad of Sally in our Alley, and God Save the King.
Carleton, Wm. 1798–1869. Irish novelist. Style vigorous and picturesque. Pub. Rou.
Carlyle, Thomas. 1795–1881. Essayist and historian. Author of Essays, Chartism, Heroes and Hero-Worship, Sartor Resartus, Past and Present, Latter-Day Pamphlets, Life of Sterling, History [24] French Revolution, Life of Frederick the Great, etc. A vigorous, opinionated writer, with a style which is vivid and picturesque, but often wordy and obscure. ”

“ Poet. Author of A Pipe of Tobacco, etc.
Browne, Sir Thos. 1605–1682. Author of a treatise on Christian Morals, Religio Medici, Hydriotaphia or Urn-Burial, etc. A writer of striking genius whose works will always attract thoughtful readers. Style meditative and imaginative, but frequently obscure. See complete edition in Bohn's Antiquarian Library. Pub. Mac. Rob.
Browne, Wm. 1590–1645. Poet. Wrote Britannia's Pastorals, Shepherd's Pipe, etc. His style is [18] easy and harmonious, and some of his lyrics are yet read. ”

“ Poet. A writer of merit in translation and in original verse. See Eng. edition of, 2 vols., London, 1872.
Friswell, James Hain. 1827–1878. Essayist. Author Familiar Words, The Gentle Life, Francis Spira and other Poems, etc. Pub. Por.
Froude [frood] , James Anthony. 1818 ——. Historian and essayist. Author Hist. of England, The English in Ireland, Short Studies on Great Subjects, The Nemesis of Faith, etc. His historical portraits are brilliant and his historical grouping dramatic, but his judgments of men and motives [51] are open to criticism. All his works show great labor and research. Pub. ”

“ Scientist. Author Theory of Glaciers, etc. See Life and Letters of by John C. Shairp, 1873.
Ford, John. 1586–1639. Dramatist. His plays all deal with unhappy love, but are powerful though morbid. The Broken Heart, his best work, is a masterpiece of pathos. His style possesses great beauty. See Moxon's edition Old Eng. Dramatists, and Swinburne's Essays and Studies. ”

“ Poet. His chief work is the Polyolbion, a poetical description of Britain in 100,000 lines. A far better work is the Nymphidia, an exquisitely graceful, mock heroic fairy poem. See Ward's Eng. Poets, vol. ”

“ S. was also the author of the poems Lucrece, Venus and Adonis, and 154 Sonnets. No writings, save the Scriptures, have ever moved the world like those of Shakespeare, which appeal to every emotion in the mind of man. He has no equals; there are none with whom he may be compared. Among the best complete Am. editions are White's Riverside, pub. Hou.; Rolfe's, pub. Har.; and Hudson's, pub. Gi. See also Furness's Variorum Macbeth, Lear, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet, pub. Lip.
Sharpe, Samuel. 1800 ——. Historian. Author Hist. Egypt, Hist. ”

“ Scotch essayist. Author Culture and Religion, Aspects of Poetry, Studies in Poetry and Philosophy, Poetic Interpretation of Nature, Burns, in Eng. Men of Letters, etc. Pub. Har. Hou.
Shakespeare, Wm. 1564–1616. The world's greatest dramatist. Author of 37 plays, in two of which, [125] Henry VIII. and Two Noble Kinsmen, Fletcher is supposed to have had a hand. The others are King John, Richard II., Richard III., the two parts of Henry IV., Henry V., the three parts of Henry VI., all historical plays ”

“ Author of Lombard Street, Physics and Politics, The Eng. Constitution, and Essays on Silver. See Living Age, April 19, 1879. Pub. Apl. Lit. Scr.
Bailey, Philip James. 1816 ——. Poet. Author of Festus, The Angel World, The Mystic, The Age, etc. Festus, which had a brief popularity, is a work of unequal merit, but contains a few brilliant passages.
Baillie, Joanna. 1764–1851. Scotch dramatist. Has been called "the female Shakespeare." Author of Plays on the Passions, etc. Her tragedy of De Montfort is her finest effort. See complete Works in one vol. with Life (1853) . See Ward's Eng. Poets, vol. ”

“ See edition of 1843 in 11 vols. See Edinburgh Rev. Oct. 1843.
Bentley, Richard. 1662–1742. Classical writer. Author Dissertations on the Epistles of Phalaris, works provoked by his famous controversy with Boyle, and which rank as masterpieces of argument. They display great learning, a rapid, concise style, and a sarcastic wit. See Bentley, by R. C. Jebb, in Eng. Men of Letters.
Berkeley, George. 1684–1753. Bp. Cloyne. Irish metaphysician. An eccentric but pure-minded thinker, in whose Principles of Human Knowledge is denied the existence of matter. ”

“ Taylor, Jane. 1783–1824. Moral and religious writer. Sister to I. T. Author with her sister Ann of Hymns for Infant Minds, etc. Pub. Ca. Har. Por. Rou.
Taylor, Jeremy. 1613–1667. Bp. Down and Connor. Theologian. His best works are Sermons, The Great Exemplar, and Holy Living and Holy [139] Dying. His warmth of imagination and poetic fervor render his prose both musical and eloquent, while his long, involved sentences are managed with the rarest skill. See Heber's edition, 15 vols., 1820. See Life, by Wilmott, 1847. Pub. Ca. Clx. Dut. Lip.
Taylor, John. 1580–1654. Poet. Called the Water Poet. ”

“ Scotch novelist. Author Zeluco, Edward, Mordaunt, etc. See Works, with Memoir, 7 vols., Edinburgh, 1820.
Moore, Thomas. 1779–1852. Irish poet. Author of Irish Melodies, which take high rank as lyrics, Lalla Rookh, a vol. of brilliant and showy oriental poetry, and of much other verse, as well as several [98] prose works. Though by no means a great poet, he has always been a popular one. See R. H. Montgomery's Life of, 1850; also Earl Russell's edition of Moore's Diary. Pub. Apl. Arm. Clx. Har. Hou. Le. Lip. For. Rou. Scr.
More, Hannah. 1745–1833. Dramatist and ethical writer. ”

“ Author Hist. of Scotland, etc. Style independent and truthful.
Laing, Samuel. 1780–1868. Traveler. Author Norway, Tour in Sweden, etc., and translator of the Heimskringla, or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway.
Lamb, Caroline, Lady. 1785–1828. Novelist. Author Glenarvon, Graham Hamilton, etc.
Lamb, Charles. 1775–1834. Essayist. A humorist who is unsurpassed for gentleness and purity of style. Essays of Elia, Rosamond Gray, a tale, John Woodvil, a drama; and Specimens of Old Eng. Dramatists are his chief works. Among the Essays Dream-Children is the most nearly perfect. ”

“ See Lamb's Specimens of the Dramatic Poets, Schlegel's Dramatic Lit., and Ward's Eng. Poets, vol. 2.
Fletcher, Mrs. Maria Jane. [Jewsbury.] 1800–1833. Poet.
Fletcher, Phineas. 1584–1650. Poet. Bro. to G. F. and cousin to J. F. F. wrote a long and curious allegorical and anatomical poem, The Purple Island. The subject, fantastically and minutely treated, is the human body. See Southey's Early Eng. Poets.
Florio, John. 1545–1625. Grammarian.
Fonblanque [fŏn-blănk ́] , Albany. 1797–1872. Journalist. Author England under Seven Administrations. See Life and Labors of, 1874. ”

“ An able and vigorous writer.
Coleridge [kōl ́rĭj] , Hartley. 1796–1849. Poet. Son to S. T. C. Author of Poems, Essays, Life of Massinger, etc. Style in both prose and verse clear and beautiful. See Ward's Eng. Poets, vol. 4.
Coleridge, Henry Nelson. 1800–1843. Neph. to S. T. C. Essayist. Style able and scholarly.
Coleridge, John Taylor. 1790–1876. Neph. to S. T. C. Author of an annotated Blackstone, Memoir of John Keble, etc.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. 1772–1834. Poet and philosopher. Author of The Ancient Mariner, Christabel, Kubla Khan, etc., in verse; Lect. ”

“ Their blank verse is melodious and their [10] wit and humor sparkling, but their plays reflect the full coarseness of the time. Among plays written by them jointly are Philaster, Thierry and Theodoret, A King and No King, and the comedy of The Knight of the Burning Pestle. See Fletcher, John. See Schlegel's Dramatic Lit., Hazlitt's Dramatic Lit. and Hallam's Lit. of Europe. Pub. Apl.
Beaumont, Sir John. 1582–1628. Bro. to F. B. Author Bosworth Field, a poem in heroic verse.
Beckford, Wm. 1760–1844. Author of Vathek, an Oriental romance. Style luxuriant. See Chambers' Cyc. Eng. Lit. ”