Studies of a Biographer

Biographical sketches and critiques of biographies of literary figures by the Editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, published in 1898 and 1902.

Leslie Stephen (Author)

9781108047722, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 24 May 2012

290 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.7 cm, 0.37 kg

Sir Leslie Stephen (1832–1904) was founding Editor of the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB). Also a writer on philosophy, ethics, and literature, he was educated at Eton, King's College, London, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he remained as a Fellow and a tutor for a number of years. Though a sickly child, he later became a keen and successful mountaineer, taking part in first ascents of nine peaks in the Alps. These biographical essays and critiques were written originally for the National Review and published as two two-volume sets in 1898 and 1902. These vignettes show that, despite the years of preparing material for the DNB to its particular editorial requirements, Stephen was still a master of the finely crafted depiction of the essence of his chosen subjects. Volume 4 considers Shakespeare the man, Southey, Anthony Trollope and Robert Louis Stevenson, and includes a critique of recent works on Milton.

Shakespeare as a man
Southey's letters
New lights on Milton
Emerson
Anthony Trollope
Robert Louis Stevenson
The cosmopolitan spirit in literature.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF]