James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 1784 – 28 August 1859) was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
critic, essayist, poet and writer.
Early life
Leigh Hunt was born at
Southgate, LondonSouthgate is an area of north London, England, primarily within the London Borough of Enfield, although parts of its western fringes lie within the London Borough of Barnet. It is located about north of Charing Cross. The name is derived from being the south gate to Enfield Chase...
,
MiddlesexMiddlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, where his parents had settled after leaving the USA. His father, a lawyer from Philadelphia, and his mother, a merchant's daughter and a devout Quaker, had been forced to come to Britain because of their loyalist sympathies during the American War of Independence. Hunt's father took
holy ordersThe term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to a group of individuals who are set apart for a special role or ministry....
, and became a popular preacher, but was unsuccessful in obtaining a permanent living. Hunt's father was then employed by
James Brydges, 3rd Duke of ChandosJames Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos PC was the only son of Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos and Lady Mary Bruce, succeeding to the title upon the death of his father on 28 November 1771. He was styled Marquess of Carnarvon from 1744 to 1771...
as tutor to his nephew, James Henry Leigh, after whom Leigh Hunt was named.
Education
Leigh Hunt was educated at
Christ's HospitalChrist's Hospital is a coeducational independent boarding school located in the countryside just south of Horsham, West Sussex, England...
from 1791 to 1799, a period which is detailed in his
autobiographyAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
. He entered the school shortly after Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lamb had both left however Thomas Barnes was a schoolfriend of his. One of the current boarding houses at Christ's Hospital is named after him. As a boy, he was an ardent admirer of
Thomas GrayThomas Gray , was an English poet, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.- Early life and education :...
and
William CollinsWilliam Collins was an English poet. Second in influence only to Thomas Gray, he was an important poet of the middle decades of the 18th century...
, writing many verses in imitation of them. A speech impediment, later cured, prevented his going to university. "For some time after I left school," he says, "I did nothing but visit my school-fellows, haunt the book-stalls and write verses." His poems were published in 1801 under the title of
Juvenilia, and introduced him into literary and theatrical society. He began to write for the newspapers, and published in 1807 a volume of
theatre criticismTheatre criticism is the act of writing or speaking about the performing arts such as a play or opera.Most major national newspapers of first world countries cover the arts in some form and theatre criticism may be included as a part of this arts coverage....
, and a series of
Classic Tales with critical essays on the authors.
The Examiner
In 1808 he left the
War OfficeThe War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1963, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
, where he had been working as a clerk, to become editor of the
ExaminerThe Examiner was a weekly paper founded by Leigh and John Hunt in 1808.Albany Fonblanque, the journal's political commentator since 1826, took over the Examiner in 1830, serving as editor until 1847. He brought in such contributors as John Stuart Mill, John Forster, William Makepeace Thackeray, and...
, a newspaper founded by his brother,
JohnJohn Hunt may refer to:*John Hunt , Irish antiquarian and collector*John Hunt , Australian politician*John Hunt , British politician...
. This journal soon acquired a reputation for unusual political independence; it would attack any worthy target, "from a principle of taste," as
John KeatsJohn Keats was an English poet, who became one of the key figures of the Romantic movement. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, Keats was one of the second generation Romantic poets...
expressed it. In 1813, an attack on the
Prince RegentGeorge IV was the king of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, based on
substantial truthSubstantial truth is a legal doctrine affecting libel and slander laws in common law jurisdictions such as the US or the UK.Under the United States law, a statement cannot be held to be slanderous or libelous if it is true; the substantial truth doctrine extends this protection by holding that a...
, resulted in prosecution and a sentence of two years' imprisonment for each of the brothers — Leigh Hunt served his term at the
Surrey County GaolHorsemonger Lane Gaol was a prison located close to modern-day Newington Causeway in Southwark, south London.-History:...
. Leigh Hunt's visitors in prison included Lord Byron, John Moore, Lord Brougham and others, whose acquaintance influenced his later career. The stoicism with which Leigh Hunt bore his imprisonment attracted general attention and sympathy.
The Reflector
In 1810-1811 he edited a quarterly magazine, the
Reflector, for his brother John. He wrote "The Feast of the Poets" for this, a
satireSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
, which offended many contemporary poets, particularly
William GiffordWilliam Gifford , was an English critic, editor and poet, famous as a satirist and controversialist.-Life:Gifford was born in Ashburton, Devonshire to Edward Gifford and Elizabeth Cain. His father, a glazier and house painter, had run away as a youth with vagabond Bampfylde Moore Carew, and he...
of the
Quarterly. The essays afterwards published under the title of the
Round Table (2 volumes, 1816–1817), jointly with
William HazlittWilliam Hazlitt was an English writer, remembered for his humanistic essays and literary criticism, and as a grammarian and philosopher. He is now considered one of the great critics and essayists of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell, but his work is...
, appeared in the
Examiner.
Poetry
In 1816 he made a mark in English literature with the publication of
Story of Rimini. Hunt's preference was decidedly for
ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales...
's verse style, as adapted to the
Modern EnglishModern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, completed in roughly 1550.Despite some differences in vocabulary, texts from the early 17th century, such as the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are considered to be in Modern...
by
John DrydenJohn Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.-Early life:Dryden was born in the village rectory of Aldwincle...
, in opposition to the epigrammatic couplet of
Alexander PopeAlexander Pope is a famous eighteenth century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson. Pope is famous for his use of the heroic couplet.-...
which had superseded it. The poem is an optimistic narrative which runs contrary to the tragic nature of its subject. Hunt's flippancy and familiarity, often degenerating into the ludicrous, subsequently made him a target for ridicule and parody.
In 1818 appeared a collection of poems entitled
Foliage, followed in 1819 by
Hero and Leander, and
Bacchies and Ariadne. In the same year he reprinted these two works with
The Story of Rimini and
The Descent of Liberty with the title of
Poetical Works, and started the
Indicator, in which some of his best work appeared. Both Keats and
ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded among the finest lyric poets in the English language...
belonged to the circle gathered around him at Hampstead, which also included
William HazlittWilliam Hazlitt was an English writer, remembered for his humanistic essays and literary criticism, and as a grammarian and philosopher. He is now considered one of the great critics and essayists of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell, but his work is...
, Charles Lamb,
Bryan ProcterBryan Waller Procter was an English poet.Born at Leeds, Yorkshire, he was educated at Harrow School, where he had for contemporaries Lord Byron and Robert Peel. On leaving school he was placed in the office of a solicitor at Calne, Wiltshire, remaining there until about 1807, when he returned to...
,
Benjamin HaydonBenjamin Robert Haydon was an English historical painter and writer.-Biography:Haydon was born at Plymouth. His mother was the daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Cobley, rector of Dodbrooke, near Kingsbridge, Devon. Her brother, General Sir Thomas Cobley, was renowned for his part in the siege of Ismail...
,
Charles Cowden ClarkeCharles Cowden Clarke , English author and Shakespearian scholar, was born in Enfield, Middlesex.-Life:His father, John Clarke, was a schoolmaster, among whose pupils was John Keats. Charles Clarke taught Keats his letters, and encouraged his love of poetry...
, C.W. Dilke,
Walter CoulsonWalter Coulson was a newspaper editor, barrister and an associate of Jeremy Bentham. He served as Parliamentary reporter on the Morning Chronicle and was the editor of the evening paper The Traveler. He was a Commissioner on the Royal Commission that led to the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. His...
and
John Hamilton ReynoldsJohn Hamilton Reynolds was an English poet, satirist, critic, and playwright. He was a close friend and correspondent of poet John Keats whose letters to Reynolds constitute a significant body of Keats' poetic thought...
.
Relationship with Keats and Shelley
He had for some years been married to Marianne Kent. His own affairs were in confusion, and only Shelley's generosity saved him from ruin. In return he showed sympathy to Shelley during the latter's domestic distresses, and defended him in the
Examiner. He introduced Keats to Shelley and wrote a very generous appreciation of him in the
Indicator. Keats seems, however, to have subsequently felt that Hunt's example as a poet had been in some respects detrimental to him.
After Shelley's departure for Italy in 1818, Leigh Hunt became even poorer, and the prospects of political reform less satisfactory. Both his health and his wife's failed, and he was obliged to discontinue the
Indicator (1819–1821), having, he says, "almost died over the last numbers." Shelley suggested that Hunt go to Italy with him and Byron to establish a quarterly magazine in which
LiberalLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...
opinions could be advocated with more freedom than was possible at home. An injudicious suggestion, it would have done little for Hunt or the Liberal cause at the best, and depended entirely upon the co-operation of the capricious, parsimonious Byron. Byron's principal motive for agreeing appears to have been the expectation of acquiring influence over the
Examiner, and he was mortified to discover that Hunt was no longer interested in the "Examiner". Leigh Hunt left England for Italy in November 1821, but storm, sickness and misadventure retarded his arrival until 1 July 1822, a rate of progress which
Thomas Love PeacockThomas Love Peacock was an English satirist and author.Peacock was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work...
appropriately compares to the navigation of
Ulysses.
The death of Shelley, a few weeks later, destroyed every prospect of success for the
Liberal. Hunt was now virtually dependent upon Byron, who did not relish the idea of being patron to Hunt's large and troublesome family. Byron's friends also scorned Hunt. The
Liberal lived through four quarterly numbers, containing contributions no less memorable than Byron's "Vision of Judgment" and Shelley's translations from
FaustFaust or Faustus is the protagonist of a classic German legend who makes a pact with the Devil in exchange for knowledge...
; but in 1823 Byron sailed for
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
, leaving Hunt at
GenoaGenoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000...
to shift for himself. The Italian climate and manners, however, were entirely to Hunt's taste, and he protracted his residence until 1825, producing in the interim
Ultra-Crepidarius: a Satire on William Gifford (1823), and his matchless translation (1825) of
Francesco RediFrancesco Redi was an Italian physician.He is most well-known for his series of experiments, published in 1668 as Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione degl'Insetti which is regarded as one of the first steps in refuting "spontaneous generation" - a theory also known as Aristotelian...
's
Bacco in Toscana.
In 1825 a litigation with his brother brought him back to England, and in 1828 he published
Lord Byron and some of his Contemporaries, a corrective to idealized portraits of Byron. The public was shocked that Hunt, who had been obliged to Byron for so much, would "bite the hand that fed him" in this way. Hunt especially writhed under the withering satire of Moore. For many years afterwards, the history of Hunt's life is a painful struggle with poverty and sickness. He worked unremittingly, but one effort failed after another. Two journalistic ventures, the
Tatler (1830–1832), a daily devoted to literary and dramatic criticism, and Leigh Hunt's
London Journal (1834–1835), were discontinued for want of subscribers, although the latter contained some of his best writing. His editorship (1837–1838) of the
Monthly RepositoryThe Monthly Repository was a monthly Unitarian periodical which ran between 1806 and 1838.The Monthly Repository was established when Robert Aspland bought William Vidler's Universal Theological Magazine and changed the name to the Monthly Repository of Theology and General Literature...
, in which he succeeded
William Johnson FoxWilliam Johnson Fox was a religious and political orator, born near Southwold, Suffolk.The ambition of Fox was to become a great political orator and debater,in which at last he succeeded. His mental agility was manifest in his...
, was also unsuccessful. The adventitious circumstances which allowed the
Examiner to succeed no longer existed, and Hunt's personality was unsuited to the general body of readers.
In 1832 a collected edition of his poems was published by subscription, the list of subscribers including many of his opponents. In the same year was printed for private circulation
Christianism, the work afterwards published (1853) as
The Religion of the Heart. A copy sent to
Thomas CarlyleThomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.
Coming from a strict Calvinist family,...
secured his friendship, and Hunt went to live next door to him in Cheyne Row in 1833.
Sir Ralph Esher, a romance of
Charles IICharles II was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father King Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
's period, had a success, and
Captain Sword and Captain Pen (1835), a spirited contrast between the victories of peace and the victories of war, deserves to be ranked among his best poems. In 1840 his circumstances were improved by the successful representation at Covent Garden of his play
Legend of Florence.
Lover's Amazements, a comedy, was acted several years afterwards, and was printed in Leigh Hunt's
Journal (1850–1851); other plays remained in manuscript. In 1840 he wrote introductory notices to the work of
SheridanRichard Brinsley Sheridan was a playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years, he was also a Member of Parliament aligned with the British Whig Party. Such was the esteem he was held in by his contemporaries when he died that he was buried...
and to
Edward MoxonEdward Moxon was a British poet and publisher.Moxon was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire his father Michael worked in the wool trade. In 1817 he left for London, joining Longman in 1821...
's edition of the works of
William WycherleyWilliam Wycherley was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for the plays The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer.-Biography:...
, William Congreve,
John VanbrughSir John Vanbrugh was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard...
and
George FarquharGeorge Farquhar was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem .-Early life:...
, a work which furnished the occasion of
MacaulayThomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history...
's essay on the Dramatists of the Restoration. The narrative poem
The Palfrey was published in 1842.
More financial difficulties
The time of Hunt's greatest difficulties was between 1834 and 1840. He was at times in absolute poverty, and his distress was aggravated by domestic complications. By Macaulay's recommendation he began to write for the
Edinburgh ReviewThe Edinburgh Review, founded in 1802, was one of the most influential British magazines of the 19th century. It ceased publication in 1929. The magazine took its Latin motto judex damnatur ubi nocens absolvitur from Publilius Syrus.In 1984, the Scottish cultural magazine New Edinburgh Review,...
. In 1844
Mary ShelleyMary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
and her son, on succeeding to the family estates, settled an annuity of £120 upon Hunt (Rossetti 1890); and in 1847
Lord John RussellJohn Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century....
procured him a pension of £200. Now living in improved comfort, Hunt published the companion books,
Imagination and Fancy (1844), and
Wit and Humour (1846), two volumes of selections from the English poets, which displayed his refined, discriminating critical tastes. His book on the pastoral poetry of
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
,
A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla (1848), is also delightful.
The Town (2 vols., 1848) and
Men, Women and Books (2 vols., 1847) are partly made up from former material.
The Old Court Suburb (2 vols., 1855; ed. A Dobson, 2002) is a sketch of
KensingtonKensington is a district of West London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, located west of Charing Cross. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the...
, where he long resided. In 1850 he published his
Autobiography (3 vols.), a naive and affected, but accurate, piece of self-portraiture.
A Book for a Corner (2 vols.) was published in 1849, and his
Table Talk appeared in 1851. In 1855 his narrative poems, original and translated, were collected under the title
Stories in Verse. He died in
PutneyPutney is an affluent district of south-west London in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located south-west of Charing Cross, on the southern bank of the River Thames, opposite Fulham...
on the 28 August 1859, and is buried at
Kensal Green CemeteryKensal Green Cemetery is a burial ground located in Kensal Green, London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green"....
. In September 1966 Christ's Hospital named one of its Houses in memory of him.
Leigh Hunt was the original of Harold Skimpole in
Bleak HouseBleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly instalments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon...
. "Dickens wrote in a letter of 25 September 1853, 'I suppose he is the most exact portrait that was ever painted in words! . . . It is an absolute reproduction of a real man'; and a contemporary critic commented, 'I recognized Skimpole instantaneously; . . . and so did every person whom I talked with about it who had ever had Leigh Hunt's acquaintance.'"
G. K. ChestertonGilbert Keith Chesterton was one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy and detective fiction....
suggested that Dickens "may never once have had the unfriendly thought, 'Suppose Hunt behaved like a rascal!'; he may have only had the fanciful thought, 'Suppose a rascal behaved like Hunt!'" (Chesterton 1906).
Other works
- Amyntas, A Tale of the Woods (1820), a translation of Tasso's
Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...
AmintaAminta is a play written by Torquato Tasso in 1573, represented during a garden party at the court of Ferrara. Both the actors and the public were noble persons living at the Court, who could understand subtle allusions the poet made to that style of life, in contrast with the life of shepherds,...
- The Seer, or Common-Places refreshed (2 pts., 1840–1841)
- three of the Canterbury Tales in The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer modernized (1841)
- Stories from the Italian Poets (1846)
- compilations such as One Hundred Romances of Real Life (1843)
- selections from Beaumont and Fletcher (1855)
- with S Adams Lee, The Book of the Sonnet (Boston, 1867).
His
Poetical Works (2 vols.), revised by himself and edited by Lee, were printed at Boston in 1857, and an edition (London and New York) by his son, Thornton Hunt, appeared in 1860. Among volumes of selections are:
Essays (1887), ed. A Symons;
Leigh Hunt as Poet and Essayist (1889), ed. C Kent;
Essays and Poems (1891), ed. RB Johnson for the "Temple Library."
His
Autobiography was revised shortly before his death, and edited (1859) by his son Thornton Hunt, who also arranged his Correspondence (2 vols., 1862). Additional letters were printed by the Cowden Clarkes in their
Recollections of Writers (1878). The
Autobiography was edited (2 vols., 1903) with full bibliographical note by R Ingpen. A bibliography of his works was compiled by
Alexander IrelandAlso had a carer in oilAlexander "Alex" Ireland was a British welterweight professional boxer who competed in the early 1920s. He won a silver medal in Boxing at the 1920 Summer Olympics, losing to Canadian boxer Bert Schneider in the final.-External links:*...
(
List of the Writings of William Hazlitt and Leigh Hunt, 1868). There are short lives of Hunt by
Cosmo MonkhouseWilliam Cosmo Monkhouse , English poet and critic.-Biography:Monkhouse was born in London. His father, Cyril John Monkhouse, was a solicitor; his mother's maiden name was Delafosse...
("Great Writers," 1893) and by RB Johnson (1896). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Volume 28 (2004).
External links