Books and Authors - Curious Facts and Characteristic Sketches

Anonymous

Informations

• Publié par: zoug
• Publié le: 01 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 33
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Books and Authors, by Anonymous This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Books and Authors Curious Facts and Characteristic Sketches Author: Anonymous Release Date: November 2, 2009 [EBook #30396] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOKS AND AUTHORS *** Produced by Delphine Lettau and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Finding the Manuscript Diary of John Evelyn Page 7. Click to ENLARGE Click to ENLARGE BOOKS AND AUTHORS: Curious Facts and Characteristic Sketches EDINBURGH: WILLIAM P. NIMMO. EDINBURGH: MURRAY AND GIBB, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. 1 CONTENTS Ale, Bishop Still's Praise of A Learned Young Lady Alfieri's Hair Authors, Hard Fate of Authorship, Pains and Toils of Bad's the Best—Canning's Criticism "Beggar's Opera," Origin of the Bell, Death of Sir Charles Blue-Stocking Club, the Boar's Head Tavern, East Cheap, Relics of Boileau's, A Carouse at Bolingbroke at Battersea Bolingbroke, his Creed Booksellers in Little Britain Boswell as the "Bear-leader" Boswell's "Life of Johnson" "Boz" (Dickens), Origin of the Word Bottled Ale, Accidental Origin of Bulwer's Pompeian Drawing-room Bunyan's Copy of the "Book of Martyrs" Bunyan's Escapes Bunyan's Preaching Burney, Miss, her "Evelina" Butler and Buckingham Byron, Lord, his Graceful Apology Byron's "Corsair" Byron and "My Grandmother's Review" Byron's Personal Vanity Canning, A Ludicrous Estimate of Chalmers'(Dr.) Industry Chalmers' Preaching in London Chances for the Drama Chatterton's Profit and Loss Reckoning Classical Pun, A "Clean Hands," Lord Brougham's Clever Statesmen, Swift on Cobbett's Boyhood Coleridge in the Dragoons Coleridge as a Unitarian Preacher Coleridge's "Watchman" Collins' Insanity Collins' Poor Opinion of his Poems Colton the Author of "Lacon" Conscience, A Composition with Copyrights, Value of some Cowley at Chertsey Cowper's "John Gilpin" Cowper's Poems, First Publication of Criticism, Sensitiveness to Curran's Imagination Dangerous Fools Day and his Model Wife 83 149 153 59 125 50 140 46 10 115 147 112 55 27 118 99 99 49 84 53 57 56 66 143 39 26 95 37 50 103 44 68 136 47 79 116 121 120 123 32 129 13 52 133 65 108 58 21 142 107 84 109 2 Death-bed Revelations Dennis, Conceited Alarms of Devotion to Science Disadvantageous Correction, Lord North's Drollery must be Spontaneous Dryden Drubbed "Edinburgh Review," Origin of the Evelyn's Diary Discovered at Wotton "Felon Literature" Fielding's "Tom Jones" Fine Flourishes, Brougham's Rebuke of Flattery, Moderate Fontenelle's Insensibility Foote's Wooden Leg Fox and Gibbon French-English Jeu-de-mot Fuller's Memory Gibbon's House at Lausanne Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer" Haydn and the Ship Captain Haydn's Diploma Piece at Oxford Hearne's Love of Ale Hervey, Lord, his wit Hone's "Every-day Book" Hoole, the Translator of Tasso Hope's "Anastasius" Ireland's Shakspearian Forgeries Jerrold's Jokes, A String of Jerrold's Rebuke to a Rude Intruder Joe Miller at Court Johnson and Hannah More Johnson's Criticisms Johnson's Latest Contemporaries Johnson's Pretty Compliment to Mrs. Siddons Johnson's Pride Johnson's Residences and Resorts in London Johnson's Wigs Johnson and Lord Elibank Johnson, Relics of, at Lichfield "Junius," Rogers and "Junius' Letters," Who Wrote? Killing no Murder Lamb, Cary's Epitaph on Learning French, Brummell Leigh Hunt and Thomas Carlyle Lewis's "Monk" Literary Coffee-houses in last Century Literary Dinners Literary Localities in London Literary Men, the Families of Locke's Rebuke to the Card-Playing Lords Lope de Vega's Popularity 49 132 74 75 58 151 116 7 48 78 39 80 124 88 25 81 69 98 43 138 139 22 69 56 36 51 33 130 155 128 11 97 105 109 26 77 76 118 119 152 89 141 67 102 19 42 93 17 55 9 137 29 3 4 Lope de Vega's Voluminous Writings 28 Lovelace, The Last Days of 134 Mackintosh, Sir James, and Dr. Parr 28 Mackintosh's Humour 28 Magazine, the First 117 Magazines, the Sale of 72 Magna Charta recovered 25 Mathematical Sailors 41 Mermaid Club, The 144 Milton, Relics of 113 Mitford, Miss, her Farewell to Three-Mile Cross 12 Moore's Anacreontic Invitation 70 Moore's Epigram on Abbott 130 Morris, Captain, his Songs 14 Negroes at Home 130 O'Connell's Opinion of the Authorship of "Junius" 92 Patronage of Authors 100 Patronage of Literature in France 75 Payment in Kind 135 Physiognomy of the French Revolutionists 45 Poets in a Puzzle 71 Poetry of the Sea, Campbell on the 47 Pope, A Hard Hit at 150 Popularity of the Pickwick Papers 18 Porson's Memory 146 Quid pro Quo, Turner's 51 Reconciling the Fathers 27 Regality of Genius 77 Repartee, A Smart 52 Rival Remembrance—Gilford and Hazlitt 88 Romilly and Brougham 45 Sale, the Translator of the Koran 133 Shenstone, An Odd Present to 156 Sheridans, The Two 141 Sheridan's Careful Study of his Wit 23 Silence no sure Sign of Wisdom 44 Smith, James, one of the Authors of the 60, 80 "Rejected Addresses" Smollett's Hard Fortunes 154 Smollett's History of England 24 Smollett's "Hugh Strap" 13 Snail Dinner, the 106 Southey's Wife 73 Stammering Witticism, Lamb's 49 Sterne's Sermons 85 Swift's Disappointed Life 18 Swift's Three Loves 31 Thomson's Indolence 148 Thomson's Recitation of his Poetry 42 "Times" Newspaper, Writing up the 114 "Tom Cringle's Log," Authorship of 68 Tom Hill 85 5 Trimmer, Mrs. Tycho Brahe's Nose Voltairean Relics at Ferney, Sale of Waller, the Courtier-Poet Walton, Izaak, Relics of Washington Irving and Wilkie at the Alhambra "Waverley," the Authorship of Way to Win them, Walpole's Wycherley's Wooing 117 87 79 156 82 111 51 96 146 6 NOTE. This collection of anecdotes, illustrative sketches, and memorabilia generally, relating to the ever fresh and interesting subject of BOOKS AND A UTHORS , is not presented as complete, nor even as containing all the choice material of its kind. The field from which one may gather is so wide and fertile, that any collection warranting such a claim would far exceed the compass of many volumes, much less of this little book. It has been sought to offer, in an acceptable and convenient form, some of the more remarkable or interesting literary facts or incidents with which one individual, in a somewhat extended reading, has been struck; some of the passages which he has admired; some of the anecdotes and jests that have amused him and may amuse others; some of the reminiscences that it has most pleased him to dwell upon. For no very great portion of the contents of this volume, is the claim to originality of subject-matter advanced. The collection, however, is submitted with some confidence that it may be found as interesting, as accurate, and as much guided by good taste, as it has been endeavoured to make it. BOOKS AND AUTHORS. CURIOUS FACTS AND CHARACTERISTIC SKETCHES. 7 THE FINDING OF JOHN EVELYN'S MS. DIARY AT WOTTON.1 The MS. Diary, or "Kalendarium," of the celebrated John Evelyn lay among the family papers at Wotton, in Surrey, from the period of his death, in 1706, until their rare interest and value were discovered in the following singular manner. The library at Wotton is rich in curious books, with notes in John Evelyn's handwriting, as well as papers on various subjects, and transcripts of letters by the philosopher, who appears never to have employed an amanuensis. The arrangement of these treasures was, many years since, entrusted to the late Mr. Upcott, of the London Institution, who made a complete catalogue of the collection. One afternoon, as Lady Evelyn and a female companion were seated in one of the fine old apartments of Wotton, making feather tippets, her ladyship pleasantly observed to Mr. Upcott, "You may think this feather-work a strange way of passing time: it is, however, my hobby; and I dare say you, too, Mr. Upcott, have your hobby." The librarian replied that his favourite pursuit was the collection of the autographs of eminent persons. Lady Evelyn remarked, that in all probability the MSS. of "Sylva" Evelyn would afford Mr. Upcott some amusement. His reply may be well imagined. The bell was rung, and a servant desired to bring the papers from a lumber-room of the old mansion; and from one of the baskets so produced was brought to light the manuscript Diary of John Evelyn—one of the most finished specimens of autobiography in the whole compass of English literature. The publication of the Diary, with a selection of familiar letters, and private correspondence, was entrusted to Mr. William Bray, F.S.A.; and the last sheets of the MS., with a dedication to Lady Evelyn, were actually in the hands of the printer at the hour of her death. The work appeared in 1818; and a volume of Miscellaneous Papers, by Evelyn, was subsequently published, under Mr. Upcott's editorial superintendence. Wotton House, though situate in the angle of two valleys, is actually on part of Leith Hill, the rise from thence being very gradual. Evelyn's "Diary" contains a penand-ink sketch of the mansion as it appeared in 1653. 8 9 FAMILIES OF LITERARY MEN. A Quarterly Reviewer, in discussing an objection to the Copyright Bill of Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, which was taken by Sir Edward Sugden, gives some curious particulars of the progeny of literary men. "We are not," says the writer, "going to speculate about the causes of the fact; but a fact it is, that men distinguished for extraordinary intellectual power of any sort rarely leave more than a very brief line of progeny behind them. Men of genius have scarcely ever done so; men of imaginative genius, we might say, almost never. With the one exception of the noble Surrey, we cannot, at this moment, point out a rep