English Men Of Letters - Keats

1927 - PREFACE. WITH the name of Keats that of his first biographer, the late Lord IIoughton, must always justly remain associated. But while the sympathetic charm of Lord Houghtons work will keep it fresh, as a record of the poets life it can no longer be said to be sufficient. Since the revised edition of the Life and Letters appeared in 1867, other students and lovers of Iceats have been busy, and much new information concerning him been brought to light, while of the old information some has been proved mistaken. No connected accour ot f Keatss life and work, in accordance with the present state of knowledge, exists, and I have been asked to contribute such an account to the present series. I regret that lack of strength and leisure has so long delayed the execution of the task entrusted to me. The chief authorities and printed texts which I have consulted besides the original editions of the Poems are tllo following-1. Lord Byron and some of his Contemporaries. By Leigh Hunt. London, 1828. 2. The Life of Percy Byssho Shelley. By Thomaa Medwin. London, 2 vols., 1847. 3. Life, Letters, and Literary Remains of John Keats. Edited by Richard Blonckton Milnes. 2 vols., London, 1848. 4. Life of Benjsmin Hobert Haydon. Edited and compiled by Tom Taylor. Second edition. 3 vols., London, 1863. 5. The Autobiography of Leigh IIunt, with Reminiscences of Friends and Contemporaries. 3 vols., London, 1850. a PREFACE. 6. The Poetical Works of John Keats. With a memoir by Richard Monckton Milnes. London, 1854. 7. The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. Revised edition, edited by Thornton Hunt London, 1860. 8. The Vicissitudes of Eeatss Fame an article by Joseph Severn in the Atlantic Monthly Magazins for1883 vol. xi. p. 401. 9. The Life and Letters of John Keats. By Lord Houghton. New edition, London, 1867. 10. Recollections of John Keats an article by Charles Cowden Clarke in the Gentlemans Hagazine for 1874 N. S. vol. xii. p. 177. Afterwards reprinted with modifications in Recollections of Writers, by Charles and Mary Cowden Clarke. London, 1878. 11. The Papers of a Critic. Selected from the writings of the late Charles Wentworth Dilke. With a biographical notice by Sir Charles Wectworth Dilke, B., M. P. vols., London, 1875. 12. Benjamin Robert Haydon Correspondence and Table-Talk. With a memoir by Frederic Worctsworth Haydon. 2 vols., London, 1876. 13. The Poetical Worlw of John Keats, chronologically arranged and edited, with a memoir, by Lord Houghton Aldiue edition of the British Poets. London, 1876. 14. Letters of John Keats to Fanny Brawne, with Introduction and Notes by Harry Buxton Forman. London, 1878. A biographer cannot ignore these letters now that they are published but their publication must be regretted by all who hold that human respect and delicacy are due to the dead no leas than to the living, and to genius no less than to obscurity. 15. The Poetical Works and other Writings of John Keats. Edited with notes and appendices by IIarry Buxton Forman. 4 vols., London, 1883. In this edition, besides the texte reprinted from the 6rst editions, all the genuine letters and additional poem published in 3, G, 9, 13, and 14 of the above are brought together, as well as most of the biographical notices colltained in 1, 2, 4, . PREFACE. vii 6, 7, 10, and 12 also a series of previously unpublished letters of Keats to his sister with a great amount of valuable illustrative andcritical material besides. Except for a few errors, which I shall have occasion to point out, Rlr Formana work might for the purpose of the student be final, and I have necessarily been indebted to it at every turn. 16. The Letters and Poems of John Keats. Edited by John Gilmer Speed. 3 vols...