| Bayard Taylor | |
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| Born | January 11, 1825 Chester County, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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| Died | December 19, 1878 (aged 53) Germany |
Bayard Taylor (James) (January 11, 1825 – December 19, 1878) was an American poet, literary critic, translator, and travel author. Events 1055 - Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire. Year 1825 ( MDCCCXXV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Chester County (known colloquially as "Chesco" is a County located in the U The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Events 1055 - Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire. Year 1825 ( MDCCCXXV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose"
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Life and work
Taylor was born on January 11, 1825,[1] in Kennett Square in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Events 1055 - Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire. Year 1825 ( MDCCCXXV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Kennett Square is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Chester County (known colloquially as "Chesco" is a County located in the U The son of a well-to-do farmer, he received his early instruction in an academy at West Chester, and later at Unionville. The Borough of West Chester is the County seat of Chester County Pennsylvania, United States. Unionville is a village located in East Marlborough Township, southern Chester County Pennsylvania. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to a printer in West Chester. His interest in poetry was coached by influential critic and editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold, who encouraged him to produce a volume of poetry. Rufus Wilmot Griswold (February 13 1812 – August 27 1857 was an American anthologist, editor, Poet, and Critic. Published at Philadelphia in 1844 under the title Ximena, or the Battle of the Sierra Morena, and other Poems was dedicated to Griswold,[2] though brought its author a little cash; and indirectly it did him better service as the means of his introduction to The New York Tribune. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə The New York Tribune was an American newspaper first established by Horace Greeley in 1841 which was long considered one of the leading Newspapers in the
With the money thus obtained, and with an advance made to him on account of some journalistic work to be done in Europe, JB Taylor (as he had up to this time signed himself, though he bore no other Christian name than Bayard) set sail for the East. The young poet spent a happy time in roaming through certain districts of England, France, Germany and Italy; that he was a born traveller is evident from the fact that this pedestrian tour of almost two years cost him only £100. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The graphic accounts which he sent from Europe to The New York Tribune, The Saturday Evening Post, and The United States Gazette were so highly appreciated that on Taylor's return to America he was advised to throw his articles into book form.
In 1846, accordingly, appeared his Views Afoot, or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff (2 vols, New York). For the game see 1846 (board game. Year 1846 ( MDCCCXLVI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display This pleasant book had considerable popularity, and its author now found himself a recognized man of letters; moreover, Horace Greeley, then editor of the Tribune, placed Taylor on the Tribune staff (1848) thus securing him a certain if a moderate income. Horace Greeley ( February 3, 1811 &ndash November 29, 1872) was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder He also served as an editorial assistant for Graham's Magazine for a few months that year. Graham's Magazine was a nineteenth century Periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham. [3] His next journey, made when the gold-fever was at its height, was to California, as correspondent for the Tribune; from this expedition he returned by way of Mexico, and, seeing his opportunity, published (2 vols, New York, 1850) a highly successful book of travels, entitled El Dorado; or, Adventures in the Path of Empire. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Ten thousand copies were said to have been sold in America, and thirty thousand in Great Britain, within a fortnight from the date of issue. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands
Bayard Taylor always considered himself native to the East, and it was with great delight that in 1851 he found himself on the banks of the Nile, He ascended as far as 12' 30° N, and stored his memory with countless sights and delights, to many of which he afterwards gave expression in metrical form. 1851 ( MDCCCLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River From England, towards the end of 1852, he sailed for Calcutta, proceeding thence to China, where he joined the expedition of Commodore Perry to Japan. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Matthew Calbraith Perry ( April 10, 1794 &ndash March 4, 1858) was the Commodore of the U For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.
The results of these journeys (besides his poetical memorials) were A Journey to Central Africa; or, Life and Landscapes from Egypt to the Negro Kingdoms of the White Nile (New York, 1854); The Lands of the Saracen; or, Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily and Spain (1854); and A Visit to India, China and Japan in the Year 1853 (1855).
First return to the U. S.
On his return (December 20, 1853) from these various journeyings he entered, with marked success, upon the career of a public lecturer, delivering addresses in every town of importance from Maine to Wisconsin. Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. Year 1853 ( MDCCCLIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States After two years experience of this lucrative profession, he again started on his travels, on this occasion for northern Europe, his special object being the study of Swedish life, language and literature. The most noteworthy result was the long narrative poem Lars, but his Swedish Letters to the Tribune were also republished, under the title Northern Travel: Summer and Winter Pictures (London, 1857).
His first wife, May Agnew, died (1850) within a year of her marriage, and in October 1857 he married Maria Hansen, the daughter of Peter Hansen, the German astronomer. Peter Andreas Hansen ( December 8, 1795 – March 28, 1874) was a Danish Astronomer, was born at Tønder The ensuing winter was spent in Greece. In 1859 Taylor once more traversed the whole extent of the western American gold region, the primary cause of the journey lying in an invitation to lecture at San Francisco. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city About three years later he entered the diplomatic service as secretary of legation at St Petersburg, and the following year (1863) became chargé d'affaires at the Russian capital. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River In diplomacy chargé d’affaires ( French for “charged with (in charge of matters” is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic
Second return to the U. S.
In 1864 he returned to the United States and resumed his active literary labors, and it was at this period that Hannah Thurston (New York, 1863), the first of his four novels, was published. Year 1864 ( MDCCCLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year This book had a moderate success, but neither in it nor in its successors did Bayard Taylor betray any special talent as a novelist. His late novel, Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania (New York, 1870), recounts an intimate friendship between two men and has been called America's first gay novel. Joseph and His Friend A Story of Pennsylvania is an 1870 novel by American author Bayard Taylor. [4] In 1874 he went to Iceland, to report for the Tribune the one thousandth anniversary of the first settlement there. Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland (
In June 1878 he was accredited United States minister at Berlin. Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Notwithstanding the resistless passion for travel which had always possessed him, Bayard Taylor was (when not actually en route) sedentary in his habits, especially in the later years of his life. His death occurred on the 19th of December, only a few months after his arrival in Berlin.
Cedarcroft, his home from 1859 to 1874, which he built himself near Kennett Square, is preserved as a National Historic Landmark. Cedarcroft, also known as Bayard Taylor House, is a National Historic Landmark home in Chester County Pennsylvania. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the
Evaluation
According to the 1911 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica:
- Taylor's most ambitious productions in poetry—his Masque of the Gods (Boston, 1872), Prince Deukalion; a lyrical drama (Boston, 1878), The Picture of St John (Boston, 1866), Lars; a Pastoral of Norway (Boston, 1873), and The Prophet; a tragedy (Boston, 1874)—are marred by a ceaseless effort to overstrain his power. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica But he will be remembered by his poetic and excellent translation of Faust (2 vols, Boston, 1870-71) in the original metres. Faust or Faustus ( Latin for "auspicious" or "lucky" is the protagonist of a classic German Legend in which he makes
- Taylor felt, in all truth, the torment and the ecstasy of verse; but, as a critical friend has written of him, his nature was so ardent, so full-blooded, that slight and common sensations intoxicated him, and he estimated their effect, and his power to transmit it to others, beyond the true value. He had, from the earliest period at which he began to compose, a distinct lyrical faculty: so keen indeed was his ear that he became too insistently haunted by the music of others, pre-eminently of Tennyson. But he had often a true and fine note of his own. His best short poems are The Metempsychosis of the Pine and the well-known Bedouin love-song. The Bedouin, (from the Arabic (ar بدوي pl badū) are a desert-dwelling Arab Nomadic pastoralist, or previously
- In his critical essays Bayard Taylor had himself in no inconsiderable degree what he wrote of as that pure poetic insight which is the vital spirit of criticism. The most valuable of these prose dissertations are the Studies in German Literature (New York, 1879). Collected editions of his Poetical Works and his Dramatic Works were published at Boston in 1888; his Life and Letters (Boston, 2 vols, 1884) were edited by his wife and Horace E. Scudder. Horace Elisha Scudder (1838 – 1902 was a prolific American Man of letters and editor
Footnotes
- ^ Nelson, Randy F. The Almanac of American Letters. Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc. , 1981: 38. ISBN 086576008X
- ^ Bayless, Joy. Rufus Wilmot Griswold: Poe's Literary Executor. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1943. p. 128
- ^ Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson. The Literary History of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co. , 1906. ISBN 1932109455. p. 273
- ^ Austen, Roger, Playing the Game: The Homosexual Novel in America, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1977
References
- Cary, Richard (1952). The genteel circle: Bayard Taylor and his New York friends, 1st ed. , Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
- Howell, William Dean (1901). Literary Friends and Acquaintance : A Personal Retrospect of American Authorship, 1st ed, New York: Harper & Brothers.
- Smyth, Albert (1896). Bayard Taylor (American men of Letters series), 1st ed. , Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
- Taylor, Bayard (1997). Selected Letters of Bayard Taylor, 1st ed. , Bucknell University Press. ISBN 978-0838753637.
- Wermuth, Paul (1973). Bayard Taylor (Twayne's United States authors series), 1st ed. , New York: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 978-0805707182.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
External links
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