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We know a great deal about Matthew Arnold's contribution to literary criticism, but very little about his contemporaries who wrote as professional men of letters. This review of the careers of seven distinguished bookmen - George Henry Lewes, Walter Bagehot, Richard Holt Hutton, Leslie Stephen. Andrew Lang. George Saintsbury and Edmund Gosse - shows that Arnold learned from several of them (as all of them from him), and appreciated the high quality of their contributions to Victorian life and letters. The more we know about these critics, their contributions to widely read periodicals, their reviews of plays, their collections of essays, their full-length studies and their textbook surveys of several national literatures, the better able we are to see Arnold clearly.
Only the most dedicated student of Victorian literature is familiar with the major works of these seven critics, or with the major lines of thought that they represented. It is not an overstatement, however, to say...
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Fülszöveg
We know a great deal about Matthew Arnold's contribution to literary criticism, but very little about his contemporaries who wrote as professional men of letters. This review of the careers of seven distinguished bookmen - George Henry Lewes, Walter Bagehot, Richard Holt Hutton, Leslie Stephen. Andrew Lang. George Saintsbury and Edmund Gosse - shows that Arnold learned from several of them (as all of them from him), and appreciated the high quality of their contributions to Victorian life and letters. The more we know about these critics, their contributions to widely read periodicals, their reviews of plays, their collections of essays, their full-length studies and their textbook surveys of several national literatures, the better able we are to see Arnold clearly.
Only the most dedicated student of Victorian literature is familiar with the major works of these seven critics, or with the major lines of thought that they represented. It is not an overstatement, however, to say that they defined the literary landscape of the second half of the nineteenth century, or that all serious writers of the age sought their praise. Their definitions of genres and literary schools, their rankings of literary talents, and their campaigns for excellence were influential to a degree not equalled in the twentieth century.
Altogether these seven individuals were responsible for several hundred books coming into print, though not all of these volumes dealt with literary subjects. A surprising number are so lively and witty in their treatment of important subjects that the total achievement is bound to communicate a sense of boundless good spirits dedicated to a worthy cause: the elucidation of literary merit. The audience for which they wrote was assumed to be literate, intelligent and curious; relatively uninterested in technical nomenclature and the specialized concerns of research scholars;
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worthy of respect even while being educated to appreciate the best works of art, literature, history and philosophy.
Lewes. Bagehot, Hutton, Stephen, Lang, Saintsbury and Gosse: it is a distinguished roster of critics who, in mediating between serious literature and their respective audiences, met the challenges of an honorable profession. They believed that true culture is humanistic, and that good literary criticism can be - and often is-a potent force in producing a civilized society. Here is an opportunity to learn more about their lives, their works and their achievements.
Harold Orel is University Professor of English at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. He previously taught at the University of Maryland.
He is the author of Thomas Hardy's Epic Drama, English Romantic Poets and the Enlightenment, and The Final Years of Thomas Hardy, and editor or co-editor of Rudyard Kipling: Interviews and Recollections, Thomas Hardy's Personal Writings, British Poetry 1880-1920. Irish History and Culture and The Scottish World.
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The jacket-design incorporates a sketch of George Henry Lewes by Anne Gliddon, 1840 {National Portrait Gallery)
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