Richard Henry Dana Sr.: Difference between revisions

Richard Henry Dana Sr.
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Richard Henry Dana, Sr. (November 15, 1787 – February 2, 1879) was an American poet, critic and lawyer. His son, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., also became a lawyer and author.

Biography

Richard Henry Dana was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on November 15, 1787, the son of Federalist judge Francis Dana.^[1] He graduated from Harvard College and became a lawyer. He married Ruth Charlotte Smith and they had four children including Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

Dana was also a literary critic. Between 1817 and 1827, he was the first American to write major critiques of Romanticism, though his views were unconventional then.^[2] In a review of the poetry of Washington Allston, he noted his belief that poetry was the highest form of art, though it should be simple and must avoid didacticism.^[3] Some of his criticisms were controversial. Dana accused Harvard of smothering genius, and that the minds of poets were more insightful than the general community.^[1] Dana also criticized the Transcendentalism movement. He wrote, "Emerson & the other Spiritualists, or Supernaturalists, or whatever they are called, or may be pleased to call themselves... [have] madness in their hearts".^[2] Dana was a member of the Anthology Club; he and others in the club founded the North American Review.^[4]^[5] in 1817 as an outlet for his criticism, though his opposition with standard conventions lost him his editorial control of it.^[6] By 1850, his opinions were widely followed. As he wrote at the time, "Much that was once held to be presumptuous novelty... [became] little better than commonplace".^[2]

As a writer of fiction, Dana was an early practitioner of Gothic literature, particularly with his novel Paul Felton (1822), a tale of madness and murder.^[7] The novel has also been called a pioneering work of psychological realism alongside works by William Gilmore Simms.^[8] Nevertheless, Dana had difficulty supporting his family through his writing, which earned him only $400 over 30 years.^[9] In 1849, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician.

He lived on Chestnut Street in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood, ca.1840s-1870s.^[10]

Dana died on February 2, 1879, and was buried in the family plot at the Old Burying Ground next to the First Parish in Cambridge.

References

^ ^a ^b Haralson, Eric L. Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998: 115. ISBN 1-57958-008-4
^ ^a ^b ^c Ferguson, Robert A. Law and Letters in American Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984: 249. ISBN 0-674-51465-3
^ Ferguson, Robert A. Law and Letters in American Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984: 250. ISBN 0-674-51465-3
^ Brickhouse, Amanda. Transamerican Literary Relations and Nineteenth-Century Public Sphere. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004: 151. ISBN 0-521-84172-0
^ Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. 1910
^ Haralson, Eric L. Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998: 115–116. ISBN 1-57958-008-4
^ Ferguson, Robert A. Law and Letters in American Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984: 252. ISBN 0-674-51465-3
^ Pfister, Joel. The Production of Personal Life: Class, Gender, and the Psychological in Hawthorne's Fiction. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991: 52–53. ISBN 0-8047-1948-9
^ Sullivan, Wilson. New England Men of Letters. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1972: 99. ISBN 0-02-788680-8
^ Boston Directory. 1848, 1852, 1861, 1873

External links

WorldCat
Richard Henry Dana, Sr. at Lawyers and Poetry

Template:Persondata

[Haralson115-1] Haralson, Eric L. Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998: 115. ISBN 1-57958-008-4

[Ferguson249-2] Ferguson, Robert A. Law and Letters in American Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984: 249. ISBN 0-674-51465-3

[3] Ferguson, Robert A. Law and Letters in American Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984: 250. ISBN 0-674-51465-3

[4] Brickhouse, Amanda. Transamerican Literary Relations and Nineteenth-Century Public Sphere. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004: 151. ISBN 0-521-84172-0

[5] Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. 1910

[6] Haralson, Eric L. Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998: 115–116. ISBN 1-57958-008-4

[7] Ferguson, Robert A. Law and Letters in American Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984: 252. ISBN 0-674-51465-3

[8] Pfister, Joel. The Production of Personal Life: Class, Gender, and the Psychological in Hawthorne's Fiction. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991: 52–53. ISBN 0-8047-1948-9

[9] Sullivan, Wilson. New England Men of Letters. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1972: 99. ISBN 0-02-788680-8

[10] Boston Directory. 1848, 1852, 1861, 1873

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Richard Henry Dana Sr.: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:05, 2 May 2015

Biography

Further reading

Works by Dana

Works about Dana

References

External links