Bayard Taylor

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Bayard Taylor

Bayard Taylor (born January 11, 1825 in Kennett Square , Chester County , Pennsylvania , † December 19, 1878 in Berlin , German Empire ) was an American travel writer, diplomat and poet.

Life

At the age of 17 he became an apprentice printer in West Chester , devoted himself to literature and the fine sciences and made a walking tour of Europe with his savings from 1844-46 , which he reported in Views afoot (1846). Two years later he published his Rhymes of travel .

On his return, Horace Greeley brought him to the New York Tribune as editor . The paper sent him to California in 1848 , from where he reported on the American gold rush . A summary was published in 1849. That same year, Taylor married Mary Agnew, who died of tuberculosis in the summer of the following year .

His Poems and ballads appeared in 1851, as did his “ Book of romances, lyrics and songs ”. In the same year he made a trip to the Orient and the interior of Africa . In October 1852 he went from England via Spain to Bombay and from there to China , where he was attached to the American embassy. In the spring of 1853 he accompanied Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet squadron to Japan (→ Black Ships ) and returned to New York at the end of that year. He published his travel reports in the Tribune , later in book form: A journey to Central Africa (1854), The lands of the Saracen (1855) and A visit in India, Japan and China (1856).

Marie Hansen-Taylor, 1877

From 1856 to 1858 he traveled again, visiting Lapland and Norway , then Greece and Crete , Poland and Russia . The fruits of these trips were the writings Northern Travel (1857) and Travels in Greece and Russia (1859). In October 1857 he married Maria Hansen (1829–1925), daughter of the astronomer Hansen in Gotha , and in the winter of 1857/58 the couple traveled to and through Greece.

Maria Hansen-Taylor translated many of her husband's writings into German throughout her life. In 1858 their only daughter Lilian was born in Gotha. After returning to the United States, Taylor built a country house in Cedarcroft near Philadelphia . 1862–63 he was the secretary of the embassy in Saint Petersburg . From 1866 to 1868 and again from 1872 to 1874 he traveled all over Europe, preferably Thuringia , Italy and Switzerland . In between he went on short trips to Egypt and Iceland . In May 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes named Taylor the United States Envoy to Berlin . Here, on December 19, 1878, he suffered a sudden and early death. Bayard Taylor was buried almost a year later in Longwood Cemetery, three miles from his Cedarcroft home.

reception

Bayard Taylor's grave

During his time as editor at the New York Tribune , Taylor and George Ripley edited the multi-volume Handbook of Literature and Fine Arts from 1852 onwards . With this work and with his masterful translation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "Faust" ( first and second parts ) in meter of the original (1870/71) Taylor contributed to the spread of knowledge of German literature in America.

In addition to his Faust translation, for which Taylor is still known today, his oeuvre includes descriptions of almost all of his travels, as well as poetic works that identify him as a serious poet. He wrote some plays, which were not granted long-lasting success, but also novels of which especially The Echo Club (1876) and Joseph and his friend (1871) led to controversial discussions among his readers. The first work was a satire on English literature, and with the latter, Taylor first addressed the intimate friendship between two men.

In addition, Taylor also wrote some non-fiction books and worked as an editor. Several editions of the work appeared shortly after his death.

Works (selection)

As an author

Letters
  • Charles Duffy (Eds.): The correspondence of Bayard Taylor and Paul Hamilton Hayne . University Press, Baton Rouge 1945.
  • John R. Schultz (Ed.): The unpublished letters of Bayard Taylor in the Huntington Library . Huntington Press, San Marino, Calif. 1937.
Poetry
  • Poems of the Orient . Ticknor & Fields, Boston 1854.
  • Poems of home and travel . Ticknor & Fields, Boston 1855.
  • The poet's journal . 1862.
  • The picture of St. John . Ticknor & Fields, Boston 1866.
  • Lars . 1873.
  • Home pastorals . 1875.
Travelogues
  • At home and abroad. A sketch-book of life, scenery and men . Putnam, New York 1859 and 1862 (2 vol.)
  • Colorado . Putnam, New York 1867.
  • Byways of Europe . Putnam, New York 1869.
  • Egypt and Iceland . Putnam, New York 1875.
  • Northern Tale. Summer and winter pictures in Sweden, Lapland, and Norway . Sampson Low, London 1858.
    • German: Nordic trip. Summer and winter pictures from Sweden, Lapland and Norway . Voigt & Günther, Leipzig 1858.
  • A journal to Central Africa .
    • German: A trip to Central Africa or life and landscapes from Egypt to the Negro states on the White Nile . Voigt & Günther, Leipzig 1855.
  • Eldorado, or adventures in the path of empire .
    • German: El-Dorado. Descriptions of a trip through Panama to California and the stay there . Publisher for American Studies, Wyk / Foehr 1989, ISBN 3-924696-32-2 . (Reprint of the Weimar 1851 edition)
Novels
  • Hannah Thurston. A story of American life . Gregg International, Upper Saddle, NJ 1968 (reprinted from New York 1863 edition).
    • German: Hannah Thurston, the emancipate. Novel from American life . Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1864/66 (3 vol.)
  • John Godfrey's fortunes, related by himself. A story of American life . Putnam, New York 1886 (reprint of the New York 1865 edition).
  • The story of Kennett . University Press, New Haven, Conn. 1973 (reprint of New York 1866 edition).
    • German: Kennett. Novel . Thienemann, Gotha 1867.
  • The Echo Club . Literature House, Upper Saddle, NJ 1970, ISBN 0-8398-1951-X (reprint of New York 1895 edition)
  • Joseph and his friend. A story of Pennsylvania . Putnam, New York 1870.
    • German: Joseph and his friend. Novel . Janke Verlag, Berlin 1901.
Non-fiction
  • A history of Germany. From earliest times to the present day . Appleton, New York 1894 (reprint of the New York 1874 edition).
    • German: history of Germany . auerbach, Stuttgart 1875.
  • Studies in German literature . Putnam, New York 1879.
    • German: The poetry in pictures. Literary studies . Perthes, Leipzig 1881.
  • Critical essays and notes . 1880.
Plays
  • The masque of the gods . Osgood, Boston 1872.
  • The prophet. A tragedy . Osgood, Boston 1874.
  • Prince Deucalion. A lyrical drama . Trübner, London 1878.
Work editions
  • The dramatic works of Bayard Taylor . AMS Press, New York 1969 (reprinted from the Boston 1880 edition).
  • The poetical works . AMS Press, New York 1970, ISBN 0-404-06354-3 (reprinted from Boston 1881 edition).
  • Works . Putnam, New York 1893ff
  1. Series 1 . 1893/96 (5 vol.)
  2. Series 2 . 1891/93. (10 vols.).
  • Selected writings . Perthes, Leipzig 1881 (2 vol.).
  • Critical essays and literary notes . Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, London 1880.
  • The collection of his travels appeared in 6 volumes in New York in 1881.

As editor

As translator

  • Johann W. von Goethe: Faust. Part 1 and 2 . Sphere Books, London 1974, ISBN 0-7221-3921-7 (reprint of the New York edition 1870/71).

literature

Essays
Books
  • Richmond C. Beatty: Bayard Taylor. Laureate of the gilded age . University Press, Norman, Okl. 1936.
  • Russell H. Conwell: Life, travels and literary career of Bayard Taylor . Lothrop Books, Boston 1881 (EA Boston 1879).
  • Marie Hansen-Taylor and Horace E. Scudder: Life and letters of Bayard Taylor . Stock, London 1884 (2 vols.)
    • German: Bayard Taylor. A picture of life compiled from letters . Perthes, Gotha 1885.
  • Marie Hansen-Taylor: From two parts of the world. Memories . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1905.
  • Juliana Haskell: Bayard Taylor's translation of Goethe's Faust (Columbia University Germanic Studies; 10). AMS Press, New York 1966.
  • Richard Carry: The genteel circle. Bayard Taylor and his New York friends (Cornell Studies in American history, literature, and folklore; 5). University Press, Ithaca, NY 1952.
  • Paul C. Wermuth: Bayard Taylor (Twayne's United States authors Series; 228). Twayne, Boston, Mas. 1973, ISBN 0-8057-0718-2 .

Web links

Wikisource: Bayard Taylor  - Sources and full texts
Commons : Bayard Taylor  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
predecessor Office successor
Bancroft Davis US envoy in Berlin
May 7, 1878-19. December 1878 		Andrew Dickson White
personal data
SURNAME Taylor, Bayard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American travel writer, diplomat, and poet
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Kennett Square , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH December 19, 1878
Place of death Berlin , German Empire