Gordon Bottomley

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gordon Bottomley (* 1874 in Keighley , † 1948 in Silverdale , Lancashire ) was an English writer. He was a writer of verse dramas and poems influenced by the poets of English Romanticism such as William Blake , Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats, and the painters of the Pre-Raphaelites . Edward Marsh included his poems in the Georgian Poetry 1911-12 (1912), 1913-15 (1915), 1916-17 (1917) and 1918-19 (1919) collections.

In his dramatic work, Bottomley experimented with different forms and was inspired, among other things, by the Japanese Noh theater . His best-known dramatic works include King Lear's Wife (1915) and Gruach (1921), in which Bottomley, as a free adaptation in a backward- looking form, shapes the prehistory to Shakespeare's plays King Lear and Macbeth in order to contribute to a deeper understanding of the originals of Shakespeare.

Bottomley was in contact with a large number of artists mainly by letter. Worth mentioning is his friendship with the painter Paul Nash , whom he inspired to paint and who in return contributed illustrations for Bottomley's pieces. Bottomley was also in contact with the poet Isaac Rosenberg and later supervised Rosenberg's work as editor.

Bottomley was also an art collector. His collection of six hundred paintings, drawings and prints with pictures by Paul Nash - but also important works by the Pre-Raphaelites Dante Gabriel Rossetti , Edward Burne-Jones , William Morris , Arthur Hughes , Ford Madox Brown , Elizabeth Siddal and Simeon Solomon - is now at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle .

Literary publications

Poems

  • The Mickle Drede and Other Verses (1896)
  • Poems at White Nights (1899)
  • The Gate of Smaragdus (1904).
  • Chambers of Imagery (1907, 1912)
  • A Vision of Giorgione (1910)

Dramatic works

  • The Crier by Night (1902)
  • Midsummer Eve (1905)
  • Laodice and Danaë (1909)
  • The Riding to Lithend (1909)
  • King Lear's Wife (1915)
  • Gruach (1921)
  • Britain's Daughter (1921)
  • Scenes and Plays (1929)
  • Festival Preludes (1930)
  • A Carol for Christmas - Day before Dawn (1930)
  • Lyric Plays (1932)
  • The Acts of St. Peter (1933)
  • Choric Plays (1939)
  • Kate Kennedy (1945)

Collected Works

  • Poems of Thirty Years (1925)
  • Poems and Plays (1953)

literature

  • Horst Oppel : Gordon Bottomley, "King Lear's Wife." . In: Horst Priessnitz (ed.): Anglo-American Shakespeare adaptations of the 20th century. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt 1980, ISBN 3-534-07879-9 , pp. 326–339.
  • Elmar Lehmann: “Embodied in Beauty”: Gordon Bottomley's Gruach and Lady Macbeth. In: Horst Priessnitz (ed.): Anglo-American Shakespeare adaptations of the 20th century. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt 1980, ISBN 3-534-07879-9 , pp. 375-384.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See the information on Poetry Foundation Gordon Bottomley . Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  2. ↑ See the information on Oxford Reference Gordon Bottomley . Retrieved May 25, 2020. See also in detail Horst Oppel : Gordon Bottomley, “King Lear's Wife.” . In: Horst Priessnitz (ed.): Anglo-American Shakespeare adaptations of the 20th century. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt 1980, ISBN 3-534-07879-9 , pp. 326–339, and Elmar Lehmann: “Embodied in Beauty”: Gordon Bottomley's Gruach and Lady Macbeth. In: Horst Priessnitz (ed.): Anglo-American Shakespeare adaptations of the 20th century. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt 1980, ISBN 3-534-07879-9 , pp. 375-384.
personal data
SURNAME Bottomley, Gordon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Keighley
DATE OF DEATH 1948
Place of death Silverdale , Lancashire