Henry Taylor (playwright)

Henry Taylor

Sir Henry Taylor (born October 18, 1800 in Bishop Middleham , Durham , † March 27, 1886 in Bournemouth ) was an English playwright , poet and writer of essays . He was raised to the nobility ( Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George ) by Queen Victoria in 1872 for his services to the British Empire in his actual profession as a high official in the British Colonial Ministry .

Life

Although his father was a wealthy farmer, Henry Taylor first went to sea for a few months and worked in the Royal Navy Shipping Office , then from 1824 to 1872 pursued a long and extremely influential career in the administration of the British Empire, and India in particular .

Nevertheless, he found the time to write various verse dramas and to emerge as an author of comedies , poems and essays. The tragedy Philip van Artevelde, which is hardly considered a success on the stage, is considered by some critics to be his best work due to the good character studies. The theme of the play is Flanders' struggle for independence against French supremacy in the 14th century and its governor Philipp van Artevelde , who died as a popular leader in the Battle of Roosebeke on November 27, 1382.

Taylor was regarded by his contemporaries as a dramatist with great qualities, whose poetry was one of the best works of the 19th century, but missed the last step to genius.

Works

• Isaac Comnenus , Tragedy, 1827
• Philip van Artevelde , Tragedy, 1834 ( Philipp van Artevelde's death . A drama by Henry Taylor. Translated from the English by A. Heimann. Leipzig 1852)
• The Statesman , Essay 1836
• Edwin the Fair , Drama 1842
• The Eve of the Conquest , poem 1847
• Notes from Life , Essays, 1847
• Notes from Books , Essays, 1849
• The Virgin Widow , Comedy, 1850 (also called An Sicilian Summer )
• St. Clement's Eve , drama, 1862
• A Welcome , poem 1863
• Autobiography , II 1885
• Works , 5 volumes, 1877 f.
• Correspondence , ed. E. Dowden 1888.

literature

• JB Bilderbeck, 1887
• John William Cousin: A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. JM Dent & sons, London; EP Dutton, New York 1910.
• R. Knauth, 1913
• U. Taylor: Guests and Memories. 1924
• Taylor, Sir Henry . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 26 : Submarine Mines - Tom-Tom . London 1911, p. 468 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
• The Romantic Revival. Sir Henry Taylor; Philip van Artevelde . In: The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907-21). Volume XII.

Web links

Commons : Sir Henry Taylor  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Text by The Eve of the Conquest at oldpoetry.com
• Text by A Welcome at oldpoetry.com
• Quotes from Philip van Artevelde