A founding member of the bloomsbury group and author of eminent victorians, he is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit. Mar 14, 2005 before i started editing the letters of lytton strachey five years ago, i thought i was familiar with just about all there was to know about the densely bearded author of eminent victorians his. Apr 03, 2012 lytton strachey was a writer, member of the bloomsbury group and close friend to virginia woolf. Lytton strachey is the author of books such as eminent victorians. Jump to navigation jump to search aug, 20 lytton strachey pictured at ham spray, wiltshire, the home he shared with the painter dora carrington. Lincoln allison reader in politics, university of warwick colourful eminence lytton stracheys eminent victorians. Strachey, who was a pacifist, was well aware that the politicians who had allowed. London, anthony doffay gallery available through yale universitys digital resources collection. Eminent victorians by lytton strachey preface the history of the victorian age will never be written. By the end of 1917 he had spent five years researching and writing the book, which was ready for the press he had been tempted to add a fifth. Amongst his brother and sisters were james strachey, oliver strachey and philippa strachey. Eminent victorians is a book by lytton strachey first published in 1918 and consisting of.
Lytton strachey s most popular book is eminent victorians. Lytton strachey was born on march 1, 1880 in london, england as giles lytton strachey. From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia giles lytton strachey. Eminent victorians has been on my to read list for about 20 yrs, and im so glad i finally got around to it. Lytton stracheys brother james strachey was still alive during the original writing. The art of biography, sunday times 5 november 1933. Dora carringtongetty images i came to eminent victorians secretly. Until strachey, biographers had kept an awestruck distance from their subjects.
Aug 29, 2012 twenty years ago, a friend of mine, steve swanson, recommended lytton stracheys eminent victorians as a classic in the field of biography and a delightful read as well. Lytton stracheys quartet of pithy biographies, eminent victorians 1918, wittily, wildeishly distorts the character and accomplishments of four noble worthies cardinal manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold, and general gordon in order to burlesque the nineteenthcenturys most dearly held virtues. Appearing in may, 1918, strachey s eminent victorians was received by a people tired of war, shocked at the appalling carnage, and, at least in the intellectual classes, cynical about the policies that had dragged britain into a ruinous, fouryear continental war. Publication date 1918 topics manning, henry edward, 18081892, nightingale, florence, 18201910, arnold, thomas, 17951842, gordon, charles george, 18331885. Its fame rests on the irreverence and wit strachey brought to bear on three men and a woman who had till then been regarded as heroes and heroine. Perhaps lytton strachey was the first to create the new biography, not wrapping his subjects in flowery adjectives as was the style of his times, but instead skewering them with.
See more ideas about bloomsbury group, bloomsbury and virginia woolf. Perhaps lytton strachey was the first to create the new biography, not wrapping his subjects in flowery adjectives as was the style of his times, but instead skewering them with sarcastic and scathingly funny written portraits. Appearing in may, 1918, stracheys eminent victorians was received by a people tired of war, shocked at the appalling carnage, and, at least in the intellectual classes, cynical about the policies that had dragged britain into a ruinous, fouryear continental war. Books by lytton strachey author of eminent victorians. Queen victoria, general gordon, florence nightingale, cardinal manning, dr. Lytton stracheys most popular book is eminent victorians. Eminent victorians is a book by lytton strachey one of the older members of the bloomsbury group, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era. Florence nightingale was an obvious choice for any biographer, but who cared about matthew arnold in the postwar.
Lytton strachey eminent victorians florence nightingale. Eminent victorians lytton strachey oxford university press. Its fame rests on the irreverence and wit strachey brought to bear on three men and a woman who had until then been regarded as heroes. Lytton strachey biography lytton strachey biography and list of works lytton. Before i started editing the letters of lytton strachey five years ago. Jun 17, 2009 eminent victorians, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era. But florence, who was now twenty five and felt that the dream of her life had been shattered, came near to desperation. Unlike the other biographies weve looked at this year ropers life of more, cavendishs life of cardinal wolsey, and boswells life of johnson, lytton stracheys eminent victorians is a work marked by distance seen through the fresh eyes of a new. The book shows its other subjects in a less than flattering light. Lytton stracheys failed marriage proposal to virginia woolf. Djela ciji je autor lytton strachey na projektu gutenberg. Lytton stracheys biographical essays on four eminent victorians dropped a depthcharge on victorian england when the book was published in 1918. By the end of 1917 he had spent five years researching and writing the book, which was ready for the. Before i started editing the letters of lytton strachey five years ago, i thought i was familiar with just about all there was to know about the densely bearded author of eminent victorians.
Eminent victorians by lytton strachey full text free. Twenty years ago, a friend of mine, steve swanson, recommended lytton stracheys eminent victorians as a classic in the field of biography and a delightful read as well. Florence nightingale was an obvious choice for any biographer, but who cared about matthew arnold in the postwar era when strachey was writing these essays. Lytton strachey was a writer, member of the bloomsbury group and close friend to virginia woolf. Giles lytton strachey 1 march 1880 21 january 1932 was a british writer and critic. A founding member of the bloomsbury group and author of eminent victorians. He noted altogether twenty five of these strange thoughts.
Read eminent victorians online by lytton strachey books free 30. Eminent victorians by giles lytton strachey free at. Wilsons eminent victorians misidentified one of the subjects of lytton stracheys 1918 book of the same title. Other bloomsburies were still alive as well, and though it may seem merely quaint today, they had some anxiety over legal as well as social consequences of the biography. Giles lytton strachey 18801932 on modern librarys list of 100 best nonfiction books, eminent victorians marked an epoch in the art of biography. Lytton strachey books author of eminent victorians. Eminent victorians by lytton strachey, paperback barnes. Lytton strachey shows us the inner workings of queen victorias reign.
But florence, who was now twentyfive and felt that the dream of her life. Lytton strachey 18801932, among the most famous writers of his time, was a member of the bloomsbury group and the author of a number of biographies. Ive owned a copy for nearly that long, but only now have come to make my way through it, and i find that everything steve said about the book is true. With a supremely pointed analysis of the characters in the story, strachey exerts great dexterity in managing the flow of events. It replaced reverence with skepticism and stracheys wit, iconoclasm, and narrative skill liberated the biographical enterprise. Elizabeth i queen of england 15331603, robert devereux essex earl of 15661601, charles george gordon 18331885, victoria queen of great britain 18191901, florence nightingale 18201910, thomas arnold 17951842, henry edward manning 18081892, henry edward manning, lytton strachey 18801932, alexander pope 16881744, charles george, 18331885 gordon. Adopting an irreverent attitude to the past and especially to the monumental lifeandletters volumes of victorian biography, strachey. Five victorians by lytton strachey and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Queen victoria and her age, an analysis by lytton strachey. Eminent victorians is a groundbreaking work of biography that raised the genre to the level of high art. Lytton strachey has 54 books on goodreads with 12433 ratings. Books by lytton strachey author of eminent victorians goodreads. Eminent victorians lytton strachey innovating the application of psychological principles to history, strachey presents four artful biographies, or victorian visions.
Stracheys targets of irony were evangelicalism, liberalism, humanitarianism, education and imperialism. Jump to navigation jump to search eminent victorians florence nightingale. Lytton strachey 18801932 was a historian, literary critic, and bloomsbury wit whose ironic prose style and sense of rupture with the victorian past helped to define english literary modernism. Lytton strachey, in full giles lytton strachey, born march 1, 1880, londondied jan. Eminent victorians, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era. Lytton strachey, the eighth of the ten surviving children of lieutenantgeneral sir richard strachey 18171908 and his wife, jane grant strachey 18401928, was born at stowey house, clapham common, on 1st march 1880. Eminent victoriansthe end of general gordon wikisource. His mind hovered anxiously round1 the incarnation, 2 the real presence, i.
Eminent victorians, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading. The four in question were cardinal manning, the leader of englands roman catholic community. Eminent victorians, giles lytton strachey 1880 1932 on modern librarys list of 100 best nonfiction books. Cardinal manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold and general gordon. His eminent victorians, published in 1918, inaugurated a new style of biography distinguished by irony, wit, irreverence, and elegance of language. A founding member of the bloomsbury group and author of eminent victorians, he is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined. Eminent victorians giles lytton strachey 1880 1932 on modern librarys list of 100 best nonfiction books, eminent victorians marked an epoch in the art of biography. It ushered in the modern biography and raised the genre to the level of high literary art. Eminent victorians by lytton strachey a string quartet. Lytton stracheys partisan, often inaccurate but brilliant demolitions of four great 19thcentury britons did much to usher in the modern era. Lytton strachey s quartet of pithy biographies, eminent victorians 1918, wittily, wildeishly distorts the character and accomplishments of four noble worthies cardinal manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold, and general gordon in order to burlesque the nineteenthcenturys most dearly held virtues. Giles lytton strachey was an english writer and critic.
He was a writer, known for gloriana 1984 and gloriana 2000. Lytton strachey s biographical essays on four eminent victorians dropped a depthcharge on victorian england when the book was published in 1918. Dec 26, 2016 eminent victorians 1918 by lytton strachey. He died on january 21, 1932 in hungerford, berkshire, england. Florence nightingale in eminent victorians by lytton. It is a strange way of loving the son to slight the mother. Works by or about lytton strachey at internet archive. Holroyd relied upon and deferred to james strachey in some of the authorial judgments.
He had made his first real impact on the literary world with eminent victorians 1918, in which he presented the early twentiethcentury reader with a series of iconoclastic portraits of some of the idols of the previous century. Eminent victorians, collection of short biographical sketches by lytton strachey, published in 1918 stracheys portraits of cardinal manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold, and general charles chinese gordon revolutionized english biography. It replaced reverence with skepticism and strachey s wit, iconoclasm, and narrative skill liberated the biographical enterprise. In eminent victorians 1918, lytton strachey examined the lives of four famous english individuals from the victorian era and found that they were not quite what previous biographies and popular legend had made them out to be. Eminent victorians part 12 full audiobook by giles lytton.
Although he was homosexual, strachey wanted to be married, possibly to avoid being identified as gay or to increase his social status, and thought virginia, with her intelligence and beauty, would make more than a suitable bride for him. Rosenbaum, strachey, giles lytton 18801932, oxford dictionary of national. Lytton stracheys eminent victorians is both a new and modern form of biography, rebelling against the standards of his period, and a return to the moral emphasis and form of plutarchs lives. Dec 30, 2016 eminent victoriansthe end of general gordon. Eminent victorians is a book by lytton strachey, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era. Leonard had written to lytton a few days ago, excited at lyttons suggestion that virginia stephen, 27, might marry him. Lytton strachey, an english biographer, critic and essayist, is best known for his ironic attitude towards the subject of his biographical studies.
624 139 1647 393 330 97 178 1029 1661 651 1172 820 961 1641 1304 1347 1532 1297 305 728 1335 311 382 788 272 890 935 417 1392 595 116 1149 4 598 1133 155 411 70 387 650 1309 818 782