James henry leigh hunt biography of william
Leigh Hunt, a Brief Bio
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Leigh Hunt was what some would call a second-rate Romantic. Though himself not a phenominal poet, he is responsible for introducing and/or encouraging various great literary minds of his day, including: John Keats, Percy Bysse Shelley, Robert Browning, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Walter Savage Landor, and Charles Dickens. He authored many influential essays (indeed perhaps mastering the form of rhetoric), a novel, and also a few plays. His pursuits with the genre of the periodical perhaps define his greatest contribution to 19th century letters. Writing for the Political and Theatrical Examiner (1808-1886), as well as the journals The Reflector, The Literary Pocket Book, The Indicator, The Liberator, and The Tatler, he left a lasting legacy as a great personal essay writer. He is also well-known for his theatre criticism. In 1813, he was thrown in jail for libeling the Prince Regent in an attack called, "The Prince on St. Patrick's Day." In it, he called the late Prince of Wales an overweight, past-his-prime "Adonis." Hunt's biting government criticism did not stop once thrown into Surrey County Gaol. He continued to write for The Examiner, and after he was released, continued to take up radical rhetoric in the periodical format; although, the incarceration did have a detrimental affect on his health (despite relatively comfortable living quarters).
James Henry Leigh Hunt was born into a family of eight--he was the seventh child. His brothers and sisters were born in America, but he was born in England. His father was a lawyer from Barbados and his mother the daughter of a rich Philadelphian merchant. They fled America after they were threatened for being Tories. His father became an Anglican preacher in England, but was in and out debters prison due to poor financial management. Hunt entered Christ's Hospital S The English-born writer James Henry Leigh Hunt was a controversial figure who attracted the patronage of more successful writers than himself while, on occasions, appearing to openly criticise his benefactors in print. Hunt wrote and had published a great deal of poetry but he also turned his hand to plays, some of which were staged in the London theatres. Besides this he sold many pieces of work to newspapers and magazines, usually of a critical nature on often famous individuals within English literary circles. He was born with the shorter name – Leigh Hunt – in October 1784 in London. His parents were both Americans who had fled the United States because they had displayed loyalist tendencies while the American War of Independence raged about them. His father, a lawyer, hoped to become a preacher but did not achieve much success in this venture and eventually settled on a tutoring role. Hunt was a pupil at Christ’s Hospital school up to the age of 15, a school that had previously been home to such luminaries as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lamb. He became deeply interest in poetry and admired the work of Thomas Gray and William Collins. He would have gone on to university but it was reported that a speech impediment barred his way. He was determined though to have his work published and, in 1801, his first volume of poetry (Juvenilia) was his gateway into London literary circles. Although he began his working life as a junior clerk with the War Office, he left that to begin writing for newspapers and he enjoyed very much producing critical pieces on the theatre. Hunt joined his brother’s paper “The Examiner” and soon incurred the wrath of the likes of William Blake because of the vitriolic nature of his columns. Blake described the paper’s location as a “nest of villains”. It seemed that no one was safe from attack by this publication including, in 1813, the Prince Regent. For his pains Hunt suffered a two year prison sentence, along with his two b English critic, essayist and poet (1784–1859) This article is about the 19th-century English poet and essayist. For other uses, see Leigh Hunt (disambiguation). James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 1784 – 28 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded The Examiner, a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centre of the Hampstead-based group that included William Hazlitt and Charles Lamb, known as the "Hunt circle". Hunt also introduced John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson to the public. He may be best remembered for being sentenced to prison for two years on charges of libel against the Prince Regent (1813-1815). Hunt's presence at Shelley's funeral on the beach near Viareggio was immortalised in the painting by Louis Édouard Fournier. Hunt inspired aspects of the Harold Skimpole character in Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House. James Henry Leigh Hunt was born on 19 October 1784, at Southgate, London, where his parents had settled after leaving the United States. His father, Isaac, a lawyer from Philadelphia, and his mother, Mary Shewell, a merchant's daughter and a devout Quaker, had been forced to come to Britain because of their Loyalist sympathies during the American War of Independence. Once in England, Isaac Hunt became a popular preacher but was unsuccessful in obtaining a permanent living. He was then employed by James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos, as tutor to his nephew, James Henry Leigh for whom Isaac named his son. Leigh Hunt was educated at Christ's Hospital in London from 1791 to 1799, a period that Hunt described in his autobiography. Thomas Barnes was a school friend. One of the boarding houses at Christ's Hospital is named after Hunt. As a boy, Hunt was an admirer of Thomas Gray and William Collins, writing many verses in imita |