Thomas Roscoe (Liverpool 23 June 1791 – 24 September 1871 London) was an English author and translator.

Life

The fifth son of

William Roscoe William Roscoe (8 March 175330 June 1831) was an English banker, lawyer, and briefly a Member of Parliament. He is best known as one of England's first abolitionists, and as the author of the poem for children '' The Butterfly's Ball, and th ...

, he was born in Toxteth Park, Liverpool in 1791, and educated by Dr. W. Shepherd and by Mr. Lloyd, a private tutor. Soon after his father's financial troubles in 1816, which led to bankruptcy, Roscoe began to write in local magazines and journals, and he continued to follow literature as a profession. He died at age 80, on 24 September 1871, at Acacia Road, St. John's Wood, London.

Works

Roscoe's major original works were: *''Gonzalo, the Traitor: a Tragedy'', 1820. *''The King of the Peak'' non. 1823, 3 vols. *''Owain Goch: a Tale of the Revolution'' non. 1827, 3 vols. *''The Tourist in Switzerland and Italy'', 1830; the first volume of the ''Landscape Annual'', followed for eight years by similar volumes on Italy, France, and Spain. *''Wanderings and Excursions in North Wales'', 1836. *''Wanderings in South Wales'', with Louisa Anne Twamley the naturalist, 1837. *
The London and Birmingham Railway
', 1839. with illustrations from George Dodgson, William Radclyffe, Edward Radclyffe and others *''Book of the Grand Junction Railway'', 1839 (the last two were issued together as the ''Illustrated History of the London and North-Western Railway''). *''Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra'', 1839 London Thomas Tegg *''Legends of Venice'', 1841. *''Belgium in a Picturesque Tour'', 1841. *''A Summer Tour in the Isle of Wight'', 1843. *''Life of William the Conqueror'', 1846. *''The Last of the Abencerages, and other Poems'', 1850. *''The Fall of Granada''. Roscoe's translations were: *The ''Memoirs'' of

Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

, 1822. *

Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi, also known as Jean Charles Leonard Simonde de Sismondi (; 9 May 1773 – 25 June 1842), whose real surname was Simonde, was a Swiss historian and political economist, who is best known for his works on French ...

, ''Literature of the South of Europe'', 1823, 4 vols. Roscoe's annotations helped make the work popular. *''Italian Novelists'', 1825, 4 vols. *''German Novelists'', 1826, 4 vols. *''Spanish Novelists'', 1832, 3 vols. * Louis Joseph Antoine de Potter, ''Memoirs of Scipio de Ricci'', 1828, 2 vols. * Luigi Lanzi, ''History of Painting in Italy'', 1828, 6 vols. *

Silvio Pellico Silvio Pellico (; 24 June 1789 – 31 January 1854) was an Italian writer, poet, dramatist and patriot active in the Italian unification. Biography Silvio Pellico was born in Saluzzo, Piedmont. He spent the earlier portion of his life at Pi ...

, ''Imprisonments'', 1833. *Pellico, ''Duties of Men'', 1834. *

Martín Fernández de Navarrete Martín Fernández de Navarrete y Ximénez de Tejada (November 9, 1765 – October 8, 1844), was a Spanish nobleman, naval officer, and historian. Today he is principally remembered for his historical research concerning the expeditions and sci ...

, ''Life of Cervantes'', 1839 (in '' Murray's Family Library''). * Johann Georg Kohl, ''Travels in England'', 1845. Roscoe edited ''The Juvenile Keepsake'', 1828–30; ''The Novelists' Library, with Biographical and Critical Notices'', 1831–3, 17 vols.; the works of

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...

Tobias Smollett Tobias George Smollett (bapt. 19 March 1721 – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish writer and surgeon. He was best known for writing picaresque novels such as ''The Adventures of Roderick Random'' (1748), ''The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'' ...

, and

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

(1840–9, 3 vols.), and new issues of his father's ''Lorenzo de' Medici'' and ''Leo the Tenth''.

Family

Roscoe married, or cohabited with, Elizabeth Edwards, and had seven children, including Jane Elizabeth St John, writer and wife of Horace Stebbing Roscoe St John.

Notes

;Attribution

External links

* *
Works of Thomas Roscoe
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roscoe, Thomas 1791 births 1871 deaths English translators English male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English translators 19th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers Writers from Liverpool People from Toxteth