Sir Edmund William Gosse (; 21 September 184916 May 1928) was an English poet, author and critic. He was strictly brought up in a small Protestant sect, the Plymouth Brethren, but broke away sharply from that faith. His account of his childhood in the book ''

Father and Son Father and Son or Fathers and Sons may refer to: Literature * ''Father and Son'' (book), a 1907 memoir by Edmund Gosse *Father and Son (comics), cartoon characters created by E. O. Plauen * ''Fathers and Sons'' (novel), an 1862 novel by Ivan Tur ...

'' has been described as the first psychological biography. His friendship with the sculptor Hamo Thornycroft inspired a successful career as a historian of late-Victorian sculpture. His translations of Henrik Ibsen helped to promote that playwright in England, and he encouraged the careers of W. B. Yeats and James Joyce. He also lectured in English literature at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

Early life

Gosse was the son of

Philip Henry Gosse Philip Henry Gosse FRS (; 6 April 1810 – 23 August 1888), known to his friends as Henry, was an English naturalist and populariser of natural science, an early improver of the seawater aquarium, and a painstaking innovator in the study of ma ...

and Emily Bowes. His father was a naturalist and his mother an illustrator who published a number of books of poetry. Both were deeply committed to a small Protestant sect, the Plymouth Brethren. His childhood was initially happy as they spent their summers in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

where his father was developing the ideas which gave rise to the craze for the marine aquarium. After his mother died of breast cancer when he was eight and they moved to Devon, his life with his father became increasingly strained by his father's expectations that he should follow in his religious tradition. Gosse was sent to a boarding school where he began to develop his own interests in literature. His father re-married in 1860 the deeply religious Quaker spinster Eliza Brightwen (1813–1900), whose brother Thomas tried to encourage Edmund to become a banker. He later gave an account of his childhood in the book ''

'' which has been described as the first psychological biography. At the age of 18 and working in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in London, he broke away from his father's influence in a dramatic coming of age. Nearly a century after Gosse's death, a study based on his published remarks and writings about his father concluded that in varying degrees, they are "riddled with error, distortion, contradictions, unwarranted claims, misrepresentation, abuse of the written record, and unfamiliarity with the subject." Eliza Gosse's brother George was the husband of Eliza Elder Brightwen (1830–1906), a naturalist and author, whose first book was published in 1890. After Eliza Elder Brightwen's death, Edmund Gosse arranged for the publication of her two posthumous works ''Last Hours with Nature'' (1908) and ''Eliza Brightwen, the Life and Thoughts of a Naturalist'' (1909), both edited by W. H. Chesson, and the latter book with an introduction and epilogue by Gosse. Gosse was second cousin of Annie Morgan, also of strict Plymouth Brethren upbringing, who married physician Alexander Waugh (1840–1906) and was mother of Arthur Waugh and grandmother to the writers Alec Waugh and

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...

Career

Gosse started his career as assistant librarian at the

from 1867 alongside the songwriter Theo Marzials, a post which Charles Kingsley helped his father obtain for him. An early book of poetry published with a friend John Arthur Blaikie gave him an introduction to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Trips to Denmark and Norway in 1872–74, where he visited Hans Christian Andersen and

Frederik Paludan-Müller Frederik Paludan-Müller (7 February 1809 – 27 December 1876) was a Danish poet, the third son of Jens Paludan-Müller and born in Kerteminde, on the island of Funen. In 1819 his father was transferred to Odense, and Frederik began to attend ...

, led to publishing success with reviews of Henrik Ibsen and

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguishe ...

in the ''

Cornhill Magazine ''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill in London.Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor, ''Dictiona ...

''. He was soon reviewing Scandinavian literature in a variety of publications. He became acquainted with Alfred, Lord Tennyson and friends with Robert Browning, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Thomas Hardy and Henry James. In the meantime, he published his first solo volume of poetry, ''On Viol and Flute'' (1873) and a work of criticism, ''Studies in the Literature of Northern Europe'' (1879). Gosse and Robert Louis Stevenson first met while teenagers, and after 1879, when Stevenson came to London on occasion, he would stay with Gosse and his family. In 1875 Gosse became a translator at the Board of Trade, a post which he held until 1904 and gave him time for his writing and enabled him to marry and start a family. From 1884 to 1890, Gosse lectured in English literature at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, despite his own lack of academic qualifications. Cambridge University gave him an honorary MA in 1886, and Trinity College formally admitted him as a member, 'by order of the Council', in 1889. He made a successful American lecture tour in 1884 and was much in demand as a speaker and on committees as well as publishing a string of critical works as well as poetry and histories. He became, in the 1880s, one of the most important art critics dealing with sculpture (writing mainly for the ''Saturday Review'') with an interest spurred on by his intimate friendship with the sculptor Hamo Thornycroft. Gosse would eventually write the first history of the renaissance of late-Victorian sculpture in 1894 in a four-part series for ''

The Art Journal ''The Art Journal'' was the most important British 19th-century magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title ''Art Union Monthly Journal'' (or ''The Art Union''), the first issue of 7 ...

'', dubbing the movement the New Sculpture. In 1904, he became the librarian of the House of Lords Library, where he exercised considerable influence till he retired in 1914. He wrote for the '' Sunday Times'', and was an expert on Thomas Gray,

William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration period. He is known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of manners style of that period. He was also a mi ...

, John Donne,

Jeremy Taylor Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is fr ...

, and Coventry Patmore. He can also take credit for introducing Henrik Ibsen's work to the British public. Gosse and

William Archer William or Bill Archer may refer to: * William Archer (British politician) (1677–1739), British politician * William S. Archer (1789–1855), U.S. Senator and Representative from Virginia * William Beatty Archer (1793–1870), Illinois politician ...

collaborated in translating ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been ca ...

'' and '' The Master Builder''; those two translations were performed throughout the 20th century. Gosse and Archer, along with George Bernard Shaw, were perhaps the literary critics most responsible for popularising Ibsen's plays among English-speaking audiences. Gosse was instrumental in getting official financial support for two struggling Irish writers, WB Yeats in 1910 and James Joyce in 1915. This enabled both writers to continue their chosen careers. His most famous book is the autobiographical ''

'', about his troubled relationship with his Plymouth Brethren father, Philip, which was dramatised for television by Dennis Potter. Published anonymously in 1907, this followed a biography he had written of his father as naturalist, when he was urged by George Moore among others to write more about his own past. Historians caution, though, that notwithstanding its psychological insight and literary excellence, Gosse's narrative is often at odds with the verifiable facts of his own and his parents' lives. In later life, he became a formative influence on Siegfried Sassoon, the nephew of his lifelong friend, Hamo Thornycroft. Sassoon's mother was a friend of Gosse's wife, Ellen. Gosse was also closely tied to figures such as Algernon Charles Swinburne, John Addington Symonds, and

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...

. Another work of his is ''The Autumn Garden'', which was published in 1908 by the London publisher William Heinemann. This book includes: Proem, Lyrics in the Mood of Reflection, Sonnets, Songs of Roses, Commemorations and Inscriptions, Verses of Occasion, Paraphrases and a final Epilogue in the Autumn Garden. It contains more than 50 individual pieces within it. He was the literary editor for the 1911 edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.

Personal life

Gosse married Ellen Epps (23 March 1850 – 29 August 1929), a young painter in the Pre-Raphaelite circle, who was the daughter of George Napoleon Epps. Though she was initially determined to pursue her art, she succumbed to his determined courting and they married in August 1875, with a reception at the house of

Lawrence Alma-Tadema Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, (; born Lourens Alma Tadema ; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch painter who later settled in the United Kingdom becoming the last officially recognised denizen in 1873. Born in Dronryp, the Netherlands, ...

(her brother-in-law) and visiting Gosse's father and step-mother (who did not attend the registry office wedding) at the end of their honeymoon in Devon and Cornwall. She continued to paint and wrote stories and reviews for various publications. In 1907, she inherited a sizeable fortune from her uncle, James Epps (the brother of John Epps and who had made his fortune in cocoa). They were married more than 53 years and they had three children: Emily Teresa ("Tessa") (1877-1951), Philip Henry George (1879–1959) who became a physician (but is probably best known as the author of ''The Pirates' Who's Who'' (1924)) and Laura Sylvia (1881-1968), who became a well-known painter. Despite a reportedly happy marriage Gosse had consistent, if deeply closeted, homosexual desires. Although initially reluctant to acknowledge these desires, in 1890 Gosse did acknowledge to John Addington Symonds, around the time the latter was working on ''A Problem in Modern Ethics'', that indeed he (Gosse) was attracted to men, thus confirming suspicions Symonds had voiced earlier. "Either way, I entirely deeply sympathize with you. Years ago I wanted to write to you about all this," Gosse wrote to Symonds, "and withdrew through cowardice. I have had a very fortunate life, but there has been this obstinate twist in it! I have reached a quieter time—some beginnings of that Sophoclean period when the wild beast dies. He is not dead, but tamer; I understand him & the trick of his claws."

Honours

Gosse was named a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1912. He was knighted in 1925.

In popular culture

*His book ''Father and Son'' partially inspired '' Oscar and Lucinda'', a novel by Peter Carey which won the 1988 Booker Prize, and the 1989 Miles Franklin Award. *''Father and Son'' was also the basis for Dennis Potter's television play '' Where Adam Stood''. *Julian Barnes has an academic called Ed Winterton devoted to writing a biography of Gosse in his 1984 novel '' Flaubert's Parrot''.

Works

Published verse

*''Madrigals, Songs, and Sonnets'' (1870), co-author John Arthur Blaikie *''On Viol and Flute'' (1873) *''King Erik'' (1876) *''New Poems'' (1879) *''Firdausi in Exile'' (1885) *''In Russet and Silver'' (1894) *''Collected Poems'' (1896) *''Hypolympia, or the Gods on the Island'' (1901), an "ironic phantasy", the scene of which is laid in the 20th century, though the personages are Greek gods, is written in prose, with some blank verse. *''The Autumn Garden'' (1908)

Critical works

*''English Odes'' (1881) *''Seventeenth Century Studies'' (1883) *''Life'' of Thomas Gray, whose works he edited (4 vols., 1884) *''Life of

'' (1888)
''A History of Eighteenth Century Literature''
(1889) *''Gossip in a Library'' (essays about books, 1892)
''The Jacobean Poets''
(1894)
''Critical Kit-kats''
(1896)
''A Short History of Modern English Literature''
(1897) *''Life and Letters of Dr John Donne, Dean of St Paul's'' (1899) * ''Illustrated Record of English Literature'', with Richard Garnett (vols. iii and iv, 1903–1904) *''

'' (1903, " English Men of Letters") *''Life'' of Sir Thomas Browne (1905)
''French Profiles''
(1905) *''Portraits and Studies'' (1912) *''Collected Essays'' (1912)
''Three French Moralists''
(1918)
''Malherbe and the Classical Reaction in the Seventeenth Century''
(1920) * ''More Books on the Table'' (1923)

Biography

''Gray''
(1882) * ''The Life of

'', F.R.S. (1890
online text
* ''

'' (1907) * ''The Life of Algernon Charles Swinburne'' (1917
online text

Other

* ''The Secret of Narcisse. A Romance'' (1892)
''Two Visits to Denmark, 1872, 1874''
(1911) * ''Inter Arma'' (1916)
''Some Diversions of a Man of Letters''
(1919)

References

Citations

Sources

* and its supplement:

External links

* * * * Archival material at * Edmund Gosse Collection. General Collection. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
House of Lords Library by Benjamin Stone - Living Heritage UK Parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gosse, Edmund 1849 births 1928 deaths English librarians English literary critics Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge LGBT people from England People from De Beauvoir Town Knights Bachelor Companions of the Order of the Bath English people of American descent English male poets English male non-fiction writers