
Benjamin Heath Malkin ( –
) was a British scholar and writer notable for his connection to the artist and poet
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...
.
Career and education
Malkin was born in London, the son of Thomas Malkin of the parish of
St Mary-le-Bow and his wife Mary Heath, daughter of Holland Heath.
He was educated at
Harrow School
Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
, and became a pensioner at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...
in 1788. He matriculated there in 1792, graduating B.A. the same year; he graduated M.A. in 1802. He was incorporated at
St Mary Hall, Oxford in 1810, where he was awarded the degrees of B.C.L. and D.C.L. that year. In 1795 he published ''Essays on Subjects connected with Civilization'' (C. Dilly, London). From 1809 to 1828 he was headmaster of
Bury St Edmunds Free School, where he taught a number of pupils who would later go on to become
Cambridge Apostles.
In 1829, Malkin became the first professor of history in the newly formed London University.
During his scholarly career he published both historical and creative works on many subjects, including a history of South Wales, a translation of
Gil Blas, and the play ''Almahide and Hamet''. He contributed biographies to ''
Rees's Cyclopædia''.
Connections with Blake
Today he is remembered for his 1806 book ''A Father's Memoirs of his Child'', which leads off with a 48-page introduction consisting of a dedication to his friend
Thomas Johnes and the earliest biographical account of Blake. Blake had designed (though it was engraved by
Robert Cromek) the frontispiece depicting Malkin's deceased son.
G. E. Bentley suggests that Malkin met Blake in 1803, soon after Blake returned to London from his three years in Felpham. It is also possible that the two men were acquainted via the publisher
Joseph Johnson for whom Blake had worked.
William Godwin reports meeting Malkin at dinner at
Horne Tooke's in 1796 and 1797 and at
Fuseli's Milton Gallery in 1800. It is therefore likely that Blake and Malkin shared radical sympathies. Malkin also lived close to Blake's patron
Thomas Butts in Hackney, London and knew
George Cumberland, another friend.
In addition to a short biography of Blake, Malkin published a number of Blake's lyric poems. This was the first time they had been published other than in Blake's own original illuminated etchings. Before the publication of
Alexander Gilchrist's ''
Life of William Blake'' in 1863, Malkin's book was the principal means of public knowledge of Blake's poetry.
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...
copied poems from it.
''A Father's Memoirs of His Child''
''A Father's Memoirs of His Child'' is an account of the life and death of Malkin's son Thomas Williams Malkin, who along with his brother Benjamin is described as a
child prodigy with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. He apparently learned the alphabet from blocks as an infant and would point to the correct letters when they were named. He did not speak until he was about two years old. Before he was three, he taught himself to write by copying print in books. Malkin insists that he did not push Thomas but followed his lead and taught him subjects such as Latin or mathematics only by request. Thomas also invented an
imaginary country called Allestone, including details of its history, geography and monetary system, and an elaborate (for a five-year-old) map. Much of this material is included in the book, partly as proof that Thomas acted independently and was not coerced to achievements.
The book was written in part because of a confrontation with a "medical expert" the day after Thomas' death. It was his stated belief that Thomas had died of so-called "water on the brain", citing Thomas' "large head" and high intelligence as symptomatic of this disease. In effect, he accused Malkin of causing his son's death through having allowed him to overindulge in mental activity. Thus, Malkin includes the medical details of Thomas' final illness. He also ordered an autopsy, which he says proved conclusively that Thomas died of
inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine ...
and
peritonitis, and that his brain was perfectly normal. Malkin's grief and frustration are expressed vividly in this part of the text.
Legacy
Malkin died at
Cowbridge, where he is commemorated at
Holy Cross Church. His library was sold in 1828 by R. H. Evans (22 March & six following days) and his collection of engravings (also by Evans) on 31 March 1828. Copies of both sale catalogues are held at Cambridge University Library (shelfmarks Munby.c.132(4-5)).
Malkin's other children survived to adulthood. Benjamin Jr., after following his father to Trinity College, Cambridge (where he was President of the
Cambridge Union Society), became a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
. He worked in the Imperial legal service, first as
Recorder of
Penang, and later as one of the
Puisne Judges of
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
, for which he was knighted. He was noted for his high intelligence and pleasant manner. He married and had two children, including
Herbert Malkin, lawyer and cricketer. He died in 1838.
Frederic, who was an infant when Thomas died, wrote several books on history including a history of Greece.
Arthur
Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur.
A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
, the youngest, also wrote historical textbooks.
[Frederic Malkin]
''History of Greece from the earliest times to its final subjection to Rome''
London: Baldwin & Craddock, Paternoster Row, 1829. Thomas' "Allestone"
paracosm came to the attention of fantasy fans in 1973 when the map was reprinted in ''
An Atlas of Fantasy'' by Jeremiah Post.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malkin, Benjamin Heath
British historians
British writers
1769 births
1842 deaths
People educated at Harrow School
Alumni of the University of Cambridge