Charles Ollier (1788–1859) was an English publisher and author, associated with the works of

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

and

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

Early life

From a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

background, Ollier began life in the banking-house of Messrs. Coutts. About 1816 he was in business as a publisher in Vere Street, Bond Street, in partnership with his brother James, who was more the man of business.

Publisher

Ollier made the acquaintance of

Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 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 ...

, and undertook the publication of some of his works: ''Foliage'', ''Hero and Leander'', and the second edition of ''The Story of Rimini''. Through Hunt, Ollier became known to John Keats, and volunteered to publish his first poems (1817). The book did not succeed, however, and Keats quarrelled with him, publishing his subsequent books with Taylor & Hessey. Shelley was more constant, although he objected to Ollier's insistence on the alterations which converted ''Laon and Cythna'' into ''

The Revolt of Islam ''The Revolt of Islam'' (1818) is a poem in twelve cantos composed by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1817. The poem was originally published under the title ''Laon and Cythna; or, The Revolution of the Golden City: A Vision of the Nineteenth Century'' ...

''. All the subsequent works of Shelley published in his lifetime, except ''Swellfoot the Tyrant'', were brought out by Ollier. Shelley's letters to Ollier are published in the ''Shelley Memorials''. The most important of Ollier's other publications were the collected works of

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

and several of

Barry Cornwall Bryan Waller Procter (pseud. Barry Cornwall) (21 November 17875 October 1874) was an English poet who served as a Commissioner in Lunacy. Life and career Born at Leeds, Yorkshire, he was educated at Harrow School, where he had for contemporari ...

's early volumes. In 1819 he published ''The Literary Pocket Book'', in which Shelley's poem of ''Marianne's Dream'' was first printed. In 1820 Ollier brought out ''Ollier's Literary Miscellany'', with an article on the German drama by Julius Hare, and ''The Four Ages of Poetry'' by

Thomas Love Peacock Thomas Love Peacock (18 October 1785 – 23 January 1866) was an English novelist, poet, and official of the East India Company. He was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley, and they influenced each other's work. Peacock wrote satirical novels ...

. The latter provoked Shelley's ''

A Defence of Poetry "A Defence of Poetry" is an unfinished essay by Percy Bysshe Shelley written in February and March 1821 that the poet put aside and never completed. The text was published posthumously in 1840 in ''Essays, Letters from Abroad, Translations and ...

'', given to Ollier for the second part of the ''Miscellany'', which never appeared. When Ollier's business was wound up shortly afterwards, the ''Defence'' came into the possession of John Hunt; he prepared it for publication in ''The Liberal'', but that periodical also expired before it could be published. Ollier became, and long continued as, a literary adviser to

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenis ...

. In a letter to Hunt, Ollier wrote that his son William (reportedly a journalist with a fascination for

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

) coined ''

ghoti Ghoti is a creative English respelling of the word ''fish'', used to illustrate how confusing spelling and pronunciation in the English language can be. Explanation The word is intended to be pronounced in the same way as ''fish'' (), using the ...

'', a comical respelling of the word ''fish''.

Death

Ollier died at Old Brompton on 5 June 1859.

Edmund Ollier Edmund Ollier (1827–1886) was an English journalist and author. Life The son of Charles Ollier, he knew Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb, Leigh Hunt and Benjamin Haydon as a child. He was privately educated and began to write. After some years he was ...

the journalist was his son.

Works

Ollier published: * ''Altham and his Wife: A Domestic Tale'', 1818. * ''Inesilla; or the Tempter: a Romance, with other Tales'', 1824. * ''Ferrers'', 1842, a romance on the execution of

Earl Ferrers Earl Ferrers is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for Robert Shirley, 14th Baron Ferrers of Chartley. The Shirley family descends from George Shirley (died 1622) of Astwell Castle, Northamptonshire. In 1611 he w ...

in 1760, somewhat in the style of

Harrison Ainsworth William Harrison Ainsworth (4 February 18053 January 1882) was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in ...

.
''Fallacy of Ghosts, Dreams, and Omens, with Stories of Witchcraft, Life-in-Death, and Monomania''
1848; reprinted from ''

Ainsworth's Magazine William Harrison Ainsworth (4 February 18053 January 1882) was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in ...

''. Letters from Leigh Hunt suggest that Ollier wrote for the ''

Naval and Military Gazette A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...

'', as well as for ''Ainsworth's Magazine''.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Ollier, Charles 1788 births 1859 deaths Publishers (people) from London 19th-century English novelists English male novelists English people of French descent 19th-century English male writers 19th-century English businesspeople