Henry Theodore Tuckerman (April 20, 1813 – December 17, 1871) was an American writer, essayist and critic.

Early life

Henry Theodore Tuckerman was born on April 20, 1813, in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. His first cousins included

Edward Tuckerman Edward Tuckerman (December 7, 1817, in Boston, Massachusetts – March 15, 1886) was an American botanist and professor who made significant contributions to the study of lichens and other alpine plants. He was a founding member of the Natural H ...

(1817–1886), the botanist,

Samuel Parkman Tuckerman Samuel Parkman Tuckerman (February 11, 1819 – June 30, 1890) was an American composer. Early life and education He was born in Boston to Edward Francis Tuckerman (1775–1843), a merchant, and Sophia May (1784–1870), a prosperous and distinguis ...

(1819–1890), the composer,

Sophia May Eckley Sophia May Eckley (July 9, 1823-September 15, 1874) was an American poet and spiritualist medium who had a close relationship with the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Life and career Eckley was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1823. Her par ...

(1823-1874), the writer and

spiritualist Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least ...

medium, and

Frederick Goddard Tuckerman Frederick Goddard Tuckerman (February 4, 1821 – May 9, 1873) was an American poet, remembered mostly for his sonnet series. Apart from the 1860 publication of his book ''Poems'', which included approximately two-fifths of his lifetime sonnet o ...

(1821–1873), the poet.

Career

He was a sympathetic and delicate critic, with a graceful style. He wrote extensively both in prose and verse. He traveled extensively in Italy, which influenced his choice of subjects in his earlier writings. These include ''The Italian Sketchbook'' (1835); his only novel, ''Isabel; or Sicily. A Pilgrimage'' (1839); ''Thoughts on the Poets'' (1846); two volumes of verse, ''Poems'' (1851) and ''A Sheaf of Verse Bound for the Fair'' (1864); ''Leaves from the Diary of a Dreamer: Found among his Papers'' (1853); ''Essays, Biographical and Critical: or, Studies of Character'' (1857); ''The Criterion; Or the Test of Talk About Familiar Things. A Series of Essays'' (1866); and ''Book of the Artists: American Artist Life, Comprising Biographical and Critical Sketches of American Artists: Preceded by an Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of Art in America'' (1867). Articles that Tuckerman wrote for ''

The Knickerbocker ''The Knickerbocker'', or ''New-York Monthly Magazine'', was a literary magazine of New York City, founded by Charles Fenno Hoffman in 1833, and published until 1865. Its long-term editor and publisher was Lewis Gaylord Clark, whose "Editor' ...

'' magazine include ''Love in a Lazzaret'' (1838), a vignette from his travels in Italy, ''New York Artists'' (1856), ''Something About Wine'' (1858), ''Newport Out of Season'' (1858), ''Italia Libera'' (1861), ''Paris: And Life There'' (1861), ''Obituary of John W. Francis, M.D., LL.D.'' (1861). Tuckerman, "as America's most knowledgeable and dedicated Italophile, missed few opportunities to argue the case for Italian freedom, even though he expressed doubt ... whether Italians were ready to govern themselves. He read and spoke Italian ndmade extended visits to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1833-34 and 1837-38...." Tuckerman was a close friend of

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

's and was prominent in the literary life of New York City after 1845. Tuckerman wrote a book review for the ''

North American Review The ''North American Review'' (''NAR'') was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale (journalist), Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which i ...

'' that indirectly led to the United States offering

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

a position as major general in the Union army during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. The review included a glowing tribute to Garibaldi. When it reached Garibaldi in Italy, he asked his friend Augusto Vecchi to write a letter of thanks on his behalf. Vecchi did so and also enclosed his own letter suggesting that the United States invite Garibaldi to aid the Union cause. The suggestion reached President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

, the offer was made, but no agreement was reached because Garibaldi demanded the power to free the slaves, which Lincoln was not ready to do in 1861, and because, as the result of a misunderstanding, Garibaldi thought that he was being offered the supreme command of the Union army.

Personal life

Tuckerman died of pneumonia on December 17, 1871 and his funeral was held on December 20, 1871, in New York.

References

Notes Sources * * ''This article incorporates public domain text from'': Brewer, David J. (1902). ''Crowned Masterpieces of Literature''. St. Louis, Ferd. P. Kaiser.

External links

* *
A Defense of Enthusiasm

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuckerman, Henry Theodore 1813 births 1871 deaths Writers from New York City Writers from Boston 19th-century American poets American male poets American male essayists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American essayists