John Oxenford (12 August 1812 – 21 February 1877) was an English dramatist, critic and translator.

Life

Oxenford was born in

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

, London, his father a prosperous merchant. While he was privately educated, it is reported that he was mostly self-taught in Greek, Latin and modern languages. He began his literary career by writing on finance, though later became the author of many translations from German, notably of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

's ''

Dichtung und Wahrheit ''Aus meinem Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit'' (''From my Life: Poetry and Truth''; 1811–1833) is an autobiography by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that comprises the time from the poet's childhood to the days in 1775, when he was about to leave for ...

'' (1846) and Eckermann's '' Conversations with Goethe'' (1850). Oxenford's primary interest was in the theatre and over sixty-eight plays are attributed to him. His first play was ''My Fellow Clerk'', produced at the Lyceum Theatre in 1835. This was followed by a long series of pieces, the most famous of which was perhaps the ''Porter's Knot'' (1858) and ''Twice Killed'' (1835). He also wrote many operatic libretti, including eight for

George Alexander Macfarren Sir George Alexander Macfarren (2 March 181331 October 1887) was an English composer and musicologist. Life George Alexander Macfarren was born in London on 2 March 1813 to George Macfarren, a dancing-master, dramatic author and journalist, wh ...

, including ''Robin Hood'' (1860) and ''

Helvellyn Helvellyn (; possible #Names, meaning: ''pale yellow moorland'') is a mountain in the English Lake District, the highest point of the Helvellyn range, a north–south line of mountains to the north of Ambleside, between the lakes of Thirlmere a ...

'' (1864). Oxenford was an acquaintance of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

, and he adapted ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'' for the stage in 1868. Later in life he became dramatic critic of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' and wrote a version of ''Last Days of Pompeii'' in 1872.

Bryan Magee Bryan Edgar Magee (; 12 April 1930 – 26 July 2019) was a British philosopher, broadcaster, politician and author, best known for bringing philosophy to a popular audience. Early life Born of working-class parents in Hoxton, London, in 1930, ...

, in his ''The Philosophy of Schopenhauer'', described how Oxenford contributed to the promulgation of

Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work '' The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the manife ...

's work. Oxenford's anonymous ''

Westminster Review The ''Westminster Review'' was a quarterly United Kingdom, British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the Philosophical Radicals, it was published from 1824 to 1914. James Mill was one of the driving forces behind the libe ...

'' 1853 article, "Iconoclasm in German Philosophy", was written in order to present Schopenhauer as a critic of

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

. It was translated and published in the ''

Vossische Zeitung The (''Voss's Newspaper'') was a nationally known Berlin newspaper that represented the interests of the liberal middle class. It was also generally regarded as Germany's national newspaper of record. In the Berlin press it held a special role d ...

'', which resulted in German readers showing enthusiastic and enduring interest in Schopenhauer's writings. It also advanced the cause of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

in Britain. He died in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

on 21 February 1877.

Legacy

His 1835 one-act ''A Day Well Spent'', after expansion, translation, and rewriting, formed the basis of Thornton Wilder's 1954 play '' The Matchmaker'', which itself was the basis of the 1964 stage musical '' Hello, Dolly!'' and its 1969 film adaptation. Many references to his pieces will be found in ''The Life and Reminiscences of E. L. Blanchard'' (ed. C Scott and C Howard, 1891).

Notes

External links

* * * * * * * Works b
John Oxenford
as Editor, Librettist, Translator, and Compiler on IMSLP. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxenford, John 1812 births 1877 deaths People from Camberwell English male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English male writers A Day Well Spent Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe