Joseph Warton (April 1722 – 23 February 1800) was an English clergyman, academic, and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

Early life and education

Warton was born in

Dunsfold Dunsfold is a villages in England, village and civil parish in the Waverley, Surrey, borough of Waverley, Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It lies in the Weald and reaches in the north the southern escarpment of the Greensand Ridge. It inc ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England. His family later moved to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, where his father, the Reverend

Thomas Warton Thomas Warton (9 January 172821 May 1790) was an English history of literature, literary historian, critic, and poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate in 1785, following the death of William Whitehead (poet ...

, became vicar of

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

. A few years later in Basingstoke, Joseph's sister Jane, also a writer, and his younger brother,

, were born. Their father later became a professor at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. Joseph was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

Career

In 1748, Warton followed his father into the church, becoming curate of Winslade. In 1754, he was instituted as rector at The Church of All Saints, Tunworth. In his early days Joseph wrote poetry, of which the most notable piece is ''The Enthusiast'' (1744), an early precursor of

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. In 1755, he returned to his old school to teach, and from 1766 to 1793 was its headmaster, presiding over a period of bad discipline and idleness, provoking three mutinies by the boys. His career as a critic was always more illustrious, and he produced editions of classical poets such as

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

as well as English

poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

including

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

. Like his brother, Warton was a friend of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, and was part of the literary coterie centered around publisher

Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. H ...

. A monument to Joseph Warton by the neoclassical sculptor

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...

is in

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

Works

*''The Enthusiast, or The Lover of Nature'' (1744) *''Odes on Various Subjects'' (1746) *''Essay on the Genius and Writings of

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

'' (volume 1: 1756; volume 2: 1782)Sitter, John, editor, ''The Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Poetry'', "Chronology", p xvii, (2001) Cambridge University Press,

References

External links

Joseph Warton
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warton, Joseph 1722 births 1800 deaths 18th-century English male writers 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century English poets Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford English literary critics English male non-fiction writers English male poets Headmasters of Winchester College People from the Borough of Waverley People educated at Winchester College People from Winslade Schoolteachers from Surrey

Early life and education

Career

Works

References

Further reading

External links