Sir Peter Courtney Quennell (9 March 1905 – 27 October 1993) was an English

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

, literary historian, editor, essayist,

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, poet and critic. He wrote extensively on social history. In his ''Times'' obituary he was described as "the last genuine example of the English man of letters".'Sir Peter Quennell', in ''The Times'', 29 October 1993, p. 23. Anthony Powell called him "The Last of the Mandarins".'Sir Peter Quennell', obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 29 October 1993, p. 25

Life and work

Born in Bickley,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, he was the son of

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

C. H. B. Quennell and his wife Marjorie Quennell. After World War I the Quennells wrote a popular series of illustrated children’s books, '' A History of Everyday Things in England'' (four volumes, 1918–1934). Peter Quennell was educated at Berkhamsted School (where the headmaster was Graham Greene's father) and at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, though he left Oxford before taking a degree. While still at school some of his poems were selected by Richard Hughes for the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''Public School Verse'', which brought him to the attention of writers such as Edith Sitwell.James B. Denigan. 'Quennell, Sir Peter Courtney', in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (2004, rev. 2011) At Oxford he forged some lasting literary friendships, including with Robert Graves, and made some enemies (

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

). In all he published over thirty books and edited thirty-seven more.

Biography

In 1922 he published his first book, ''Masques and Poems'', and gained further attention when some of his poems were published in the influential Edward Marsh anthology '' Georgian Poetry 1920–1922''. But Quennell soon abandoned poetry for prose, and especially biography and non-fiction. His first major book, commissioned by T. S. Eliot, was ''Baudelaire and the Symbolists'' (1929). Other literary biographies followed, including the ''Four Portraits'' of 1945 (studies of Boswell,

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

, Sterne, and Wilkes), and full length works on

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

(three volumes, 1934, 1935, 1941),

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 ...

(1949), Ruskin (1949), Hogarth (1955),

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

(1963),

Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French language, French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Pas ...

(1971) and

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 ...

(1972).

Journalism

He first practised journalism in London and wrote several books and essays on London (for instance, ''Casanova in London'', 1971). In 1930 he taught at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, a somewhat negative experience he turned into a positive through the success of his written account, ''A Superficial Journey through Tokyo and Peking'' (1932). During the war he took posts within the Ministry of Information and the Auxiliary Fire Service. In 1944–51, he was editor of '' The Cornhill Magazine'' and from 1951 to 1979 founder-editor of ''

History Today ''History Today'' is a history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and publishes articles of tradit ...

'', working in partnership with the historian Alan Hodge.

Autobiography

Quennell published three volumes of

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, ''The Sign of the Fish'' (1960, his own growth as a writer), ''The Marble Foot'' (1976, covering the years 1905 to 1938) and ''The Wanton Chase: an Autobiography from 1939'' (1980). ''Customs and Characters'' (1982) collected together anecdotes of his friends and contemporaries. He continued to work hard even into his old age, tackling more general subjects in his later work. His final book, ''In Pursuit of Happiness'' (1988), published when he was 83 years old, was a response to a remark from his father, remembered from childhood: "Well, we're not happy are we?"

Personal life

He married five times: to Nancy Marianne (1928), Marcelle Marie José (1935), Joyce Frances Glur (1938), Sonia Geraldine Leon (1956, daughter Sarah), and Joan Marilyn Peek (1967, son Alexander). He also had a relationship with the writer Barbara Skelton in the 1940s, sharing a flat with her. He was appointed a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE), and was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ed in the 1992 New Year Honours. Quennell died in University College Hospital, Camden, London. His funeral was held at St Mark's Church, Regent's Park. Quennell's first cousin – daughter of his father's brother Walter – was Joan Quennell, a Conservative MP.''Dod's Parliamentary Companion'', ed. C. R. Dod and R. P. Dod, Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd., 1967, pg 461

Publications

Author

*''Masques & Poems'' (1922) *''Poems'' (1926) *''Inscription on a Fountainhead'' (1929), poetry pamphlet *''Baudelaire And The Symbolists: Five Essays'' (1929) *''The Phoenix Kind'' (1931), novel *''A Superficial Journey Through Tokyo and Peking'' (1932), travel memoir *''A Letter to Mrs.

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

'' (

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in London Boro ...

1932) *''Byron'' (1934), Duckworth "Great Lives" series *''Byron: The Years of Fame'' (1935) *''Somerset'' (1936), Shell Guide (with his father, C. H. B. Quennell) *''Victorian Panorama: A Survey of Life & Fashion from Contemporary Photographs'' (1937) *''Sympathy'' (1938), short stories (Quennell's last attempt at fiction) *''Caroline of England: An Augustan Portrait'' (1940) *''Byron In Italy'' (1941) *''Four Portraits: Studies of the Eighteenth Century – James Boswell, Edward Gibbon, Laurence Sterne, John Wilkes'' (1945) *''John Ruskin: The Portrait of a Prophet'' (1949) *''The Singular Preference: Portraits & Essays'' (1952) *''Spring In Sicily'' (1952), travel book *''Diversions of History'' (1954) *''Hogarth's Progress'' (1955) *''The Past We Share. An Illustrated History of the British and American Peoples'' (1960), with Alan Hodge *''The Sign of the Fish'' (1960, autobiographical essays) *''

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

: The Education of Genius 1688–1728'' (1968) *''The Colosseum: A History of Rome from the Time of Nero'' (1971) *''Shakespeare: A Biography'' (1963) *''Who's Who in Shakespeare'' (1971) *''Casanova in London'' (1971), essays *'' Marcel Proust, 1871–1922: A Centennial Volume'' (1971) *''

: His Friends and Enemies'' (1973) *''A History of English Literature'' (1973) *
The Marble Foot: An Autobiography, 1905–1938
' (1977), vol. 1 of autobiography *''The Day Before Yesterday: A Photographic Album of Daily Life in Victorian and Edwardian Britain'' (1978) *''Customs and Characters: Contemporary Portraits'' (1982) *''Wanton Chase: An Autobiography from 1939'' (1980), vol. 2 of autobiography *''The Last Edwardians: An Illustrated History of Violet Trefusis and Alice Keppel'' (1985) with John Phillips and Lorna Sage *''The Pursuit of Happiness'' (1988)

As editor or anthologist

* Harold Acton and Peter Quennell (eds.) ''Oxford Poetry'' (1924) *

Antoine Hamilton Anthony Hamilton Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) ( – 1719), also known as Antoine and comte d'Hamilton, was a soldier and a writer. As a Catholic of Irish and Scottish ancestry, his parents brought him to France in 1651 when Cromwellian ...

, transl. Quennell: ''Memoirs of the Comte de Gramont'' (1930) *''Aspects of Seventeenth Century Verse'' (1933, selected and prepared by Quennell) *''The Private Letters of Princess Lieven to Prince Metternich 1820–1826'' (1937) editor * George Paston: ''To Lord Byron: Feminine Profiles – based upon unpublished letters 1807–1824'' (1939) completed and edited by Quennell''ORLANDO: Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present'', Cambridge University Press database
George Paston entry
/ref> * Samivel, trans. Quennell and Katharine Busvine. ''Brown the Bear: Who Scared the Villagers Out of Their Wits'' (circa 1940) * Cecil Beaton: ''Time Exposure'' (1946, photographs with commentary and captions by Quennell) *''The Pleasures Of Pope'' (1949, anthology) * Henry Mayhew, ed. Quennell: ''Mayhew's London'' (1949) * Byron (ed. Quennell): ''A Self-Portrait: Letters and Diaries 1798–1824'' (2 volumes) (1950) * Henry Mayhew, ed. Quennell: ''London's Underworld'' (1951) * Henry Mayhew, ed. Quennell: ''Mayhew's Characters'' (1951) *''Selected Writings of

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

'' (1952) editor * Byron, ed. Quennell: ''Selected Verse and Prose Works Including Letters and Extracts from Byron's Journal and Diaries'' (1959) *''Byronic Thoughts: Maxims Reflections Portraits From the Prose and Verse of Lord Byron'' (1961) *''Selected Essays of Henry de Montherlant'' (1961) editor, with John Weightman, translator * William Hickey, ed. Quennell: ''The Prodigal Rake: Memoirs of William Hickey'' (1962) editor *''

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...

in Southern Italy: Journals of a Landscape Painter in Southern

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

and the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

'' (1964) introduction *''The Journal of Thomas Moore'' (1964) editor *''Romantic England Writing And Painting 1717–1851'' (1970) *''

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

: A Tribute'' (1979) editor *''Genius in the Drawing Room: The Literary Salon in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'' (UK edition); ''Affairs of the Mind: The Salon in Europe and America'' (US edition) (1980) editor *''A Lonely Business: A Self-Portrait of James Pope-Hennessy'' (1981) editor *''The Selected Essays of

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon (British magazine), Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Pro ...

'' (1984) editor *''An Illustrated Companion to World Literature'' (1986) editor, original Tore Zetterholm

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quennell, Peter 1905 births 1993 deaths English autobiographers English biographers English editors English historians English literary critics People educated at Berkhamsted School People from Bickley Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor 20th-century English poets English male poets 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers Academic staff of the University of Tokyo