Sir Theodore Martin (16 September 1816 – 18 August 1909) was a Scottish poet, biographer, and translator.

Biography

Martin was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, the only son of Mary, the daughter of James Reid, a shipowner from

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; ), locally known as the Broch, is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census as 13,100. It lies in Buchan in the northeastern corner of th ...

and James Martin, a solicitor. He was educated at the Royal High School and attended the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

from 1830-1833. He practised as a solicitor in Edinburgh 1840–45, after which he went to London and became head of the firm of Martin and Leslie, parliamentary agents. His first contribution to literature was the humorous '' Bon Gaultier Ballads'', written along with W.E. Aytoun, which remained popular for a long time; originally contributed to a magazine, they appeared in book form in 1845. Martin's translations include

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

's ''Vita Nuova'', Oehlenschläger's ''

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for som ...

'' and ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'',

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

's '' Poems and Ballads'',

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

's ''

Wilhelm Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

'', and Hertz's '' King René's Daughter''.Martin, Theodore. ''King René's daughter: a Danish lyrical drama'', W. Crosby and H.P. Nichols, 1850. He also published a complete translation of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

with a ''Life'', and one of

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

. He is probably best known for his '' Life of the Prince Consort'' (1874–80), the writing of which was entrusted to him by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, a work which won him her lifelong friendship. He also wrote ''Lives'' of Professor Aytoun and Lord Lyndhurst.In 1851 he married Helena Faucit, a well-known actress, and author of studies on '' Shakespeare's Female Characters'', whose ''Life'' he published in 1901. The couple lived for some time at Bryntysilio ( The Hill of St. Tyssilio) which he bought in 1861, near

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

, where in 1889 they were visited by the queen during her progress in Wales. TheodoreMartinBrompton01

Martin kept up his intellectual activity into old age, published in 1905 a translation of Leopardi's poems, and ''

Monographs A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

'' (1906). He was Lord Rector of the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

in 1881, received an LLD from the

in 1875, and Knight Commander of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in 1880. He died in 1909 and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

, London.

References

Sources

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Theodore 1816 births 1909 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Burials at Brompton Cemetery Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Rectors of the University of St Andrews Royal biographers Scottish biographers Scottish poets Writers from Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish poets