BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY

OF AUTHORS

ALLINGHAM, WILLIAM: An Irish poet, born 1828;
died 1889. His charming little lyric, "The Fairies,"
is universally known, and has place in every an-
thology. His numerous other poems have had less
currency. They are comprised in the several vol-
umes, "Poems" (1850); "Day and Night" (1854),

etc.

ANDERSEN, HANS CHRISTIAN: This noted Danish
novelist and poet was born at Odense, Denmark,
1805; died at Copenhagen, 1875. He is best known
to English readers through his "Fairy Tales," pub-
lished in 1836-a series of beautiful apologues,
which have been translated into many languages.
In his early years he was an actor and dramatist.
His principal novels are "The Improvisator"
(1830), followed by “Only a Fiddler.'

BROWNING, ROBERT: (For Biographical Note see Vol.
II., "Famous Tales of Heroism.")

CARROLL, LEWIS: This is a pseudonym of Charles
Lutwidge Dodgson, an English clergyman, who
wrote several serious and abstruse works on
mathematical science, and two famous nonsense
books for children, which have also delighted a
great audience of mature and critical readers. They
are remarkable for their ingenious absurdity and
sparkling wit. Mr. Dodgson was born 1832, and
died 1899.

CRAIK, DINAH MARIA MULOCK (Mrs): An English
authoress of prominence, more commonly known
as Miss Mulock. She was born at Stoke-upon-
Trent, 1826; died in Kent, 1887. Her most notable
novels were written before her marriage to George
Lillie Craik, in 1865. The best-known of these is

!

"John Halifax, Gentleman," published in 1857. She wrote many other novels, romances, and short stories, of which the most important are: "The Ogilvies" (1849); "The Head of the Family" (1851); "Agatha's Husband" (1852); "A Life for a Life" (1859); “A Noble Life" (1866); “A Brave Lady" (1870); "Hannah" (1871). She also wrote many poems, tales and children's stories. DRAKE, JOSEPH RODMAN: Two noted poems-"The Culprit Fay" and "The American Flag"-preserve the memory of this American poet. He was born in New York, 1795, and died in that city, 1820. In the tentative literature of that day he was one of the most promising figures. His premature death prevented the development of his early promise. Among his ephemeral writings were "The Croaker Papers' (conjointly with Fitz-Greene Halleck), published in the "Evening Post."

HOWITT (BOTHAM), MARY: An English general writer, almost wholly in collaboration with her husband, William Howitt. Together they produced a long list of miscellaneous works, poems, travels, reviews, etc. She was born in England, 1804; died at Rome, 1888.

MACKAY, CHARLES: This author not only wrote a number of volumes of poems and miscellanies, but also attained prominence as a journalist. In 184447 he was editor of the "Glasgow Argus;" and editor of the "Illustrated London News" 1852-59. He was special correspondent of the "London Times" during the American Civil War, and won great note by exposing the Fenian conspiracy of 1862. Among his works are: "The Salamandrine: Or Love and Immortality" (1842); "Voices from the Crowd" (1846); and "Voices from the Mountains" (1847).

He was born at Perth, Scotland, 1814; died at London, 1889.

PERCY, THOMAS (BISHOP OF DROMORE): In 1765 a compilation of ballad poetry, in large part anonymous and traditional, was published under the title "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," since widely known as "Percy's Reliques." It rescued

from obscurity and oblivion many ballads current in traditionary form among the people, but unprinted, and others hidden in old manuscripts. Bishop Percy was the author of several other antiquarian works. He was born at Bridgenorth, England, 1729; died at Dromore, Ireland, 1811. SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM: By common consent the greatest of poets and dramatists. As an adequate summary of his career is here impracticable, this notice is restricted to a list of his works, with their dates. Shakespeare was born at Stratford-onAvon, April, 1564; had a checkered career as actor, playwright and manager; and died at his birthplace, April 23, 1616. He went to London, 1587, and became associated with the brilliant group of playwrights whose productions have given undying luster to that period. His plays were all written for the stage; the probable date of the production of each is as follows:

"Love's Labor Lost" (1589); "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (1591); "Romeo and Juliet" (1591); "Henry VI" (1592-4); “A Comedy of Errors" (1594); "King Richard III" (1594); "Titus Andronicus" (of doubtful authenticity) (1594); “A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1595); "King Richard II" (1595); "The Merchant of Venice" (1596); "King John" (1596); “Henry IV" (1597-8); "Much Ado About Nothing" (1598); "As You Like It" (1599); "Henry V" (1599); "Merry Wives of Windsor" (1600); "Troilus and Cressida" (1600); "Julius Cæsar" (1600); "Hamlet" (1601); "Macbeth" (1601); "All's Well That Ends Well" (1601); "Twelfth Night" (1602); "The Taming of the Shrew" (1603); "Othello" (1604); "King Lear" (1605); "Antony and Cleopatra" (1607); "Timon of Athens" (1607-8); “Coriolanus” (1607-8); “Pericles" (1608); "Cymbeline" (1609); "The Tempest" (1611); "The Winter's Tale" (1611); "King Henry VIII" (1613).

Shakespeare's poems are "Sonnets," "Venus and Adonis," "The Rape of Lucrece," and "A Lover's Complaint."

WILSON, JOHN: (For Biographical Note, see Vol. XIII., "Famous Prose Idyls.") EDITOR.