Thomas Carlyle

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Thomas Carlyle
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Moncure Daniel Conway
SeriesCambridge Library Collection - Literary Studies
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:274
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140
Category/GenreMemoirs
Literary studies - c 1800 to c 1900
ISBN/Barcode 9781108045346
ClassificationsDewey:824.8
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 8 Plates, black and white; 1 Halftones, unspecified

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 23 February 2012
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Moncure Daniel Conway (1832-1907), the son of a Virginian plantation-owner, became a Unitarian minister but his anti-slavery views made him controversial. He later became a freethinker, and following the outbreak of the Civil War, which deeply divided his own family, he left the United States for England in 1863. He gained a reputation as the 'least orthodox preacher in London', and was acquainted with many figures in the literary and scientific world, including Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin. This memoir of Thomas Carlyle, another friend, was published in 1881 soon after Carlyle's death. Carlyle had not wanted to be the subject of a biography, and reluctantly authorised J. A. Froude to write one, but Conway rushed into print this somewhat hagiographical account because he was concerned, with reason, about the damage Froude's frank biography (published in 1882-4 and also reissued in this series) might do to Carlyle's reputation.