Leigh Hunt (October 19, 1784-August 28, 1859)

Leigh Hunt was what some would call a second-rate Romantic. Though himself not a phenominal poet, he is responsible for introducing and/or encouraging various great literary minds of his day, including: John Keats, Percy Bysse Shelley, Robert Browning, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Walter Savage Landor, and Charles Dickens. He authored many influential essays (indeed perhaps mastering the form of rhetoric), a novel, and also a few plays. His pursuits with the genre of the periodical perhaps define his greatest contribution to 19th century letters. Writing for the Political and Theatrical Examiner (1808-1886), as well as the journals The Reflector, The Literary Pocket Book, The Indicator, The Liberator, and The Tatler, he left a lasting legacy as a great personal essay writer. He is also well-known for his theatre criticism. In 1813, he was thrown in jail for libeling the Prince Regent in an attack called, "The Prince on St. Patrick's Day." In it, he called the late Prince of Wales an overweight, past-his-prime "Adonis." Hunt's biting government criticism did not stop once thrown into Surrey County Gaol. He continued to write for The Examiner, and after he was released, continued to take up radical rhetoric in the periodical format; although, the incarceration did have a detrimental affect on his health (despite relatively comfortable living quarters).

James Henry Leigh Hunt was born into a family of eight--he was the seventh child. His brothers and sisters were born in America, but he was born in England. His father was a lawyer from Barbados and his mother the daughter of a rich Philadelphian merchant. They fled America after they were threatened for being Tories. His father became an Anglican preacher in England, but was in and out debters prison due to poor financial management. Hunt entered Christ's Hospital School in 1791, the same school both Coleridge and Lamb attended. He received a rich education in rhetoric and the classics.

After a brief apprenticeship as a clerk for his brother Stephen (a barrister), Hunt started a weekly paper called The News with his brother John in 1805. It was then that he commenced his career of theatre reviews and the personal essay, which would lead to his work with the Examiner.

In 1809, Hunt married Marianne Kent. She was associated with alcoholism and ill etiquette. Though Hunt remained loyal to her, her younger sister Elizabeth (whom some said was perhaps better suited for him), was said to be in love with him. The three are buried alongside one another at Kensal Green Cemetary in London.

Hunt's literary career was marked by an attention to current affairs, theatrical goings on, support for those in his circle, and harsh attacks on those who were not. Though bitterly criticized at times--most famously by John Gibson Lockhart of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, he left a lasting legacy as a martyr for freedom of speech, a medium for great literature (both produced by him and by those for whom he provided a showcase), and an overall thinking, conscientious man.

This section was paraphrased from the following source:

Cheney, David R. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 96: British Romantic Poets, 1789-1832, Second Series. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by John R. Greenfield, McKendree College. The Gale Group, 1990. pp. 157-178.

Hunt's Oeuvre: 

Books

 

• Juvenilia (London: Printed by J. Whiting, 1801; Philadelphia: Printed & published by H. Maxwell, 1804).

   

• Critical Essays on the Performers of the London Theatres (London: Printed by & for John Hunt, 1807).

   

• An Attempt to Shew the Folly and Danger of Methodism (London: Printed for & sold by John Hunt, 1809).

   

• The Prince of Wales V. the Examiner: a Full Report of the Trial of John and Leigh Hunt (London: Printed by & for John Hunt, 1812).

   

• The Feast of the Poets, With Notes, and Other Pieces in Verse (London: Printed for James Cawthorn, 1814; New York: Printed & published by Van Winkle & Wiley, 1814; enlarged edition, London: Gale & Fenner, 1815).

   

• The Descent of Liberty, a Mask (London: Printed for Gale, Curtis & Fenner, 1815; Philadelphia: Printed for Harrison Hall, 1816).

   

• The Story of Rimini (London: Printed by T. Davison for J. Murray; W. Blackwood, Edinburgh; and Cummings, Dublin, 1816; Boston: Published by Wells & Lilly and M. Carey, Philadelphia, 1816).

   

• Foliage, or Poems Original and Translated (London: Printed for C. & J. Ollier, 1818; Philadelphia: Published by Littell & Henry and Edward Earle, printed by W. Brown, 1818).

   

• Hero and Leander, and Bacchus and Ariadne (London: Printed for C. & J. Ollier, 1819).

   

• The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt, 3 volumes (London: C. & J. Ollier, 1819).

   

• The Months, Descriptive of the Successive Beauties of the Year (London: C. & J. Ollier, 1821).

   

• Ultra-Crepidarius: a Satire on William Gifford (London: Printed for John Hunt, 1823).

   

• Lord Byron and Some of His Contemporaries (London: H. Colburn, 1828; Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, 1828).

   

• Christianism: or, Belief and Unbelief Reconciled (London: Bradbury, 1832); revised and enlarged as The Religion of the Heart: a Manual of Faith and Duty (London: John Chapman, 1853; New York: Printed by J. J. Reed, 1857).

   

• The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt (London: Edward Moxon, 1832).

   

• Sir Ralph Esher: or Adventures of a Gentleman of the Court of Charles II, 3 volumes (London: Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1830-1832 [i.e., 1832]).

   

• The Indicator and the Companion: A Miscellany for the Fields and for the Fireside, 2 volumes (London: Published for Henry Colburn by R. Bentley, 1834); republished as The Indicator: A Miscellany for the Fields and for the Fireside, 1 volume (New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1845).

   

• Captain Sword and Captain Pen: A Poem, With some Remarks on War and Military Statesmen (London: Charles Knight, 1835).

   

• A Legend of Florence, A Play in Five Acts (London: Edward Moxon, 1840).

   

• The Seer: or, Common-places Refreshed, 2 parts (London: E. Moxon, 1840; Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1864).

   

• Essays by Leigh Hunt: The Indicator, The Seer (London: E. Moxon, 1841).

   

• The Palfrey: A Love Story of Old Times (London: How & Parsons, 1842).

   

• The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt (London: Edward Moxon, 1844).

   

• Rimini and Other Poems (Boston: William D. Ticknor, 1844).

   

• Stories from the Italian Poets: with Lives of the Writers, 2 volumes (London: Chapman & Hall, 1845; New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1846).

   

• Men, Women, and Books: a Selection of Sketches, Essays, and Critical Memoirs, 2 volumes (London: Smith, Elder, 1847; New York: Harper, 1847).

   

• A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla (London: Smith, Elder, 1848).

   

• The Town: Its Memorable Characters and Events: St. Paul's to St. James's, 2 volumes (London: Smith, Elder, 1848).

   

• The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, With Reminiscences of Friends and Contemporaries (3 volumes, London: Smith, Elder, 1850; 2 volumes, New York: Harper, 1850; revised edition, 1 volume, London: Smith, Elder, 1860).

   

• Table-Talk (London: Smith, Elder, 1851; New York: Appleton, 1879).

   

• The Works of Leigh Hunt, 4 volumes (Philadelphia: Willis P. Hazard, 1854).

   

• Stories in Verse; Now First Collected (London & New York: Routledge, 1855).

   

• The Old Court Suburb: or, Memorials of Kensington, Regal, Critical, and Anecdotical, 2 volumes (London: Hurst & Blackett, 1855; enlarged, 1855).

   

• The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt. Now First Entirely Collected, Revised by Himself, 2 volumes, edited by S. Adams Lee (Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1857).

   

• The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt, Now Finally Collected, Revised by Himself, edited by Thornton Hunt (London & New York: Routledge, Warne, & Routledge, 1860).

   

• A Saunter Through the West End (London: Hurst & Blackett, 1861).

   

• A Day By the Fire; and Other Papers, Hitherto Uncollected, edited by Joseph Edward Babson (London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, 1870; Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1870).

   

• The Wishing-Cap Papers, edited by Joseph Edward Babson (Boston: Lee & Shepard, 1873; London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Low & Searle, 1874).

   

• Tales by Leigh Hunt, Now First Collected, edited by William Knight (London: W. Paterson, 1891).

   

• Musical Evenings, or Selections, Vocal and Instrumental, edited by David R. Cheney (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1964).

   

• Hunt on Eight Sonnets of Dante, edited by Rhodes Dunlap (Iowa City: University of Iowa School of Journalism, 1965).

Collections

 

• The Works of Leigh Hunt, 7 volumes (London: Smith, Elder, 1870-1872).

   

• Leigh Hunt as Poet and Essayist, edited by Charles Kent (London & New York: Warne, 1889).

   

• The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt, edited by H. S. Milford (London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1923).

Play Productions

 

• A Legend of Florence, London, Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 7 February 1840.

   

• Lovers' Amazements, London, Lyceum Theatre, 20 January 1858.

Other

 

• Classic Tales, Serious and Lively on the Merits and Reputations of the Authors, 5 volumes, includes critical essays by Hunt on five of the authors (London: J. Hunt & C. Reynell, 1807).

   

• Amyntas, a Tale of the Woods: from the Italian of Torquato Tasso, translated, with notes, by Hunt (London: T. & J. Allman, 1820).

   

• Bacchus in Tuscany, a Dithyramic Poem from the Italian of Francesco Redi, translated by Hunt (London: Printed for John & H. L. Hunt, 1825).

   

• The Masque of Anarchy, a Poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Now First Published with a Preface by Leigh Hunt (London: Edward Moxon, 1832).

   

• The Dramatic Works of Wycherley, Congreve, Vanbrugh, and Farquhar, includes biographical and critical notices by Hunt (London: Edward Moxon, 1840).

   

• The Dramatic Works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, edited, with a biographical and critical sketch, by Hunt (London: Edward Moxon, 1840).

   

• One Hundred Romances of Real Life, edited and annotated by Hunt (London: L. Whittaker, 1843).

   

• Imagination and Fancy: or, Selections from the English Poets with an Essay in Answer to the Question What is Poetry? edited, with an introductory essay, by Hunt (London: Smith, Elder, 1844; New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1845).

   

• Thornton Hunt, The Foster Brother: a Tale of the War of Chiozza, 3 volumes, edited by Hunt (London: T. C. Newby, 1845).

   

• Wit and Humour, Selected from the English Poets with an Illustrative Essay, edited, with an introductory essay, by Hunt (London: Smith, Elder, 1846; New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1847).

   

• A Book for a Corner, or Selections in Prose and Verse from Authors the Best Suited to That Mode of Enjoyment, edited, with an introduction and comments, by Hunt (2 volumes, London: Chapman & Hall, 1849; 1 volume, New York: G. P. Putnam, 1852).

   

• Readings for Railways: or, Anecdotes and Other Short Stories, Reflections, Maxims, Characteristics, Passages of Wit, Humour and Poetry, etc., selected by Hunt (London: C. Gilpin, 1849).

   

• Beaumont and Fletcher; or, The Finest Scenes, Lyrics, and Other Beauties of Those Two Poets, edited, with a preface, by Hunt (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1855).

   

• The Book of the Sonnet, edited by Hunt and S. Adams Lee, with an essay on the sonnet by Hunt, 2 volumes (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1867; London: S. Low, Son & Marston, 1867).

Selected Periodical Publications

 

• "Memoir of James Henry Leigh Hunt written by himself," The Monthly Mirror, 7 (April 1810): 243-248.

   

• "The Works of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder," edited by George Frederick Nott, Edinburgh Review, 27 (December 1816): 390-422.

   

• "The Family Journal," New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, 13 (January 1825): 17-28; (February 1825): 166-176; (March 1825): 276-282; (April 1825): 353-369, 419-423; (May 1825): 457-466; (June 1825): 548-555; 14 (July 1825): 41-45; (September 1825): 199-206; (October 1825): 323-332; (November 1825): 429-431; (December 1825): 514-518.

   

• "The Wishing Cap," Tait's Edinburgh Magazine, 2 (January 1833): 435-442; (March 1833): 689-693; 3 (April 1833): 141-148; (June 1833): 275-280; (July 1833): 417-421; (September 1833): 695-701.

   

• "Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Letters and Works," edited by Lord Wharncliffe, London and Westminster Review, 37 (April 1837): 130-164.

   

• "Memoirs of the Colman Family, by R. B. Peake," Edinburgh Review, 73 (July 1841): 389-424.

   

• "The Life, Journal and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, Esq. by the Rev. John Smith," Edinburgh Review, 74 (October 1841): 105-125.

   

• "Madame Sevigne and her Contemporaries," Edinburgh Review, 76 (October 1842): 203-236.

   

• "George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, by John H. Jesse," Edinburgh Review, 80 (July 1844): 1-42.

Letters

 

• The Correspondence of Leigh Hunt, 2 volumes, edited by Thornton Hunt (London: Smith, Elder, 1862).

   

• My Leigh Hunt Library: The Holograph Letters, edited by Luther A. Brewer (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1938).

   

• Charles Richard Sanders, "The Correspondence and Friendship of Thomas Carlyle and Leigh Hunt," Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 45 (March 1963): 439-485; 46 (September 1963: 179-216.

   

• David R. Cheney, The Correspondence of Leigh Hunt and Charles Ollier in the Winter of 1853-54 (London: Keats-Shelley Memorial Association, 1976).

 *List of Hunt's Works compliments of: Cheney, David R. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 96: British Romantic Poets, 1789-1832, Second Series. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by John R. Greenfield, McKendree College. The Gale Group, 1990. pp. 157-178.

Suggested Works for Further Biographical Reading

 

Author: Blunden, Edmund

Title: Leigh Hunt, a Biography

 Publication Details: London: Cobden-Sanderson, 402 pp.

 Publication Date: 1930

Author: Blunden, Edmund

Title: Leigh Hunt and His Circle

Publication Details: New York, London: Harper & Brothers, 402 pp.

Publication Date: 1930

Author: Holden, Anthony

Title: The Wit in the Dungeon: The Remarkable Life of Leigh Hunt-Poet, Revolutionary, and the Last of the Romantics

Publication Details: New York, NY: Little, Brown, 2005. 430 pp.

Publication Date: 2005

Author: Hunt, Leigh

Title: Leigh Hunt's Autobiography: The Earliest Sketches; edited with intro. and notes by Stephen F. Fogle

Publication Details: Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 53 pp.

Publication Date: 1959

Author: Hunt, Leigh

Title: Leigh Hunt's Journal; a miscellany for the cultivation of the memorable, the progressive, and the beautiful

Publication Details: London: Stewart and Murray, microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. University Microfilms. New York, New York University Microfilms.

Publication Date: 1851

Author: Johnson, R. Brimley

Title: Leigh Hunt

Publication Details: New York, NY: Haskell House, 152 pp.

Publication Date: 1970 (reprint of the 1896 edition)

Author: Roe, Nicholas

Title: Leigh Hunt: Life, Poetics Politics

Publication Details: London, New York: Routledge, 245 pp.

Publication Date: 2003

Author: Thompson, James R.

Title: Leigh Hunt

Publication Details: Boston: Twayne, 176 pp.

Publication Date: 1977

Author: Waltman, John L.

Title: Leigh Hunt, a Comprehensive Bibliography

Publication Details: New York: Garland Press, 273 pp.

Publication Date: 1985