George Meredith



George Meredith, OM (12 February 1828 – 18 May 1909) was an English poet and novelist of the Victorian era.

Life
Meredith was born in Portsmouth, England, a son and grandson of naval outfitters. His mother died when he was five. At the age of 14 he was sent to a Moravian School in Neuwied, Germany, where he remained for two years. He read law and was articled as a solicitor, but abandoned that profession for journalism and poetry shortly after marrying Mary Ellen Nicolls, a widowed daughter of Thomas Love Peacock, in 1849: he was 21 years old and she was 28.

He collected his early writings, first published in periodicals, into Poems, published to some acclaim in 1851. His wife ran off with the English Pre-Raphaelite painter Henry Wallis in 1858; she died three years later. The sonnet sequence entitled Modern Love (1862) came of this experience as did The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, his first major novel.

He married Marie Vulliamy in 1864 and settled in Surrey. He continued writing novels and poetry, often inspired by nature. His writing was characterised by a fascination with imagery and indirect references. He had a keen understanding of comedy and his Essay on Comedy (1877) is still quoted in most discussions of the history of comic theory. In The Egoist, published in 1879, he applies some of his theories of comedy in one of his most enduring novels. Some of his writings, including The Egoist, also highlight the subjection of women during the Victorian period. During most of his career, he had difficulty achieving popular success. His first truly successful novel was Diana of the Crossways published in 1885.

Meredith supplemented his often uncertain writer's income with a job as a publisher's reader. His advice to Chapman and Hall made him influential in the world of letters. His friends in the literary world included, at different times, William and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Leslie Stephen, Robert Louis Stevenson, George Gissing and J. M. Barrie. His contemporary Sir Arthur Conan Doyle paid him homage in the short-story The Boscombe Valley Mystery, when Sherlock Holmes says to Dr. Watson during the discussion of the case, "And now let us talk about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all minor matters until to-morrow." Oscar Wilde, in his dialogue The Decay of Lying, implies that Meredith, along with Balzac, is his favourite novelist, saying "Ah, Meredith! Who can define him? His style is chaos illumined by flashes of lightning".

In 1868 he was introduced to Thomas Hardy by Frederick Chapman of Chapman & Hall the publishers. Hardy had submitted his first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady. Meredith advised Hardy not to publish his book as it would be attacked by reviewers and destroy his hopes of becoming a novelist. Meredith felt the book was too bitter a satire on the rich and counselled Hardy to put it aside and write another 'with a purely artistic purpose' and more of a plot. Meredith spoke from experience; his first big novel, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, was judged so shocking that Mudie's circulating library had cancelled an order of 300 copies. Hardy continued to try and publish the novel: however it remained unpublished, though he clearly took Meredith's advice seriously. (ref: Claire Tomalin, 'Thomas Hardy The Time Torn Man' published by Penguin 2007 pp92)

In 1909 he died at his home in Box Hill, Surrey. He is buried in Dorking Cemetery, Dorking, Surrey.<ref.George Meredith, Find a Grave. Web, May 31, 2013.

Recognition
George_Meredith_by_George_Frederic_Watts.jpg as president of the Society of Authors; in 1905 he was appointed to the Order of Merit by King Edward VII.

George Frederic Watts (1817-1904). Courtesy .]] Five of his poems ("Love in the Valley," "Phoebus with Admetus," "Tardy Spring," "Love's Grave," and "Lucifer in Starlight") were included in the Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.

Poetry

 * Poems. Parker, 1851; Scribner, 1898.
 * Modern Love and Poems of the English Roadside, with Poems and Ballads. Chapman & Hall, 1862
 * (edited by E. Cavazza). Mosher, 1891.
 * Poems and Lyrics of the Joy of Earth. London: Macmillan, 1883; Roberts Brothers, 1883.
 * The Woods of Westermain (1883)
 * A Faith on Trial (1885)
 * Ballads and Poems of Tragic Life. London: Macmillan, 1887; Roberts Brothers, 1887.
 * A Reading of Earth. London: Macmillan, 1888; Roberts Brothers, 1888.
 * Poems: The Empty Purse, with Odes to the Comic Spirit, to Youth in Memory and Verses. London: Macmillan, 1892, Roberts Brothers, 1892.
 * Selected Poems. London: Constable, 1897; New York: Scribner, 1897.
 * The Nature Poems. London: Constable, 1898.
 * Odes in Contribution to the Song of French History,
 * Odes in Contribution to the Song of French History. Westminster: Constable, 1898, Scribner, 1898.
 * A Reading of Life, with Other Poems. London: Constable, 1901; New York: Scribner, 1901.
 * Last Poems. London: Constable, 1909; New York: Scribner, 1909.
 * Love in the Valley, and Two Songs: Spring and Autumn, Seymour, 1909.
 * Poems Written in Early Youth, Poems from "Modern Love," and Scattered Poems. London: Constable, 1909; New York: Scribner, 1909.
 * The Poetical Works of George Meredith (edited by G.M. Trevelyan). London: Constable, 1912.
 * The Poems of George Meredith (edited by Phyllis B. Bartlett; 2 volumes). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1978.
 * Selected Poems, edited by Keith Hanley, Carcanet Press (Manchester, England), 1983.
 * Modern Love (edited and with an afterword by D. von R. Drenner, wood engravings by John DePol). Zauberberg Press, 1991.

Novels

 * The Shaving of Shagpat: An Arabian Entertainment]. Chapman & Hall, 1856, Roberts Brothers, 1887.
 * Farina: A Legend of Cologne. Smith, Elder, 1857.
 * The Ordeal of Richard Feverel: A History of Father and Son]]. (3 volumes), Chapman & Hall, 1859; (1 volume), Roberts Brothers, 1887
 * (edited and introduced by John Halperin). New York: Oxford University Press, 1984.
 * Evan Harrington; or, He Would Be a Gentleman. Harper, 1860; (3 volumes), Bradbury & Evans, 1861.
 * Emilia in England (3 volumes). Chapman & Hall, 1864
 * published as Sandra Belloni. Chapman & Hall, 1886; Roberts Brothers, 1887.
 * Rhoda Fleming: A Story. (3 volumes), Tinsley, 1865, )1 volume), Roberts Brothers, 1886.
 * Vittoria (3 volumes). Chapman & Hall, 1866, Roberts Brothers, 1888.
 * The Adventures of Harry Richmond. (3 volumes), London: Smith, Elder, 1871; (1 volume), Roberts Brothers, 1887.
 * Beauchamp's Career. (3 volumes), Chapman & Hall, 1876; (1 volume), Roberts Brothers, 1887
 * reprint (edited and introduced by Margaret Harris). Oxford University Press, 1988.
 * The House on the Beach: A Realistic Tale. Harper, 1877.
 * The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative. (3 volumes), London: Kegan Paul, 1879; New York: Harper, 1879
 * reprint (edited and introduced by Margaret Harris). Oxford University Press, 1992.
 * The Tragic Comedians: A Study in a Well-Known Story. (2 volumes), London: Chapman & Hall, 1880; (1 volume), Munro, 1881.
 * Diana of the Crossways. (3 volumes), London: Chapman & Hall, 1885; (1 volume), Munro, 1885.
 * Jump-to-Glory Jane, privately printed, 1889, Sonnenschein, 1892.
 * The Case of General Ople and Lady Camper. Lovell, 1890.
 * The Tale of Chloe: An Episode in the History of Beau Beamish. Lovell, 1890.
 * One of our Conquerors. (3 volumes), Chapman & Hall, 1891; (1 volume), Roberts Brothers, 1891.
 * The Tale of Chloe; The House on the Beach; The Case of General Ople and Lady Camper. Ward, Lock & Bowdon, 1894.
 * 'Lord Ormont and his Aminta: A Novel. (3 volumes), Chapman & Hall, 1894; (1 volume), New York: Scribner, 1894.
 * The Amazing Marriage (2 volumes). London: Constable, 1897; New York: Scribner, 1897.
 * The Story of Bhanavar the Beautiful. London: Constable, 1900.
 * Chillianwallah. Marion Press, 1909.
 * Celt and Saxon. London: Constable, 1910; New York: Scribner, 1910.
 * The Adventures of Harry Richmond: The Unpublished Parts (edited with an introduction by Sven-Johan Spanberg). Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell International, 1990.

Non-fiction

 * An Essay on Comedy and the Uses of the Comic Spirit'' (first published in New Quarterly, 1877). London: Constable, 1897; New York: Scribner, 1897.
 * Up to Midnight: A Series of Dialogues Contributed to the "Graphic". Luce, 1913
 * George Meredith's Essay On Comedy and Other New Quarterly Magazine Publications: A Critical Edition (edited by Maura C. Ives). Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1998.

Collected editions

 * The Works of George Meredith 1909-1911
 * De Luxe Edition (39 volumes), London: Constable
 * Library Edition (18 volumes), London: Constable
 * Boxhill Edition (17 volumes), New York: Scribner
 * Memorial Edition (27 volumes). London: Constable; New York: Scribner.

Letters

 * Letters of George Meredith (edited by his son). (2 volumes), London: Constable, 1912. Volume I, Volume II.''
 * The Letters of George Meredith (edited by C.L. Cline). (3 volumes), Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1970.
 * Selected Letters of George Meredith (edited by Mohammad Shaheen). New York: St. Martin's, 1996.

Edited

 * (Editor and author of introduction and concluding chapters) The Cruise of the Alabama and the Sumter: From the Private Journals and Other Papers of Commander R. Semmes. Saunders & Otley, 1864; Carleton, 1864.
 * Letters from Egypt, by Lady Lucie Duff-Gordon

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the Poetry Foundation.