Alexander Bicknell

Alexander Bicknell (?1750-1796), The Putrid Soul (1780). Gale Ecco, 2018. Courtesy Amazon.com.

Alexander Bicknell (?1750 - 22 August 1796) was an English poet and miscellaneous writer.

Life

Bicknell was a writer of the last quarter of the 18th century, whose writings received their due meed of ridicule or faint praise in the Monthly Review, and are now forgotten.

Bicknell was a prolific writer, of whom little is known besides the titles of his books. He was a regular contributor to the General Magazine and Impartial Review, edited by Thomas Bellamy.

He died 22 August 1796 in St. Thomas's Hospital, London.

Writing

He published the following books and pamphlets: 1. 'History of Edward Prince of Wales, commonly termed the Black Prince,' 8vo, 1777. 2. 'Life of Alfred the Great, King of the Anglo-Saxons,' 8vo, 1777. 3. 'The Putrid Soul, a Poetical Epistle to Joseph Priestley, LL.D.,' 4to, 1780. 4. 'The Patriot Historical of Lady Rewards of Good Nature.' 7. 'The Benevolent Man, a Novel.' 8. 'Prince Arthur, an Allegorical Romance.' 9. 'Doncaster Races, or the History of Miss Maitland, a True Tale, in a series of letters,' 2 vols. 12mo, 1790. 10. 'A History of England and the British Empire,' 12mo, 1791. 11. 'The Grammatical Wreath, or a Complete System of English Grammar,' 12mo, 1790. 12. 'Instances of the Mutability of Fortune, selected from Ancient and Modern History,' 8vo, 1792. 13. 'Philosophical Disquisitions on the Christian Religion, addressed to Soame Jenyns, Esq., and Dr. Kenrick.' It is stated on the title-page of No. 9 that Bicknell edited Captain J. Carver's 'Travels through the Interior Parts of North America,' 8vo, 1778, and Mrs. George Anne Bellamy's 'Apology for her Life,' 6 vols. 12mo, 1785.

Publications

Poetry

• The Putrid Soul: A poetical epistle to Joseph Priestly. London: J. Bowen, 1780.

Play

• The Patriot King; or, Alfred and Elvida: An historical tragedy. London: privately published, 1788.

Novels

• The Benevolent Man; or, The history of Mr. Belville. London: J. Lewis, 1775; New York: Garland, 1974.
• Prince Arthur: An allegorical romance: The story from Spenser. London: G. Riley, 1779.
• Doncaster Races; or, The history of Miss Maitland: A tale of truth, in a series of letters. (2 volumes), London: C. Stalker, 1790.

Non-fiction

• The history of Edward, Prince of Wales: Commonly termed the Black Prince. London: J. Bew, 1776.
• The History of Lady Anne Neville, Sister to the Great Earl of Warwick. London: T. Cadell, 1776.
• The Life of Alfred the Great, King of the Anglo-Saxons. London: J. Bew, 1777.
• The Grammatical Wreath; or, A complete system of English grammar. London: privately published, 1790.
• Painting Personified; or, The caricature and sentimental pictures, of the principal artists of the present times. (2 volumes), London: R. Baldwin, 1790.
• Instances of the Mutability of Fortune: Selected from ancient and modern history. London: J.S. Jordan, 1792.

Juvenile

• A History of England and the British Empire: Designed for the instruction of youth. London: 1791.

Edited

• George Bellamy, An Apology for the Life of George Anne Bellamy. (5 volumes), London: J. Bell, 1785. Volume I, Volume III-V

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of British poets

References

 Sutton, Charles William (1886) "Bicknell, Alexander" in Stephen, Leslie Dictionary of National Biography 5 London: Smith, Elder, p. 9.  Wikisource, Web, Apr. 29, 2016}}

External links

Prose

• Extracts from Prince Arthur: An allegorical romance: "Introduction to the First Volume," "Introduction to the Second Volume," "Book I, Chapter 1"

Books

• Alexander Bicknell at Amazon.com

About

• Alexander Bicknell(1750 ca.-1796) at English Poetry, 1579-1830

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: "Bicknell, Alexander"