Ernest Rhys

Ernest Rhys. Courtesy Goodreads.

Ernest Percival Rhys (July 17, 1859 - May 25, 1946) was an English poet, prose writer, and editor, best known for his role as founding editor of the Everyman's Library series of affordable classics.

Life

Rhys was born in London, the son of Emma (Percival), of Hertfordshire, and John Rhys of Carmarthen, Wales. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Carmarthen, and Rhys was brought up there and later in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

After working in the coal industry, he was employed doing editorial work on the Camelot Series of 65 reprints and translations from 1886 until 1891.

He worked as a freelance critic and editor in London. He was a founder member in 1890 of the Rhymer's Club, and a contributor to The Book of the Rhymers' Club and Second Book of the Rhymers' Club.

He began working for publisher J.M. Dent in 1894, as editor of a lyric poetry series. In 1904 he began editing the ambitious Everyman's Library project: a series of inexpensive versions of literary classics. The aim , aiming to publish 1000 titles; by the time of Rhys's death in 1946, 983 had been published.

Publications

Poetry

• A London Rose, and other rhymes. London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane / New York: Dodd, Mead, 1894.
• Welsh Ballads, and other poems. London: David Nutt, 1898.
• Lays of the Round Table, and other lyric romances. London: J.M. Dent, 1905.
• The Leaf-Burners, and other poems. London & Toronto: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1918.
• Rhymes for Everyman. London: L. Dickson, 1933.
• Song of the Sun. London: Dent, 1937.

Plays

• Gwenevere: A lyric play, written for music (with Vincent Thomas). London J.M. Dent, 1905.
• The Masque of the Grail. London: Elkin Mathews, 1908.
• Enid: A lyric play, written for music. London: J.M. Dent, 1908.

Novels

• The Fiddler of Carne: A North Sea winter's tale. Edinburgh: Patrick Geddes, 1896.
• The Whistling Maid: A romance. London: Hutchinson & Co., 1900.
• Black Horse Pit. London: R. Holden, 1925.

Non-fiction

• The Great Cockney Tragedy; or, The new Simple Simon. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1891.
• Frederic, Lord Leighton: Late president of the Royal Academy of the Arts. London: George Bell, 1898.
• London: The story of the city. London: Priory Press, 1909.
• The South Wales Coast, from Chepstow to Aberystwyth. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1911.
• Lyric Poetry (criticism). London & Toronto: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1913.
• Romance. New York: Dutton, 1913.
• Browning & his Poetry. London: Harrap, 1914.
• Rabindranath Tagore: A biographical study. London & New York: Macmillan, 1915.
• Everyman Remembers (autobiography). London & Toronto: Dent, 1931; New York: Cosmopolitan Book, 1931.
• Letters from Limbo. London: Dent, 1936.
• Wales England Wed: An autobiography. London: Dent, 1940.

Juvenile

• English Fairy Tales (with Grace Little Rhys; illustrations by Herbert Cole). London: T. Fisher Unwin / New York: F.A. Stokes, 1912; London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1913.
• The True Annals of Fairyland: In the reign of King Oberon. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1919.

Edited

• Thomas Dekker (unexpurgated edition). London: T.F. Unwin / New York: Scribner's, 1887; London: Vizitelly, 1887.
• Percy Bysshe Shelley, Essays and Letters. London: Walter Scott, 1886.
• The Prelude to Poetry: The English poets in defence and praise of their art. London: Dent, 1894.
• Lyrical Poetry from the Bible. London: Dent, 1895.
• Arthur Hugh Clough, The Bothie and other poems. London & New York: Walter Scott, 1896.
• Literary Pamphlets, chiefly relating to poetry, from Sidney to Byron. New York: Holt / London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1897. Volume I, Volume II.
• The Garden of Romance: Romantic tales of all time. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1897.
• Shorter Novels: 18th Century. (2 volumes), London: Dent; New York: Dutton, 1903.
• Fairy-Gold: A book of Old English fairy tales. London & Toronto: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1906; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1970.
• Lord Byron, The Shorter Byron: Lyrics and other poems, satirical and occasional verse, letters, chosen and edited by Ernest Rhys. London: R. Holden, 1907.
• The Atlas of Ancient and Classical Geography. London: Dent, 1907.
• Everyman with other interludes, including eight miracle plays. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1909.
• Christopher Marlowe and George Chapman, Hero and Leander and other poems. London: Dent, 1909.
• William Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910.
• A Century of English Essays (chosen by Rhys & Lloyd Vaughan). London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1913.
• The New Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics.London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1914.
• British Historical and Political Orations from the XIIth to the XXth century. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1915.
• The Old Country: A book of love & praise of England. London & Toronto: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1917.
• The Haunters and the Haunted: Ghost stories and tales of the supernatural. London: Daniel O'Connor, 1921.
• The Growth of Political Liberty: A sourcebook of English history. London & Toronto: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1921.
• Modern English Essays. London & Toronto: Dent, 1922. Volume 1, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV, Volume V.
• The Golden Treasury of Longer Poems. London & Toronto: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1921.
• 31 Stories by Thirty and One Authors (edited with C.A. Dawson Scott). London: T. Butterworth, 1923; New York: Appleton, 1923.
• 28 Humorous Stories: Old and new (edited with C.A. Dawson Scott). New York: Appleton, 1926.
• 26 Mystery Stories: Old and new (edited with C.A. Dawson Scott). New York: Appleton, 1927.
• A Book of Nonsense: Verse, prose, and pictures. London & Toronto: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1928.
• Mainly Horses. (edited with C.A. Dawson Scott). New York & London: Appleton, 1929.
• Tales from Far and Near (edited with C.A. Dawson Scott). New York & London: Appleton, 1930.
• The Dictionary of Best Known Quotations & Proverbs: An up-to-date selection with a two-hundred page subject and key word index. New York: Garden City Publishing, 1939.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• Anglo-Welsh poets
• List of British poets

External links

Poems

• "Lost in France"
• Ernest Rhys in The New Poetry: An anthology: "Dagonet's Canzonet," "A Song of Happiness"
• Rhys in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895: "London Feast," "An Autobiography," "Diana," "Brechva's Harp Song," "White Roses," "Song of the Wulfshaw Larches"
• Rhys in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "A Song of Happiness," "The Hunting Song of Them That Did Not Hunt," "Dagonet's Canzonet," "April Romance," "A Breton Night," "Sonnetina: Punch and Judy," "The Woman of Sorrows," "Nesta's Morning Song," "Death and the Jester"

Prose

• "Introduction To Historical Essays"

Books

• Works by Ernest Rhys at Project Gutenberg
• Ernest Rhys at Amazon.com

About

• Ernest Percival Rhys in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Rhys, Ernest (Percival) (1859-1946), Welsh Biography Online.
• Inspired, Unselfish Mr. Everyman, Ernest Rhys obituary