Gordon Bottomley (1874-1948). Courtesy Cyberhymnal.
Gordon Bottomley (1874-1948) was an English poet , known particularly for his verse dramas. His main influences were the later Victorian Romantic poets, the Pre-Raphaelites and William Morris.
Life[]
Bottomley was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, the only child of Maria and Alfred Bottomley.
He was educated at home by his mother and then at the local Grammar School. Aged 7, Bottomley contracted a tubercular illness that would effect him for the rest of his life. As a result he was invalided for long periods of time and was unable to travel widely or live in a town.
Bottomley became a junior clerk at the Craven Bank in Keighley at the age of 16. However, after an illness in 1891 he was transferred to the Bradford branch and he visited the theatre and saw the Oscar Wilde play Lady Windermere’s Fan. This stimulated his interest in plays.
Following another bout of illness in 1892, Bottomley left the bank and moved to Cartmel, Lancashire to "live a life of passionate intense meditation and contemplation"[1] and began writing poetry.
In 1895 he met Emily Burton (1867-1947), and they married in 1905.[2]
The couple lived from 1914 in Silverdale, near Carnforth, until their deaths.[2]
Emily Bottomley was an accomplished amateur artist.[2] Gordon Bottomley studied the work of artists and was a dedicated collector. He bought artworks when he could afford to and his friends also gave him their art in gratitude for his support and friendship.
Bottomley's friends included many famous writers, poets and artists, with whom he kept in contact mainly through letters. He made occasional visits to London, and also received visitors at his home. The most notable of these friendships was with artist Paul Nash. The men were brought together in 1910 by Nash’s love of poetry and Bottomley’s extensive knowledge of painting. Bottomley encouraged the young artist and in exchange Nash made several designs for Bottomley’s plays that he exhibited or used as illustrations. Despite increasingly divergent tastes in art, their friendship survived and a prolific life-long correspondence[3] between them was published in 1955.[4]
In 1922 Bottomley edited the poetry of Isaac Rosenberg, whom as a correspondent he had encouraged from 1915.
Bottomley died in 1948, outliving his wife by less than a year.
Writing[]
Bottomley began writing poetry in the 1890s and was influenced by the Romantic poets and even more so by Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His debut collection, The Mickle Drede, and other verses, was printed privately at Kendal in 1896.
Recognition[]
Bottomley received several honorary degrees, including a D.Litt. from Durham University.[5]
In popular culture[]
Composer Edgar Bainton (1880-1956) was a close associate, who set his play The Crier by Night to music.
Tullie House Art Gallery[]
In 1949 Bottomley and his wife Emily bequeathed their personal art collection of 600 paintings, prints, and drawings to the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle, Cumbria. The bequest includes a nationally important collection of works by the Pre-Raphaelites including pictures by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, Arthur Hughes, Ford Madox Brown, Elizabeth Siddal and Simeon Solomon. The collection also included work from artists of other genre including those of Stanley Spencer, Samuel Palmer, Albert Moore, Frederic, Lord Leighton, Henri Fantin-Latour, Lucien Pissarro, William Nicholson, Walter Crane, Charles Conder, Jessie Marion King, Morris's daughter May Morris, William Rothenstein, Charles Ricketts, and of course Paul Nash.
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- The Mickle Drede, and other verses Kendal: T. Willson, 1896.
- Poems at White-Nights: A book of verse. London: Sign of the Unicorn, 1899.
- The Gate of Smaragdus. London: Elkin Mathews, 1904.
- Chambers of Imagery. London: Elkin Mathews, 1907.
- A vision of Giorgione: Three variations on Venetian themes. London: Constable, 1910; Portland, ME: Thomas B. Mosher, 1910.
- Chambers of Imagery: Second series. London: Elkin Mathews, 1912.
- Poems of Thirty Years. London: Constable, 1925.
- Gordon Bottomley. London: Ernest Benn, 1927.
Plays[]
- The Crier by Night: A play in one act. London: Sign of the Unicorn, 1902.
- Midsummer Eve (with James Guthrie). Flansham, Sussex, UK: Pear Tree Press, 1905.
- The Riding to Lithend: A play in one act. Flansham, Sussex, UK: Pear Tree Press, 1908; Portland, ME: Thomas B. Mosher, 1910.
- Laodice and Danaë: Play in one act. London: privately printed, 1909; Boston: Four Seas, 1916.
- King Lear's Wife: Play in one act. New York: P. Reynolds, 1916.
- King Lear's Wife; The crier by night; The riding to Lithend; Midsummer eve; Laodice and Danaë: Plays. London: Constable, 1920.
- Gruach and Britain's daughter: Two plays. London: Constable, 1921; Boston: Small, Maynard, 1921.
- Scenes and Plays. London: Constable, 1929; New York: Macmillan, 1929.
- Festival Preludes. London: Fanfrolico Press, 1930.
- Lyric Plays. London: Constable, 1932.
- The Acts of Saint Peter: A cathedral festival play. London: Constable, 1933.
- Choric Plays, and a comedy. London: Constable, 1939.
- Kate Kennedy: A comedy in three acts. London: Constable, 1945.
Non-fiction[]
- A Stage for Poetry: My purposes with my plays. London: privately published, printed by T. Willson, 1948.
Collected editions[]
- Poems and Plays (edited by Claude Colleer Abbott). London: Bodley Head, 1953.
Edited[]
- Isaac Rosenberg, Poems. London: Heinemann, 1922.
- Isaac Rosenberg, Collected Works (edited with Denys Harding). London: Chatto & Windus, 1937.
Letters[]
- Poet and Painter: Being the correspondence between Gordon Bottomley and Paul Nash, 1910-1946 (edited by Claude Colleer Abbott & Anthony Bertram). London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1955.
- Poet and Painter: Letters between Gordon Bottomley and Paul Nash, 1910-1946 (edited by Andrew Causey). Bristol, UK: Redcliffe, 1990.
A poem by Gordon Bottomley - New Year's Eve, 1913
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[6]
See also[]
References[]
- Letters from Edward Thomas to Gordon Bottomley (1968) edited by R.G. Thomas
Fonds[]
Selections of his papers are archived in the libraries of the University of Glasgow and Durham University.[5]
Notes[]
- ↑ http://www.tulliehouse.co.uk/pages.asp?type=M&url=265_Emily+and+Gordon+Bottomley+Bequest&lvl=,48,78,265,
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Emily Bottomley (1867-1947), ArtUK. Web, Feb. 28, 2020.
- ↑ Paul Nash, Spartacus Educational.
- ↑ Poet and Painter by Gordon Bottomley and Paul Nash, ISBN 978-1872971155
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gordon Bottomley 1874-1948, Poetry Foundation. Web, Feb. 28, 2020.
- ↑ Search results = au:Gordon Bottomley, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 10, 2014.
External links[]
- Poems
- "To Iron-Founders and others" in the Oxford Book of Victorian Verse
- "The Ploughman" in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922
- Gordon Bottomley in The New Poetry: An Anthology: "My Moon," "Elegaic Mood," "Dawn"
- Gordon Bottomley at My Poetic Side (5 poems)
- Gordon Bottomley at AllPoetry (12 poems)
- Plays
- "King Lear's Wife" in Georgian Poetry 1913-15
- Books
- Works by Gordon Bottomley at Project Gutenberg
- Gordon Bottomley at the Online Books Page
- Gordon Bottomley at Amazon.com
- About
- Gordon Bottomley at the Poetry Foundation
- Gordon Bottomley at eNotes
- Gordon Bottomley & Paul Nash: Pre_Raphaelite heirs? at the William Morris Society (.PDF)
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