John Aikin (1747-1822). Engraving by Francis Engleheart (1775-1849), 1823. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
| John Aikin | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 15 1747 Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, England |
| Died |
December 7 1822 (aged 75) Stoke Newington, Middlesex, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | doctor, writer |
John Aikin (15 January 1747 - 7 December 1822) was an English doctor and writer, a brother of poet Anna Laetitia Barbauld.
Life[]
Overview[]
Aikin, son. of Dr. John Aikin, Unitarian divine, was born at Kibworth, studied medicine at Edinburgh and London, and received degree of M.D. at Leyden. He began practice at Yarmouth but, one of his pamphlets having given offence, he removed to London, where he obtained some success in his profession, devoting all his leisure to literature, to which his contributions were incessant. These consisted of pamphlets, translations, and miscellaneous works, some in conjunction with his sister, Mrs. Barbauld. Among his chief works are England Delineated, General Biography in 10 vols., and lives of Selden and Ussher.[1]
Youth and education[]
Aikin was born at Kibworth in 1747, and moved with his father to Warrington, where he received the earlier part of his education. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and surgery in London, and, in the course of a flying visit to Holland, received the degree of M.D. at the University of Leyden.[2]
Career[]
After residing for a few years at Chester and at Warrington, he settled in medical practice at Great Yarmouth in the year 1784.[2]
The society of Yarmouth was at this time exceedingly hostile to dissenters, and the agitation in 1790 for the repeal of the Corporation and Tests Acts embittered differences that would otherwise have been unimportant. On this subject, Aikin, whose political and religious opinions were those of the dissenters, published 2 warmly written pamphlets, and thereby lost the support of most of his more orthodox friends and patients. The pamphlets were published anonymously, but Aikin was soon known to be their author, and his professional prospects in Yarmouth were virtually ruined. In a letter to a friend he says that he has no idea of becoming "the hero of a cause," but "at his age it would be trifling not to have a character, and cowardly not to avow and stick to it."[2]
His position at Yarmouth becoming more and more intolerable, in 1792 he moved to Broad Street Buildings in London, and found within easy reach of Hackney, then the stronghold of the dissenters, a more agreeable field for his medical and literary work. Lucy Aikin, his daughter, describes this migration as "a blessed change from Yarmouth." In London the warm welcome of his friends, and his own high character, brought him a fair measure of success. He practised as a physician only, and devoted his whole leisure to literature.[2]
His career, however, as a physician was cut short a few years later by a stroke of paralysis, in consequence of which he gave up his house and practice to his son, and retired to Stoke Newington. There he spent the last 24 years of his life in his favourite studies and occupations.[2]
Literary career[]
Aikin is better known as a man of letters than as a physician. His elegant scholarship gave a natural polish to all that he wrote, and his varied attainments, as well as his moral uprightness, earned him many friends, among whom were Dr. Priestley; Pennant, the naturalist; Dr. Darwin; James Montgomery; John Howard, the philanthropist; and, for a time, poet Robert Southey. He was John Howard's literary executor, and was often employed by him to write reports on prisons, and other documents. His life of Howard has been adopted without acknowledgment by a modern writer.[2]
Hardly a year of his life passed without some contribution to literature, but his best known works are Essays on Song Writing; Translation of the Germania and the Agricola of Tacitus; Biographical Memoirs of Medicine in Great Britain; ‘England Delineated; General Biography (10 volumes. 4to; the articles marked ‘A’ are more than half of the work); The Arts of Life; The Woodland Companion; Lives of John Selden and Archbishop Usher; critical and biographical prefaces to an edition of the British Poets; and Evenings at Home (which last work was written in conjunction with his sister, Mrs. Barbauld, but Aikin contributed far the greater number of the pieces).[2]
He also began a translation of Pliny's Natural History, but was so "disgusted by his errors and old women's fables" that he abandoned the project.[2]
Family[]
Aikin had 4 children, 3 sons and a daughter.[3] The eldest son, Arthur, was a prominent scientist, and the youngest, Edmund, was an architect.[4] His 2nd son, Charles Rochemont Aikin, was adopted by his sister, who had no children of her own. Through Charles, Aikin was grandfather to the writer Anna Letitia Le Breton. His daughter Lucy was a biographer.
It may be added that Aikin was greatly interested in chemistry and natural philosophy, branches of science in which, however, his sons, Arthur and Charles Rochemont, were subsequently more distinguished than himself.[2]
Publications[]
Non-fiction[]
- Thoughts on Hospitals. London: Joseph Johnson, 1771.
- Observations on the External Use of Preparations of Lead. London: Joseph Johnson, 1771.
- Essays on Song-writing. London: Joseph Johnson, 1772.
- Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose; by J. & A.L. Aikin (with Anna Laetitia Barbauld). London: Joseph Johnson, 1773
- also published as Miscellaneous Pieces, in Prose; by John Aikin, M.D. and Anna Lætitia Barbauld. London: Joseph Johnson, 1792.
- A Specimen of the Medical Biography of Great Britain. London: Joseph Johnson, 1775.
- An Essay on the Application of Natural History to Poetry. Warrington, UK: W. Eyres, for J. Johnson, 1777.
- Biographical Memoirs of Medicine in Great Britain: From the revival of literature to the time of Harvey, London: Joseph Johnson, 1780.
- A View of the Character and Public Services of the Late John Howard, Esquire. London: Joseph Johnson, 1792.
- printed in U.S. as A View of the Life, Travels, and Philanthropic Labors of the late John Howard, Esquire. Philadelphia: W.W. Woodward for John Ormrod, 1794; Boston: Printed by Manning & Loring, 1794.
- Letters from a Father to his Son: On various topics, relative to literature and the conduct of life]. London: Joseph Johnson, 1793; Philadelphia: James Carey for Matthew Carey, 1796. Volume I, Volume II
- Letters to a Young Lady: On a course of English poetry. London: R. Taylor for Josep Johnson, 1804.
- The Arts of Life. London: Joseph Johnson, 1807.
- Essays: Literary and miscellaneous. London: Joseph Johnson, 1811.
- The lives of John Selden, Esq., and Archbishop Usher. London: Matthews & Leigh, 1812.
- Annals of the Reign of King George III: From its commencement in the year 1760, to the general peace in the year 1815. (2 volumes), London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1816. Volume I, Volume II
- Memoir of John Aikin M.D.: With a selection of his miscellaneous pieces (with memoir & edited by Lucy Aikin). (2 volumes), London: Baldwin, Cradock, & Joy, 1823. Volume I (memoir), Volume II (miscellaneous pieces)
Juvenile[]
- The Calendar of Nature: Designed for the instruction and entertainment of young persons. Warrington, UK: W. Eyres, for J. Johnson, 1784
- revised & expanded (by Arthur Aikin) as The Natural History of the Year: being an enlargement of Dr. Aikin's Calendar of nature. London: Joseph Johnson, 1798.
- Evenings at Home; or, The juvenile budget opened (with Anna Laetitia Barbauld). (6 volumes), London: J. Johnston, 1792-1796. Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV
Edited[]
- General Biography; or, Lives, critical and historical, of the most eminent persons of all ages, countries, conditions, and professions, arranged according to alphabetical order; chiefly composed by John Aikin, M.D. and the late Rev. William Enfield, LL. D. (10 volumes), London:G.G. & J. Robinson, G. Kearsley, R.H. Evans, & J. Wright / Edinburgh:Bell & Bradfute, 1799-[1815].
- Select Works of the British Poets: With biographical and critical prefaces. London : Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1820; Philidelphia : Thomas Wardle, 1831.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[5]
See also[]
References[]
Brodribb, Arthur Aiken (1885) "Aikin, John (1747-1822)" in Stephen, Leslie Dictionary of National Biography 1 London: Smith, Elder, p. 185
Notes[]
- ↑ John William Cousin, "Aikin, John," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910. Wikisource, Web, Sep. 16, 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Brodribb, 185.
- ↑ Aikin, Lucy (2010). "Lucy Aikin: A Brief Chronology". In Mellor, Anne K.; Levy, Michelle. Epistles On Women and Other Works. Broadview Editions. ISBN 9781770481244.
- ↑ "Aikin, Edmund" Dictionary of National Biography London: Smith, Elder, 1885–1900
- ↑ Search results = au:John Aikin, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Apr. 15, 2016.
External links[]
- Audio / video
- John Aikin public domain audiobooks from LibriVox
- About
- John Aikin (1747-1822) 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: Aikin, John (1747-1822)
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