Morgan Kavanagh (?1799-1874), The Wanderings of Lucan and Dinah: A poetical romance (1824). Gale NCCO, 2017. Courtesy Amazon.com.
Morgan Kavanagh (?1799-1874) was an Irish poet, novelist, and author of works on philology. He was the father of novelist and biographer Julia Kavanagh.
Life[]
Little information is recorded on Kavanagh. On an 1844 application to the Royal Literary Fund, he wrote: "I know neither my age nor where I was born; but believe it was in Dublin about the year 1799."[1] He initially used the name Morgan Peter Kavanagh, but later dropped the middle name, saying "I have dropped the name of Peter on learning that it was not strictly legal, it being only a name which I adopted when confirmed." [1]
He had little or no formal education; from a preface to one of his books, it is inferred that as a youmg man he worked as a farm labourer.[2]
Kavanagh left Ireland for London in 1824, accompanied by his wife, Bridget, and their infant daughter, Julia. His motive for this move was to seek a publisher for a poetical work entitled The Wanderings of Lucan and Dinah. This work, his first, was published in London through the generosity of an anonymous benefactor.[3]
For most of the following 20 years Morgan and his family lived in Paris, where he taught English language and literature. One of his pupils was Le Comte d'Ormesson.[4] During this period he was awarded several grants by the Royal Literary Fund. Kavanagh published a second poetical work, The Reign of Lockrin, in 1839.
Kavanagh parted from his wife and daughter in about 1844 and returned to London. In 1851 he was living at 28 Dean Street, Soho where he sublet two rooms to Karl Marx and his family.[5]
By 1857 Kavanagh had acquired a new partner, Marie. A son (Alfred) was born to them in London at that time and, subsequently, a daughter (Matilda)and a second son (Alexander) were born in Paris.[6] Marie is believed to have died in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
By 1873 Kavanagh had returned to London and was living with a new partner, Louisa. He died in London in 1874 following a fall.[7]
Writing[]
Works on Philology[]
In 1844 Kavanagh published in London his first work on philology, The Discovery of the Science of Languages. A French edition was also published in Paris. This work postulated the origin of speech in prehistoric "mime" (today we might call it sign language].[8] This was followed over the next 27 years by further publications of a similar nature. These works on philology were uniformly condemned by the academic establishment. For example, Thompson Cooper a near contemporary writing in the Dictionary of National Biography dismissed The Discovery as a "ridiculous work".[8][9] During this period Kavanagh submitted several works in competition for the Prix Volney but he was unsuccessful on each occasion. Although Kavanagh was clearly repudiated by his contemporaries, a more recent analysis suggests that his ideas might have had some merit.[10]
Novels[]
Kavanagh wrote 2 novels, Aristobulus, The Last Of The Maccabees (1855) and The Hobbies (1857). The latter work was published by T.C. Newby in London and it resulted in a public controversy. When the novel appeared the title page stated that it was edited by Julia Kavanagh. Julia was, by that time, a successful author in her own right. In a series of letters, between her and Newby, published in the periodical Athenaeum, Julia denied any such involvement and threatened legal action. Newby ultimately printed a new cover page which omitted the reference to Julia. Eileen Fauset suggests that Julia may, in fact, have assisted Morgan with the novel at some point, but wanted nothing to do with the final version.[11]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- The Wanderings of Lucan and Dinah: A poetical romance, in ten cantos. London: Sherwood, 1824.
- The Reign of Lockrin: A poem. London: Whittaker, 1839.
Novels[]
- Aristobulus, the Last of the Maccabees: A tale of Jerusalem. London: T.C. Newby, 1855.
- The Hobbies: A novel. London: T.C. Newby, 1857.
Non-fiction[]
- The Discovery of the Science of Languages London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, 1844. Volume II
- Myths Traced to their Primary Source through Language (2 volumes), Loncon: T.C. Newby, 1856.
- An Author his own Reviewer. London: J.R. Smith, 1857.
- Origin of Language and Myths. (2 volumes), London: Sampson, Low, Son, & Marsden, 1871. Volume I, Volume II
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[12]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kavanagh, Morgan. "Application to The Literary Fund", November 4, 1844, Royal Literary Fund (RLF) file no. 548, item 15, British Library.
- ↑ Morgan Peter Kavanagh (1800 ca. - 1874), English Poetry, 1579-1830, Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, July 25, 2016.
- ↑ Martin McDermot, Prefatory View of the Poem in: M. P. Kavanagh, The Wanderings of Lucan and Dinah, Sherwood and Co., London, 1824.
- ↑ Royal Literary Fund, file no. 548, item 10, British Library.
- ↑ Eileen Fauset, Op. cit.
- ↑ Robert J. Kavanagh, Morgan Kavanagh - An Outline of his Life, 2010, National Library of Ireland, Manuscript MS 49,658
- ↑ Coroner's inquest on Morgan Kavanagh, Islington, February 14, 1874, London Metropolitan Archives.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sutherland, John. "Kavanagh, Morgan Peter" in Companion to Victorian Literature. Stanford University Press, 1989.
- ↑ Thompson Cooper, Kavanagh, Julia, Dictionary of National Biography (1800), Volume 30, p.246.
- ↑ Jacques-Philippe Saint-Gérand, "Morgan Kavanagh: Condylure oublié en histoire des sciences du langage?", Université Blaise Pascal Clermont-Ferrand II
- ↑ Eileen Fauset, The Politics of Writing: Julia Kavanagh 1824-77, Manchester University Press, 2009
- ↑ Search results = au:Morgan Kavanagh, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, July 25, 2016.
External links[]
- Poems
- Books
- Morgan Peter Kavanagh at Amazon.com
- About
- Morgan Kavanagh at Ricorso
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