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The Romantic Poets and Their Circle
The popular ideal of the inspired artist, beautiful, brooding and young, owes its origin to portraits of the poets, writers and artists of the Romantic period. This book presents a fascinating illustrated history of an extraordinary generation, and assesses the impact of their work on contemporary culture
112 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1997
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About the author
Richard Holmes
31 books253 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
See this thread for more information.
Biographer Richard Holmes was born in London, England on 5 November 1945 and educated at Downside School and Churchill College, Cambridge. His first book, Shelley:The Pursuit, was published in 1974 and won a Somerset Maugham Award. The first volume of his biography of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Coleridge: Early Visions, was published in 1989 and won the Whitbread Book of the Year award. Dr Johnson & Mr Savage (1993), an account of Johnson's undocumented friendship with the notorious poet Richard Savage, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for biography) in 1993. The second volume of his study of Coleridge, Coleridge: Darker Reflections, was published in 1998. It won the Duff Cooper Prize, the Heinemann Award and was shortlisted for the first Samuel Johnson Prize awarded in 1999.
Richard Holmes writes and reviews regularly for various journals and newspapers, including the New York Review of Books. His most recent book, Sidetracks: Explorations of a Romantic Biographer (2000), continues the exploration of his own highly original biographical method that he first wrote about in Footsteps: Adventures of a Romantic Biographer (1985). He is also editor of a new series of editions of classic English biographies that includes work by Samuel Johnson, Daniel Defoe and William Godwin.
His latest book, The Age of Wonder (2008), is an examination of the life and work of the scientists of the Romantic age who laid the foundations of modern science. It was shortlisted for the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of the British Academy and was awarded an OBE in 1992. He was awarded an honorary Litt.D. in 2000 by the University of East Anglia, where he was appointed Professor of Biographical Studies in September 2001.
See this thread for more information.
Biographer Richard Holmes was born in London, England on 5 November 1945 and educated at Downside School and Churchill College, Cambridge. His first book, Shelley:The Pursuit, was published in 1974 and won a Somerset Maugham Award. The first volume of his biography of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Coleridge: Early Visions, was published in 1989 and won the Whitbread Book of the Year award. Dr Johnson & Mr Savage (1993), an account of Johnson's undocumented friendship with the notorious poet Richard Savage, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for biography) in 1993. The second volume of his study of Coleridge, Coleridge: Darker Reflections, was published in 1998. It won the Duff Cooper Prize, the Heinemann Award and was shortlisted for the first Samuel Johnson Prize awarded in 1999.
Richard Holmes writes and reviews regularly for various journals and newspapers, including the New York Review of Books. His most recent book, Sidetracks: Explorations of a Romantic Biographer (2000), continues the exploration of his own highly original biographical method that he first wrote about in Footsteps: Adventures of a Romantic Biographer (1985). He is also editor of a new series of editions of classic English biographies that includes work by Samuel Johnson, Daniel Defoe and William Godwin.
His latest book, The Age of Wonder (2008), is an examination of the life and work of the scientists of the Romantic age who laid the foundations of modern science. It was shortlisted for the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of the British Academy and was awarded an OBE in 1992. He was awarded an honorary Litt.D. in 2000 by the University of East Anglia, where he was appointed Professor of Biographical Studies in September 2001.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 28, 2018
A very brief introduction into the Romantic poets, Holmes gives insight into the most famous and the not so famous names of the movement.
Holmes doesn't give an intro into what the movement was - the ideals, the themes and what was valued, only slightly hinting when he mentions poets and artists.
I'm wary of recommending this as a complete introduction to Romanticism as Holmes also does a lot of name dropping - many of which aren't discussed thoroughly, but only in passing - that implies assumed knowledge of Romanticism. I studied Romanticism for nearly 2 years in school as my dedicated area of study and there were many names dropped in the intro that I'd never heard of. For a beginner I think the sheer amount of names would be quite confusing.
There is insight into the circles these poets and artists ran in - who was acquainted with who, who inspired who and who they didn't like; there are also biographies of actresses the poets were friends with which I can't say I cared too much about.
Praise is given where due and Holmes does these artists justice - Coleridge, Byron, Shelley (Percy), Shelley (Mary) and Keats all get their pages of honour which I was very pleased with. I also learnt more about Blake, Burns, Wordsworth, De Quincey and Scott which was interesting.
The Romantics all led very dramatic and in most cases, tragic lives.
This book was definitely interesting and contained a lot of facts about the poets and their circles but could have been better if more insight was provided on Romanticism itself.
Holmes doesn't give an intro into what the movement was - the ideals, the themes and what was valued, only slightly hinting when he mentions poets and artists.
I'm wary of recommending this as a complete introduction to Romanticism as Holmes also does a lot of name dropping - many of which aren't discussed thoroughly, but only in passing - that implies assumed knowledge of Romanticism. I studied Romanticism for nearly 2 years in school as my dedicated area of study and there were many names dropped in the intro that I'd never heard of. For a beginner I think the sheer amount of names would be quite confusing.
There is insight into the circles these poets and artists ran in - who was acquainted with who, who inspired who and who they didn't like; there are also biographies of actresses the poets were friends with which I can't say I cared too much about.
Praise is given where due and Holmes does these artists justice - Coleridge, Byron, Shelley (Percy), Shelley (Mary) and Keats all get their pages of honour which I was very pleased with. I also learnt more about Blake, Burns, Wordsworth, De Quincey and Scott which was interesting.
The Romantics all led very dramatic and in most cases, tragic lives.
This book was definitely interesting and contained a lot of facts about the poets and their circles but could have been better if more insight was provided on Romanticism itself.
May 19, 2021
Cute companion for reading the Romantics, Lord Byron could get it
September 27, 2017
This is a fascinating – and entertaining - book that combines actual portraits with pen portraits of key figures in the Romantic period.*
After a 24-page introduction to the era and its celebrities, it continues with individual biographies. These are bite-sized portions that give you an idea of the man/woman behind the famous poems/novels/inventions – making them seem ‘more real’ and adding to your understanding of their work.
Personally, I’d never, for example, thought about how ferocious satirist James Gillray saw himself. I knew nothing about Sir Humphry Davy as a person – only that his Safety Lamp saved countless lives. And I’d seen Robert Southey’s grave more than once, without ever having any idea what he looked like, or indeed anything about him, beyond he was a Poet Laureate. (As his chapter starts: “History has been unkind to Southey, choosing to forget almost everything he wrote except the famous children’s story of The Three Bears’.
This book provides, for me, just enough information to get to ‘know’ its subjects. Others with a greater interest in individuals within its pages may find these potted biographies inspire them to seek out fuller life stories elsewhere.
*(1750-1830 being the dates I was taught in school!).
After a 24-page introduction to the era and its celebrities, it continues with individual biographies. These are bite-sized portions that give you an idea of the man/woman behind the famous poems/novels/inventions – making them seem ‘more real’ and adding to your understanding of their work.
Personally, I’d never, for example, thought about how ferocious satirist James Gillray saw himself. I knew nothing about Sir Humphry Davy as a person – only that his Safety Lamp saved countless lives. And I’d seen Robert Southey’s grave more than once, without ever having any idea what he looked like, or indeed anything about him, beyond he was a Poet Laureate. (As his chapter starts: “History has been unkind to Southey, choosing to forget almost everything he wrote except the famous children’s story of The Three Bears’.
This book provides, for me, just enough information to get to ‘know’ its subjects. Others with a greater interest in individuals within its pages may find these potted biographies inspire them to seek out fuller life stories elsewhere.
*(1750-1830 being the dates I was taught in school!).
November 25, 2023
This is essentially a guide book rather then a full blown book. The guide is published by the National Portrait Gallery and I purchased a copy during a recent visit to the gallery's reopening.
The guide has an interesting introduction about the Romantic period [1770 - 1830 approximately] This is followed by a series of paintings of the main protagonists of the period along with a short biography of the person in question.
I enjoyed the book but I found that some of the people included were not what I deem to be "romantic" such as Humphrey Davy and William Blake Neverthess a good reference about the period for the beginner
The guide has an interesting introduction about the Romantic period [1770 - 1830 approximately] This is followed by a series of paintings of the main protagonists of the period along with a short biography of the person in question.
I enjoyed the book but I found that some of the people included were not what I deem to be "romantic" such as Humphrey Davy and William Blake Neverthess a good reference about the period for the beginner
July 23, 2019
The is a treasure trove!
As other reviewers have pointed out, this is not an introduction to the underlying themes and ideals of Romanticism, neither is it an in depth analysis of the artists’ work.
Instead you get 28 extremely vivid mini-biographies, which despite their shortness (approx. 3 pages per person) are packed full of information while at the same time being very readable. Homes manages to portrait the poets, painters and scientist of the eara, who formed a highly interconnected network, as distinctly individual characters. Most of all I enjoyed that every biography included several paintings (many are by artist who have their own chapter in the book), which in turn get also discussed in the text.
This is a lovely book, which inspired me to seek out some individual biographies and also introduced me to several historical figures, of which I had never heard before. You also get a sense of some important works of the artists, which is also very helpful, if you don’t know where to start with the vast amount of poetry, essays and novels produced during this time.
As other reviewers have pointed out, this is not an introduction to the underlying themes and ideals of Romanticism, neither is it an in depth analysis of the artists’ work.
Instead you get 28 extremely vivid mini-biographies, which despite their shortness (approx. 3 pages per person) are packed full of information while at the same time being very readable. Homes manages to portrait the poets, painters and scientist of the eara, who formed a highly interconnected network, as distinctly individual characters. Most of all I enjoyed that every biography included several paintings (many are by artist who have their own chapter in the book), which in turn get also discussed in the text.
This is a lovely book, which inspired me to seek out some individual biographies and also introduced me to several historical figures, of which I had never heard before. You also get a sense of some important works of the artists, which is also very helpful, if you don’t know where to start with the vast amount of poetry, essays and novels produced during this time.
October 9, 2013
This is a lovely book put together that will serve not only as reference but also as a guide/companion to the Romantics and their portraits.
The introduction is brilliant, setting the scene of the time and telling us brief anecdotes and the relationships between poets, the artists and the way they were perceived.
A lovely book that has taught me more in a very simple and enjoyable manner and has inspired me to learn more about the artists, the subjects and all their work.
I would thoroughly recommend this book and I would also recommend it to be followed with a visit to the National Portrait Gallery.
The introduction is brilliant, setting the scene of the time and telling us brief anecdotes and the relationships between poets, the artists and the way they were perceived.
A lovely book that has taught me more in a very simple and enjoyable manner and has inspired me to learn more about the artists, the subjects and all their work.
I would thoroughly recommend this book and I would also recommend it to be followed with a visit to the National Portrait Gallery.
July 4, 2013
It's about the artists more than their art. Wonderfully gossipy and full of amusing descriptions and quotes. An eccentric bunch - who died eccentric deaths.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews