Bayard Taylor
Encyclopedia
Bayard Taylor was an American poet
, literary critic, translator, and travel author.
in Chester County, Pennsylvania
. He was the fourth son, the first to live to maturity, of the Quaker couple, Joseph and Rebecca (née Way) Taylor. His father was a well-to-do farmer. Young Bayard received his early instruction in an academy at West Chester
, and later at Unionville
. At the age of seventeen, he was apprenticed to a printer in West Chester. His interest in poetry was coached by the influential critic and editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold
, who encouraged him to write a volume of poetry. Published at Philadelphia in 1844, Ximena, or the Battle of the Sierra Morena, and other Poems was dedicated to Griswold. It made little income, but indirectly was a means of his introduction to The New York Tribune.
With the money from his poetry and an advance for some journalistic work to be done in Europe, JB Taylor (as he signed himself, though he had only the given name Bayard) set sail for Europe. The young poet spent a happy time in roaming on foot through certain districts of England
, France
, Germany
and Italy
; this tour of almost two years cost him only £100. The accounts which he sent from Europe to The New York Tribune, The Saturday Evening Post, and The United States Gazette were so highly appreciated that on Taylor's return to America, he was advised to compile his articles into book form.
In 1846, he published Views Afoot, or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff (2 vols, New York). This book's success brought Taylor recognition as an author. He was asked to serve as an editorial assistant for Graham's Magazine
for a few months in 1848. That same year, Horace Greeley
, then editor of the Tribune, placed Taylor on his staff, thus securing Taylor a certain if moderate income. His next journey, made when the gold-fever
was at its height, was to California
as correspondent for the Tribune. From this expedition he returned by way of Mexico
, and, seeing his opportunity, published a highly successful book of travels, entitled El Dorado; or, Adventures in the Path of Empire (2 vols, New York, 1850). Within two weeks of release, the book sold 10,000 copies in the US and 30,000 in Great Britain
.
Taylor always said he had an affinity for the Near and Far East. In 1851 he traveled to Egypt, where he ascended along the Nile River as far as 12° 30' N. He also traveled in Palestine and Mediterranean countries. He drew on these experiences and sights for many poems. Towards the end of 1852, from England he sailed for Calcutta, proceeding thence to China
, where he joined the historic expedition of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry to Japan
.
The results of these journeys (besides his poetical memorials) were A Journey to Central Africa; or, Life and Landscapes from Egypt to the Negro Kingdoms of the White Nile (New York, 1854); The Lands of the Saracen; or, Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily and Spain (1854); and A Visit to India, China and Japan in the Year 1853 (1855).
. In October 1857, he married Maria Hansen, the daughter of Peter Hansen
, the Danish/German astronomer. They spent the ensuing winter in Greece.
to Wisconsin
. After two years, he again started on travel, on this occasion for northern Europe. His goal was to study Swedish life, language and literature. The trip inspired his long narrative poem Lars, but his Swedish Letters to the Tribune were also republished, under the title Northern Travel: Summer and Winter Pictures (London, 1857).
In 1859 Taylor once more traversed the western American gold region, in connection with an invitation to lecture at San Francisco. About three years later, he was appointed to the diplomatic service as secretary of legation at St. Petersburg, and the following year (1863) became chargé d'affaires
at the Russian capital.
,_kennett_square_vicinity_(chester_county,_pennsylvania).jpg)
In 1864 Taylor and his wife Maria returned to the United States, where he resumed writing at their home near Kennett Square. He published Hannah Thurston (1863), the first of his four novels. This book had a moderate success, but Taylor was not considered so good a novelist as a poet and essayist.
His late novel, Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania
(New York, 1870), recounts an intimate friendship between two men and is believed to be based on that between the poets Fitz-Greene Halleck
and Joseph Rodman Drake
. Since the late 20th-century, it has been called America's first gay novel. Taylor spoke at the dedication of a monument to Halleck in his native town, Guilford, Connecticut
.
In 1874 Taylor traveled to Iceland
, to report for the Tribune on the one thousandth anniversary of the first European settlement there. In June 1878 he was accredited United States Minister at Berlin
. Traveling on the same ship to Europe was Mark Twain
, who noted that he was envious of Taylor's command of German.
A few months after arriving in Berlin, Taylor died on December 19, 1878; his body was returned to the US and buried in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The New York Times published his obituary on its front page, referring to him as "a great traveler, both on land and paper." Shortly after his death, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
wrote a memorial poem to Taylor, at the urging of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
According to the 1920 edition of Encyclopedia Americana
:
According to the 1911 edition
of Encyclopaedia Britannica:
In Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography of 1889, Edmund Clarence Stedman
gives the following critique:
.
Marie Hansen Taylor translated into German Bayard's Greece (Leipzig, 1858), Hannah Thurston (Hamburg, 1863), Story of Kennett (Gotha, 1868), Tales of Home (Berlin, 1879), Studies in German Literature (Leipzig, 1880), and notes to Faust, both parts (Leipzig, 1881). After her husband's death, she edited, with notes, his Dramatic Works (1880), and in the same year his Poems in a “Household Edition,” and brought together his Critical Essays and Literary Notes. In 1885 she prepared a school edition of Lars, with notes and a sketch of its author's life.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, literary critic, translator, and travel author.
Life and work
Taylor was born on January 11, 1825, in Kennett SquareKennett Square, Pennsylvania
Kennett Square is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known as the Mushroom Capital of the World because mushroom farming in the region produces over a million pounds of mushrooms a year...
in Chester County, Pennsylvania
Chester County, Pennsylvania
-State parks:*French Creek State Park*Marsh Creek State Park*White Clay Creek Preserve-Demographics:As of the 2010 census, the county was 85.5% White, 6.1% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 3.9% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 1.8% were two or more races, and 2.4% were...
. He was the fourth son, the first to live to maturity, of the Quaker couple, Joseph and Rebecca (née Way) Taylor. His father was a well-to-do farmer. Young Bayard received his early instruction in an academy at West Chester
West Chester, Pennsylvania
The Borough of West Chester is the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,461 at the 2010 census.Valley Forge, the Brandywine Battlefield, Longwood Gardens, Marsh Creek State Park, and other historical attractions are near West Chester...
, and later at Unionville
Unionville, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Unionville is an unincorporated community in East Marlborough Township in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was originally known as "Jacksonville."-Education:...
. At the age of seventeen, he was apprenticed to a printer in West Chester. His interest in poetry was coached by the influential critic and editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold
Rufus Wilmot Griswold
Rufus Wilmot Griswold was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15 years old. He worked as a journalist, editor, and critic in Philadelphia, New York City, and elsewhere. He built up a strong literary reputation, in part due to his 1842...
, who encouraged him to write a volume of poetry. Published at Philadelphia in 1844, Ximena, or the Battle of the Sierra Morena, and other Poems was dedicated to Griswold. It made little income, but indirectly was a means of his introduction to The New York Tribune.
With the money from his poetry and an advance for some journalistic work to be done in Europe, JB Taylor (as he signed himself, though he had only the given name Bayard) set sail for Europe. The young poet spent a happy time in roaming on foot through certain districts of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; this tour of almost two years cost him only £100. The accounts which he sent from Europe to The New York Tribune, The Saturday Evening Post, and The United States Gazette were so highly appreciated that on Taylor's return to America, he was advised to compile his articles into book form.
In 1846, he published Views Afoot, or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff (2 vols, New York). This book's success brought Taylor recognition as an author. He was asked to serve as an editorial assistant for Graham's Magazine
Graham's Magazine
Graham's Magazine was a nineteenth century periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham. It was alternatively referred to as Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine , Graham's Magazine of Literature and Art , Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art Graham's...
for a few months in 1848. That same year, Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
, then editor of the Tribune, placed Taylor on his staff, thus securing Taylor a certain if moderate income. His next journey, made when the gold-fever
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
was at its height, was to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
as correspondent for the Tribune. From this expedition he returned by way of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and, seeing his opportunity, published a highly successful book of travels, entitled El Dorado; or, Adventures in the Path of Empire (2 vols, New York, 1850). Within two weeks of release, the book sold 10,000 copies in the US and 30,000 in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
Taylor always said he had an affinity for the Near and Far East. In 1851 he traveled to Egypt, where he ascended along the Nile River as far as 12° 30' N. He also traveled in Palestine and Mediterranean countries. He drew on these experiences and sights for many poems. Towards the end of 1852, from England he sailed for Calcutta, proceeding thence to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where he joined the historic expedition of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The results of these journeys (besides his poetical memorials) were A Journey to Central Africa; or, Life and Landscapes from Egypt to the Negro Kingdoms of the White Nile (New York, 1854); The Lands of the Saracen; or, Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily and Spain (1854); and A Visit to India, China and Japan in the Year 1853 (1855).
Marriage and family
In 1849 Taylor married Mary Agnew, but she died in 1850 of tuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. In October 1857, he married Maria Hansen, the daughter of Peter Hansen
Peter Andreas Hansen
Peter Andreas Hansen was a Danish astronomer, was born at Tønder, Schleswig.-Biography:The son of a goldsmith, Hansen learned the trade of a watchmaker at Flensburg, and exercised it at Berlin and Tønder, 1818–1820...
, the Danish/German astronomer. They spent the ensuing winter in Greece.
First return to the U.S.
On his return (December 20, 1853) from his travel to Europe, Egypt and the Far East, Taylor began to tour as a public lecturer, to considerable success. He traveled to deliver addresses in every town of importance from MaineMaine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
to Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. After two years, he again started on travel, on this occasion for northern Europe. His goal was to study Swedish life, language and literature. The trip inspired his long narrative poem Lars, but his Swedish Letters to the Tribune were also republished, under the title Northern Travel: Summer and Winter Pictures (London, 1857).
In 1859 Taylor once more traversed the western American gold region, in connection with an invitation to lecture at San Francisco. About three years later, he was appointed to the diplomatic service as secretary of legation at St. Petersburg, and the following year (1863) became chargé d'affaires
Chargé d'affaires
In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
at the Russian capital.
Second return to the U.S.
His late novel, Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania
Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania
Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania is an 1870 novel by American author Bayard Taylor.-Plot introduction:Joseph, a young man, marries Madeline, to his friend Philip's dismay...
(New York, 1870), recounts an intimate friendship between two men and is believed to be based on that between the poets Fitz-Greene Halleck
Fitz-Greene Halleck
Fitz-Greene Halleck was an American poet notable for his satires and as one of the Knickerbocker Group. Born and reared in Guilford, Connecticut, he went to New York City at the age of 20, and lived and worked there for nearly four decades. He was sometimes called "the American Byron"...
and Joseph Rodman Drake
Joseph Rodman Drake
Joseph Rodman Drake was an early American poet.- Biography :Born in New York City, he was orphaned when young and entered a mercantile house. While still a child, he showed a talent for writing poems. He was educated at Columbia. In 1813 he began studying in a physician's office...
. Since the late 20th-century, it has been called America's first gay novel. Taylor spoke at the dedication of a monument to Halleck in his native town, Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...
.
In 1874 Taylor traveled to Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, to report for the Tribune on the one thousandth anniversary of the first European settlement there. In June 1878 he was accredited United States Minister at Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Traveling on the same ship to Europe was Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, who noted that he was envious of Taylor's command of German.
A few months after arriving in Berlin, Taylor died on December 19, 1878; his body was returned to the US and buried in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The New York Times published his obituary on its front page, referring to him as "a great traveler, both on land and paper." Shortly after his death, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
wrote a memorial poem to Taylor, at the urging of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was an American physician, professor, lecturer, and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast-Table" series, which began with The Autocrat...
Legacy and honors
- CedarcroftCedarcroftCedarcroft, also known as Bayard Taylor House, is a National Historic Landmark home in Chester County, Pennsylvania. "From 1859 to 1874, this was the residence of Bayard Taylor , poet, novelist, and Civil War correspondent. Taylor did much of his writing in this house," which he had built for his...
, Taylor's home from 1859 to 1874, which he built near Kennett Square, is preserved as a National Historic LandmarkNational Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
Evaluations
Encyclopedia Americana
Encyclopedia Americana is one of the largest general encyclopedias in the English language. Following the acquisition of Grolier in 2000, the encyclopedia has been produced by Scholastic....
:
- It is by his translation of Faust, one of the finest attempts of the kind in any literature, that Taylor is generally known; yet as an original poet he stands well up in the second rank of Americans. His Poems of the Orient and his Pennsylvania ballads comprise his best work. His verse is finished and sonorous, but at times over-rhetorical.
According to the 1911 edition
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time...
of Encyclopaedia Britannica:
- Taylor's most ambitious productions in poetry—his Masque of the Gods (Boston, 1872), Prince Deukalion; a lyrical drama (Boston, 1878), The Picture of St John (Boston, 1866), Lars; a Pastoral of Norway (Boston, 1873), and The Prophet; a tragedy (Boston, 1874)—are marred by a ceaseless effort to overstrain his power. But he will be remembered by his poetic and excellent translation of Goethe's FaustGoethe's FaustJohann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts: and . Although written as a closet drama, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages...
(2 vols, Boston, 1870-71) in the original metres.
- Taylor felt, in all truth, the torment and the ecstasy of verse; but, as a critical friend has written of him, his nature was so ardent, so full-blooded, that slight and common sensations intoxicated him, and he estimated their effect, and his power to transmit it to others, beyond the true value. He had, from the earliest period at which he began to compose, a distinct lyrical faculty: so keen indeed was his ear that he became too insistently haunted by the music of others, pre-eminently of Tennyson. But he had often a true and fine note of his own. His best short poems are The Metempsychosis of the Pine and the well-known BedouinBedouinThe Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
love-song.
- In his critical essays Bayard Taylor had himself in no inconsiderable degree what he wrote of as that pure poetic insight which is the vital spirit of criticism. The most valuable of these prose dissertations are the Studies in German Literature (New York, 1879).
In Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography of 1889, Edmund Clarence Stedman
Edmund Clarence Stedman
Edmund Clarence Stedman , American poet, critic, and essayist was born at Hartford, Connecticut, United States.-Biography:...
gives the following critique:
- His poetry is striking for qualities that appeal to the ear and eye, finished, sonorous in diction and rhythm, at times too rhetorical, but rich in sound, color, and metrical effects. His early models were Byron and Shelley, and his more ambitious lyrics and dramas exhibit the latter's peculiar, often vague, spirituality. Lars, somewhat after the manner of Tennyson, is his longest and most attractive narrative poem. Prince Deukalion was designed for a masterpiece; its blank verse and choric interludes are noble in spirit and mould. Some of Taylor's songs, oriental idyls, and the true and tender Pennsylvanian ballads, have passed into lasting favor, and show the native quality of his poetic gift. His fame rests securely upon his unequalled rendering of Faust in the original metres, of which the first and second parts appeared in 1870 and 1871. His commentary upon Part II for the first time interpreted the motive and allegory of that unique structure.
Published works
- Ximena, or the Battle of the Sierra Morena, and other Poems (1844)
- Views Afoot, or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff (1846) - http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11535
- El Dorado; or, Adventures in the Path of Empire (1850)
- A Journey to Central Africa; or, Life and Landscapes from Egypt to the Negro Kingdoms of the White Nile (1854)
- The Lands of the Saracen; or, Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily and Spain (1854)
- A visit to India, China, and Japan in the year 1853 (1855) – digitized by University of Hong Kong Libraries, Digital Initiatives, "China Through Western Eyes."
- Northern Travel: Summer and Winter Pictures (1857)
- Hanna Thurston (1863)
- The Story of Kennett (1866)
- Joseph and His Friend: A Story of PennsylvaniaJoseph and His Friend: A Story of PennsylvaniaJoseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania is an 1870 novel by American author Bayard Taylor.-Plot introduction:Joseph, a young man, marries Madeline, to his friend Philip's dismay...
(1870) - Faust: A Tragedy translated in the Original Metres (1890) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14591/14591-h/14591-h.htm
Editions
Collected editions of his Poetical Works and his Dramatic Works were published at Boston in 1888; his Life and Letters (Boston, 2 vols, 1884) were edited by his wife and Horace ScudderHorace Scudder
Horace Elisha Scudder was a prolific American man of letters and editor.-Biography:He was born into a Boston family; his brothers were David Coit Scudder and Samuel Hubbard Scudder...
.
Marie Hansen Taylor translated into German Bayard's Greece (Leipzig, 1858), Hannah Thurston (Hamburg, 1863), Story of Kennett (Gotha, 1868), Tales of Home (Berlin, 1879), Studies in German Literature (Leipzig, 1880), and notes to Faust, both parts (Leipzig, 1881). After her husband's death, she edited, with notes, his Dramatic Works (1880), and in the same year his Poems in a “Household Edition,” and brought together his Critical Essays and Literary Notes. In 1885 she prepared a school edition of Lars, with notes and a sketch of its author's life.