Henry Clark Barlow
Encyclopedia
Early life
Barlow was born in Churchyard Row, Newington ButtsNewington Butts
Newington Butts is a former village, now an area of the London Borough of Southwark, that gives its name to a segment of the A3 road running south-west from the Elephant and Castle junction...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, 12 May 1806. He was the only child of Henry Barlow, who, after spending the years 1799–1804 in the naval service of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, settled at Newington; passed fourteen years (1808–1822) at Gravesend
Gravesend
Gravesend may refer to:Places in the United Kingdom:*Gravesend, Kent*Gravesend, Hertfordshire, a hamlet of Albury, HertfordshirePlaces in the USA and Australia:*Gravesend, Brooklyn*Gravesend, New South WalesOther meanings...
as a revenue officer; and died at Newington, in his seventy-fifth year, 12 January 1858. Barlow's mother, who lived till 14 January 1864, was Sophia, youngest daughter of Thomas Clark, a solicitor. Barlow was educated at Gravesend and Hall Place
Hall Place
Hall Place is a former stately home, today a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument, beside the River Cray on the outskirts of Crayford, west of Bexleyheath and north-east of Old Bexley...
, Bexley
Bexley
Bexley is an South East London]] in the London Borough of Bexley, London, England. It is located on the banks of the River Cray south of the Roman Road, Watling Street...
; and in 1822 was articled to George Smith, an architect and surveyor, of Mercers' Hall. He soon became a student of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
.
In 1827, after an accident to his right thumb, he gave up his profession, and spent two years in private study. In 1829 he was in Paris attending the public lectures in the Jardin des Plantes
Jardin des Plantes
The Jardin des Plantes is the main botanical garden in France. It is one of seven departments of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. It is situated in the 5ème arrondissement, Paris, on the left bank of the river Seine and covers 28 hectares .- Garden plan :The grounds of the Jardin des...
and at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
. He matriculated at Edinburgh University, after a preliminary course of classical study at Dollar
Dollar, Clackmannanshire
Dollar is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated between the Ochil Hills range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is on the A91 road, which runs from Stirling to St. Andrews. The town is around 3 miles east of Tillicoultry...
, as a medical student, in November 1831, and took the degree of M.D. on 3 August 1837. After a time he moved to Paris, where he worked on medical and scientific studies, but also on art criticism.
From Paris in 1840 he travelled to Belgium, the River Rhine, and Holland. In the course of these and other journeys, Barlow filled sketch-books and journals with drawings and descriptions, and a cabinet with geological specimens. He returned home to study Italian, and in the spring of 1841 again went to the continent. He spent the summer in Switzerland, in the autumn crossed the St. Gothard Pass to Milan, and remained in Italy nearly five years.
Student of Dante
It was at PisaPisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, during the winter of 1844–5, that Barlow became acquainted with the works of Dante. In 1846, after revisiting England, he returned to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. In October 1847 he made ‘a pilgrimage' to Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
, the Mecca of all Dantophilists.’ In 1848 to 1850 he extended his travels.
He published in 1850, from Newington Butts, a short paper, and Barlow's whole subsequent life seems to have been consecrated to further study of Dante. In 1852 he was in Paris, engaged in the examination of the Codici of Dante in libraries. He later collated above 150 other manuscripts in Italy, Germany, Denmark, and England. In 1853 Barlow was in Germany, prosecuting his favourite studies; in the autumn of 1854 in the south of France; in 1856 in Denmark and Sweden; and, revisiting Edinburgh in 1857, was attracted to Manchester by the Art Treasures' Exhibition of that year.
In the celebration of the sixth centenary of Dante's birth (14–16 May 1865), at Florence, Barlow took a prominent part. Barlow was also present for a time at the festival which took place at Ravenna on 24–26 June following, in consequence of the recent discovery there of the bones of Dante. Before the first of these two celebrations Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
Victor Emanuel II was king of Sardinia from 1849 and, on 17 March 1861, he assumed the title King of Italy to become the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878...
bestowed on Barlow the title of Cavaliere dell' Ordine dei SS. Maurizio e Lazzaro. After the Dante commemoration he spent his time in seclusion and travel at home and abroad.
Death
He died on a tour, at SalzburgSalzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, on Wednesday, 8 November 1876. He was at the time a fellow or member of many learned societies in England, Italy, and Germany.
Works
In 1851 Barlow was in England, where he published a short work ‘Industry on Christian Principles, London, 1851.He published at London ‘Letteratura Dantesca: Remarks on the Reading of the 114th Verse of the 7th Canto of the Paradise of the “Divina Commedia”’ (1857), and two years afterwards ‘Francesca da Rimini, her Lament and Vindication; with a brief Notice of the Malatesti’ (1859, 2nd edition, 1875). An Italian translation, ‘Francesca da Rimini, suo Lamento e Difesa,’ &c., in Filippo Scolari's ‘Esercitazioni Dantesche,’ appeared at Venice in 1865. Barlow published in 1862 ‘Il Gran Rifiuto, what it was, who made it, and how fatal to Dante Allighieri,’ on verses 58 to 63 of the 3rd canto of the Inferno; an Italian translation by G. G[uiscardi] appeared at Naples in 1864. Barlow also issued in 1862 ‘Il Conte Ugolino e l'Arcivescovo Ruggieri: a Sketch from the Pisan Chronicles,’ and a fragment of English history, entitled ‘The Young King and Bertrand de Born,’ from which the author deduced an amended reading in line 135 of the 28th canto of the ‘Inferno.’
In 1864 Barlow published the final result of his work on the ‘Divina Commedia,’ ‘Critical, Historical, and Philosophical Contributions to the Study of the “Divina Commedia.”’ He described the festivals in his ‘Sixth Centenary Festivals of Dante Allighieri in Florence and at Ravenna. By a Representative’ (London, 1866).
He read a paper, which he had been contemplating since 1854, at the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
, on ‘Symbolism in reference to Art’ (1860), and an article of his on ‘Sacred Trees’ was reprinted ‘for private circulation’ from the ‘Journal of Sacred Literature’ for July 1862. These papers, with a third, on the ‘Art History of the Tree of Life,’ originally read, 11 May 1859, before the Royal Society of Literature, were collected in a volume entitled ‘Essays on Symbolism,’ and published in 1866.
He was a prolific contributor to the Athenæum, to which he communicated around 50 articles on topics related to Dante and Italy.’ He was a constant correspondent of the Morning Post
Morning Post
The Morning Post, as the paper was named on its masthead, was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by The Daily Telegraph.- History :...
, to which, besides articles referring to Dante, he addressed over forty ‘Letters on the National Gallery,’ 1849–67, as well as ‘Letters on the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
’ and ‘Letters on the Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace
- United Kingdom :* The Crystal Palace, an 1851 building in south London destroyed by fire in 1936** The Great Exhibition, the event the building was built for, sometimes also known as Crystal Palace...
at Sydenham.’ His writings as poet, critic, and student are numerous. He was the author of an inaugural ‘Dissertation on the Causes and Effects of Disease, considered in reference to the Moral Constitution of Man’ (Edinburgh, 1837); and he left several treatises in manuscript, one of which, the ‘Harmony of Creation and Redemption,’ 4 vols., was placed thirteenth amongst the candidates for the Burnet Theological Prize awarded at Aberdeen in 1854.