Theodore Watts-Dunton
Encyclopedia
Theodore Watts-Dunton was an English critic and poet. He is often remembered as the friend and minder of Algernon Charles Swinburne
, whom he rescued from alcoholism
.
in what was then Huntingdonshire
. He added his mother's name of Dunton to his surname in 1897.
He was originally educated as a naturalist, and saw much of the East Anglian Gypsies, of whose superstitions and folk-lore he made careful study. Abandoning natural history for the law, he qualified as a solicitor and went to London, where he practised for some years, giving his spare time to his chosen pursuit of literature. One of his clients was Swinburne
, whom he befriended in 1872.
from 1874 and to the Athenaeum
from 1875 until 1898, being for more than twenty years the principal critic of poetry in the latter journal. He wrote widely for other publications and contributed several articles to Encyclopædia Britannica, of which the most significant was that on Poetry in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
. In that article he explored the first principles of poetry.
of his time; he enjoyed the confidence of Tennyson
, and contributed an appreciation of him to the authorized biography. He was in later years Rossetti
's most intimate friend; ( Rossetti made a portrait of Watts in pastel in 1874. In 1879 Swinburne's
alcoholic dysentery so alarmed him that he moved the poet into his semi-detached home at 'The Pines', 11 Putney Hill, Putney
, which they shared for nearly thirty years until Swinburne's death in 1909. Watts' household included his sister Miranda Mason, her husband Charles (who was also a solicitor), her son, Bertie (born 1874) and later, a second sister. They also employed a live-in cook and a housemaid. Watts-Dunton married Clara Reich in 1905 and she settled into the family with ease.
but he was not able to wean Swinburne from his interest in flagellation
.
sent him a letter mocking his perceived aggrandisement: "Theodore," it read, "What's Dunton?" The book was his collection of poems called The Coming of Love, portions of which he had printed previously in periodicals. In the following year his prose romance Aylwin attained immediate success, and ran through many editions in the course of a few months. Both The Coming of Love and Aylwin set forth, the one in poetry, the other in prose, the romantic and passionate associations of Romany life, and maintain the traditions of George Borrow
, whom Watts-Dunton had known well in his own youth. Imaginative glamour and mysticism are their prominent characteristics, and the novel in particular was credited with bringing pure romance back into public favour. He edited Borrow's Lavengro
(1893) and Romany Rye (1903); in 1903 he published The Renascence of Wonder, a treatise on the romantic movement; and his Studies of Shakespeare appeared in 1910.
But it was not only in his published work that Watts-Dunton's influence on the literary life of his time was potent. His long and intimate association with Rossetti and Swinburne made him a unique figure in the world of letters. His grasp of metrical principle and of the historic perspective of English poetry brought him respect as a literary critic.
He died at The Pines, Putney, on 6 June 1914 and was survived by his wife. He is buried at West Norwood Cemetery
, where his monument is a low capped stone. A Blue Plaque
marks his home in Putney.
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...
, whom he rescued from alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
.
Birth and education
Walter Theodore Watts was born at St. IvesSt Ives, Cambridgeshire
St Ives is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England, around north-west of the city of Cambridge and north of London. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire.-History:...
in what was then Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
. He added his mother's name of Dunton to his surname in 1897.
He was originally educated as a naturalist, and saw much of the East Anglian Gypsies, of whose superstitions and folk-lore he made careful study. Abandoning natural history for the law, he qualified as a solicitor and went to London, where he practised for some years, giving his spare time to his chosen pursuit of literature. One of his clients was Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...
, whom he befriended in 1872.
Literary contributions
He contributed regularly to the ExaminerExaminer
The Examiner was a weekly paper founded by Leigh and John Hunt in 1808. For the first fifty years it was a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles, but from 1865 it repeatedly changed hands and political allegiance, resulting in a rapid decline in readership and loss of...
from 1874 and to the Athenaeum
Athenaeum (magazine)
The Athenaeum was a literary magazine published in London from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age....
from 1875 until 1898, being for more than twenty years the principal critic of poetry in the latter journal. He wrote widely for other publications and contributed several articles to Encyclopædia Britannica, of which the most significant was that on Poetry in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
. In that article he explored the first principles of poetry.
Literary associations
Watts-Dunton had considerable influence as the friend of many of the leading men of lettersIntellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
of his time; he enjoyed the confidence of Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
, and contributed an appreciation of him to the authorized biography. He was in later years Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
's most intimate friend; ( Rossetti made a portrait of Watts in pastel in 1874. In 1879 Swinburne's
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...
alcoholic dysentery so alarmed him that he moved the poet into his semi-detached home at 'The Pines', 11 Putney Hill, Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, which they shared for nearly thirty years until Swinburne's death in 1909. Watts' household included his sister Miranda Mason, her husband Charles (who was also a solicitor), her son, Bertie (born 1874) and later, a second sister. They also employed a live-in cook and a housemaid. Watts-Dunton married Clara Reich in 1905 and she settled into the family with ease.
Swinburne
Although Watts is widely praised for extending Swinburne's life and encouraging his enthusiasm for the landscape verse that was amongst the best of his later works, Watts has been castigated for sabotaging the completion of Swinburne's erotic sadomasochistic novel Lesbia BrandonLesbia Brandon
Lesbia Brandon is a pornographic novel by Algernon Charles Swinburne, written between 1859 and 1868 and published posthumously. It was illustrated by Simeon Solomon.-References:Notes...
but he was not able to wean Swinburne from his interest in flagellation
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
.
Publications
It was not until 1897 that he published a poetry volume under his own name, albeit with the addition of his mother's maiden name. His erstwhile friend WhistlerJames McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
sent him a letter mocking his perceived aggrandisement: "Theodore," it read, "What's Dunton?" The book was his collection of poems called The Coming of Love, portions of which he had printed previously in periodicals. In the following year his prose romance Aylwin attained immediate success, and ran through many editions in the course of a few months. Both The Coming of Love and Aylwin set forth, the one in poetry, the other in prose, the romantic and passionate associations of Romany life, and maintain the traditions of George Borrow
George Borrow
George Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe. They figure prominently in his work...
, whom Watts-Dunton had known well in his own youth. Imaginative glamour and mysticism are their prominent characteristics, and the novel in particular was credited with bringing pure romance back into public favour. He edited Borrow's Lavengro
Lavengro
Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest is a work by George Borrow, falling somewhere between the genres of memoir and novel, which has long been considered a classic of 19th century English literature. According to the author lav-engro is a Romany word meaning "word master". The historian...
(1893) and Romany Rye (1903); in 1903 he published The Renascence of Wonder, a treatise on the romantic movement; and his Studies of Shakespeare appeared in 1910.
But it was not only in his published work that Watts-Dunton's influence on the literary life of his time was potent. His long and intimate association with Rossetti and Swinburne made him a unique figure in the world of letters. His grasp of metrical principle and of the historic perspective of English poetry brought him respect as a literary critic.
He died at The Pines, Putney, on 6 June 1914 and was survived by his wife. He is buried at West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery is a cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery.One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, and is a site of major historical, architectural and...
, where his monument is a low capped stone. A Blue Plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
marks his home in Putney.
Works
- Theodore Watts, 'Poetry', Encyclopædia Britannica (9th edition), (1885) Vol. XIX
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, The Coming of Love, (London: John Lane, 1897)
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, Aylwin, (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1898)
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, The Christmas Dream, (London: 1901)
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, Christmas at the Mermaid, (London: John Lane, 1902). (illustrated by Herbert Cole).
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, The Renascence of Wonder, (London: 1903)
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, Studies of Shakespeare, (London: 1910)
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, Poetry and The Renascence of Wonder, (E. P. Dutton, 1914, facs. ed. 2006)
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, Old Familiar Faces, (London: 1916)
- James Douglas, Theodore Watts-Dunton: Poet, Novelist, Critic, (1904, repr. 1973)
- Max Beerbohm, 'No. 2 The Pines', And Even Now, (1920)
- Clara Watts-Dunton, The Home Life of Swinburne, (London: Philpot, 1922)
- Mollie Panter-Downes, At the Pines: Swinburne and Watts-Dunton in Putney (Boston: Gambit, 1971) ISBN 0-87645-049-4
- Thomas Hake and Arthur Compton-Rickett, The Life and Letters of Theodore Watts Dunton, (London: Jack, 1916; repr: Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2005) ISBN 1-4179-6143-0
External links
- Portrait of Watts-Dunton by RossettiRossettiRossetti may refer to:* Biagio Rossetti , an architect and urbanist from Ferrara, the first to use modern methods* Carlo Rossetti , an Italian Catholic cardinal* Cezaro Rossetti , a Scottish Esperanto writer...
- http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=mediatype%3A(texts)%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20(subject%3A%22Watts-Dunton%2C%20Theodore%2C%201832-1914%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Watts-Dunton%2C%20Theodore%2C%201832-1914%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Theodore%20Watts-Dunton%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Theodore%20Watts-Dunton%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Theodore%20Watts-Dunton%22)Works by or about Theodore Watts-Dunton] at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
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