An Unsung Romantic.

This is a book about a critic who played an important part in the development of the Romantic Movement in England, though his name is not often associated with it. John Gibson Lockhart is usually seen as the man who damned the early poems of Keats; far more important was the part he played as a young man in promoting the early poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge, at a time when other more experienced critics derided it.

But biography too was a romantic enthusiasm; and more than anything, Lockhart is remembered today for his work as a biographer of genius, who published biographies of two of the greatest Romantic writers, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. It was for his life of Scott especially that he was to be described by Sir George Saintsbury as the prince of all biographers, past, present and to come. He also wrote four novels, one of which has never been out of print; and although he never published his poems, one of his lyrics has made its way into countless anthologies.

Most of Lockhart's life was spent in the often thankless job of editing The Quarterly Review, one of the most important and influential periodicals of the time. It was not a job which earned any editor much popularity; this is no doubt why Lockhart has been the Romantic writer least written about and most often unjustly vilified since his death, though there have been many calls for a re-evaluation of his work.

By understanding Lockhart the man we can further understand his era.

This erudite yet readable biography, written by the accomplished historian Harriet Harvey Wood, will both enlighten and educate anyone interested in the Romantic period.

Harriet Harvey Wood is a renowned historian and biographer, having written popular titles such as The Battle of Hastings: The Fall of Anglo-Saxon England; and Edward the Elder and the Making of England. She currently lives in London.