A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature | Page 5

a Unitarian.
AINGER, ALFRED (1837-1904).--Biographer and critic, s. of an architect in London, grad. at Cambridge, entered the Church, and, after holding various minor preferments, became Master of the Temple. He wrote memoirs of Hood and Crabbe, but is best known for his biography of Lamb and his edition of his works in 6 vols. (1883-88).
AINSWORTH, WILLIAM HARRISON (1805-1882).--Novelist, s. of a solicitor, was b. in Manchester. He was destined for the legal profession, which, however, had no attraction for him; and going to London to complete his studies made the acquaintance of Mr. John Ebers, publisher, and at that time manager of the Opera House, by whom he was introduced to literary and dramatic circles, and whose dau. he afterwards married. For a short time he tried the publishing business, but soon gave it up and devoted himself to journalism and literature. His first successful novel was Rookwood, pub. in 1834, of which Dick Turpin is the leading character, and thenceforward he continued to pour forth till 1881 a stream of novels, to the number of 39, of which the best known are _The Tower of London (1840), Old St. Paul's (1841), Lancashire Witches_, and The Constable of the Tower. The titles of some of his other novels are Crichton (1837), Jack Sheppard (1839), Guy Fawkes, _The Star Chamber, The Flitch of Bacon, The Miser's Daughter_ (1842), and Windsor Castle (1843). A. depends for his effects on striking situations and powerful descriptions: he has little humour or power of delineating character.
AIRD, THOMAS (1802-1876).--Poet, b. at Bowden, Roxburghshire, went to Edinburgh, where he became the friend of Professor Wilson, Carlyle, and other men of letters. He contributed to Blackwood's Magazine, and was editor of the Dumfries Herald (1835-63). His chief poem is _The Captive of Fez (1830); and in prose he wrote Religious Characteristics_, and The Old Bachelor in the Old Scottish Village (1848), all of which were received with favour. Carlyle said that in his poetry he found everywhere "a healthy breath as of mountain breezes."
AKENSIDE, MARK (1721-1770).--Poet, s. of a butcher at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, gave early indications of talent, and was sent to the University of Edinburgh with the view of becoming a dissenting minister. While there, however, he changed his mind and studied for the medical profession. Thereafter he went to Leyden, where he took his degree of M.D. in 1744. While there he wrote his principal poem, _The Pleasures of the Imagination_, which was well received, and was subsequently translated into more than one foreign language. After trying Northampton, he settled as a physician in London; but was for long largely dependent for his livelihood on a Mr. Dyson. His talents brought him a good deal of consideration in society, but the solemn and pompous manner which he affected laid him open to some ridicule, and he is said to have been satirised by Smollett (q.v.) in his Peregrine Pickle. He endeavoured to reconstruct his poem, but the result was a failure. His collected poems were pub. 1772. His works, however, are now little read. Mr. Gosse has described him as "a sort of frozen Keats."
ALCOTT, LOUISA M. (1832-1888).--Writer of juvenile and other tales, dau. of Amos Bronson Alcott, an educational and social theorist, lecturer, and author, was b. in Pennsylvania. During the American civil war she served as a nurse, and afterwards attained celebrity as a writer of books for young people, of which the best is Little Women (1868). Others are Little Men and Jo's Boys. She also wrote novels, including Moods and Work.
ALCUIN or EALHWINE (735-804).--Theologian and general writer, was b. and ed. at York. He wrote in prose and verse, his subjects embracing educational, theological, and historical matters. Returning from Rome, to which he had been sent to procure the pallium for a friend, he met Charlemagne at Parma, and made upon him so favourable an impression that he was asked to enter his service as preceptor in the sciences to himself and his family. His numerous treatises, which include metrical annals, hagiographical and philosophical works, are not distinguished by originality or profundity, but he is the best representative of the culture and mental activity of his age, upon which, as the minister of education of the great emperor, he had a widely-spread influence.
ALDRICH, THOMAS BAILEY (1836-1906).--Poet and novelist, b. at Portsmouth, N.H., was for some time in a bank, and then engaged in journalism. His first book was The Bells, a Collection of Chimes (1855), and other poetical works are The Ballad of Babie Bell, _Cloth of Gold, Flower and Thorn, etc. In prose he wrote Daisy's Necklace_, The Course of True Love, Marjorie Daw, Prudence Palfrey, etc.
ALESIUS, ALEXANDER (1500-1565).--Theologian and controversialist. His unlatinised name was Aless or Alane, and he was b. at Edinburgh and ed. at St. Andrews, where he became