Alfred Elwes
Encyclopedia
Alfred Elwes was a nineteenth century British
author of children's literature
, academic
, philologist
, and occasional translator
of French
, Italian
and Portuguese
literature into English
. He is perhaps best remembered for his translation of the medieval Arthurian romance Jaufry the Knight and the Fair Brunissende; a Tale of the Times of King Arthur.
, Kent
. In his education Elwes attained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
. He studied at Leiden
in Holland.
Subsequently Elwes was Professor of English at Leghorn
, Tuscany
. His earliest known work, Il Nuovo Vergani (1845), a grammar in Italian for the study of English, was probably written and published during his tenure in this position, as was, no doubt, his earliest known translation, A new and complete Italian grammar by Vergani (1846), which would have performed the same office in English for the study of Italian.
Later, after returning to England, Elwes served as President of the British Literary Society, and in 1870 he held the position of Official Translator of Modern Languages in London.
, and much of his children's fiction details the lives or adventures of young protagonists in Europe
an locales.
In addition to his works published in book form, Elwes contributed prose and verse to various periodicals.
Elwes was the compiler of a number of English/Romance dictionaries
, as well as Romance language
grammar
s for the use of students learning the languages, all reissued in various editions into the twentieth century.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author of children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
, academic
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
, philologist
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, and occasional translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
of French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
literature into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. He is perhaps best remembered for his translation of the medieval Arthurian romance Jaufry the Knight and the Fair Brunissende; a Tale of the Times of King Arthur.
Life and career
Elwes was born at WoolwichWoolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. In his education Elwes attained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
. He studied at Leiden
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
in Holland.
Subsequently Elwes was Professor of English at Leghorn
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
, Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
. His earliest known work, Il Nuovo Vergani (1845), a grammar in Italian for the study of English, was probably written and published during his tenure in this position, as was, no doubt, his earliest known translation, A new and complete Italian grammar by Vergani (1846), which would have performed the same office in English for the study of Italian.
Later, after returning to England, Elwes served as President of the British Literary Society, and in 1870 he held the position of Official Translator of Modern Languages in London.
Literary works
Elwes' interests in Continental languages and travel are reflected in most of his works. He both wrote and translated travel literatureTravel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
, and much of his children's fiction details the lives or adventures of young protagonists in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an locales.
In addition to his works published in book form, Elwes contributed prose and verse to various periodicals.
Elwes was the compiler of a number of English/Romance dictionaries
Bilingual dictionary
A bilingual dictionary or translation dictionary is a specialized dictionary used to translate words or phrases from one language to another. Bilingual dictionaries can be unidirectional, meaning that they list the meanings of words of one language in another, or can be bidirectional, allowing...
, as well as Romance language
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
s for the use of students learning the languages, all reissued in various editions into the twentieth century.
Animal stories
- My Own Book of Beasts (1853)
- The Adventures of a Bear and a Great Bear Too (1853) (Google e-text)
- The Adventures of a Dog and a Good Dog Too (1854) (Project Gutenberg e-text)
- The Adventures of a Cat and a Fine Cat Too! (1857) (Google e-text)
- Funny Dogs with Funny Tales (1857) (with Robert Barnabas BroughRobert Barnabas BroughRobert Barnabas Brough was an English writer. He wrote poetry, novels and plays and was a contributor to many periodicals.-Life and work:...
, James HannayJames HannayJames Hannay , was a Scottish novelist, journalist and diplomat.-Biography:Hannay was born at Dumfries, Scotland, and at age 13 joined the Royal Navy from which he was dismissed 5 years later....
, Edmund F. Blanchard and illustrator Harrison WeirHarrison WeirHarrison William Weir , known as "The Father of the Cat Fancy", was an English gentleman and artist.He organized the first cat show in England, at The Crystal Palace, London, in July 1871. He and his brother, John Jenner Weir, both served as judges in the show...
) - Adventures of a Bear, Cat, and Dog (1860; omnibus of his previous animal adventures books)
Other
- Giulio Branchi: the Story of a Tuscan, related by Himself (1857)
- Paul Blake, or, The Story of a Boy's Perils in the Islands of Corsica and Monte-Christo (1858) (Google e-text)
- Frank and Andrea, or, Forest life in the Island of Sardinia (1859)
- Ralph Seabrooke, or, The Adventures of a Young Artist in Piedmont and Tuscany (1860)
- Guy Rivers, or, A Boy's Struggles in the Great World (1861) (Google e-text)
- Luke Ashleigh; or, School-life in Holland (1863)
- Minna Raymond; a tale that might have been true (1864) (Google e-text)
- The Legend of the Mount; or, The Days of Chivalry (1866)
- Swift and Sure; or, The Career of Two Brothers (1872) (Google e-text)
- Perils Afloat and Brigands Ashore (1886) (Google e-text)
History
- Ocean and her Rulers; a Narrative of the Nations which have from the Earliest Ages held Dominion over the Sea, comprising a Brief History of Navigation, from the Remotest Periods up to the Present Time (1853) (Google e-text)
Travel
- The Richmonds' Tour Through Europe (1851)
- Through Spain by Rail in 1872 (1873) (Google e-text) (Internet Archive e-text)
Philological reference works
- Il Nuovo Vergani [a grammar in Italian for the study of English] (1845)
- A grammar of the Italian language (1852) (Google e-text)
- A grammar of the Spanish language, in a simple and practical form (1852) (Google e-text)
- Dictionnaire français-anglais: French-English dictionary (1852–1855) (Google e-text)
- Dizionario italiano, inglese, francese; A concise dictionary of the Italian, English, & French languages (1853)
- A dictionary of the Spanish and English and English and Spanish languages (1854)
- Mr. Henry's Spanish Course (edited, 1866)
- A grammar of the Portuguese language in a simple and practical form (1876) (Google e-text)
- A dictionary of the Portuguese language (1876)
- A triglot dictionary of the Italian, English, and French languages as written and spoken (1879)
- A dictionary of the Portuguese language in two parts (1888)
- A dictionary of the Spanish language in two parts (1888) (Google e-text)
Translated works
- A new and complete Italian grammar by Vergani, by Angelo Vergani) (1846)
- Stories of an Old Maid related to her nephews and nieces, by Mme. Émile de GirardinÉmile de GirardinÉmile de Girardin , was a French journalist, publicist, and politician. He was born in Paris in 1802, the son of General Alexandre de Girardin and of Madame Dupuy , wife of a Parisian advocate....
(1851) - Food for gossip! a comedy in three acts (Oste e non oste) (1855 - acted, but possibly not published)
- Jaufry the Knight and the Fair Brunissende: A Tale of the Times of King Arthur, by Mary Lafon (1856) (Google e-text)
- How I crossed Africa, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, through unknown countries; Discovery of the Great Zambesi Affluents, &c., by Alexandre de Serpa PintoAlexandre de Serpa PintoAlexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto was a Portuguese explorer of southern Africa and a colonial administrator....
(1881) (Google e-text) - From Benguella to the Territory of Yacca; Description of a Journey into Central and West Africa, comprising narratives, adventures, and important surveys of the sources of the rivers ... and a detailed account of the territories of Quiteca N'bungo, Sosso, Futa, and Yacca : Expedition organized in the years 1877-1880, by Hermenegildo CapeloHermenegildo CapeloHermenegildo de Brito Capelo was born in Palmela, Portugal, in 1841, and died in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1917. He was an officer in the Portuguese Navy and a Portuguese explorer, helping to chart territory between Angola and Mozambique in southern Central Africa that was unknown to Europeans in the...
and Roberto IvensRoberto IvensRoberto Ivens was a Portuguese explorer of Africa, Geographer, colonial administrator, and an officer of the Portuguese Navy.-Early life:...
(1882) (Google e-text)