Charles Whibley
Encyclopedia
Charles Whibley was an English literary journalist and author. Whibley’s style was described by Matthew as “often acerbic high-tory
commentary”.
Born 9 December 1859 at Sevenoaks, Kent, England. The eldest son of Ambrose Whibley, silk mercer, and his second wife, Mary Jean Davy. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School
and Jesus College, Cambridge
where he took a first in classics in 1883. Died 4 March 1930 at Hyères
, France.
Whibley worked for three years in the editorial department of Cassell & Co, publishers. He shared a house with his brother Leonard Whibley, William Ernest Henley
and George Warrington Steevens
.
In 1894 he became the Paris correspondent for the Pall Mall Gazette
. This Tory
evening paper conformed with Whibley's conservative political views.
In literature and the arts, his views were progressive. He supported James Abbott McNeill Whistler). (they had married sisters). He also made the recommendation of T.S. Eliot to Geoffrey Faber
, that resulted in Eliot's position at Faber and Faber
. Eliot's essay Charles Whibley (1931) was contained within his Selected Essays, 1917-1932
.
In Paris he moved in the symbolist circles with Stéphane Mallarmé
, Marcel Schwob
and Paul Valéry
. He was a witness at the wedding of Marcel Schwob
and Marguerite Moreno in England on 12 September 1900.
Married in 1896 to Ethel Birnie Philip
in the garden of the house occupied by James Abbott McNeill Whistler at 110 rue du Bac, Paris. Ethel Birnie Philip, was the daughter of the sculptor John Birnie Philip
and Frances Black. Before her marriage Ethel Whibley
worked for a time in 1893-4 as secretary to James McNeill Whistler
. Whistler painted a number of full-length portraits of Ethel Whibley
, including Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian and portraits and sketches of her titled as Miss Ethel Philip or Mrs Ethel Whibley
. After the death of Ethel in 1920, Charles re-married in 1927, to Philippa Raleigh, the daughter of Walter Raleigh
, Chair of English Literature at Oxford University.
Hartrick (1939) describes Whibley as “an obviously English type, and therefore something of a red rag to Whistler.” As the brother-in-law of James McNeill Whistler
, Whibley was part of Whistler’s intimate family circle, referred to as “Wobbles” in Whistler’s correspondence and on one occasion Whibley was mocked by Whistler for describing himself as a 'boulevardier' during his time in Paris. In 1897 Whistler created the cover design for Whibley's volume of essays A Book of Scoundrels.
Brother of Leonard Whibley
, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge
from 1899–1910, lecturer in Classics (Ancient History).
Half-brother of Fred Whibley
, copra trader, on Niutao
, Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu
).
Half-sister of Eliza Elenor, wife of John T. Arundel
, owner of J. T. Arundel & Co. which evolved into Pacific Islands Company and later the Pacific Phosphate Company, which commenced phosphate mining in Nauru
and Banaba Island
(Ocean Island).
Whibley contributed to the London & Edinburgh magazines including The Pall Mall Magazine
, Macmillan's Magazine
and Blackwood's Magazine
. As a writer on Blackwood's Magazine
, he was a prominent conservative columnist, as well as an influential literary figure, recruited by its editor William Blackwood III. He was a persistent critic of the system of state education. It was an open secret
that Whibley contributed anonymously, to the Magazine, his Musings without Methods for over twenty-five years. T.S. Eliot described them as "the best sustained piece of literary journalism that I know of in recent times" Whibley was friends with William Ernest Henley
and contributed to the Scots Observer (published in Edinburgh) and also to the National Observer
(published in London ) under Henley's editorship.
Portrait of Charles Whibley held by Jesus College, Cambridge
. Sketch of Charles Whibley held by the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Project Gutenburg publishes online editions of American Sketches and A Book of Scoundrels
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
commentary”.
Life
Bristol Grammar School
Bristol Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England. The school was founded in 1532 by two brothers, Robert and Nicholas Thorne....
and Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
where he took a first in classics in 1883. Died 4 March 1930 at Hyères
Hyères
Hyères , Provençal Occitan: Ieras in classical norm or Iero in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France....
, France.
Whibley worked for three years in the editorial department of Cassell & Co, publishers. He shared a house with his brother Leonard Whibley, William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus".-Life and career:...
and George Warrington Steevens
George Warrington Steevens
George Warrington Steevens, usually credited as G.W. Steevens, , was a British journalist and writer.Steevens was born in Sydenham, and educated at the City of London School and Balliol College, Oxford...
.
In 1894 he became the Paris correspondent for the Pall Mall Gazette
Pall Mall Gazette
The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
. This Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
evening paper conformed with Whibley's conservative political views.
In literature and the arts, his views were progressive. He supported James Abbott McNeill Whistler). (they had married sisters). He also made the recommendation of T.S. Eliot to Geoffrey Faber
Geoffrey Faber
Sir Geoffrey Cust Faber was a British academic, publisher and poet.Geoffrey Cust Faber was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford...
, that resulted in Eliot's position at Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
. Eliot's essay Charles Whibley (1931) was contained within his Selected Essays, 1917-1932
Selected Essays, 1917-1932
Selected Essays, 1917-1932 is a collection of prose and literary criticism by T.S. Eliot. Eliot's work fundamentally changed literary thinking and Selected Essays provides both an overview and an in-depth examination of his theory...
.
In Paris he moved in the symbolist circles with Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé , whose real name was Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.-Biography:Stéphane...
, Marcel Schwob
Marcel Schwob
Marcel Schwob was a Jewish French writer.-Biography:He was born in Chaville, Hauts-de-Seine on 23 August 1867...
and Paul Valéry
Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
. He was a witness at the wedding of Marcel Schwob
Marcel Schwob
Marcel Schwob was a Jewish French writer.-Biography:He was born in Chaville, Hauts-de-Seine on 23 August 1867...
and Marguerite Moreno in England on 12 September 1900.
Married in 1896 to Ethel Birnie Philip
Ethel Whibley
Ethel Whibley née Birnie Philip, , was the sister-in-law of James McNeill Whistler. Ethel was a secretary to Whistler who used Ethel as a model for a number of full-length portraits painted during the period 1888 to the mid 1890's.Ethel was born at Chelsea, London on 29 September 1861...
in the garden of the house occupied by James Abbott McNeill Whistler at 110 rue du Bac, Paris. Ethel Birnie Philip, was the daughter of the sculptor John Birnie Philip
John Birnie Philip
.John Birnie Philip was a notable English sculptor of the 19th century.He studied at the Government School of Design at Somerset House in London under John Rogers Herbert, and then at Herbert's own newly opened school in Maddox Street. He worked in Pugin's wood carving workshop at the Palace of...
and Frances Black. Before her marriage Ethel Whibley
Ethel Whibley
Ethel Whibley née Birnie Philip, , was the sister-in-law of James McNeill Whistler. Ethel was a secretary to Whistler who used Ethel as a model for a number of full-length portraits painted during the period 1888 to the mid 1890's.Ethel was born at Chelsea, London on 29 September 1861...
worked for a time in 1893-4 as secretary to James McNeill Whistler
James 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...
. Whistler painted a number of full-length portraits of Ethel Whibley
Ethel Whibley
Ethel Whibley née Birnie Philip, , was the sister-in-law of James McNeill Whistler. Ethel was a secretary to Whistler who used Ethel as a model for a number of full-length portraits painted during the period 1888 to the mid 1890's.Ethel was born at Chelsea, London on 29 September 1861...
, including Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian and portraits and sketches of her titled as Miss Ethel Philip or Mrs Ethel Whibley
Ethel Whibley
Ethel Whibley née Birnie Philip, , was the sister-in-law of James McNeill Whistler. Ethel was a secretary to Whistler who used Ethel as a model for a number of full-length portraits painted during the period 1888 to the mid 1890's.Ethel was born at Chelsea, London on 29 September 1861...
. After the death of Ethel in 1920, Charles re-married in 1927, to Philippa Raleigh, the daughter of Walter Raleigh
Walter Raleigh (professor)
Professor Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh was an English scholar, poet and author.He was born in London, the fifth child and only son of a local Congregationalist minister...
, Chair of English Literature at Oxford University.
Hartrick (1939) describes Whibley as “an obviously English type, and therefore something of a red rag to Whistler.” As the brother-in-law of James McNeill Whistler
James 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...
, Whibley was part of Whistler’s intimate family circle, referred to as “Wobbles” in Whistler’s correspondence and on one occasion Whibley was mocked by Whistler for describing himself as a 'boulevardier' during his time in Paris. In 1897 Whistler created the cover design for Whibley's volume of essays A Book of Scoundrels.
Brother of Leonard Whibley
Leonard Whibley
Leonard Whibley was a Greek scholar who edited ‘A Companion to Greek Studies’ from 1905 to 1931.-Life:Leonard was born 20 April 1864 at Gravesend, Kent, England, the second son of Ambrose Whibley, silk mercer, and his second wife, Mary Jean Davy. Leonard was educated at Bristol Grammar School and...
, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
from 1899–1910, lecturer in Classics (Ancient History).
Half-brother of Fred Whibley
Fred Whibley
Fred Whibley abandoned a career in a London bank to escape from the constraints and social expectations of respectability in the Victorian era...
, copra trader, on Niutao
Niutao
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts of Tuvalu, and one of the three who consist of only one island, not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 663 .-Geography:There are two lakes , which are brackish to...
, Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
).
Half-sister of Eliza Elenor, wife of John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel was an entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba ....
, owner of J. T. Arundel & Co. which evolved into Pacific Islands Company and later the Pacific Phosphate Company, which commenced phosphate mining in Nauru
Phosphate mining in Nauru
The economy of Nauru has been almost wholly dependent on phosphate, which has led to environmental catastrophe on the island, with 80% of the nation’s surface having been strip-mined...
and Banaba Island
Banaba Island
Banaba Island , an island in the Pacific Ocean, is a solitary raised coral island west of the Gilbert Island chain and 300 km east of Nauru. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. It has an area of 6.5 km², and the highest point on the island is also the highest point in Kiribati, at 81...
(Ocean Island).
Whibley contributed to the London & Edinburgh magazines including The Pall Mall Magazine
The Pall Mall Magazine
The Pall Mall Magazine was a monthly British literary magazine published between 1893 and 1914. Started by William Waldorf Astor as an offshoot of the Pall Mall Gazette, the magazine included poetry, short stories, serialized fiction, and general commentaries, along with extensive artwork...
, Macmillan's Magazine
Macmillan's Magazine
Macmillan's Magazine was a monthly British magazine from 1859 to 1907 published by Alexander Macmillan.The magazine was a literary periodical that published fiction and non-fiction works from primarily British authors. Thomas Hughes had convinced Macmillan to found the magazine. The first editor...
and Blackwood's Magazine
Blackwood's Magazine
Blackwood's Magazine was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine. The first number appeared in April 1817 under the editorship of Thomas Pringle and James Cleghorn...
. As a writer on Blackwood's Magazine
Blackwood's Magazine
Blackwood's Magazine was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine. The first number appeared in April 1817 under the editorship of Thomas Pringle and James Cleghorn...
, he was a prominent conservative columnist, as well as an influential literary figure, recruited by its editor William Blackwood III. He was a persistent critic of the system of state education. It was an open secret
Open secret
An open secret is a concept or idea that is "officially" secret or restricted in knowledge, but is actually widely known; or refers to something which is widely known to be true, but which none of the people most intimately concerned are willing to categorically acknowledge in public.Examples of...
that Whibley contributed anonymously, to the Magazine, his Musings without Methods for over twenty-five years. T.S. Eliot described them as "the best sustained piece of literary journalism that I know of in recent times" Whibley was friends with William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus".-Life and career:...
and contributed to the Scots Observer (published in Edinburgh) and also to the National Observer
National Observer
The National Observer was a weekly American newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company from 1962 until 1977. Hunter S. Thompson wrote several articles for the National Observer as the correspondent for Latin America early in his career....
(published in London ) under Henley's editorship.
Portrait of Charles Whibley held by Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
. Sketch of Charles Whibley held by the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Works
- A Collection of Letters of W. M. Thackeray 1847-1855 (1887)
- Cathedrals of England and Wales and Their History (1888)
- In Cap and Gown: Three Centuries Of Cambridge Wit (1889) editor
- A Book of English Prose, Character and Incident 1387-1649 (1894) with W. E. Henley
- A Book of Scoundrels (1897)
- Studies in Frankness (1898)
- The Pageantry of Life (1900)
- Musings Without Method: A Record of 1900-1901 (1902)
- William Makepeace Thackeray (1903)
- Literary Portraits (1904)
- American Sketches (1908)
- The Letters of an Englishman (1911)
- Essays in Biography (1913)
- The Letters of an Englishman, Second Series (1915) with first series
- Jonathan Swift (1917) The Leslie Stephen Lecture, University of Cambridge, 26 May 1917
- Political Portraits (1917)
- Literary Studies (1919)
- Political Portraits, Second Series (1923)
- Collected Essays of W. P. Ker (1925) editor
- Apuleius: The Golden Ass (1927)
- The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter (1927) with W. C. FirebaughW. C. FirebaughW. C. Firebaugh was the author of two works on the history of inns and taverns, and also of a fine English translation of Petronius's Satyricon, the fragmentary realistic novel of low life under the Roman Empire....
Project Gutenburg publishes online editions of American Sketches and A Book of Scoundrels