Horatio Brown
Encyclopedia
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
who specialized in the history of Venice and Italy
History of Italy
Italy, united in 1861, has significantly contributed to the political, cultural and social development of the entire Mediterranean region. Many cultures and civilizations have existed there since prehistoric times....
.
Born in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, he grew up in Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, was educated in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at Clifton
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
and Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, and spent most of his life in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, publishing several books about the city. He also wrote for the Cambridge Modern History
Cambridge Modern History
The Cambridge Modern History is a comprehensive modern history of the world, beginning with the 15th century age of Discovery, published by the Cambridge University Press in the United Kingdom and also in the United States....
, was the biographer
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of John Addington Symonds
John Addington Symonds
John Addington Symonds was an English poet and literary critic. Although he married and had a family, he was an early advocate of male love , which he believed could include pederastic as well as egalitarian relationships. He referred to it as l'amour de l'impossible...
, and was a poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and alpinist.
Early life
Born at NiceNice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
(then part of the kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
) on 16 February 1854, Brown was the son of Hugh Horatio Brown, an advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
, of New Hall House, Carlops
Carlops
Carlops is a small village in the Pentland Hills, within the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, close to the boundary with Midlothian.The village was founded in 1784 and developed cotton weaving, coalmining and limestone mining....
, who was a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
for Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
, and of Gulielmina Forbes, the sixth daughter of Colonel Ranaldson MacDonnell of Glengarry and Clanranald (1773–1828). The marriage was in 1853, and his mother was a good deal younger than his father, who died on 17 October 1866, at the age of 66.
Brown's maternal grandfather, Ranaldson MacDonnell, of Invergarry Castle
Invergarry Castle
Invergarry Castle in the Scottish Highlands was the seat of the Chiefs of the Clan MacDonnell of Glengarry, a powerful branch of the Clan Donald....
on Loch Oich
Loch Oich
Loch Oich is a freshwater loch in the Highlands of Scotland which forms part of the Caledonian Canal, of which it is the highest point. This narrow loch lies between Loch Ness and Loch Lochy in the Great Glen...
in Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
, Chief of Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, had been one of Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
's closest friends.
His other grandfather was Robert Brown, Esq.
Esquire
Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...
(died 1834), of New Hall, Carlops, a large country house about twelve miles from the centre of Edinburgh, mostly dating from the 18th century but incorporating parts of a medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. Enlargements to the house in 1785 were designed by Robert Brown, who later wrote a play called Mary's Bower and a book of Comic Poems in Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
. He was a lover of art, commissioning new work by Henry Raeburn
Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish portrait painter, the first significant Scottish portraitist since the Act of Union 1707 to remain based in Scotland.-Biography:...
, Andrew Geddes
Andrew Geddes
Andrew Geddes was a Scottish portrait painter and etcher.-Life:Geddes was born in Edinburgh. After receiving a good education in the high school and in the University of Edinburgh, he was for five years in the excise office, in which his father held the post of deputy auditor...
and John Watson Gordon
John Watson Gordon
Sir John Watson Gordon was a Scottish portrait painter and a president of the Royal Scottish Academy.-Life and work:He was born John Watson in Edinburgh, the eldest son of Captain Watson, R.N., a cadet of the family of Watson of Overmains, in the county of Berwick. He was educated specially with a...
.
Hugh and Gulielmina Brown had two sons, Horatio and Allan, who were sent to Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
in 1864. After their father's death, Mrs Brown moved to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
to be near her sons. At Clifton, Horatio was befriended by a young schoolmaster
Schoolmaster
A schoolmaster, or simply master, once referred to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British public schools, but is generally obsolete elsewhere.The teacher in charge of a school is the headmaster...
, John Addington Symonds
John Addington Symonds
John Addington Symonds was an English poet and literary critic. Although he married and had a family, he was an early advocate of male love , which he believed could include pederastic as well as egalitarian relationships. He referred to it as l'amour de l'impossible...
, who lectured on the Greek poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
s and became an important influence on his life. From there, he went up to New College
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, in 1873, in 1877 gaining second class honours in Greats
Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...
, although he did not take his degree.
Brown spoke 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...
, 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...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
well and was also strong in classical Greek, while a contemporary later described him as "a fair-haired, breezy out-of-doors person with a crisp Highland-Scottish speech".
Career
In 1877, the Brown family found itself in a worse financial position. Allan Brown emigrated to New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, and a tenant was found for the family home in Midlothian, Newhall House. In 1879, Brown and his mother decided to live in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. They went first to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, where Gulielmina Brown's Forbes aunts lived, and then settled at Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, taking an apartment in the Palazzo Balbi Valier on the Grand Canal.
In Venice, Brown met the archaeologist Giacomo Boni
Giacomo Boni (archaeologist)
Giacomo Boni was an Italian archaeologist specializing in Roman architecture.Born in Venice, Boni studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in his native city and later dedicated himself to extensive and important excavations in the Forum Romanum in Rome...
, who became his colleague in a common passion for the antiquities of Venice and of Italy. Brown became a leading figure in the English-speaking community, churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
of St George's Church in campo San Vio, president of the city's Cosmopolitan Hospital, and honorary treasurer of the Sailors' Institute. He also befriended local gondoliers and fishermen, helping them in their battles, gaining the material for a book of local colour, Life on the Lagoons
Life on the Lagoons
Life on the Lagoons, which deals with the history and topography of the watery area around the city of Venice, is the first book by the Scottish historian Horatio Brown....
, which appeared in 1884. The ailing Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
(whom Brown had met in 1881 at Symonds's house at Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) read it and wrote the poem "To H. F. Brown" to celebrate "your spirited and happy book".
Symonds joined his friend Brown for holidays in Venice, when they liked to drift through the lagoons in Brown's sandolo
Sandolo
The sandolo is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat designed for the generally shallow waters of the Venetian Lagoon. The plural is sandoli.A sandolo is of a much simpler build than a gondola, but has a pointed, decorated metal nose...
, called Fisole, which had orange sails decorated with a fleur-de-lis
Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...
, or to play tre sette
Tressette
Tressette or Tresette is one of Italy's major national trick-taking card games, together with Scopa and Briscola. It is recorded only from the early 18th century, though greater antiquity is suggested by its trumplessness. The name of the game, literally "three Sevens" may refer to a scoring...
or bocce
Bocce
Bocce is a ball sport belonging to the boules sport family, closely related to bowls and pétanque with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire...
.
In 1885, the Browns bought a tall, narrow, tenement building on the Zattere looking down the Giudecca Canal and reconstructed it as a house called Cà Torresella. Brown's close friend Antonio Salin, a gondolier
Gondola
The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian Lagoon. For centuries gondolas were the chief means of transportation and most common watercraft within Venice. In modern times the iconic boats still have a role in public transport in...
, also lived in the house with his wife and family.
In 1889, Brown took a job. The late Rawdon Brown
Rawdon Brown
Rawdon Brown was a historical scholar.He spent his life at Venice in the study of Italian history, especially in its relation to English history. He came to Venice in 1833 to find the gravestone of Thomas Mowbray, the banished Duke of Norfolk mentioned in Shakespeare's play Richard II...
(no relation) had been working for the British government
Government of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining Ministers...
's Public Record Office
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
on Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
state papers
State papers
The term State papers is used in British and Irish contexts to refer exclusively to government archives and records. Such papers used to be kept separate from non-governmental papers, with state papers kept in the State Paper Office and general public records kept in the Public Records Office...
in the Frari, concentrating on the reports of Venetian ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
s at the Court of St James's
Court of St. James's
The Court of St James's is the royal court of the United Kingdom. It previously had the same function in the Kingdom of England and in the Kingdom of Great Britain .-Overview:...
. He died in 1883, and at first George Cavendish-Bentinck
George Cavendish-Bentinck
George Augustus Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck PC, JP , was a British barrister and Conservative politician. An MP from 1859 to 1891, he served under Benjamin Disraeli as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade from 1874 to 1875 and as Judge Advocate General from 1875 to 1880.-Background and...
as Rawdon Brown's executor completed some of the unfinished work, but in 1889 the task of taking it further was given to Horatio Brown. From 1889 to 1905 he spent his mornings producing calendars covering the years from 1581 to 1613. In the afternoons he would go out and about with his gondolier, Salin. Brown's name as an historian was made by the five volumes of Calendar of State Papers (Venetian) which he published between 1895 and 1905.
The receptions he gave at home on Mondays were described by Frederick Rolfe, known as Baron Corvo
Frederick Rolfe
Frederick William Rolfe, better known as Baron Corvo, and also calling himself 'Frederick William Serafino Austin Lewis Mary Rolfe', , was an English writer, artist, photographer and eccentric...
.
An alpinist, Brown climbed peaks in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the Carnic Alps
Carnic Alps
The Carnic Alps are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in East Tyrol, Carinthia, South Tyrol and Friuli . They extend from east to west for about between the Gail River, a tributary of the Drava and the Tagliamento, forming the border between Austria and Italy.They are named after the Roman...
and the Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
, and was a member of the Alpine Club
Alpine Club
The first Alpine Club, founded in London in 1857, was once described as:Today, Alpine clubs stage climbing competitions, operate alpine huts and paths, and are active in protecting the Alpine environment...
of Venice.
He published Venetian Studies (1887), a historical miscellany, followed by a more comprehensive history, Venice, an Historical Sketch (1893), later abbreviated as The Venetian Republic (1902), and his The Venetian Printing Press (1891) came out of unpublished material he found in his researches at the Frari.
Lord Ronald Gower stayed with Brown in Venice in the 1890s and noted in his diary: "Every morning Horatio Brown goes to his work at the Archives, and I go a-sight-seeing." Brown spent part of the summer of 1895 staying with Gower in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, when they visited picture galleries together. In 1899, his portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
was painted by Henry Scott Tuke
Henry Scott Tuke
Henry Scott Tuke, RA RWS , was a British visual artist; primarily a painter, but also a photographer. His most notable work was in the Impressionist style, and he is probably best known for his paintings of nude boys and young men....
.
Brown's friend Symonds appointed him his literary executor
Literary executor
A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of a literary estate. According to Wills, Administration and Taxation: a practical guide "A will may appoint different executors to deal with different parts of the estate...
, so that in 1893 when Symonds died Brown received all his private papers. He went on to publish John Addington Symonds, a Biography (1895), followed in 1923 by Letters and Papers of John Addington Symonds. In both, he suppressed almost all of Symonds's homosexuality, and in Brown's own Will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
he left orders for the destruction of the papers, apart from Symonds's autobiography, and that was not to be published for at least fifty years. In 1923, an equally discreet obituary of Frederick Rolfe was printed in the London Mercury
London Mercury
The London Mercury was the name of several periodicals published in London from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. The earliest was a newspaper that appeared during the Exclusion Bill crisis; it lasted only 56 issues...
, and Brown commented with sympathy: 'If it was necessary to modify concerning Rolfe - a freelance with no ties - imagine what I was forced to do in my John Addington Symonds books, with his daughters and their husbands insisting on seeing the MS before it was printed!"
Brown and Symonds admired the friar Paolo Sarpi
Paolo Sarpi
Fra Paolo Sarpi was a Venetian patriot, scholar, scientist and church reformer. His most important roles were as a canon lawyer and historian active on behalf of the Venetian Republic.- Early years :...
and his maxim
Maxim (philosophy)
A maxim is a ground rule or subjective principle of action; in that sense, a maxim is a thought that can motivate individuals.- Deontological ethics :...
"I never tell a lie, but I do not tell the whole truth to everyone". In 1895, Brown gave the Taylorian Lecture
Taylorian Lecture
The Taylorian Lecture, sometimes referred to as the "Special Taylorian Lecture" or "Taylorian Special Lecture", is a prestigious annual lecture on Modern European Literature, delivered at the Taylor Institution in the University of Oxford since 1889....
in Oxford on Sarpi.
In 1901, Brown's brother Allan died in Australia. After the discovery of the Lacus Curtius
Lacus Curtius
The Lacus Curtius is a mysterious hole in the ground in the Roman Forum, now small, more or less filled in and paved over with ancient stone, but once said to have been a widening chasm. Its nature and significance in Rome's early history is unknown, and this was already the case by the late...
in the Roman Forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
in 1903, Brown was invited to go to Rome to pour a libation
Libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a god or spirit or in memory of those who have died. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in various cultures today....
.
Studies in the History of Venice (1907) was Brown's most significant work. He also wrote two chapters of the Cambridge Modern History
Cambridge Modern History
The Cambridge Modern History is a comprehensive modern history of the world, beginning with the 15th century age of Discovery, published by the Cambridge University Press in the United Kingdom and also in the United States....
, and in the early 1920s a chapter of the Cambridge Medieval History. The University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
gave him the honorary degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
of doctor of law
Doctor of law
Doctor of Law or Doctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degrees such as the LL.D., Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D., and Dr. iur.-Argentina:...
, the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
a gold medal, and the king of Italy honoured him with the rank of cavaliere.
Brown published some homoerotic
Homoeroticism
Homoeroticism refers to the erotic attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female , most especially as it is depicted or manifested in the visual arts and literature. It can also be found in performative forms; from theatre to the theatricality of uniformed movements...
poems in his collection Drift (1900), but was hostile to the Uranian writers in the circle of Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter was an English socialist poet, socialist philosopher, anthologist, and early gay activist....
, and because of his suppression of the truth about Symonds they saw him as a hindrance to homosexual emancipation.
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
of Penicuik
Penicuik
Penicuik is a burgh and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. The town was developed as a planned village in 1770 by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik. It became a burgh in 1867. The town was well known for its paper mills, the last of which closed in 2005....
or with his friend Lord Rosebery
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, KG, PC was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who...
, a former prime minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
. During the Great War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he stayed in Venice, and when the Austrians seemed likely to capture the city he moved to Florence, then home to Scotland, where he lived between the New Club in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and his home village of Carlops
Carlops
Carlops is a small village in the Pentland Hills, within the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, close to the boundary with Midlothian.The village was founded in 1784 and developed cotton weaving, coalmining and limestone mining....
. After the war he went back to Venice, but his eyesight was getting poor, his income was lower, and he sold most of his Venetian house, keeping an apartment. In March 1925 he had a heart attack, but recovered. A final book, Dalmatia, appeared in 1925, copiously illustrated by Walter Tyndale
Walter Tyndale
Walter Frederick Roofe Tyndale was an English watercolour painter of landscapes, architecture and street scenes, book illustrator and travel writer.-Life as an artist:...
.
Brown had now sold the Newhall estate, and he died of heart failure on 19 August 1926 at Belluno
Belluno
Belluno , is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about 100 kilometres north of Venice, Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomiti's region. With its roughly 37,000 inhabitants, it the largest populated area...
, where he had gone to escape the summer heat. He was cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
on San Michele
Isola di San Michele
San Michele is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy.Originally a prison island, Napoleon's occupying forces decreed that Venetians could not bury their deceased on any of the main Venetians islands, but only on San Michele...
, earlier the final resting place of his friend Symonds. His estate at death was £6,117, a substantial sum.
Brown's friend and fellow-historian Frederick York Powell
Frederick York Powell
Frederick York Powell , was an English historian and scholar.- Biography :Frederick York Powell was born in Bloomsbury, London. Much of his childhood was spent in France and Spain, so that he early acquired a mastery of the language of both countries and an insight into the genius of the people...
described him as "Horatio Brown, the Venetian historian, a real good sort, cheery, broad-faced, shock-headed, tumble-dressed", while after his death the Cornhill Magazine
Cornhill Magazine
The Cornhill Magazine was a Victorian magazine and literary journal named after Cornhill Street in London.Cornhill was founded by George Murray Smith in 1860 and was published until 1975. It was a literary journal with a selection of articles on diverse subjects and serialisations of new novels...
called him a "Scotch laird, with his ruddy countenance, muscular limbs, and sturdy frame".
Works
- Life on the LagoonsLife on the LagoonsLife on the Lagoons, which deals with the history and topography of the watery area around the city of Venice, is the first book by the Scottish historian Horatio Brown....
(London: 1884; 5th edition by Rivingtons, 1909 - Venetian studies (London: Kegan Paul, Trench & co., 1887)
- The Venetian printing press, 1469-1800 (London: John Nimmo, 1891)
- Venice: an historical sketch of the Republic (London: Rivington Percival, 1893; 2nd edition, 1895), 434 pp.
- Calendar of State Papers (Venetian): 1581–1591, 1895
- Calendar of State Papers (Venetian): 1592–1603, 1897
- Calendar of State Papers (Venetian): 1603–1607, 1900
- Calendar of State Papers (Venetian): 1607–1610, 1904
- Calendar of State Papers (Venetian): 1610–1613, 1905
- John Addington Symonds: a Biography (1895)
- Drift: verses (London: G. Richards, 1900)
- Temple Primer: The Venetian Republic (London: R. Clay & sons, 1902)
- Venice, chapter 8 of Cambridge Modern HistoryCambridge Modern HistoryThe Cambridge Modern History is a comprehensive modern history of the world, beginning with the 15th century age of Discovery, published by the Cambridge University Press in the United Kingdom and also in the United States....
vol. I The Renaissance (1902) - Bracciano, Viterbo, Toscanella (1904)
- In and Around Venice (1905)
- The Valtelline (1603-39), chapter 2 of Cambridge Modern History vol. IV The Thirty Years War (1906)
- Pensieri persi, in Die Festschrift des Herren Prälat Schneider (1906)
- Molmenti's Venice, translation of vols. 1, 2, 3 and 4 (1907)
- Studies in the history of Venice (London: John Murray, 1907)
- Introduction to The Poems of T. E. Brown (Golden Treasury series, 1908
- Molmenti's Venice, translation of vols. 5 and 6 (1908)
- Letters and Papers of John Addington Symonds (1923)
- Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 4, chapter 8 (1923)
- Dalmatia: painted by Walter Tyndale, described by Horatio F. Brown (London: A. & C. Black, 1925)
Honours
- Cavaliere of the Kingdom of ItalyKingdom of Italy (1861–1946)The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
- Honorary degreeHonorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
of Doctor of lawDoctor of lawDoctor of Law or Doctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degrees such as the LL.D., Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D., and Dr. iur.-Argentina:...
, University of EdinburghUniversity of EdinburghThe University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, 1900 - Member of the Ateneo VenetoAteneo VenetoThe Ateneo Veneto di Scienze, Lettere e Arti is an institution for the promulgation of science, literature, art and culture in all forms, in the exclusive interest of promoting social solidarity, located in Venice, northern Italy...
- Gold medal of the British AcademyBritish AcademyThe British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
- Taylorian LectureTaylorian LectureThe Taylorian Lecture, sometimes referred to as the "Special Taylorian Lecture" or "Taylorian Special Lecture", is a prestigious annual lecture on Modern European Literature, delivered at the Taylor Institution in the University of Oxford since 1889....
r, 1895
External links
- Horatio F. Brown, Life on the Lagoons (2008 reprint) - preview text online at books.google.com
- Horatio F. Brown, Life on the Lagoons (3rd edition, 1900) - full text online at ebooksread.com
- Horatio Brown, Venetian Studies (2005 reprint) - preview text online at books.google.com
- Horatio Forbes Brown, The Venetian Republic (2009 reprint) - preview text online at books.google.com