James Hain Friswell
Encyclopedia
James Hain Friswell was an English
essayist and novelist.
He was born at Newport, Shropshire
, son of William Friswell, of 93 Wimpole Street, London, attorney-at-law, and educated at Apsley School, near Woburn, Bedfordshire
. He was intended for the legal profession, which he did not enter, but for some years was obliged to follow a business which was uncongenial to his tastes. He early showed a preference for literature, and contributed in 1852 to the Puppet Show, conducted by Angus B. Reach and Albert Smith
. Much of his life was devoted to the defence of Christianity.
He was a frequent contributor to Chambers's Journal, The Leader, The Spectator
, the London Review, the Saturday Review
, and the Pictorial World. His first successful works were Houses with the Fronts off, brought out in 1854, and Twelve inside and one out. Edited from the Papers of Mr. Limbertongue, which appeared in the following year. In January 1858 he founded the Friday Knights, a social society, the name of which was changed to the Urban Club on 15 Nov. 1858. One of his most useful publications was Familiar Words, a Collection of Quotations, a work of much labour, which he produced in 1864. In the same year he wrote his best-known work, The Gentle Life, which became very popular, and ran to upwards of twenty editions, including an edition dedicated by desire to the queen. His own periodical, The Censor, a Weekly Review of Satire, Politics, Literature, and Arts, enjoyed but a short life, only running from 23 May to 7 Nov. 1868.
He was the projector and editor of the Bayard Series, a Collection of Pleasure Books of Literature, published by Sampson Low
& Co., and he also edited the Gentle Life Series, the latter series consisting chiefly of reprints of his own writings. In 1867 he was a contributor to the Evening Star under the signature of Jaques. While on a visit to Richard Brinsley Sheridan
at Frampton Court, Dorsetshire
, in December 1869, whither he had been invited to meet John Lothrop Motley
, author of the Rise of the Dutch Republic, he ruptured a blood-vessel. He was henceforth a confirmed invalid, but continued to work till within a few hours of his death.
In 1870 he produced Modern Men of Letters honestly criticised. Mr. Sala
, whose life was very severely commented on in this work, brought an action for defamation of character against Hodder & Stoughton
, the publishers of the book, and obtained 500 pounds damages. In the advancement of the working classes Friswell took a great interest, delivering lectures, giving readings, and forming schools for their instruction. He also laboured earnestly to reform cheap literature for boys, and his efforts were successful in repressing the circulation of some of the most notorious of the penny publications
. The majority of his essays attained great popularity; but his novels did not possess the elements of enduring life.
He died at his residence, Fair Home, Bexley Heath, Kent
, on 12 March 1878.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
essayist and novelist.
He was born at Newport, Shropshire
Newport, Shropshire
Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It lies some north of Telford and some west of Stafford sitting on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border...
, son of William Friswell, of 93 Wimpole Street, London, attorney-at-law, and educated at Apsley School, near Woburn, Bedfordshire
Woburn, Bedfordshire
Woburn is a small Saxon village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about southeast of the centre of Milton Keynes, and about south of junction 13 of the M1 motorway and is a popular tourist attraction.-History:...
. He was intended for the legal profession, which he did not enter, but for some years was obliged to follow a business which was uncongenial to his tastes. He early showed a preference for literature, and contributed in 1852 to the Puppet Show, conducted by Angus B. Reach and Albert Smith
Albert Richard Smith
Albert Richard Smith , was an English author, entertainer, and mountaineer.-Biography:Smith was born at Chertsey, Surrey. The son of a surgeon, he studied medicine in London and in Paris, and his first literary effort was an account of his life there, which appeared in the Mirror. He gradually...
. Much of his life was devoted to the defence of Christianity.
He was a frequent contributor to Chambers's Journal, The Leader, The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
, the London Review, the Saturday Review
Saturday Review (London)
The Saturday Review of politics, literature, science, and art was a London weekly newspaper established by A. J. B. Beresford Hope in 1855....
, and the Pictorial World. His first successful works were Houses with the Fronts off, brought out in 1854, and Twelve inside and one out. Edited from the Papers of Mr. Limbertongue, which appeared in the following year. In January 1858 he founded the Friday Knights, a social society, the name of which was changed to the Urban Club on 15 Nov. 1858. One of his most useful publications was Familiar Words, a Collection of Quotations, a work of much labour, which he produced in 1864. In the same year he wrote his best-known work, The Gentle Life, which became very popular, and ran to upwards of twenty editions, including an edition dedicated by desire to the queen. His own periodical, The Censor, a Weekly Review of Satire, Politics, Literature, and Arts, enjoyed but a short life, only running from 23 May to 7 Nov. 1868.
He was the projector and editor of the Bayard Series, a Collection of Pleasure Books of Literature, published by Sampson Low
Sampson Low
-Life:Born in London in November 1797, he was the son of Sampson Low, printer and publisher, of Berwick Street, Soho. He served a short apprenticeship with Lionel Booth, the proprietor of a circulating library, and, after a few years spent in the house of Longman & Co., began business in 1819 at 42...
& Co., and he also edited the Gentle Life Series, the latter series consisting chiefly of reprints of his own writings. In 1867 he was a contributor to the Evening Star under the signature of Jaques. While on a visit to Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
at Frampton Court, Dorsetshire
Frampton, Dorset
Frampton is a village in west Dorset, England, situated in the Frome valley three miles north west of Dorchester at . The village has a population of 456 , 6.9% of dwellings are second homes ....
, in December 1869, whither he had been invited to meet John Lothrop Motley
John Lothrop Motley
John Lothrop Motley was an American historian and diplomat.-Biography:...
, author of the Rise of the Dutch Republic, he ruptured a blood-vessel. He was henceforth a confirmed invalid, but continued to work till within a few hours of his death.
In 1870 he produced Modern Men of Letters honestly criticised. Mr. Sala
George Augustus Henry Sala
George Augustus Henry Sala , English journalist.-Biography:Sala was born in London; his father being the son of an Italian who came to London to arrange ballets at the theatres, and his mother an actress and teacher of singing...
, whose life was very severely commented on in this work, brought an action for defamation of character against Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
, the publishers of the book, and obtained 500 pounds damages. In the advancement of the working classes Friswell took a great interest, delivering lectures, giving readings, and forming schools for their instruction. He also laboured earnestly to reform cheap literature for boys, and his efforts were successful in repressing the circulation of some of the most notorious of the penny publications
Penny Dreadful
A penny dreadful was a type of British fiction publication in the 19th century that usually featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing an penny...
. The majority of his essays attained great popularity; but his novels did not possess the elements of enduring life.
He died at his residence, Fair Home, Bexley Heath, 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...
, on 12 March 1878.
Works
- The Russian Empire, its History and Present Condition of its People, 1854.
- Houses with the Fronts off, 1854.
- Blackwood's Comic Zadkiel, 1855.
- Twelve inside and one out, 1855.
- Songs of the War. Edited with Original Songs, 1855.
- Diamonds and Spades, a story of Two Lives, 1858.
- Ghost Stories and Phantom Fancies, 1858.
- Out and About, a Boy's Adventures, 1860.
- Footsteps to Fame, a Book to open other Books, 1861.
- Sham, a Novel written in earnest, 1861.
- Young Couple and Miscellanies, 1862.
- A Daughter of Eve, a novel, 1863.
- About in the World, essays, 1864; 6th ed. 1879.
- The Gentle Life, Essays in Aid of the Formation of Character, 1864; 21st ed. 1879.
- Life Portraits of Shakespeare, a history of the various representations of the Poet, 1864.
- A Splendid Fortune, a novel, 1865.
- Familiar Words, an Index Verborum, or a Quotation Handbook, 1865; 5th ed. 1880.
- Francis Spira, and other poems, 1865.
- Varia, Readings from Rare Books, 1866.
- Essays by Montaigne, edited and compared, 1866.
- The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, by Sir Philip SidneyPhilip SidneySir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age...
, with notes and introductory essay, 1867. - Other People's Windows, a series of sketches, 2 vols. 1868, 3rd ed. 1876.
- The Silent Hour, Essays for Sunday Reading, 1868.
- The Gentle Life, 2nd ser. 1868; 11th ed. 1879.
- Like unto Christ, a translation of the De Imitatione Christi of Á KempisThomas à KempisThomas à Kempis was a late Medieval Catholic monk and the probable author of The Imitation of Christ, which is one of the best known Christian books on devotion. His name means, "Thomas of Kempen", his home town and in German he is known as Thomas von Kempen...
, 1868. - Essays on English Writers, 1869.
- Essays on Mosaic, by T. Ballantyne, with a preface, 1870.
- Modern Men of Letters honestly criticised, 1870.
- One of Two, a novel, 3 vols. 1871.
- Pleasure, a Holiday Book, 1871.
- Reflections, by F. de RochefoucauldFrançois de La Rochefoucauld (writer)François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac was a noted French author of maxims and memoirs. The view of human conduct his writings describe has been summed up by the words "everything is reducible to the motive of self-interest", though the term "gently cynical" has also been applied...
, with introduction, notes, and an account of the author and his times, 1871. - A Man's Thoughts, 1872.
- Ninety Three, by V. M. HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
, translated, 1874. - Ward's Picture Fables from ÆsopAesopAesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
, told anew in Verse, 1874. - The Better Self, Essays from Home Life, 1875.
- Our Square Circle, completed by his daughter, L. H. Friswell, 1880.
- Christmas Eve in Custody, printed in Mixed Sweets, 1867
- Magical Ointment, printed in The Savage ClubSavage ClubThe Savage Club, founded in 1857 is a gentlemen's club in London.-History:Many and varied are the stories that have been told about the first meeting of the Savage Club, of the precise purposes for which it was formed, and of its christening...
Papers, 1868.