- In full:
- George Edward Bateman Saintsbury
- Born:
- October 23, 1845, Southampton, Hampshire, England
- Died:
- January 28, 1933, Bath, Somerset (aged 87)
- Subjects Of Study:
- French literature
George Saintsbury
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Who was George Saintsbury?
George Saintsbury (1845–1933) was a highly influential English literary historian and critic known for his lively writing style and extensive knowledge. Despite early disappointment in academia, he became a prolific writer, contributing significantly to both French and English literary studies, including 35 biographies and the French literature article for the Encyclopædia Britannica.
In 1895, he was appointed Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. Saintsbury's critical approach, characterized as "conversational," prioritized stimulating enjoyment and intuitive appreciation of literature, influencing a broad view of Western literature despite later more rigorous approaches.
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What kind of work did George Saintsbury do?
George Saintsbury was a highly influential English literary historian and critic known for his engaging style and extensive knowledge. He spent nearly ten years as a schoolmaster while studying French literature and writing reviews.
Saintsbury's career included contributing 35 biographies and the French literature article to the Encyclopædia Britannica. He also taught as the Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature at the University of Edinburgh from 1895 until he retired in 1915. Additionally, he authored numerous books, such as A Short History of English Literature and A History of Criticism and Literary Taste in Europe.
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What was George Saintsbury known for in the world of literature?
George Saintsbury (1845–1933) was a highly influential English literary historian and critic known for his vast knowledge and engaging writing style. He wrote extensively on both French and English literature, with notable works such as A Short History of French Literature (1882) and A History of Elizabethan Literature (1887).
Saintsbury held the Regius chair of rhetoric and English literature at the University of Edinburgh from 1895 and produced significant works like A History of Criticism and Literary Taste in Europe (1900–04) and A History of English Prosody (1906–10). His informal, conversational approach to criticism, emphasizing enjoyment and broad reading, made his works popular and stimulated interest in literary forms. He helped revive interest in 17th-century poetry and Restoration drama.
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Which types of books or writers did Saintsbury study or write about most?
George Saintsbury was an influential British literary historian and critic known for his extensive knowledge and lively writing style. Throughout his career, Saintsbury studied and wrote about both French and English literature, and his works include:
- Essays on Charles Baudelaire
- A Primer of French Literature
- A Short History of French Literature
- Specimens of French Literature from Villon to Hugo
- A study of John Dryden
- Specimens of English Prose Style from Malory to Macaulay
- A History of Elizabethan Literature
- A Short History of English Literature
- A History of English Prosody from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day
- Minor Poets of the Caroline Period
Saintsbury's approach to literary criticism involved analyzing literary styles and the development of literary forms. While he formulated no specific critical philosophy, his work was characterized by extensive reading, intuitive appreciation, comparative assessment, and ranking.
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How did George Saintsbury influence the study of English literature?
George Saintsbury was a highly influential figure in early 20th-century English literary study because of his extensive knowledge and engaging writing style. His works include A Short History of English Literature (1898) and A History of Criticism and Literary Taste in Europe from the Earliest Texts to the Present Day (1900–04), which was among the first surveys of critical literary theory.
As a critic, Saintsbury analyzed literary works and the development of literary forms in a lively manner designed to stimulate, entertain, and inform. Though he formulated no specific critical philosophy, his principles included extensive reading, intuitive appreciation, comparative assessment, and ranking. Saintsbury emphasized enjoyment as literature’s primary aim and opened the way to a broad view of Western literature.
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What lasting impact did George Saintsbury have on literary criticism and history?
George Saintsbury was a highly influential English literary historian and critic known for his lively style and extensive knowledge. As a foremost practitioner of conversational criticism, he analyzed literary styles and development in an engaging manner designed to stimulate and entertain.
His significant contributions include A History of Criticism and Literary Taste in Europe (1900–04) and A History of English Prosody (1906–10), which were among the first surveys of critical literary theory. Saintsbury's informal yet insightful approach broadened the view of Western literature, emphasizing enjoyment as literature’s primary goal. Though later replaced by more rigorous methods, his work paved the way for a wider appreciation of literary study.
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George Saintsbury (born October 23, 1845, Southampton, Hampshire, England—died January 28, 1933, Bath, Somerset) was the most influential English literary historian and critic of the early 20th century. His lively style and wide knowledge helped make his works both popular and authoritative.
Disappointed at not getting a fellowship at Merton College, Oxford (M.A., 1868), Saintsbury spent almost a decade as a schoolmaster, at the same time beginning a lifelong study of French literature and writing reviews for the Academy. The appearance of his essay on Baudelaire in the Fortnightly Review in 1875 caught the attention of the literary world. When a school at which he was teaching failed in 1876, he decided to write for a living. He contributed 35 biographies and the article on French literature for the Encyclopædia Britannica (9th ed., 1875–89). He was an unorthodox critic of French literature, but his Primer of French Literature (1880), A Short History of French Literature (1882), and Specimens of French Literature from Villon to Hugo (1883) all had great success. In 1881 his study of Dryden (“English Men of Letters Series”) was the first of his extensive writings on English literature. Specimens of English Prose Style from Malory to Macaulay (1885) and A History of Elizabethan Literature (1887) followed.
In 1895 Saintsbury was appointed to the Regius chair of rhetoric and English literature at the University of Edinburgh. He continued his writing while at Edinburgh, producing, among other works, A Short History of English Literature (1898) and A History of Criticism and Literary Taste in Europe from the Earliest Texts to the Present Day, 3 vol. (1900–04), one of the first surveys of critical literary theory and practice from ancient Greek to modern times. He also wrote A History of English Prosody from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day, 3 vol. (1906–10); the supplementary Historical Manual of English Prosody (1910); and the complementary History of English Prose Rhythm (1912). He retired from his professorship in 1915.
Saintsbury continued his writing with The Peace of the Augustans: A Survey of Eighteenth Century Literature as a Place of Rest and Refreshment (1916) and a book on wine, Notes on a Cellar-Book (1920), which led to the foundation of the Saintsbury Club. Saintsbury’s Minor Poets of the Caroline Period, 3 vol. (1921), helped revive interest in 17th-century poetry, as did his editions of Dryden and Shadwell for Restoration drama.
Saintsbury was the foremost practitioner of the so-called conversational school of criticism; he analyzed the style of literary works and the development of literary forms in an informal, lively, and readable prose designed as much to stimulate and entertain as to inform. Saintsbury deliberately formulated no philosophy of criticism; however, certain principles underlie his writing: extensive reading, intuitive appreciation, comparative assessment, and ranking. Though a more rigorous approach has replaced his copious, wide-ranging writing, he opened the way to a broad view of Western literature and, by his diverse enthusiasms, emphasized enjoyment as literature’s primary aim.