THE LIFE OF RICHARD STEELE IN TWO VOLUMES COMPLETE

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Authoritative, documented biography of the noted English literary figure. Includes extensive illustrations, genealogical tables, Steels's letters.
To make a pair of jolly fellows, The son and father, join to tell us How sons may safely disobey, and fathers never Should say nay By which wise conduct they grow friends at last - and so the story ends. But now the senate must feel his eloquence and fire, though this might be disturbed by a petition.

It is not strictly true that Steele was the inventor of the English essai - there were essayists before the 18th century, notably Cowley and Temple; but he was the first to use them for periodical purposes, and he and Addison together developed a distinct species, to which they gave a permanent character, and in which they had many imitators. As a humbler motive for this fortunate venture Steele had the pinch of impecuniosity, due rather to excess of expenditure than to smallness of income. He had £300 a year from his gazetteership (paying a tax of £45), £100 as gentleman waiter to Prince George, £850 from the Barbadoes estates of his first wife, a widow named Margaret Stretch, and some fortune by his second wife - Mrs Mary Scurlock, the "dear Prue" of his charming letters. But Steele lived in considerable state after his second marriage, and before he started the Tatler was reduced to the necessity of borrowing. The assumed name of the editor was Isaac Bickerstaff, but Addison discovered the real author in the sixth number, and began to contribute in the eighteenth. It is only fair to Steele to state that the success of the Tatler was established before Addison joined him, and that Addison contributed to only forty-two of the two hundred and seventy-one numbers that had appeared when the paper was stopped, obscurely, in January 1711. Some papers satirizing Harley appeared in the Tatler, and Steele lost or resigned the post of gazetteer. It is possible that this political recklessness may have had something to do with the sudden end of the venture.

Autorevole e documentata biografia del noto letterato inglese. Include ampie illustrazioni, tabelle genealogiche, lettere di Steels.
Richard Steele è stato uno scrittore, saggista, politico e drammaturgo britannico. Studiò a Oxford; intrapresa la carriera militare, entrò nelle Horse Guards, quindi fu nominato capitano delle Life Guards nel 1700. Designato gazzettiere dal ministro Harvey, fu poi due volte deputato al Parlamento.
La sua prima opera, The Christian Hero (L'eroe cristiano, del 1701), è un'esaltazione dell'ideale puritano della borghesia in ascesa; lo stesso tono moralistico-didattico è al fondo delle sue opere di teatro, per il quale creò la commedia sentimentale: una, soprattutto, riscosse notevole successo, The Conscious Lovers (Gli amanti coscienziosi, del 1722).

L'importanza di Steele nella storia letteraria inglese è soprattutto quella di fine saggista e di precursore del giornalismo. Nel 1709, infatti, sotto lo pseudonimo di Isaac Bickerstaff, fondava il giornale The Tatler (il chiacchierone), cui si associò l'amico Joseph Addison, dove pubblicava saggi a sfondo morale, dissertazioni sul costume, commenti - pieni di equilibrato buonsenso e di fine umorismo - su avvenimenti e personaggi.

Chiuso The Tatler nel 1711, Steele divenne collaboratore di Addison al giornale da lui fondato, The Spectator (1711-1712). Dopo l'esperienza dello Spectator, i due fondarono in collaborazione The Guardian, The Englishman ed altri periodici, che tuttavia ebbero breve durata.

Descrizione bibliografica
Titolo/Title: The Life of Richard Steele
Autore/Author: George Atherton Aitken (1860-1917)
Editore/Publisher: New York: Haskell House, 1968 (First edition: 1889)
Lunghezza/Lenght: 419 + 452 pagine/pages; 23 cm; illustrato in b/n black and white illustrations (genealogical tables, music, portraits); two volumes
Vol. 1 contains frontispiece portrait by Sir James Thornhill frome Vertue's Engraving
Vol. 2 contains frontispiece portrait of Lady Steele engraved by Sir. Godfrey Kneller (1712-13), and Steel and his children from Ivories pianted about 1753
Appendices (v. 2, p. [347]-428):
I The Steeles of Cheshire, and others
II Fords of St. Michael's parish, Barbadoes
III Performances of Steele's plays
IV Music for Steele's songs
V Bibliography
ISBN: 0838301525, 9780838301524; 1331694825, 9781331694823
Collana/Series: English Biography Series
Soggetti/Subjects: English literature, British authors, Ireland, Eighteenth century, Irish writers, Life, Biographies, Memories, Correspondence, Letters, Diary, Anglo-Saxon intellectuals, Writings, General works, Collecting, Reference, Consultation, Bibliography, Literary criticism, Cultural studies, Theater, Dramaturgy, Tragedies, Comedies, Representations, Entertainment, Performing Arts, Satire, Travel, Novels, Fiction, Classics, Books in English, Out of print books, First editions, Collectors, Biographers, National Biography Dictionary, Press, Publishing, Journalism, Ethics, Journalists, Society, Masterpieces, Puritanism, Bourgeoisie, Rise, Didactics, Morals, Articles, Comments, Sarcasm, British essays, Translations, Translators, Poetics, Sentimental comedy, Hypocrisy, Rare books, Letteratura inglese, Autori britannici, Irlanda, Settecento, Scrittori irlandesi, Vita, Biografie, Memorie, Corrispondenza, Epistolario, Diario, Lettere, Intellettuali anglosassoni, Scritti, Opere generali, Collezionismo, Riferimento, Consultazione, Bibliografia, Critica letteraria, Studi culturali, Cultura anglosassone, Teatro, Drammaturgia, Tragedie, Commedie, Rappresentazioni, Spettacolo, Arti performative, Satira, Viaggio, Romanzi, Narrativa, Classici, Libri in inglese, Libri Vintage Fuori catalogo, Prime edizioni, Collezionisti, Biografi, Dizionario di Biografia Nazionale, Stampa, Editoria, Giornalismo, Etica, Giornalisti, Società, Capolavori, Puritanesimo, Borghesia, Ascesa, Didattica, Morale, Costume, Articoli, Commenti, Sagacia, Sarcasmo, Saggisti britannici, Traduzioni, Traduttori, Poetica, Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Whig, Commedia sentimentale, Kit-Kat Club, Ipocrisia, The Funeral, The Tender Husband, The Mistake, John Vanbrugh, Preface, The Drummer, Tory attack, The Guardian, Mary Scurlock, Prue, Elizabeth, Baron Trevor, The History of Henry Esmond, William Makepeace Thackeray, Swift, Pope, The Wortley Montagues, Englishman, Contemporaries, Dr Sacheverells Trial, Imitators Of The Tatler, Defoe, Gazetteer, Margaret Stretch, Unsuccessful ventures, Town Talk, Tea Table, Chit Chat, The Plebeian, The Apology, Wales, Poetical Miscellanies, Original Poems and Translations by the Best Hands, Duke of Marlborough, The Bill for Preventing the Growth of Schism, The Crisis, Coffeehouse Public Sphere, Alexander Pope, Libri rari, Inhaltsverzeichnis, Music for Steele's songs, Performances of Steele's plays

Parole e frasi comuni Common words and phrases
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