Abstracts
Abstract
This essay examines Leigh Hunt’s three major autobiographical texts: Lord Byron and Some of His Contemporaries (1828), The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt (1850), and the second edition of the Autobiography (1860). From the earliest to the latest of these texts, Hunt transforms himself from the controversial author of The Story of Rimini and famous theatre critic to an editor of essay collections with a fading literary reputation. In both versions of the Autobiography, Hunt reuses and revises previously published passages, and these alterations highlight his changing self-image, especially his movement away from the literary spotlight.
Appendices
Works Cited
- Blainey, Ann. Immortal Boy: A Portrait of Leigh Hunt. New York: St. Martin’s, 1985.
- Blunden, Edmund. Leigh Hunt: A Biography. New York: Archon, 1970.
- De Man, Paul. The Rhetoric of Romanticism. New York: Columbia UP, 1984.
- Eberle-Sinatra, Michael. Leigh Hunt and the London Literary Scene : A Reception History of his Major Works, 1805-1828. London: Routledge, 2005
- Fogle, Stephen F., ed. and introd. Introduction. Leigh Hunt’s Autobiography: The Earliest Sketches. University of Florida Monographs. Humanities 2. Gainesville: U of Florida P, 1959. v-xviii.
- Gates, Elanor M. "Leigh Hunt, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley: The Long Goodbye." Keats-Shelley Journal 35 (1986): 149-67.
- Hunt, Leigh. The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt; with Reminiscences of Friends and Contemporaries. 3 vols. London: Smith, Elder, 1850.
- Hunt, Leigh. The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. New ed. London: Smith, Elder, 1860.
- Hunt, Leigh. Leigh Hunt’s Autobiography: The Earliest Sketches. Ed. Stephen F. Fogle. University of Florida Monographs. Humanities 2. Gainesville: U. of Florida P, 1959.
- Hunt, Leigh. Lord Byron and Some of His Contemporaries, with Recollections of the Author. London: Colburn, 1828.
- Hunt, Leigh. “Memoir of Mr. James Henry Leigh Hunt.” Monthly Mirror 7 ns (1810): 245-48.
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- Morpurgo, J. E., ed. The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. London: Cresset, 1948.
- Rev. of The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. Harper’s New Monthly Magazine 1 (1850): 572.
- Rev. of The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. Methodist Quarterly 42 (1860): 245-60.
- Rev. of The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. North British Review 14 (1850): 143-68.
- Rev. of The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. North British Review 33 (1860): 356-80.
- Rev. of The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. Palladium 1 (1850): 130-39.
- Rev. of The Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. Saturday Review 9 (28 January 1860): 115-16.
- Rev. of Critical Essays on the Performers of London Theatres. Monthly Mirror 3 ns (1808): 105-09.
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- Tatchell, Molly. “Leigh Hunt Recollected by His Son-in-Law.” Keats-Shelley Review 35 (1984): 71-74.
- Webb, Timothy. “Correcting the Irritability of His Temper: The Evolution of Leigh Hunt’s Autobiography.” Romantic Revisions. Ed. Robert Brinkley and Keith Hanley. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1992. 268-90.