The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley
| Author | Thomas Jefferson Hogg |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Biography |
| Publisher | Edward Moxon |
|
Publication date
|
1858 |
The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley is an unfinished posthumous biography of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley that was written by his friend Thomas Jefferson Hogg. The first two of the four planned volumes were released in 1858 to largely unfavourable reviews. Though a few friends of Percy Shelley enjoyed the book, many critics attacked the book for being poorly edited and for portraying Shelley negatively. Though more volumes were planned, they were never published because of the Shelley family's objections to Hogg's treatment of him.
Hogg had previously published Shelley at Oxford in The New Monthly Magazine. This was a well-received account of the time they spent together at University College, Oxford. After he published this account, Mary Shelley suggested to him that he write a full biography of Percy Shelley. Hogg did not begin work on a biography for years, however, and Mary Shelley died before it was completed. He finally began the project after Percy Shelley's son Percy Florence Shelley also asked him to write a full account of his father's life. Hogg commenced work on the project in 1855.
Unlike the previous article Hogg wrote, this book covered periods of Shelley's life that Hogg had only learned about secondhand. The Shelley family helped him by providing Percy Shelley's papers to him for use in his research. Percy Shelley's sisters Helen and Margaret also contributed accounts of childhood memories involving their brother. Hogg was known for the strength and clarity of his memory, and was able to recall minor details from the time that he spent with Percy Shelley. The initial plan was to release a four-volume work and the first two volumes of the book were published in 1858 by Edward Moxon. The text of Shelley at Oxford was included in the work, and comprised roughly one sixth of the final document.
The book primarily discusses the activities and correspondence shared between Hogg and Shelley. It includes 44 letters that were exchanged between Hogg and Shelley in 1810 and 1811. The text of many of the letters was changed by Hogg before the book's publication. He made most of the changes to cover up his own youthful radicalism and his romantic pursuit of Percy's sister Elizabeth. The original text of many of the letters shows that Hogg was often unstable and relied on Percy Shelley for guidance. The changes that were made often misled future biographers, although Hogg did preserve the originals as well.
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