Scottish essayist, historian and social critic known as the Sage of Chelsea, a founding figure of Victorian prose whose Sartor Resartus (1836) reworks German transcendental philosophy into a satirical fictional biography, and whose narrative history The French Revolution (1837) rebuilt an entire lost first volume from memory after the only manuscript was accidentally burned as kindling in John Stuart Mill's house. In On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841), delivered first as public lectures, he argued that history turns on the acts of great individuals, a claim that shaped Victorian debate on leadership and biography for decades. He corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson for close to forty years, and Emerson arranged the first American book edition of Sartor Resartus in Boston in 1836, two years before its first British edition.
Facts
AwardFellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1878. 2 AwardFellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1866. 2 AwardPour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order. 2 Classification
Original Language Original Language Thomas Carlyle
Filter Results3 entries
FAQs
What happened to Carlyle's first draft of The French Revolution?
The draft Mill was reading was accidentally burned by a servant; Carlyle rewrote it and finished in 1837.
Carlyle gave his friend John Stuart Mill a substantial portion of the manuscript to read in 1835. Mill came back one evening with the news that the draft had been accidentally burned by a servant, and Britannica notes that the exact circumstances of the burning are unknown. Carlyle worked furiously at rewriting it, eventually accepting some financial compensation from Mill for the setback, and finished the book early in 1837, when it won both serious acclaim and popular success.
What is On Heroes and Hero-Worship about?
Six essays of 1841 on types of heroes such as divinity prophet poet priest and king.
On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History is a collection of six essays that Carlyle published in 1841, based on lectures he gave in 1840. In them he discusses different types of heroes, including poets such as Dante and Shakespeare, and explores the hero figure as divinity, prophet, poet, priest and king.
Connections
Associated With
Correspondents and friends from their 1833 meeting in Scotland until Carlyle death in 1881; Emerson arranged the first American edition of Sartor Resartus (Boston, 1836).
Source Simon Heffer, Moral Desperado: A Life of Thomas Carlyle (1995)Simon Heffer
In Genre
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Satire, Genres Via the Menippean satire of Sartor Resartus; his main body of work is nonfiction prose.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
In Movement
A founding figure of Victorian sage-writing, per the atlas own Victorian Literature description.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Works Attributed
Source Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841)Thomas Carlyle
Source Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus (1836)Thomas Carlyle
Source Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History (1837)Thomas Carlyle
In the Other Atlases
Same As
Also in Philosophy Atlas: the same subject.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannicatier 1
Original Language
Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.
Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.- Thomas Carlyle entry
- In Movement: Victorian Literature
- In Genre: Nonfiction Prose
- In Genre: Satire
View the Source 2. Wikipedia: Thomas Carlyle
WikipediaLead paragraph
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795-5 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. Known as the "sage of Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the Victorian era. Carlyle was born in Ecclefechan, a village in Dumfriesshire. He attended the University of Edinburgh, where he excelled in mathematics and invented the Carlyle circle.
Award: Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795-5 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. Known as the "sage of Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the Victorian era. Carlyle was born in Ecclefechan, a village in Dumfriesshire. He attended the University of Edinburgh, where he excelled in mathematics and invented the Carlyle circle.
Award: Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795-5 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. Known as the "sage of Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the Victorian era. Carlyle was born in Ecclefechan, a village in Dumfriesshire. He attended the University of Edinburgh, where he excelled in mathematics and invented the Carlyle circle.
Award: Pour le Mérite
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795-5 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. Known as the "sage of Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the Victorian era. Carlyle was born in Ecclefechan, a village in Dumfriesshire. He attended the University of Edinburgh, where he excelled in mathematics and invented the Carlyle circle.
Award: Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795-5 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. Known as the "sage of Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the Victorian era. Carlyle was born in Ecclefechan, a village in Dumfriesshire. He attended the University of Edinburgh, where he excelled in mathematics and invented the Carlyle circle.
View the Source Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus (1836)
Thomas Carlyle, 1836Works Attributed: Sartor Resartus
Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History (1837)
Thomas Carlyle, 1837Works Attributed: The French Revolution: A History
Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841)
Thomas Carlyle, 1841Works Attributed: On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History
Simon Heffer, Moral Desperado: A Life of Thomas Carlyle (1995)
Simon Heffer, 1995Associated With: Ralph Waldo Emerson
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.