MONKHOUSE, WILLIAM COSMO (18401901)

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 724 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MOL-MOS

MONKHOUSE, WILLIAM COSMO (18401901) , English poet and critic, was born in' London on the 18th of March 184o. His father, Cyril John Monkhouse, was a solicitor; his mother's maiden name was Delafosse. He was educated at St Paul's School, quitting it at seventeen to enter the board of trade as a junior supplementary clerk, from which grade he rose eventually to be the assistant-secretary to the, finance department of the office. In 187o1871 he visited South America in connexion with the

hospital

accommodation for

seamen

SEAMEN, LAWS RELATING TO

at Valparaiso and. other ports; and he served on different departmental committees, notably that of 18941896 on the Mercantile Marine Fund. He was twice married: first, to Laura, daughter of James Keymer of

Dartford

DARTFORD

; and, secondly, to. Leonora Eliza, daughter of

Commander

COMMANDER

Blount, R.N. He died in LonSlon on the loth of July 1901. Cosmo Monkhouse was one of those who have not only a vocation, but an avocation. His first bias was to poetry, and in 1865 he issued A Dream of Idleness and Other Poems, a collection strongly coloured by his admiration for Wordsworth and Tennyson. It was marked by exceptional maturity, and scarcely received the recognition it deserved. Owing perhaps to this circumstance, it was not till 1890 that he put forth Corn and Poppies, a collection which contains at least one memorable effort in the well-known " Dead March." Five years later appeared a limited edition of the striking ballad of The Christ upon the Hill, illustrated with etchings by Mr William Strang. After his death his poetical output was completed by Pasiteles the Elder and other Poems (including The Christ upon the Hill). In 1868 Monkhouse essayed a novel, A Question of Honour. Then, after preluding with a Life of

Turner

in the "

Great

GREAT

Artists

Series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

" (1879), he devoted himself almost exclusively to art criticism. Besides many contributions to the

Academy

ACADEMY, GREEK
ACADEMY, ROYAL

, the Saturday Review, the Magazine of Art and other

periodicals

PERIODICALS

,
he published volumes on The Italian Pre-Raphaelites (1887),
The Earlier English Water-Colour Painters (1890 and 1897),
In the National Gallery (1895) and British Contemporary
Artists (1899). He was a contributor to the Dict. Nat. Biog. from the beginning. Monkhouse also wrote an excellent Memoir of Leigh Hunt in the "

Great

GREAT

Writers

Series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

" (1887). As an art critic Monkhouse's judgments were highly valued; and he had the rare

gift

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

of differing without offending, while he invariably secured respect for his honesty and ability. As a poet, his ambition was so wide and his devotion to the art so thorough, that it is difficult not to regret the slender bulk of his legacy to posterity.

End of Article: MONKHOUSE, WILLIAM COSMO (18401901)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/MOL_MOS/MONKHOUSE_WILLIAM_COSMO_184019.html">
MONKHOUSE, WILLIAM COSMO (18401901)
</a>

(Previous)
MONKEY

(Next)
MONKSWELL, ROBERT PORRETT COLLIER

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email