The Marvellous Boy

The Life and Myth of Thomas Chatterton

Biography & Memoir, Literary, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book The Marvellous Boy by Linda Kelly, Faber & Faber
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Linda Kelly ISBN: 9780571287161
Publisher: Faber & Faber Publication: November 15, 2012
Imprint: Faber & Faber Language: English
Author: Linda Kelly
ISBN: 9780571287161
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Publication: November 15, 2012
Imprint: Faber & Faber
Language: English

In 1770, at the end of his tether, the seventeen-year-old poet Thomas Chatterton, penniless and starving, despairing of success and tormented by a sense of failure, committed suicide in his garret room.

Within a few years he was transformed into a legend. In the dawning Romantic Movement, he became a symbol of some of its most powerful preoccupations - suicide, youth and neglected genius.

During the two ensuing centuries, Chatterton has become one of the most famous of literary suicides. To the Romantics in the nineteenth century, the premature death of this precocious genius became a source of inspiration. His suicide inspired Vigny's melodramatic play Chatterton, and forty years later, Leoncavallo's opera spread to Italy. The Pre-Raphaelites, especially Rossetti, were fascinated by his death. In the twentieth century, the eccentric scholar and poet E. W. Meyerstein developed a lifelong passion for him.

Linda Kelly explores the development, pervasiveness and astonishing persistence of the Chatterton legend, throwing new and revealing light on the writers and artists who admired him.

'A book that leaves out nothing important and yet keeps us reading like a novel.' John Wain

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1770, at the end of his tether, the seventeen-year-old poet Thomas Chatterton, penniless and starving, despairing of success and tormented by a sense of failure, committed suicide in his garret room.

Within a few years he was transformed into a legend. In the dawning Romantic Movement, he became a symbol of some of its most powerful preoccupations - suicide, youth and neglected genius.

During the two ensuing centuries, Chatterton has become one of the most famous of literary suicides. To the Romantics in the nineteenth century, the premature death of this precocious genius became a source of inspiration. His suicide inspired Vigny's melodramatic play Chatterton, and forty years later, Leoncavallo's opera spread to Italy. The Pre-Raphaelites, especially Rossetti, were fascinated by his death. In the twentieth century, the eccentric scholar and poet E. W. Meyerstein developed a lifelong passion for him.

Linda Kelly explores the development, pervasiveness and astonishing persistence of the Chatterton legend, throwing new and revealing light on the writers and artists who admired him.

'A book that leaves out nothing important and yet keeps us reading like a novel.' John Wain

More books from Faber & Faber

Cover of the book The Old Men at the Zoo by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Gerry Adams: An Unauthorised Life by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Woozy the Wizard: A Present for Pig by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Borgon the Axeboy and the Prince's Shadow by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book The Sleep of Reason by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Eric Gill by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book The Price of Everything by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Children of the Country by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Three Types of Solitude by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book The Paris Trap by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Women in Print by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Fairport Convention and Electric Folk by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book The Lady from the Sea by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Titanic by Linda Kelly
Cover of the book Reading Chaucer's Poems by Linda Kelly
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy