A. C. Benson
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Arthur Christopher Benson (24 April 1862 – 17 June 1925), was a British essayist, poet and author, and the 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Benson was one of six children of Edward White Benson, a late nineteenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury. An uncle of the family was philosopher Henry Sidgwick. The Benson family was exceptionally literate and accomplished, but their history was somewhat tragic. A son and daughter died young, and another daughter, as well as Arthur himself, suffered badly from a mental condition that was probably manic-depressive psychosis, which they had inherited from their father. None of the children ever married.
Despite his illness, Arthur was a distinguished academic and a most prolific author. He was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge.[1] From 1885 to 1903 he taught at Eton, returning to Cambridge to lecture in English literature for Magdalene College. From 1915 to 1925 he was Master of Magdalene.
His poems and volumes of essays, such as From a College Window, were famous in his day, and he left one of the longest diaries ever written, some four million words. Today he is best remembered as the author of the words to one of Britain's best-loved patriotic songs, Land of Hope and Glory, and as a brother to novelist E. F. Benson.
He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge.
[edit] Works
- Poems set to music by Edward Elgar: "In the Dawn", "Speak, Music", "Speak, my Heart!", and the "Coronation Ode" including "Land of Hope and Glory" (1901-1902)
- The Hill of Trouble and Other Stories (1903)
- The Isles of Sunset (1904)
- The Child of the Dawn (1911)
- Paul the Minstrel and Other Stories (1911)
- Escape and Other Essays (1916)
- Basil Netherby (1926)
[edit] References
- ^ Benson, Arthur Christopher in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
- Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. pp. 39. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.
- Wilson, Keith. "A. C. Benson," in Robert Beum, ed., Dictionary of Literary Biography: British Essayists, 1880-1960. Detroit: Gale, 1990, 192-204.
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: A. C. Benson |
- Essays by Arthur Benson at Quotidiana.org
- Representative Poetry Online
- Works by A. C. Benson at Project Gutenberg
- Picture of grave of A. C. Benson, Ascension Parish Burial Ground, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge
- A.C. Benson at Find-A-Grave
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Stuart Alexander Donaldson |
Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge 1915–1925 |
Succeeded by Allen Beville Ramsay |
