Edward Dowden

• 1. Cork Birth And Early Years

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  Edward Dowden entered the world on the 3rd of May 1843 in Cork. He was the son of John Wheeler Dowden, a merchant and landowner. His brother John followed three years later and eventually became Bishop of Edinburgh in 1886. Literary tastes emerged early for Edward during a series of essays written at the age of twelve. Home education continued at Queen's College, Cork before he moved to Trinity College, Dublin. He contributed to the literary magazine Kottabos while still a student.

• 2. Shakespearean Critical Legacy

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  Dowden published his first book Shakspere: A Critical Study of His Mind and Art in 1875. This work resulted from a revision of a course of lectures he had delivered. It made him widely known as a critic across Europe. Translations appeared in German and Russian shortly after publication. His Poems went into a second edition in 1876. The Royal Irish Academy awarded him the Cunningham gold medal in 1878 for his literary writings. They specifically cited his field of Shakespearian criticism. Later works included an edition of Sonnets of William Shakespere in 1881. He also edited Passionate Pilgrim in 1883 and Introduction to Shakespeare in 1893.

• 3. Romantic Poetry Scholarship

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  The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley published in 1886 made Dowden best known to the public at large. In 1900 he edited an edition of Shelley's complete works. Other books indicated his deep interest in literature beyond Shakespeare. He wrote Southey in the English Men of Letters series in 1879. An edition of Southey's Correspondence with Caroline Bowles followed in 1881. Select Poems of Southey appeared in 1895. He edited Wordsworth's Poetical Works in 1892 and Lyrical Ballads in 1890. His devotion to Goethe led to succeeding Max Müller as president of the English Goethe Society in 1888.

• 4. Academic Leadership And Lectureships

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  In 1867 he was elected professor of oratory and English literature in Dublin University. He became president of the Philosophical Society during his academic career. He won the vice-chancellor's prize for English verse and prose. The first senior moderatorship in ethics and logic also went to him. Later he gave the first annual Taylorian Lecture at the University of Oxford in 1889. From 1892 to 1896 he served as Clark lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge. His research included the first account of Thomas Carlyle's Lectures on periods of European culture. These lectures established his reputation across British universities.

• 5. Political Service And Public Roles

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  Dowden served as commissioner of education in Ireland from 1896 until 1901. He acted as trustee of the National Library of Ireland during this period. He held the position of secretary of the Irish Liberal Union. He also served as vice-president of the Irish Unionist Alliance. He enforced his view that literature should not be divorced from practical life. His biographical concepts regarding Shakespeare were later played with by Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce's Ulysses. Leslie Fiedler would play with them again in The Stranger in Shakespeare. Dowden married twice first in 1866 to Mary Clerke and secondly in 1895 to Elizabeth Dickinson West.

• 6. Scholarly Discoveries And Research

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  His research identified a manuscript diary of Fabre d'Églantine among other matters of literary interest. A record by Dr Wilhelm Weissenborn documented Goethe's last days and death. He discovered a Narrative of a Prisoner of War under Napoleon published in Blackwood's Magazine. An unknown pamphlet by Bishop Berkeley came to light through his work. Unpublished writings of William Hayley relating to Cowper were found. A unique copy of the Tales of Terror was located. He identified Shelley as the author of a review in The Critical Review of December 1814. This review covered a romance by Thomas Jefferson Hogg. These discoveries demonstrated his wide interests and scholarly methods.