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WELCOME!
The E-BNR aims to build a comprehensive & unique cross-artform guide to
the British neo-Romantic tradition,
from 1880 to the present day.
While the British Romantics of 1789-1824 have spawned a vast industry of
publishers, conferences & tourism, the later neo-Romantic traditions
remain largely neglected. The E-BNR is aimed at bringing this hidden
tradition to light.
PayPal donations are very welcome! Click the
button below to make a small donation to ongoing site costs. Thanks!
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WHAT IS NEO-ROMANTICISM ?
Neo-Romantic artists have drawn their inspiration
from artists of the age of Romanticism or earlier.
Characteristic themes in their work include a
mystical approach to the British landscape...
read more....
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ENTRY: Jefferies, Richard
John Richard Jefferies (b. November 6, 1848 - d. August 14, 1887 ) was an
English nature writer, essayist, novelist and journalist.
He was born at Coate, near Swindon, Wiltshire, the son of a farmer. From early in life he showed a
great love of the countryside, but was temperamentally unsuited to follow his father as a
farmer, and in 1866 he found employment as a newspaper reporter for the North Wiltshire Herald.
His children's books, Wood Magic (1881) is regarded as a minor classic.
After London (1885) is a novel of the type that could be best described as "post-holocaust science fiction";
after some sudden and unspecified catastrophe has depopulated England, the countryside reverts to
nature, and the few survivors to a quasi-medieval way of life. The first chapters consist
solely of a loving description of nature reclaiming England: fields becoming overrun by forest,
domesticated animals running wild, roads and towns becoming overgrown, the hated London
reverting to lake and poisonous swampland. The rest of the story is a romantic
adventure/quest set many years later in the wild landscape and society; but the
opening chapters set an example for many later science fiction and 'future-fantasy' stories.
He died at Goring-on-Sea, Sussex, having lived for some time in Eltham on the south-east fringes of London.
After his death, a number of posthumous collections were made of his writings previously
published in newspapers and magazines, beginning with Field and Hedgerow (1889),
edited by his widow. New collections have appeared over the century following his
birth, but even now not all have been reprinted in book form.
Jefferies' works inspired Henry Williamson to take up writing ; Williamson edited
a collection of Jefferies' writings with a title that indicates the great regard that he held for Jefferies:
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Made in Staffordshire, England. © 2007.
Last updated: 18th Jan 2007. Site search by PicoSearch.
Some of the initial E-BNR text was sourced or partly derived from Wikipedia, used here under the GNU licence. |
