GOSSE

gosse, edmund (1849- ), english poet and critic, was born in london on the 21st of september 1849, son of the zoologist p. h. gosse. in 1867 he became an assistant in the department of printed books in the british museum, where he remained until he became in 1875 translator to the board of trade. in 1904 he was appointed librarian to the house of lords. in 1884-1890 he was clark lecturer in english literature at trinity college, cambridge. himself a writer of literary verse of much grace, and master of a prose style admirably expressive of a wide and appreciative culture, he was conspicuous for his valuable work in bringing foreign literature home to english readers. _northern studies_ (1879), a collection of essays on the literature of holland and scandinavia, was the outcome of a prolonged visit to those countries, and was followed by later work in the same direction. he translated ibsen's _hedda gabler_ (1891), and, with w. archer, _the master-builder_ (1893), and in 1907 he wrote a life of ibsen for the "literary lives" series. he also edited the english translation of the works of bjornson. his services to scandinavian letters were acknowledged in 1901, when he was made a knight of the norwegian order of st olaf of the first class. mr gosse's published volumes of verse include _on viol and flute_ (1873), _king erik_ (1876), _new poems_ (1879), _firdausi in exile_ (1885), _in russet and silver_ (1894), _collected poems_ (1896). _hypolympia, or the gods on the island_ (1901), an "ironic phantasy," the scene of which is laid in the 20th century, though the personages are greek gods, is written in prose, with some blank verse. his _seventeenth century studies_ (1883), _life of william congreve_ (1888), _the jacobean poets_ (1894), _life and letters of dr john donne, dean of st paul's_ (1899), _jeremy taylor_ (1904, "english men of letters"), and _life of sir thomas browne_ (1905) form a very considerable body of critical work on the english 17th-century writers. he also wrote a life of thomas gray, whose works he edited (4 vols., 1884); _a history of eighteenth century literature_ (1889); a _history of modern english literature_ (1897), and vols. iii. and iv. of an _illustrated record of english literature_ (1903-1904) undertaken in connexion with dr richard garnett. mr gosse was always a sympathetic student of the younger school of french and belgian writers, some of his papers on the subject being collected as _french profiles_ (1905). _critical kit-kats_ (1896) contains an admirable criticism of j. m. de heredia, reminiscences of lord de tabley and others. he edited heinemann's series of "literature of the world" and the same publisher's "international library." to the 9th edition of the _encyclopaedia britannica_ he contributed numerous articles, and his services as chief literary adviser in the preparation of the 10th and 11th editions incidentally testify to the high position held by him in the contemporary world of letters. in 1905 he was entertained in paris by the leading _litterateurs_ as a representative of english literary culture. in 1907 mr gosse published anonymously _father and son_, an intimate study of his own early family life. he married ellen, daughter of dr g. w. epps, and had a son and two daughters.