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Arthur Symons (1) (1865–1945)

Author of Collected Drawings of Aubrey Beardsley

For other authors named Arthur Symons, see the disambiguation page.

Arthur Symons (1) has been aliased into Arthur William Symons.

79+ Works 955 Members 6 Reviews 3 Favorited

About the Author

Arthur William Symons was born on February 28, 1965 in Wales. He was a British poet, magzine editor and critic. In 1884 - 1886 he edited four of Bernard Quaritch's Shakespeare Quarto Facsimiles, and in 1888 -1889 seven plays of the "Henry Irving" Shakespeare. His major editorial feat was his work show more with the short-lived Savoy. His first volume of verse, Days and Nights (1889), consisted of dramatic monologues. His later verse is influenced by a close study of modern French writers, of Charles Baudelaire, and especially of Paul Verlaine. He reflects French tendencies both in the subject-matter and style of his poems.. Symons contributed poems and essays to The Yellow Book, including an important piece which was later expanded into The Symbolist Movement in Literature, which would have a major influence on William Butler Yeats and T. S. Eliot. From late 1895 through 1896 he edited, along with Aubrey Beardsley, The Savoy, a literary magazine. Noteworthy contributors included Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and Joseph Conrad. Symons was also a member of the Rhymer's Club founded by Yeats in 1890. In 1892, The Minister's Call, Symons's first play, was produced by the Independent Theatre Society - A Private Club. Arthur Symons passed away in January 1945. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo by Alvin Langdon Coburn. Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)

Series

Works by Arthur Symons

Works have been aliased into Arthur William Symons.

Collected Drawings of Aubrey Beardsley (1967) — Composer; Introduction — 426 copies, 2 reviews
The Symbolist Movement in Literature (1958) 136 copies, 1 review
The Art of Aubrey Beardsley (2018) — Introduction — 36 copies
Spiritual Adventures (1977) 20 copies
Silhouettes (2013) 13 copies
William Blake (1907) 12 copies, 2 reviews
Aubrey Beardsley (1966) 11 copies
Studies in Seven Arts (1984) 9 copies
London nights (1896) 9 copies
Amoris Victima (2013) 8 copies, 1 review
Dramatis Personae (1977) 6 copies
Poems (1924) 5 copies
Days and nights (2013) 5 copies
The Savoy 5 copies
London: a Book of Aspects (2017) 5 copies
Lyrics 5 copies
Cities of Italy 5 copies
Colour studies in Paris (2016) 5 copies
Mes souvenirs 4 copies
Images of good and evil (1996) 4 copies
A book of twenty songs (2015) 4 copies
Cities 3 copies
A study of Oscar Wilde (1976) 3 copies
Wanderings, 3 copies
Tragedies (1916) 3 copies
Poems, vol. 1 (1911) 3 copies
Eleonora Duse (1926) 2 copies
Poems, vol. 2 (1914) 2 copies
Love's cruelty 2 copies
King Henry V (2015) 1 copy
Il Piacere 1 copy
John Donne 1 copy
Lesbia and Other Poems (2013) 1 copy

Associated Works

Works have been aliased into Arthur William Symons.

The Story of My Life (1789) — Introduction, some editions — 1,252 copies, 14 reviews
The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (1873) — Introduction, some editions — 1,249 copies, 7 reviews
The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter (1849) — Introduction, some editions — 288 copies, 7 reviews
The Standard Book of British and American Verse (1932) — Contributor — 130 copies, 1 review
Decadent Poetry (2006) — Contributor — 103 copies
An Introduction to Poetry (1968) — Contributor — 72 copies, 1 review
The Poems And Prose Of Ernest Dowson (1919) — Memoir, some editions — 61 copies
The Yellow Book: A Selection (1950) — Contributor, some editions — 46 copies
The Yellow Book: An Anthology, April 1894 - April 1897 (1896) — Contributor — 45 copies
The Victorian age: prose, poetry, and drama (1938) — Contributor — 40 copies, 1 review
The Poems of Ernest Dowson (2015) — Introduction, some editions — 40 copies
Fairy Poems (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series) (2023) — Contributor — 34 copies
Essays (2010) — Editor, some editions; Introduction — 34 copies
Philip Massinger (1970) — Editor, some editions; Introduction — 28 copies
The Golden Threshold (2004) — Introduction, some editions — 21 copies
A Midwinter Entertainment 2016 (2016) — Contributor — 19 copies
Poems (1964) — Editor, some editions — 16 copies
Little French Masterpieces (1903) — Introduction — 15 copies
The Religion of Beauty: Selections from the Aesthetes (1950) — Contributor — 11 copies
Nero and other plays (2007) — Editor — 11 copies
Men and Women: The Poetry of Love (1970) — Contributor — 9 copies
British Poetry and Prose 1870-1905 (Oxford Authors) (1987) — Contributor — 9 copies
The Decadent Short Story: An Annotated Anthology (2014) — Contributor — 8 copies, 1 review
Bachelor's Quarters, Stories from Two Worlds (1944) — Contributor — 7 copies
Poems of Coleridge (2006) — Editor, some editions — 6 copies
The Bibelot, Volume XIX (1913) — Contributor — 5 copies
The good-humoured ladies: a comedy (1758) — Introduction, some editions — 3 copies
Poems of Keats (1910) — Composer, some editions — 2 copies
From the nineties (1982) — Contributor — 1 copy
Essays of the year (1929-1930) (1930) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Symons, Arthur
Legal name
Symons, Arthur William
Birthdate
1865-02-28
Date of death
1945-01-22
Gender
male
Education
privately educated
Occupations
critic
poet
magazine editor
Organizations
Rhymers' Club
Nationality
UK
Birthplace
Milford Haven, Wales, UK
Places of residence
Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, UK
Place of death
Wittersham, Kent, England, UK
Map Location
Wales, UK

Members

Reviews

6 reviews
The smaller lyrical pieces were what I've come to expect from Symons, but I found it really difficult to maintain interest through the final series of poems in rhymed couplets--they're just not my thing, and I don't think they show Symons at his best.
Fascinating biography by the poet of dirty sheets, in many ways the perfect writer on Blake.
Another bit of essential reading for my thesis, but not the kind of thing I'd stick out for miscellany. Does make me think how lucky I am that so much of my prospectus book list is stuff I genuinely care about and would read even if I didn't have to write dozens of pages about.
From my high school days, this vivid book is an excellent and far-reaching collection of the talented, stylized illlustrator, covering subjects contemporary to classic.

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Statistics

Works
79
Also by
35
Members
955
Rating
3.9
Reviews
6
ISBNs
126
Languages
3
Favorited
3

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