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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: William Henry Smith

Author: William Henry Smith (1808–1872)

Biography: William Henry Smith was born in 1808 in Hammersmith. He attended Radley School and Glasgow University. He studied law and was called to the bar, but he never practiced. Smith began contributing to the press, including the Literary Gazette and Athenaeum, and became the philosophical critic for Blackwood's Magazine. Besides drama and poetry, he produced three philosphical novels: Ernesto (1835), Thorndale (1857), and Gravenhurst (1862). He died in 1872 in Brighton.

Author Tags:

References: DNB; Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition); Sutherland

Fiction Titles:

  1. Ernesto: A Philosophical Romance.  1 vol.  London: Smith, Elder, 1835.
  2. Thorndale: or, The Conflict of Opinion.  1 vol.  Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1857.
  3. Gravenhurst: or, Thoughts on Good and Evil.  1 vol.  Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1862.