George MacDonald
Congregational minister, writer, poet, novelist | |
---|---|
Education | University of Aberdeen |
Period | 19th century |
Genre | Children's literature |
Notable works |
|
Spouse |
Louisa Powell (m. 1851) |
George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian
Early life
George MacDonald was born on 10 December 1824 in
MacDonald grew up in an unusually literate environment: one of his maternal uncles,
An account cited how the young George suffered lapses in health in his early years and was subject to problems with his lungs such as asthma, bronchitis and even a bout of tuberculosis.[4] This last illness was considered a family disease and two of MacDonald's brothers, his mother, and later three of his own children died from the illness.[5] Even in his adult life, he was constantly traveling in search of purer air for his lungs.[6]
MacDonald grew up in the
MacDonald graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1845 with a degree in chemistry and physics.[7] He spent the next several years struggling with matters of faith and deciding what to do with his life.[8] His son, biographer Greville MacDonald, stated that his father could have pursued a career in the medical field but he speculated that lack of money put an end to this prospect.[9] It was only in 1848 that MacDonald began theological training at Highbury College for the Congregational ministry.[10][11]
Early career
MacDonald was appointed minister of Trinity Congregational Church, Arundel, in 1850,[10][11] after briefly serving as a locum minister in Ireland.[8] However, his sermons—which preached God's universal love and that everyone was capable of redemption—met with little favour[12] and his salary was cut in half.[10] In May 1853, MacDonald tendered his resignation from his pastoral duties at Arundel.[13] Later he was engaged in ministerial work in Manchester, leaving that because of poor health.[10] An account cited the role of Lady Byron in convincing MacDonald to travel to Algiers in 1856 with the hope that the sojourn would help turn his health around.[13] When he got back, he settled in London and taught for some time at the University of London.[10] MacDonald was also for a time editor of Good Words for the Young.
Writing career
This section needs expansion with: with a sourced, scholarly summary of MacDonald's major genres and works, providing summaries of the published perspectives of others, regarding them. You can help by adding to it. (March 2017) |
MacDonald's first realistic novel David Elginbrod was published in 1863.[12]
MacDonald is often regarded as the founding father of modern fantasy writing.[12]
His best-known works are
After his literary success, MacDonald went on to do a lecture tour in the United States in 1872–1873, after being invited to do so by a lecture company, the Boston Lyceum Bureau. On the tour, MacDonald lectured about other poets such as Robert Burns, Shakespeare, and Tom Hood. He performed this lecture to great acclaim, speaking in Boston to crowds in the neighbourhood of three thousand people.[15]
MacDonald served as a mentor to Lewis Carroll; it was MacDonald's advice, and the enthusiastic reception of Alice by MacDonald's many sons and daughters, that convinced Carroll to submit Alice for publication.[16] Carroll, one of the finest Victorian photographers, also created photographic portraits of several of the MacDonald children.[17] MacDonald was also friends with John Ruskin and served as a go-between in Ruskin's long courtship with Rose La Touche.[16] While in America he was befriended by Longfellow and Walt Whitman.[18]
MacDonald's use of
This collection, as I have said, was designed not to revive MacDonald's literary reputation but to spread his religious teaching. Hence most of my extracts are taken from the three volumes of Unspoken Sermons. My own debt to this book is almost as great as one man can owe to another: and nearly all serious inquirers to whom I have introduced it acknowledge that it has given them great help—sometimes indispensable help toward the very acceptance of the Christian faith. ...
I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself. Hence his Christ-like union of tenderness and severity. Nowhere else outside the New Testament have I found terror and comfort so intertwined. ...
In making this collection I was discharging a debt of justice. I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him. But it has not seemed to me that those who have received my books kindly take even now sufficient notice of the affiliation. Honesty drives me to emphasize it.[20]
Others he influenced include J. R. R. Tolkien and Madeleine L'Engle.[3][10] MacDonald's non-fantasy novels, such as Alec Forbes, had their influence as well; they were among the first realistic Scottish novels, and as such MacDonald has been credited with founding the "kailyard school" of Scottish writing.[21]
Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence,[22]... in showing "how near both the best and the worst things are to us from the first ... and making all the ordinary staircases and doors and windows into magical things."[23]
Later life
In 1877 he was given a
In 1900 he moved into St George's Wood, Haslemere, a house designed for him by his son, Robert, its building overseen by his eldest son, Greville.[31]
George MacDonald died on 18 September 1905 in Ashtead, Surrey, England.[31] He was cremated in Woking, Surrey, and his ashes were buried in Bordighera, in the English cemetery, along with his wife Louisa and daughters Lilia and Grace.[31]
Personal life
This section needs expansion with: with source-based information on the whole of his family, spouse, and children, and other standard aspects of personal life. You can help by adding to it. (March 2017) |
MacDonald married Louisa Powell in Hackney in 1851, with whom he raised a family of eleven children: Lilia Scott (1852–1891), Mary Josephine (1853–1878), Caroline Grace (1854–1884), Greville Matheson (1856–1944), Irene (1857–1939), Winifred Louise (1858–1946), Ronald (1860–1933), Robert Falconer (1862–1913), Maurice (1864–1879), Bernard Powell (1865–1928), and George Mackay (1867–1909).
His son Greville became a noted medical specialist, a pioneer of the Peasant Arts movement, wrote numerous fairy tales for children, and ensured that new editions of his father's works were published.[32] Another son, Ronald, became a novelist.[33] His daughter Mary was engaged to the artist Edward Robert Hughes until her death in 1878. Ronald's son, Philip MacDonald (George MacDonald's grandson), became a Hollywood screenwriter.[34]
Tuberculosis caused the death of several family members, including Lilia, Mary Josephine, Grace, and Maurice, as well as one granddaughter and a daughter-in-law.[35] MacDonald was said to have been particularly affected by the death of Lilia, his eldest.
There is a blue plaque on his home at 20 Albert Street, Camden, London.[36]
Theology
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According to biographer William Raeper, MacDonald's theology "celebrated the rediscovery of God as Father, and sought to encourage an intuitive response to God and Christ through quickening his readers' spirits in their reading of the Bible and their perception of nature."[37]
MacDonald's oft-mentioned
MacDonald appears to have never felt comfortable with some aspects of Calvinist doctrine, feeling that its principles were inherently "unfair";
Chesterton noted that only a man who had "escaped" Calvinism could say that God is easy to please and hard to satisfy.[clarification needed][23]
MacDonald rejected the doctrine of
MacDonald was convinced that God does not punish except to amend, and that the sole end of His greatest anger is the amelioration of the guilty.[41] As the doctor uses fire and steel in certain deep-seated diseases, so God may use hell-fire if necessary to heal the hardened sinner. MacDonald declared, "I believe that no hell will be lacking which would help the just mercy of God to redeem his children."[42] MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "When we say that God is Love, do we teach men that their fear of Him is groundless?" He replied, "No. As much as they were will come upon them, possibly far more. ... The wrath will consume what they call themselves; so that the selves God made shall appear."[43]
However, true repentance, in the sense of freely chosen moral growth, is essential to this process, and, in MacDonald's optimistic view, inevitable for all beings (see
MacDonald states his theological views most distinctly in the sermon "Justice", found in the third volume of Unspoken Sermons.[44]
Bibliography
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: this listing of published works is not remotely adequate in each entry's completeness, and is not entirely internally consistent in style; lacking sources for the lists, they must contain complete entries to allow reader followup and editor verification. (March 2017) |
The following is an incomplete list of MacDonald's published works in the genre now referred to as fantasy:[according to whom?]
Fantasy
- Phantastes: A Fairie Romance for Men and Women (1858)
- "Cross Purposes" (1862)
- The Portent: A Story of the Inner Vision of the Highlanders, Commonly Called "The Second Sight" (1864)
- Dealings with the Fairies (1867), containing "The Golden Key", "The Light Princess", "The Shadows", and other short stories
- At the Back of the North Wind (1871)
- Works of Fancy and Imagination (1871), including "Within and Without", "Cross Purposes", "The Light Princess", "The Golden Key", and other works
- The Princess and the Goblin (1872)
- The Wise Woman: A Parable (1875) (Published also as "The Lost Princess: A Double Story"; or as "A Double Story".)
- Multiple versions with different content of The Light Princess and other Stories
- The Gifts of the Child Christ and Other Tales (1882; republished as Stephen Archer and Other Tales) 1908 edition by Edwin Dalton, London was illustrated by Hathi Trust.[45]
- The Day Boy and the Night Girl (1882)
- The Princess and Curdie (1883), a sequel to The Princess and the Goblin
- Lilith: A Romance (1895)
Fiction
- David Elginbrod (1863; republished in edited form as The Tutor's First Love), originally published in three volumes
- Adela Cathcart (1864); contains many fantasy stories told by the characters within the larger story, including "The Shadows".
- Alec Forbes of Howglen (1865; edited by Michael Phillips and republished as The Maiden's Bequest; edited to children's version by Michael Phillips and republished as Alec Forbes and His Friend Annie)
- Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood (1867)
- Guild Court: A London Story (1868; republished in edited form as The Prodigal Apprentice). 1908 edition by Edwin Dalton, London was illustrated by Hathi Trust.[46]
- Robert Falconer (1868; republished in edited form as The Musician's Quest)
- The Seaboard Parish (1869), a sequel to Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood
- Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood (republished in edited form as The Boyhood of Ranald Bannerman) (1871)
- Wilfrid Cumbermede (1871)
- The Vicar's Daughter (1871), a sequel to Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood and The Seaboard Parish. 1908 edition by Sampson Low and Company, London was illustrated by Cyrus Cuneo and G. H. Evison.
- The History of Gutta Percha Willie, the Working Genius (1873; republished in edited form as The Genius of Willie MacMichael), usually called simply Gutta Percha Willie
- Malcolm (1875)
- St. George and St. Michael (1876; edited by Dan Hamilton and republished as The Last Castle)
- Thomas Wingfold, Curate (1876; republished in edited form as The Curate's Awakening)
- The Marquis of Lossie (1877; republished in edited form as The Marquis' Secret), the second book of Malcolm
- ]
- Paul Faber, Surgeon (1879; republished in edited form as The Lady's Confession), a sequel to Thomas Wingfold, Curate
- Mary Marston (1881; republished in edited form as A Daughter's Devotion and The Shopkeeper's Daughter)
- Warlock o' Glenwarlock (1881; republished in edited form as Castle Warlock and The Laird's Inheritance)
- Weighed and Wanting (1882; republished in edited form as A Gentlewoman's Choice)
- Donal Grant (1883; republished in edited form as The Shepherd's Castle), a sequel to Sir Gibbie
- What's Mine's Mine (1886; republished in edited form as The Highlander's Last Song)
- Home Again: A Tale (1887; republished in edited form as The Poet's Homecoming)
- The Elect Lady (1888; republished in edited form as The Landlady's Master)
- A Rough Shaking (1891; republished in edited form as The Wanderings of Clare Skymer)
- There and Back (1891; republished in edited form as The Baron's Apprenticeship), a sequel to Thomas Wingfold, Curate and Paul Faber, Surgeon
- The Flight of the Shadow (1891)
- Heather and Snow (1893; republished in edited form as The Peasant Girl's Dream)
- Salted with Fire (1897; republished in edited form as The Minister's Restoration)
- Far Above Rubies (1898)
Poetry
The following is a list of MacDonald's published poetic works:[according to whom?]
- Twelve of the Spiritual Songs of Novalis (1851), privately printed translation of the poetry of Novalis
- Within and Without: A Dramatic Poem (1855)
- Poems. Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts. 1857.
- "A Hidden Life" and Other Poems (1864)
- "The Disciple" and Other Poems (1867)
- Exotics: A Translation of the Spiritual Songs of Novalis, the Hymn-book of Luther, and Other Poems from the German and Italian (1876)
- Dramatic and Miscellaneous Poems (1876)
- Diary of an Old Soul (1880)
- A Book of Strife, in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul (1880), privately printed
- The Threefold Cord: Poems by Three Friends (1883), privately printed, with Greville Matheson and John Hill MacDonald
- Poems. New York: E. P. Dutton. 1887.
- The Poetical Works of George MacDonald, 2 Volumes (1893)
- Scotch Songs and Ballads (1893)
- Rampolli: Growths from a Long-planted Root (1897)
Nonfiction
The following is a list of MacDonald's published works of non-fiction:[according to whom?]
- Unspoken Sermons (1867)
- England's Antiphon (1868, 1874)
- The Miracles of Our Lord (1870)
- Cheerful Words from the Writing of George MacDonald (1880), compiled by E. E. Brown
- Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare (1882)
- "Preface" (1884) to Letters from Hell (1866) by Valdemar Adolph Thisted
- The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: A Study With the Text of the Folio of 1623 (1885)
- Unspoken Sermons, Second Series (1885)
- Unspoken Sermons, Third Series (1889)
- A Cabinet of Gems, Cut and Polished by Sir Philip Sidney; Now, for the More Radiance, Presented Without Their Setting by George MacDonald (1891)
- The Hope of the Gospel (1892)
- A Dish of Orts (1893)
- Beautiful Thoughts from George MacDonald (1894), compiled by Elizabeth Dougall
See also
References
Footnotes
- ^ Raeper, William, George MacDonald (1987), pp. 15–17.
- ^ For more information on this massacre, see Anon. "The Massacre of Glen Coe". Scottish History: The making of the Union. BBC. Retrieved 6 November 2012. For more information on the site of the event, see "Site Record for Glencoe, National Trust For Scotland Glencoe Visitor Centre". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
- ^ a b c Johnson, K. J. (2014). "Rooted Deep: Discovering the Literary Identity of Mythopoeic Fantacist George MacDonald" (PDF). Linguaculture. 2. University of Iasi Press: 27f.
- ISBN 9781621070252.
- JSTOR 40858616.
- ^ "George MacDonald | Penguin Random House". www.penguinrandomhouse.com. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "Archives and Manuscripts – Special Collections – University of Aberdeen". calms.abdn.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9780718893590.
- ISBN 9780754668022.
- ^ a b c d e f g This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 ([[[Wikipedia:CC-BY-SA]] license statement/permission]). Text taken from Biography of MacDonald, PoemHunter.com.
- ^ a b "George MacDonald". Wheaton College. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ a b c "BBC Two – Writing Scotland – George MacDonald". BBC.
- ^ ISBN 9781625645074.
- ^ MacDonald, George (1893). A Dish of Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- ^ Seper, Charles. "USA Lecture Tour". The George MacDonald Informational Web. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ^ a b c Reis, Richard H. (1972). George MacDonald, pp. 25–34. Twayne Publishers, Inc.
- ^ Seper, Charles. "Lewis Carroll's association with George MacDonald". The George MacDonald Informational Web. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ISBN 978-1625645074. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ISBN 9780865547285. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ C. S. Lewis, ed. (1947). George MacDonald: An Anthology.
- ^ Sutherland, D. "The Founder of the New Scottish School." In The Critic, Volumes 30–31, 15 May 1897, p. 339. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ Macdonald, Greville (1924). George Macdonald and his wife. New York: MacVeagh. p. 9. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- ^ a b Macdonald 1924, Intro.
- ^ "George MacDonald: Scottish novelist, clergyman and author". Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ^ "George McDonald". Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ Valerie Lester, Marvels: the life of Clarence Bicknell, botanist, archaeologist, artist, Matador, 2018, pp. 57–62.
- ^ "George MacDonald Life Outline". Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ Skribita de Susie Bicknell. "In Clarence's Time – George MacDonald in Bordighera". clarencebicknell.com. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ^ "107 anni fa oggi moriva a Bordighera Edmondo De Amicis" [Edmondo De Amicis died today in Bordighera 107 years ago]. Bordighera.net (in Italian). 11 March 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ^ "Bordighera, A Record of a Visit (1997)". Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1625645074. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ^ MacDonald, Greville. "Greville MacDonald: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center". legacy.lib.utexas.edu.
- ^ "Who's who: An Annual Biographical Dictionary". A. & C. Black. 1 July 1907 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9781476604275– via Google Books.
- ISBN 9781621076070.
- ^ "George MacDonald". English Heritage. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ "George MacDonald's Theology". The George MacDonald WWW Page.
- ^ "An Orthodox Appreciation of George MacDonald". Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity.
- ^ "Unspoken Sermons by George MacDonald: Justice".
- ISBN 978-0871239440. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ISBN 9781587367984. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- ^ Johnson, Joseph (1906). George MacDonald: A Biographical and Critical Appreciation. Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd. p. 155. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- ISBN 978-0871239440. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ "Sermon "Justice", at Unspoken Sermons Third Series". Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- Hathi Trust(access may be limited outside the United States).
- Hathi Trust(access may be limited outside the United States).
Bibliography
Further reading
- Ankeny, Rebecca Thomas (2000). The story, the teller, and the audience in George MacDonald's fiction. Studies in British literature. Vol. 44. Lewiston, N.Y: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 9780773477285.
- Gerold, Thomas (2006). "Die Gotteskindschaft des Menschen Die theologische Anthropologie bei George MacDonald". Studien zur systematischen Theologie und Ethik (in German). 47. Münster: Lit Verlag.
- North Wind: A Journal of George MacDonald Studies. St. Norbert College. Wisconsin. ISSN 0265-7295
- Gray, W. (1998). "The Angel in the House of Death: Gender and Identity in George MacDonald's Lilith". In Hogan, A.; Bradstock, A. (eds.). Women of Faith in Victorian Culture. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-349-26751-4.
- Gray, William N. (1996). "George MacDonald, Julia Kristeva, and the Black Sun". Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 36 (4): 877–893. JSTOR 450980.
- Hein, Rolland (1993). George MacDonald : Victorian mythmaker. Nashville: Star Song Publishing Group. OCLC 28027567.
- Lewis, C. S. (2011). Surprised by joy: the shape of my early life ; The four loves. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. OCLC 694830039.
- Manlove, Colin (2016). Scotland's Forgotten Treasure: the Visionary Romances of George MacDonald. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press. OCLC 1048766002.
- McGillis, Roderick (1992). For the childlike: George MacDonald's fantasies for children. West Lafayette, Indiana : Metuchen, N.J: Children's Literature Association ; Scarecrow Press. OCLC 25630114.
- Macdonald, Greville (1998). George Macdonald and his wife. Whitethorn, California: Johannesen. OCLC 1023062503.
- MacDonald, George; Neuhouser, David L. (1990). George MacDonald : selections from his greatest works. New York: Victor Books. OCLC 1280796867.
- Pridmore, John Stuart (2000). "Doctorate". Transfiguring fantasy : spiritual development in the work of George MacDonald (PDF) (Thesis). Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- Rankin, Jamie (1989). "The Genesis of George MacDonald's Scottish Novels: Edelweiss Amid the Heather?". Studies in Scottish Literature. 24 (1).
- Raeper, William (1987). George MacDonald (1st ed.). Tring, Herts, England ; Batavia, Ill., USA: Lion Pub. OCLC 15856201.
- Robb, David S. (1987). George MacDonald. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. OCLC 895121431.
- Wolff, Robert Lee (1961). The golden key : a study of the fiction of George MacDonald. New Haven: Yale University Press. OCLC 361159.
- Reis, R. H. (September 1961). "The Golden Key: A Study of the Fiction of George MacDonald Robert Lee Wolff (review)". Nineteenth-Century Fiction. 16 (2): 182–185. JSTOR 2932484.
- Worthing, Mark William; MacDonald, George (2016). Phantastes : George MacDonald's classic fantasy novel. Northcote, Victoria: Stone Table Books. OCLC 976431182.
- Worthing, Mark William (2016). Front cover image for Narnia, Middle-earth and the Kingdom of God : a history of fantasy literature and the christian tradition Narnia, Middle-earth and the Kingdom of God : a history of fantasy literature and the christian tradition. Northcote, Victoria: Stone Table Books. OCLC 1048126271.
External links
Digital collections
- Works by George MacDonald in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
- Works by George MacDonald at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about George MacDonald at Internet Archive
- Christian Classics Ethereal Library
- Extracts from Scribner's Monthly, etc. containing a few poems and translations of Novalis (Cornell University's "Making of America" Journal Collection)
- Several Works Archived 3 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine at Penn State University's Electronic Classics (pdf format)
- Alec Forbes of Howglen. (Ebook/PDF format)
Physical collections
- The Marion E. Wade Center – George MacDonald research collection at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL
- George MacDonald Collection. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Audio collections
- Works by George MacDonald at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Audio recordings of GM Works ongoing
- Free audio recording of "The Golden Key" at librivox.org
Biographical information
- The George MacDonald Informational Web
- George MacDonald on The Victorian Web
- Life and Works of George MacDonald
Scholarly work
- Wingfold. A journal of George MacDonald. Published by Barbara Amell.
- The Works of George Macdonald Website related to Wingfold.
- The Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis and Friends – Taylor University at taylor.edu
Other links