John B. Tabb
John B. Tabb | |
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 Rev. John B. Tabb, the poet-priest | |
| Born | John Banister Tabb March 22, 1845 Amelia County, Virginia |
| Died | November 19, 1909 (aged 64) Ellicott City, Maryland |
| Occupation(s) | Priest, poet, professor |
| Relatives | William Barksdale Tabb (brother) |
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John Banister Tabb[a] (March 22, 1845 – November 19, 1909) was an American poet, Roman Catholic priest, and professor of English.
Biography
Tabb was born in Amelia County, Virginia, on March 22, 1845.[1] One of his brothers was William Barksdale Tabb, a lawyer and officer in the Confederate States Army.[2]
A member of one of the state's oldest and wealthiest families, Tabb served on a blockade runner for the Confederacy during the Civil War, and spent eight months in a Union prison camp, where he formed a lifelong friendship with poet Sidney Lanier. Tabb converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1872, and taught literature at Saint Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland, in 1878.[3]
Tabb was ordained as a priest in 1884, after which he retained his academic position. Plagued by eye problems his whole life, he continued to teach though he lost his sight completely about a year before his death.[4] He died at Saint Charles College on November 19, 1909.[5]
Father Tabb (as he was commonly known) was widely published in popular and prestigious magazines of the day, including
English poet Alice Meynell made A Selection from the Verses of John B. Tabb (1906). His biographer, Francis A. Litz, a former student of Tabb's, published previously uncollected poems and previously unpublished poems in Father Tabb: A Study of His Life and Works (1923); Litz also edited a collected edition, The Poetry of Father Tabb (1928). A literary biography of him was published by a Catholic sister who was also a well-known writer, Mary Paulina Finn, V. H. M., who published as M. S. Pine.[6]
The Tabb Monument in Amelia County is dedicated to his memory.[7]
Notes
- ^ Although often misspelled as "Bannister", the poet's middle name is spelled with a single 'n' as "Banister".
References
- ^ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. XIII. James T. White & Company. 1906. pp. 249–250. Retrieved August 20, 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Tabb Family in the United States: Thomas Yelverton Tabb". tabbfamilyhistory.com. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
- ^ "IV. The New South: Lanier. § 15. Tabb.". The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. Vol. XVI.
- ^ Duggan, Thomas (1912). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. pp. Vol. 14. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
- ^ "Father Tabb is Dead". The Baltimore Sun. November 20, 1909. p. 16. Retrieved August 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Pine, M. S. (1915). John Bannister Tabb: The Priest-Poet. Washington, DC: Georgetown Visitation Monastery.
- ^ "The Tabb Monument". virginia.gov. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
Further reading
- Litz, Francis A. Father Tabb: A Study of His Life and Works. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1923).
External links
Works
- Works by John B. Tabb at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about John B. Tabb at Internet Archive
- Works by John B. Tabb at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Poetry
- Poems (1894) (Page Images)
- Lyrics (1897) (Page Images)
- Child Verse (1899) (Page Images)
- Later Lyrics (1902) (Page Images)
- The Rosary in Rhyme (1904) (Page Images)
- Quips and Quiddits (1907) (Page Images)
- A Selection from the Verses of John B. Tabb (1906/1910) (Page Images)
- Later Poems (1910) (Page Images)
Prose
Biographies
Other
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "John Bannister Tabb". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.- "Poetry by John B. Tabb: A Centenary Selection"
- Brief review of John B. Tabb's first book of poetry in June 1895 edition of The Bookman (New York)
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