This Long Pursuit: Reflections Of A Romantic Biographer

This Long Pursuit: Reflections Of A Romantic Biographer by Richard Holmes


ISBN
9780007386949
Published
Released
21 / 11 / 2016
Binding
Hardcover
Pages
368
Dimensions
159 x 240 x 37mm

A confessional chronicle and pilgrimage that takes biographer Richard Holmes across three centuries, through much of Europe and into both his intellectual passions as well as the lively company of many earlier biographers. Central to his book is a powerful evocation of the lives of women – both scientific and literary.

‘If our world is to be saved, we must understand it both scientifically and imaginatively'. So writes biographer Richard Holmes in This Long Pursuit, a kaleidoscope of stories and meditations in which he revisits two hundred working notebooks, and celebrates his beloved art of biography, calling it the vital ‘handshake across time, cultures, beliefs, disciplines and genders.Ranging widely over art, science and poetry, Holmes confesses to a lifetime's obsession with his Romantic subjects – a pursuit or pilgrimage of the heart that takes him across three centuries, through much of Europe and into the lively company of many earlier biographers.

Central to this quest is a powerful and tender evocation of the lives of women, both scientific and literary – some well-known and some almost lost: Margaret Cavendish, Mary Somerville, Germaine de Staël, Mary Wollstonecraft and the Dutch intellectual, Zèlide.The book also reviews the controversial reputations of some favourite Romantic figures:

• the love-stunned Keats,
• the water-logged poet Shelley,
• the chocolate-box painter Thomas Lawrence,
• the opium-soaked genius Coleridge,
• and the mad-visionary bard, William Blake.

The diversity of Holmes's material is testimony to his empathy, his erudition and his enquiring spirit; and also sometimes to his mischief. He offers a unique insider's account of a biographer at work: travelling, teaching, researching, fantasising, forgetting, and even ballooning. From this great chronicler of the Romantics now comes a chronicle of himself and his intellectual passions. This Long Pursuit contains his most personal and seductive writing.
Christmas Catalogue 2024 x BookFrenzy
46.74
RRP: $54.99
15% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $54.99
This Long Pursuit: Reflections Of A Romantic Biographer is Out of Print

Other Titles by Richard Holmes


You might also like

Three Women
22.99
19.54
15% Off
Question 7
35.00
29.75
15% Off
The Trauma Cleaner
24.99
21.24
15% Off
Maid
22.99
19.54
15% Off
My Friend Anne Frank
24.99
21.24
15% Off
For Life
34.99
29.74
15% Off
The Friday Afternoon Club
34.99
29.74
15% Off
Wed by the Wayside
34.99
29.74
15% Off
Sassafras
34.99
29.74
15% Off
Strong Female Character
24.99
21.24
15% Off
Kitchen Sentimental
34.99
29.74
15% Off
Tiny Beautiful Things
24.99
21.24
15% Off
Model Minority Gone Rogue
34.99
29.74
15% Off

RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.