DOBSON, AUSTIN

born Jan. 18, 1840, Plymouth, Devonshire, Eng. died Sept. 2, 1921, London in full Henry Austin Dobson English poet, critic, and biographer whose love and knowledge of the 18th century lent a graceful elegance to his poetry and inspired his critical studies. In 1856 Dobson entered the Board of Trade, where he remained until his retirement in 1901. Married in 1868, he became a father of 10 and lived in the London suburb of Ealing until his death at the age of 81. His first collection of poems, Vignettes in Rhyme (1873), was followed by Proverbs in Porcelain (1877). In these and in At the Sign of the Lyre (1885), Dobson showed the polish, wit, and restrained pathos that made his verses popular. The ease with which he handled the artificial French formsthe ballade, the triolet, and the rondeauhelped to revive their use in English. After 1885 Dobson was chiefly occupied with biographical and critical works: books on Henry Fielding, Thomas Bewick, Richard Steele, Oliver Goldsmith, Horace Walpole, William Hogarth, Samuel Richardson, and Fanny Burney revealed careful research into, and sympathy with, 18th-century life. Three series of Eighteenth Century Vignettes (189296) and A Paladin of Philanthropy (1899 and 1901) typify his delicate prose style.