Thackeray
WILLIAM MAKE- PEACE, an English novelist; born in Calcutta, India, July 18, 1811. At the age of seven Thackeray was sent to England for his education, and was placed at the Charterhouse School, London, afterward continuing his studies at Cambridge. He left the university without taking a degree; and being well provided for he chose the profession of artist. He and Italy, staying at Weimar, Rome, spent several years in France, Germany, Paris, but gradually became convinced that art was not his vocation, and having meanwhile lost his fortune, he resolved to turn his attention to literature. His first appearance in this sphere was as a journalist. Under the names of George Fitz-Boodle, Esq., or of Michael Angelo Titmarsh, he contributed to "Frazer's Magazine" tales, criticisms, verses, etc., which were marked by great knowledge of the world, keen irony, or playful humor. It was in this magazine that "The Great Hoggarty Diamond," "Yellowplush Papers," and "Barry Lyndon" appeared. In 1840 he published separately the "Paris Sketch-book," in 1841 the "Second Funeral of Napoleon" and the "Chronicle of the Drum," and in 1843 the "Irish Sketch-book." None of these writings, however, attained to any great popularity. In 1841 "Punch" was started, and his contributions to that periodical, among others, "Jeame's Diary" and the "Snob Papers," were very successful. In 1846-1848 his novel of "Vanity Fair" was published in monthly parts, with illustrations by himself; and long before its completion its author was unanimously placed in the first rank of British novelists. His next novel was the "History of Pendennis," completed in 1850. In 1851 he delivered a course of lectures in London on the "English Humorists of the 18th Century," which were repeated in Scotland and America, and published in 1853. Another novel, "The History of Henry Esmond," appeared in 1852, and was followed by "The Newcomes" (1855), "The Virginians" (1859), a sort of sequel to Esmond; "Lovel the Widower," "The Adventures of Philip," and "Denis Duval," which was left unfinished at his death. In 1855-56 he delivered a series of lectures in the United States- "The Four Georges," and afterward in England and Scotland. In 1859 he became editor of the "Cornhill Magazine," in which his later novels and the remarkable "Roundabout Papers" appeared, but he retired from that post in 1862. He THALASSINIDÆ wrote a good deal of verse, half-humorous, half-pathetic, and often wholly extravagant, but all characterized by grace and spontaneity. He undoubtedly ranks as the classical English humorist and satirist of the Victorian reign, and one of the greatest novelists, essayists, and critics in the literature. A collection of letters by Thackeray was published in 1887. He died in Kensington Palace Gardens, London, Dec. 24, 1863. reign,