thumb|right|Henry Morley, circa 1888

Henry Morley (15 September 1822 – 14 May 1894) was an English academic who was one of the earliest professors of English literature in Great Britain. He also authored a popular book featuring biographies of notable English writers.

Life

The son of apothecary Henry Morley, the younger Morley was born in Hatton Garden, London. He was educated at a Moravian Church school in Neuwied, Germany at the age of ten, from 1833 to 1835, then he attended a preparatory school in Stockwell and entered King's College London in 1838 for medical studies. Morley graduated in 1843 and became part of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, a professional organization, that same year.

Morley worked as a physician in partnership with another doctor in Madeley, Shropshire, but it turned into a financial failure because of the dishonesty of his partner who was unlicensed.

Morley's biography was written in 1898 by Henry Shaen Solly, his son-in-law and former student.

Morley died on 14 May 1894 in Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight and is buried at Carisbrooke Cemetery. drawing on the concept of a universal library, was published from 1883 by George Routledge. Cassell's National Library was published from 1886, totalling 209 weekly editions.

Morley was the author of biographies on Bernard Palissy, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Gerolamo Cardano and Clément Marot. He also wrote introductions to two books written by John Locke—the 1884 edition of "Two Treatises of Government" and the 1889 edition of "A Letter Concerning Toleration".

Morley's principal work, however, was English Writers (10 volumes 1864-94), coming down to William Shakespeare. His First Sketch of English Literature—the study for the larger work—had reached at his death a circulation of 34,000 copies.

References

  • 'The Life of Henry Morley' by Henry Shaen Solly
  • Rhode Island College webpage on Morley
  • Victorian Web page on Morley
  • Gairdner, James (1894). "Morley, Henry". In Dictionary of National Biography. 39. London. pp. 78–79
  • Grave marker at Carisbrooke Cemetery