Henry Theodore Tuckerman

Henry Theodore Tuckerman was born on April 20, 1813, in Boston, Massachusetts.

His first cousins included Edward Tuckerman (1817–1886), the botanist, Samuel Parkman Tuckerman (1819–1890), the composer, Sophia May Eckley (1823-1874),[1] the writer and spiritualist medium, and Frederick Goddard Tuckerman (1821–1873), the poet.[2]

He was a sympathetic and delicate critic, with a graceful style. He wrote extensively both in prose and verse. He traveled extensively in Italy, which influenced his choice of subjects in his earlier writings. These include The Italian Sketchbook (1835); his only novel, Isabel; or Sicily. A Pilgrimage (1839);[3] Thoughts on the Poets (1846); two volumes of verse, Poems (1851) and A Sheaf of Verse Bound for the Fair (1864); Leaves from the Diary of a Dreamer: Found among his Papers (1853); Essays, Biographical and Critical: or, Studies of Character (1857); The Criterion; Or the Test of Talk About Familiar Things. A Series of Essays (1866); and Book of the Artists: American Artist Life, Comprising Biographical and Critical Sketches of American Artists: Preceded by an Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of Art in America (1867).

Articles that Tuckerman wrote for The Knickerbocker magazine include Love in a Lazzaret (1838), a vignette from his travels in Italy, New York Artists (1856), Something About Wine (1858), Newport Out of Season (1858), Italia Libera (1861), Paris: And Life There (1861), Obituary of John W. Francis, M.D., LL.D. (1861).

Tuckerman, "as America's most knowledgeable and dedicated Italophile, missed few opportunities to argue the case for Italian freedom, even though he expressed doubt ... whether Italians were ready to govern themselves. He read and spoke Italian [and] made extended visits to Italy in 1833-34 and 1837-38...."[4] Tuckerman was a close friend of Herman Melville's[5] and was prominent in the literary life of New York City after 1845.

Tuckerman wrote a book review[6] for the North American Review[7] that indirectly led to the United States offering Giuseppe Garibaldi a position as major general in the Union army during the Civil War.[8] The review included a glowing tribute to Garibaldi.[9] When it reached Garibaldi in Italy, he asked his friend Augusto Vecchi to write a letter of thanks on his behalf. Vecchi did so and also enclosed his own letter suggesting that the United States invite Garibaldi to aid the Union cause. The suggestion reached President Abraham Lincoln, the offer was made, but no agreement was reached because Garibaldi demanded the power to free the slaves, which Lincoln was not ready to do in 1861, and because, as the result of a misunderstanding, Garibaldi thought that he was being offered the supreme command of the Union army.[10][11]

Tuckerman died of pneumonia on December 17, 1871[12] and his funeral was held on December 20, 1871 in New York.[13]

Notes

Sources

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910), "Tuckerman, Henry Theodore", A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource
• This article incorporates public domain text from: Brewer, David J. (1902). Crowned Masterpieces of Literature. St. Louis, Ferd. P. Kaiser.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henry Theodore Tuckerman.

• Works by Henry T. Tuckerman at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Henry Theodore Tuckerman at Internet Archive
• A Defense of Enthusiasm
• Tuckerman quotes
• "Tuckerman, Henry Theodore" . The New Student's Reference Work . 1914.
• "Tuckerman, Henry Theodore" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
• "Tuckerman, Joseph" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.