Carlyle, Thomas, 1795-1881 (historian, essayist and philosopher)

Person

Staff Only

Dates

Existence: 4 December 1795 - 4 February 1881

Biography

The historian, essayist, critic and sage Thomas Carlyle was born on 4 December 1795, in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire. He was educated at the village school and then in Annan at the academy. In 1809 he began studies at Edinburgh University. Originally intended for the ministry, Carlyle had showed a keenness for mathematics, as well as studying French, Latin and Greek, and became a mathematics teacher in Annan and then in Edinburgh. In 1824 he translated Goethe's Wilhelm Meister. Other publications include Sartor Resartus (1835), the three volume The French revolution (1837), the Life and letters of Oliver Cromwell (1845), and the six volume Friedrich II (1858-1865). Carlyle's wife Jane Baillie Welsh Carlyle (1801-1866), whom he married in 1826, was from Haddington, and was a prodigious letter writer. Thomas Carlyle died on 4 February 1881 and was buried in Ecclefechan.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Ms letter from Thomas Carlyle to Peter Millar Cunningham, 4 December 1843

Fonds — Box CLX-A-1318

Identifier: Coll-1740

Content Description Ms letter from Thomas Carlyle, 5 Cheyne Row, Chelsea, to Peter Millar Cunningham, Surgeon Royal Navy, 4 December 1843.The letter reads: I have received your little Essay on Compass Variations, and read it over with great satisfaction. It is a most ingenious little speculation, or rather big speculation in little bulk; and had it even otherwise, it would have pleasantly brought you to our new embrace, and been very welcome in this hour. You never come to us now; it is...

Dates: 4 December 1843

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections

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Type: Collection X