We are deeply saddened by esteemed historian Peter Gay’s passing. A Sterling Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University and former director of the New York Public Library Center for Scholars and Writers, his eminent scholarship on the Enlightenment, Freud, and a wide range of additional topics in European history
History has a funny way of romanticizing the past, blurring the lines between hard facts and fluffy representations. Painters, poets, actors — the public romanticizes their lives, creating narratives of inspiration and untouchability. This principle is even more drastic in studying and discussing Romantic poets, whose lives we associate with
One of the joys and challenges of literary biography is deciding how to interpret the ripples that are made as each new nugget of information drops into that heady mixture of facts and figures, vibrant anecdotes and dynamic interpretations that make up what we call an author’s “life and work.”
When we think of J.M.W. Turner, we think of those evocative, ghostly landscapes, where ships, cliffs and trains emerge out of nowhere, half-hidden by mist and rain. We also think of quintessentially British scenes, replete with industry, romanticism and intemperate weather. We also think of light. Turner, known as ‘the