author
Henry Mackenzie
1745–1831
Best known for The Man of Feeling, this Edinburgh writer helped shape sentimental fiction and became a lively voice in Scotland’s literary world. He also championed other writers, including Robert Burns and Walter Scott, while balancing literature with a legal career.
1 Audiobook
The Man of Feeling
by Henry Mackenzie
About the author
Born in Edinburgh in 1745, Henry Mackenzie was a Scottish lawyer, novelist, and man of letters whose reputation was made by The Man of Feeling in 1771. The novel became one of the best-known sentimental works of its time, and its success established him as an important figure in 18th-century Scottish literature.
Mackenzie wrote more than fiction. He was involved in Edinburgh’s periodical culture as an editor of The Mirror and The Lounger, and he became known for his essays, plays, and criticism as well as his novels. Sources also describe him as an encouraging presence for younger writers, notably Robert Burns and Walter Scott.
He spent most of his life in Edinburgh, where he was born and died in 1831. Sometimes called the “Addison of the North,” he is remembered for blending feeling, moral reflection, and sociable literary energy in a way that captured the spirit of his age.