author
Richard Garnett
1835–1906
A lifelong British Museum librarian who also wrote poetry, biography, criticism, and imaginative fiction, he brought a scholar’s curiosity and a storyteller’s touch to everything he did. His work moves easily between literary history and playful invention, which helps explain why he still feels surprisingly fresh.
7 Audiobooks
The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales
by Richard Garnett
William Blake, Painter and Poet
by Richard Garnett
Life of John Milton
by Richard Garnett
Tennyson
by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton, Richard Garnett
Essays in Librarianship and Bibliography
by Richard Garnett
A history of Italian literature
by Richard Garnett
The Age of Dryden
by Richard Garnett
About the author
Born in Lichfield in 1835, Richard Garnett spent almost his entire working life at the British Museum, joining it as a teenager and eventually becoming Keeper of Printed Books. Reference works describe him as a scholar, librarian, biographer, poet, and critic, and he was widely respected for the breadth of his reading and learning.
Alongside his museum career, he published steadily across many forms: essays, literary history, translations, biographies, poetry, and short fiction. He is especially remembered for combining serious scholarship with wit and imagination, a mix that gave his writing both authority and charm.
Garnett retired from the British Museum in 1899 and died in London in 1906. He remains an appealing figure for readers who enjoy authors with wide-ranging interests: part man of letters, part literary guide, and part quiet original.