author
Richard Holt Hutton
1826–1897
A sharp Victorian essayist and journalist, he helped shape literary and religious debate through his long work at The Spectator. His writing was known for its seriousness, moral focus, and lively critical intelligence.
1 Audiobook
Sir Walter Scott
by Richard Holt Hutton
About the author
Born in Leeds in 1826, Richard Holt Hutton was the son of a Unitarian minister and studied at University College, London, where he formed a lasting friendship with Walter Bagehot. He first moved toward the ministry, but his career gradually shifted toward journalism, criticism, and public debate.
Hutton is best remembered as a leading Victorian man of letters and as joint editor and part owner of The Spectator from 1861. He wrote widely on literature, religion, and politics, and earned a reputation as an influential critic with a strong interest in the moral and spiritual side of books and ideas.
He died in 1897. Though less widely read now than some of the writers he reviewed, he remains an important figure in 19th-century English journalism and criticism.