author
Samuel Rogers
1763–1855
A celebrated English poet in his own lifetime, he was also a banker, art collector, and famous host whose London breakfasts brought together many of the great writers and artists of the age. Though less widely read now, he remains a vivid figure in the literary world around Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Byron.
1 Audiobook
Poems
by Samuel Rogers
About the author
Born in Stoke Newington near London on July 30, 1763, Samuel Rogers built an unusual life that joined business, literature, and art. He came from a banking family and became a successful banker himself, which gave him the independence to write, collect art, and support cultural life on his own terms.
Rogers was one of the best-known English poets of his day. He published works including The Pleasures of Memory and later Italy, and during his lifetime he was admired for polished verse as well as for his conversation. Modern readers often meet him through his friendships with bigger Romantic names such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Byron, but in his own era he was a central literary presence.
He was also known as a generous patron and host. His home in St. James's Place became a meeting point for writers, artists, and public figures, and his recollections of friends and contemporaries preserve valuable glimpses of London literary life. Rogers died in London on December 18, 1855.