author
Walter Thornbury
1828–1876
A busy Victorian man of letters, he wrote journalism, poetry, fiction, art criticism, and lively books about London. He is especially remembered as the first biographer of J. M. W. Turner and as a guide to the city’s haunted and historic corners.
5 Audiobooks
The Monarchs of the Main; Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers. Volume 2 (of 3)
by Walter Thornbury
Old and New London, Volume I A Narrative of Its History, Its People, and Its Places
by Walter Thornbury
The Monarchs of the Main; Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers. Volume 1 (of 3)
by Walter Thornbury
The Monarchs of the Main; Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers. Volume 3 (of 3)
by Walter Thornbury
Haunted London
by Walter Thornbury
About the author
Born in London on November 13, 1828, George Walter Thornbury first leaned toward art before turning fully to writing. He began publishing while still young and went on to build a remarkably varied career as an author and journalist, contributing to periodicals and producing poetry, novels, historical sketches, and art writing.
Thornbury wrote with a strong feeling for place and atmosphere. His books on London helped make the city’s streets, legends, and old buildings vivid for Victorian readers, while his studies of artists showed his lasting interest in painting and cultural history. He is often noted as the first biographer of J. M. W. Turner.
He died on June 11, 1876, at only forty-seven. Though not as widely known today as some of his contemporaries, his work still offers a rich window into Victorian literary life, art, and the many stories layered into London’s past.