22:
336:. He professed himself an "impressionist", one whose task was to estimate and analyse his own sensations in the presence of a work of art, not to judge it by rule. âĻ This, especially in his earlier years, was of great help to English drama, which was then beginning a new period and breaking free from certain conventions of dramatic form and content. In particular Walkley's welcome of
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and read A.B.W. was an extraordinarily pleasant method of beginning a day. There was wit in his work, his words were well-selected words, his writing was easy (though not easily done) and had thought in it; and he pleased his readers with the suggestion of graceful scholarship in the lightest of his
127:
considered "set a standard which has served as a model to the younger generation in the Civil
Service". One of his juniors wrote, "He was frankly more interested in his literary than his official duties âĻ but what he had to do officially he did with distinction. In June 1919 Walkley retired from the
352:
obituarist said of him, "he had his own touchstone of reality, and he liked anything that made for reality as he saw it. Vagueness and extravagance in life and in art were foreign to a mind whose ultimate test was always aesthetic." Walkley generally confined his reviewing to West End productions.
154:
who wrote music criticism under the pen name "Corno di
Bassetto". On one occasion Walkley filled in for Shaw and signed himself "Bono di Corsetto", an early instance of a certain frivolous side to his writing â something that made many readers underestimate his fundamental seriousness. He remained
112:
Walkley's abilities were recognised by the civil service. He was promoted successively to the grade of second-class clerk (1882), first-class clerk (1892), principal clerk (1899) and assistant secretary, in charge of the telegraph branch (1911). He represented the Post Office at three important
122:
stated that
Walkley could have risen to higher official positions, but chose not to pursue them, preferring to devote his energies to dramatic criticism. Nevertheless, he took a pride in the execution of his official work, which
113:
international gatherings: in 1897 he was secretary of the
British delegation to the Washington Postal Congress, in 1898 secretary to the Imperial Penny Postage Conference, and in 1906 a delegate to the Rome Postal Congress.
40:
from 1877 to 1919, in increasingly senior posts; he did not seek the highest official positions, preferring to leave himself time and energy for his parallel career as a drama critic. As a journalist he worked with
361:, all of six miles from central London, replied, "Sir, I respectfully submit that I am your dramatic critic for London, not for Asia Minor." Agate did not name him, but according to the publisher
340:, not as a moralist or reformer, but as a great artist in play-making, did much to counteract the abuse and the misunderstanding with which Ibsen's plays were at first received in London.
291:
sentences. He abhorred solemnity and was embarrassed by earnest people or enthusiasts. Or so he pretended. His affection was for the rare and subtle thought and for deliberate comedy.
105:
In June 1877 Walkley successfully entered an open competitive examination for appointment to the civil service; he was appointed a third-class clerk in the secretary's office of the
241:, the actor playing Trotter, to mimic his personal appearance. In his review he gravely noted that Trotter is a "pure figment of the imagination, wholly unlike any actual person".
136:
Walkley began his literary career as a reviewer of books in weekly and monthly periodicals. He turned to theatrical reviewing, inspired by the work of his friend the theatre critic
182:
in 1899. This too was well received: "It is pleasant to wander with a companion so well read and so apt of quotation, and Mr. Walkley has an original way of looking around him."
899:
884:
166:
said of it, "Reprints of dramatic criticism are, as a rule, rather unsatisfying reading. But an exception may well be made in favour of Mr. Walkley's
102:, having been elected a scholar there. He took a first class in both the mathematical moderations (1875) and the final school of mathematics (1877).
879:
415:
Despite his love for Austen's novels, Walkley could not resist pointing out that they contained "twenty-five shrubberies and not one kiss."
244:
After his retirement from the Post Office in July 1919 Walkley added to his regular theatre reviews a series of essays published weekly in
894:
424:
For instance "Pastiches", 12 May 1920, p. 14 was 1,455 words; "Modern French
Literature", 6 September 1919, p. 36 ran to 3,327 words.
889:
823:
159:
until 1900. Under the by-line "Spectator" he wrote not only regular reviews but also occasional essays on the theatre in general.
874:
99:
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109:. On 29 March 1881 he married Frances Sarah Maud Antrobus Eldridge (1858â1934). There was one daughter of the marriage.
721:
57:. He retired from the Post Office in 1919, and for the last six years of his life concentrated wholly on writing.
51:
at the beginning of his newspaper career; he is probably best known for his twenty-six years as theatre critic of
559:
806:
268:; he was a devoted Francophile, and even cultivated a French style in his personal appearance. These Wednesday
87:
726:
657:
600:
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91:
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essays were substantial, typically about 1,500 words and occasionally well over 3,000. His fellow critic
273:
233:
869:
864:
286:
Myself, on
Wednesday mornings, I turned first to the column âĻ for to open one's eyes and reach for
196:; six months later he was appointed as the paper's drama critic. He contributed in 1900 and 1901 to
693:
238:
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106:
71:
42:
37:
381:
21:
819:
793:
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209:
79:
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74:, the only child of Arthur Hickman Walkley, a bookseller, and his wife, Caroline Charlotte,
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was founded in
January 1888 he was appointed its theatre critic. One of his colleagues was
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257:
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47:
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36:, was an English public servant and drama critic. As a civil servant he worked for the
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In 1892 Walkley published his first book, a collection of his theatre reviews.
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83:
264:. He wrote frequently about France and French topics, including the works of
662:
633:
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498:
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53:
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After a short illness
Walkley died, aged seventy, at his country house at
231:
In 1911 Shaw parodied
Walkley as the pompous theatre critic Mr Trotter in
843:
750:
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drama, finding well-made plays â French in particular â more congenial.
357:
told of a critic who, pressed by his editor to review a production in
839:
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20:
332:
Walkley's view of criticism may best be understood from his book
144:
during the 1880 and 1890s, and when the London evening newspaper
315:(1925). It was a matter of pride to Walkley that Shaw dedicated
303:
Walkley drew on these articles for his three volumes of essays,
252:(whom some thought the only English novelist he truly loved),
321:
to him, crediting him in the dedication with suggesting a
248:
on a range of subjects close to his heart; these included
192:
In
September 1899 Walkley contributed his first review to
465:, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 2 August 2013
658:"Fanny's First Play: an Easy Play for a Little Theatre"
328:
In a biographical article on Walkley H H Child writes:
140:. He contributed general articles to a weekly review,
32:(17 December 1855 â 7 October 1926), usually known as
637:. No. 36039. London. 15 January 1900. p. 14
533:. No. 46900. London. 1 November 1934. p. 19
609:. No. 33534. London. 14 January 1892. p. 4
502:. No. 44398. London. 9 October 1926. p. 12
344:As he grew older Walkley became less enamoured of
815:Vol 1 (1955-6 letters) and Vol 2 (1956-7 letters)
568:. No. 42140. London. 1 July 1919. p. 15
208:. In February 1903 he gave three lectures at the
170:." A selection from his miscellaneous essays in
98:in October 1873. In January 1874 he migrated to
330:
284:
216:(1903). He reprinted some of his articles for
8:
752:Epistle Dedicatory to Arthur Bingham Walkley
687:
685:
683:
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237:. Walkley was in on the joke and helped
488:
486:
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463:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
437:
408:
25:Arthur Bingham Walkley, 1892 photograph
790:The Contemporary Theatre 1944 and 1945
722:"Mr. Walkley's Jane Austen Statistics"
645:– via The Times Digital Archive.
541:– via The Times Digital Archive.
510:– via The Times Digital Archive.
554:
552:
550:
548:
519:
517:
459:"Walkley, Arthur Bingham (1855â1926)"
453:
451:
449:
447:
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7:
66:Early years and civil service career
692:Ervine, St John (10 October 1926).
666:. No. 39564. London. p. 8
204:, and, from 1902 to its successor,
14:
900:Presidents of the Critics' Circle
178:, and elsewhere was published as
885:English male non-fiction writers
847:
656:Walkely, A. B. (20 April 1911).
840:Works by Arthur Bingham Walkley
100:Corpus Christi College, Oxford
1:
749:Shaw, George Bernard (1903).
494:"Obituary: Mr. A. B. Walkley"
206:The Times Literary Supplement
812:Lyttelton/Hart-Davis Letters
469:UK public library membership
78:Bingham. He was educated at
880:Civil servants from Bristol
846:(public domain audiobooks)
738:– via Newspapers.com.
710:– via Newspapers.com.
674:– via Newspapers.com.
617:– via Newspapers.com.
576:– via Newspapers.com.
916:
560:"Mr. Walkley's Retirement"
461:, rev. Nilanjana Banerji,
895:People from Brightlingsea
730:. 1 April 1922. p. 1
890:Journalists from Bristol
590:, 17 October 1924, p. 10
875:British theatre critics
818:. London: John Murray.
727:The Manchester Guardian
200:, a weekly offshoot of
92:Balliol College, Oxford
353:His younger colleague
342:
305:Pastiche and Prejudice
300:
293:
212:, which he printed as
116:An obituary notice in
80:Lord Weymouth's School
30:Arthur Bingham Walkley
26:
788:Agate, James (1946).
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168:Playhouse Impressions
86:, and then gained an
24:
805:Hart-Davis, Rupert;
702:. London. p. 15
525:"Mrs. A. B. Walkley"
398:Notes and references
313:Still More Prejudice
224:as his fourth book,
70:Walkley was born at
601:"Books of the Week"
107:General Post Office
72:Bedminster, Bristol
38:General Post Office
792:. London: Harrap.
382:Arthur Wing Pinero
334:Dramatic Criticism
301:
234:Fanny's First Play
214:Dramatic Criticism
90:in mathematics at
27:
774:Hart-Davis, p. 82
586:"A. B. Walkley",
467:(subscription or
363:Rupert Hart-Davis
210:Royal Institution
132:Writer and critic
907:
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807:George Lyttelton
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61:Life and career
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699:The Observer
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694:"'A. B. W.'"
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588:The Observer
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870:1926 deaths
865:1855 births
734:25 February
706:25 February
670:25 February
641:25 February
613:25 February
572:25 February
537:25 February
506:25 February
355:James Agate
346:avant garde
250:Jane Austen
239:Claude King
172:The Speaker
142:The Speaker
34:A B Walkley
859:Categories
432:References
372:in Essex.
254:Dr Johnson
218:Literature
198:Literature
88:exhibition
84:Warminster
809:(1985) .
663:The Times
634:The Times
606:The Times
565:The Times
530:The Times
499:The Times
471:required)
350:The Times
288:The Times
276:wrote in
246:The Times
202:The Times
194:The Times
187:The Times
164:The Times
125:The Times
119:The Times
54:The Times
844:LibriVox
376:See also
323:Don Juan
307:(1921),
228:(1907).
220:and the
176:The Star
157:The Star
147:The Star
48:The Star
798:1597751
782:Sources
258:Dickens
822:
796:
359:Barnes
325:play.
266:Proust
403:Notes
338:Ibsen
270:Times
155:with
820:ISBN
794:OCLC
736:2024
708:2024
672:2024
643:2024
615:2024
574:2024
539:2024
508:2024
262:Lamb
260:and
842:at
222:TLS
76:nÊe
45:on
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724:.
696:.
680:^
660:.
631:.
603:.
562:.
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256:,
174:,
94:,
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