George Dyer

The son of a London shipwright, George Dyer attended Christ's Hospital and Emmanuel College Cambridge (B.A. 1778) where he befriended his tutor, the Shakespeare scholar Richard Farmer. Dyer worked as an usher at Dedham Grammar School in Essex, before returning to Cambridge as a private tutor. He became a Unitarian and taught school before taking up residence in Clifford's Inn (1792) where he spent the rest of his long life. Charles Lamb describes Dyer affectionately in his essays "Oxford in the Vacation" and "Amicus Redivivus."

TEXT RECORDS:

1787Ode on the Spring.
1792Ode IV. On the Morning.
1792Ode VII. On Liberty.
1794To Dr. Priestly, on his going to America.
1797Verses occasioned by the Death of John Armstrong, A.M.
1798Ode addressed to Dr. Robert Anderson, of Heriot's Green, Edinburgh.
1801The Balance. To Thomas Brand Hollis.
1801Written in the Cloisters of Christ's-Hospital in London.
1802Cursory Remarks on Readers, and the Nature of Poetry: on Dreams and Visions.
1802To an Enthusiast.
1802To the Cam.
1803Cantabrigiana LXXXII. Spenser.
1803On Revisiting the Scenes of Earlier Life.
1805After a Tour at the Close of Autumn.
1806Ode to the Morning Hour.
1812Ode I. Visions.
1812[On the primary and ultimate use of Poetry.]
1814Pembroke Hall.
1818To a Lady, requesting some Verses on the Birth of her Sister's first born Child.

PUBLICATIONS:

An inquiry into the nature of subscription to the 39 Articles. 1789.
Poems, consisting of odes and elegies. 1792.
The complaints of the poor people of England; containing remarks on government. 1793.
Slavery and famine, punishments for sedition: or an account of the miseries and starvation at Botany Bay. 1794.
A dissertation on the theory and practice of benevolence. 1795.
Memoirs of the life and writings of Robert Robertson. 1796.
The poet's fate: a poetical dialogue. 1797.
An address to the people of Great Britain on the doctrine of libels and the office of jurors. 1799.
Poems. 1801.
Poems and critical essays. 1802.
Poetics: or a series of poems and disquisitions on poetry. 2 vols, 1812.
Four letters on the English constitution. 1812.
History of the university and colleges of Cambridge. 2 vols, 1814.
The privileges of the university and colleges of Cambridge. 2 vols, 1824.
Academic unity ... a general dissertation contained in the privileges of the University of Cambridge. 1827.

PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:

English
Anglican
Unitarian
Dissenter

Christ's Hospital
Emmanuel College Cambridge
Bachelor of Arts

schoolmaster
antiquary
book trade
tutor
essayist
poet

The Morning Chronicle
Analytical Review
The Critical Review
The Monthly Magazine
Gentleman's Magazine
European Magazine
The Reflector
Lady's Monthly Museum
Annual Anthology
Scots Magazine

Dr. Robert Anderson
Anna Laetitia Barbauld
Rev. Henry Francis Cary
Charles Cowden Clarke
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Amos Cottle
Ann Batten Cristall
Leigh Hunt
Charles Lamb
Capel Lofft
Rev. Thomas Maurice
Henry Crabb Robinson
Robert Southey
John Thelwall
Alexander Thomson
Edward Williams

REFERENCE:

DNB; NCBEL; CBEL (3rd ed); DLB.

David Rivers, Literary Memoirs of Living Authors (1798); Poetical Register for 1803 (1804); "George Dyer" The Cabinet NS 1 (April 1809) 283-88 [portrait]; John Nichols, Literary Anecdotes (1812-15); Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors (1816); Charles Lamb, "Amicus Redivivus" London Magazine 8 (December 1823) 613-15; Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); A New Biographical Dictionary of 3000 Cotemporary Public Characters (1825); obituary in Gentleman's Magazine NS 15 (May 1841) 545-47; Leigh Hunt in Men, Women and Books (1847); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882); J. J. Raven, "George Dyer of Emmanuel" Emmanuel College Magazine 7 (1895) 39-42; E. V. Lucas, "George Dyer, Friend of Lamb" Cornhill Magazine NS 18 (1905) 107-23; E. V. Lucas, in Life of Charles Lamb (1905); "George Dyer" Emmanuel College Magazine, 15 (1905) 194-213; G. E. Wherry, Cambridge and Charles Lamb (1925); A. E. Newton, George Dyer (1938); M. R. Adams, "Dyer and English Radicalism" Modern Language Review 35 (1940); Venn and Venn, Alum. Cant. (1940-54); Ernest A. Payne, "The Baptist Connections of George Dyer" Baptist Quarterly, NS 10 (1940-1941) 260-267; Donald H. Reiman, introduction to Poems (1978); Prance, Companion to Charles Lamb (1983); Nicholas Roe, "Radical George. Dyer in the 1790s" Charles Lamb Bulletin NS 49 (January 1985) 17-26; Harriet Jump, "'Snatch'd out of the Fire': Lamb, Coleridge, and George Dyer's cancelled Preface" Charles Lamb Bulletin NS 58 (April 1987) 54-67; Chadwyck-Healey English Poetry Database (1995).

COMMENTARY RECORDS
for George Dyer:

1.	1793  Anonymous, in Review of Dyer's Poems (1792); Analytical Review 15 (1793) 105.
2.	1799  Robert Southey to Edith Southey, 9 May 1799; Life and Correspondence (1849-50) 2:16.
3.	1800  Charles Lamb to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 14 August 1800; in Thomas Noon Talfourd, Final Memorials of Charles Lamb (1849) 67.
4.	1801  Alexander Thomson, in The British Parnassus, at the Close of the Eighteenth Century (1801) 39.
5.	1803  Elizabeth Le Noir [daughter of Christopher Smart], "To Mr. George Dyer" Morning Chronicle (5 September 1803).
6.	1803  Anonymous, Review of Dyer, Poems; Poetical Register, and Repository of Fugitive Poetry for 1802 (1803) 434.
7.	1804  A Dreamer, "To Mr. George Dyer, occasioned by reading his Visions, in Vol. II of his Poems and Essays" Gentleman's Magazine 74 (August 1804) 762.
8.	1813  Edward Williams to Thomas Rees, 12 March 1813; in Elijah Waring, Recollections and Anecdotes of Edward Williams (1850) 165-66.
9.	1820  Charles Lamb, in "The Lion's Head" London Magazine 2 (December 1820) 595-96.
10.	1824  Elizabeth Le Noir, "To Mr. George Dyer on his late Marriage" The Monthly Magazine 58 (September 1824) 144.
11.	1849  Thomas Noon Talfourd, in Final Memorials of Charles Lamb (1849) 65.
12.	1866  Bryan Waller Procter, in Charles Lamb: a Memoir (1866) 88-89.
13.	1870  Henry Crabb Robinson, in Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence (1870; 1872) 1:34-35.
14.	1878  Charles and Mary Cowden Clarke, in Recollections of Writers (1878) 12-13.

BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for George Dyer:

1.	1798  David Rivers, in Literary Memoirs of Living Authors (1798) 1:169-70.
2.	1809  Anonymous, "George Dyer, Esq." in The Cabinet NS 1 (April 1809) 283-88.
3.	1816  Anonymous, in Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors (1816) 104.
4.	1825  Anonymous, "Mr. George Dyer" A New Biographical Dictionary of 3000 Cotemporary Public Characters (1825) 2:572-74.
5.	1841  Anonymous, Obituary in Gentleman's Magazine NS 15 (May 1841) 545-47.
6.	1849  Thomas Noon Talfourd, in Final Memorials of Charles Lamb (1849) 206-08.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)

1.	1797  Dr. John Aikin:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 10-11 &n.
2.	1797  Rev. William Beloe:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 19-20 &n.
3.	1797  Samuel Butler:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 30-31n.
4.	1797  Samuel Taylor Coleridge:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 26-28 &n.
5.	1797  John Dryden:   George Dyer, "The Poet's Fate" in Star, Daily Evening Advertiser (7 June 1797).
6.	1797  Rev. Alexander Geddes:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 12 &n.
7.	1797  William Gifford:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 28-29 &n.
8.	1797  Rev. George Gregory:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 10-11 &n.
9.	1797  Samuel Johnson:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 20-21n.
10.	1797  Rev. Thomas Maurice:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 16 &n.
11.	1797  Allan Ramsay:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 21-22 &n.
12.	1797  John Taylor the Water Poet:   George Dyer, in The Poet's Fate, a Poetical Dialogue (1797) 36-37 &n.
13.	1797  Alexander Thomson:   George Dyer, "Verses occasioned by the Death of John Armstrong, A.M. To Alexander Thomson, Esq."
14.	1798  Dr. Robert Anderson:   George Dyer, in "Ode, written after various Pedestrian Excursions in Scotland. To Dr. Anderson" The Monthly Magazine 6 (November 1798) 365-66.
15.	1802  Dr. Mark Akenside:   George Dyer, in Poems (1802) 1:xxvi-xxvii.
16.	1802  Abraham Cowley:   George Dyer, in Poems (1802) 1:xxii-xxiii.
17.	1802  David Hume:   George Dyer, "On Visiting the Tomb of David Hume" Poems (1802) 1:92.
18.	1802  George Lyttelton:   George Dyer, in "Perambulatory Musings," Poems (1802) 1:38-39.
19.	1802  Rev. William Mason:   George Dyer, in Poems (1802) 1:xxx.
20.	1802  Matthew Prior:   George Dyer, in Poems (1802) 1:xxiv.
21.	1802  William Shenstone:   George Dyer, in Poems (1802) 1:xxv-xxvi.
22.	1802  Edmund Waller:   George Dyer, in Poems (1802) 1:xxiv.
23.	1802  Rev. Isaac Watts:   George Dyer, in Poems (1802) 1:xxxiii-xxxiv.
24.	1803  Abraham Cowley:   George Dyer, "Cantabrigiana: Cowley" The Monthly Magazine 16 (September 1803) 132-33.
25.	1803  John Dryden:   George Dyer, "Cantabrigiana: Dryden" The Monthly Magazine 16 (September 1803) 134-35.
26.	1803  John Milton:   George Dyer, "Cantabrigiana: Milton" The Monthly Magazine 16 (September 1803) 133-34.
27.	1803  Matthew Prior:   George Dyer, "Cantabrigiana: Prior" The Monthly Magazine 16 (September 1803) 135.
28.	1803  Henry James Pye:   George Dyer, "Cantabrigiana: Mr. Gilbert Wakefield" The Monthly Magazine 15 (March 1803) 140.
29.	1803  Christopher Smart:   George Dyer, "Cantabrigiana: Mr. Christopher Smart, late of Pembroke-Hall" The Monthly Magazine 15 (June 1803) 426.
30.	1803  Edmund Waller:   George Dyer, "Cantabrigiana: Waller" The Monthly Magazine 16 (September 1803) 135.
31.	1804  Samuel Taylor Coleridge:   George Dyer, "Cantabrigiana: Mr. Coleridge" The Monthly Magazine 17 (March 1804) 125.
32.	1804  Thomas Gray:   George Dyer, "Cantabrigiana: Christopher Smart on Gray the Poet" The Monthly Magazine 17 (February 1804) 37.
33.	1812  Robert Burns:   George Dyer, in Poetics: or a Series of Poems and Disquisitions on Poetry (1812) 2:23.
34.	1812  Samuel Butler:   George Dyer, in Poetics: or a Series of Poems and Disquisitions on Poetry (1812) 2:18-19.
35.	1812  Sir William Jones:   George Dyer, in Poetics: or a Series of Poems and Disquisitions on Poetry (1812) 2:48-49.
36.	1814  Dr. Mark Akenside:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:385.
37.	1814  Rev. Joseph Beaumont:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:22-23.
38.	1814  Lord Chesterfield:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:141-42.
39.	1814  Samuel Cobb:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:325n.
40.	1814  Dr. Erasmus Darwin:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:450.
41.	1814  Sir Kenelm Digby:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:246-47.
42.	1814  Rev. Richard Farmer:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:390.
43.	1814  Rev. Francis Fawkes:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:85.
44.	1814  Elijah Fenton:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:78.
45.	1814  Rev. Phineas Fletcher:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:195.
46.	1814  Rev. Thomas Fuller:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:156-57.
47.	1814  Bp. Richard Hurd:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:386-87.
48.	1814  Rev. John Jortin:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:81-82.
49.	1814  Sir James Marriott:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:142, 144.
50.	1814  Thomas May:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:437.
51.	1814  Rev. Henry More:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:216.
52.	1814  William Pattison:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:435-36.
53.	1814  Bp. Beilby Porteus:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:221.
54.	1814  Francis Quarles:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:220.
55.	1814  Thomas Shadwell:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:419.
56.	1814  Rev. Thomas Twining:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:439.
57.	1814  Rev. Michael Tyson:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:131.
58.	1814  Rev. Samuel Wesley:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:128.
59.	1824  Christopher Anstey:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:56.
60.	1824  Rev. Theodore Bathurst:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:39.
61.	1824  Rev. Richard Bentley:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:53.
62.	1824  Rev. William Clarke:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:63.
63.	1824  Dr. Erasmus Darwin:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 144.
64.	1824  Rev. Richard Farmer:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:16-17.
65.	1824  Rev. Francis Fawkes:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:34.
66.	1824  Rev. Thomas Morell:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:55.
67.	1824  Matthew Prior:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:76-77.
68.	1824  Henry James Pye:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 24-25.
69.	1824  Thomas Randolph:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:113.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(biography records)

1.	1814  Rev. William Alabaster:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:292.
2.	1814  Rev. Theodore Bathurst:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:102.
3.	1814  Amos Cottle:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:451.
4.	1814  Rev. William Dodd:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:56-57.
5.	1814  Sir Richard Fanshawe:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:77-78.
6.	1814  Rev. Giles Fletcher:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:195n.
7.	1814  Sir John Harington:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:220.
8.	1814  Rev. Henry More:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:216.
9.	1814  Henry Peacham:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:300.
10.	1814  John Weever:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:156.
11.	1814  Rev. Samuel Wesley:   George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:128.
12.	1824  Hugh Holland:   George Dyer, in Privileges of the University of Cambridge, Supplement (1824) 2:80-81.
13.	1830  Dr. Robert Anderson:   George Dyer, Obituary in Gentleman's Magazine 100 (April 1830) 375-76.