William Seward, the son of a London brewer of the same name, was educated at Charterhouse and Oriel College, Oxford, where he did not take a degree. After college Seward traveled on the Continent before returning to London where he was a friend of Samuel Johnson and the Thrales. Though he was a friend of Anna Seward, he was not related to her. Seward's chief literary productions were his collections of anecdotes, originally published in newspapers and magazines.
TEXT RECORDS:
1798An Elegy, written in St. Stephen's Chapel.
1799Ode to the German Drama.
1799The Fate of France. Imitated from Horace. Book I. Ode XV.
PUBLICATIONS:
Anecdotes of some distinguished persons, chiefly of the present and two preceding centuries. 4 vols, 1795-96.
Biographiana. 2 vols, 1799.
PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:
English
Anglican
Harrow
Charterhouse
Oriel College Oxford
antiquary
poet
Whitehall Evening Post
European Magazine
Dr. Erasmus Darwin
Isaac D'Israeli
Dr. Hugh Downman
Rev. Richard Graves
Anne Hunter
Samuel Johnson
Isaac Reed
Anna Seward
Rev. Joseph Warton
REFERENCE:
DNB; not NCBEL.
David Rivers, Literary Memoirs of Living Authors (1798); obituary in Gentleman's Magazine 69 (May 1799) 439-40; obituary in Monthly Magazine 7 (May 1799) 334-35; obituary in European Magazine 36 (October 1799) 219-20 [portrait]; obituary in Universal Magazine 107 (August 1800) 103; Nichols, Literary Anecdotes (1812-15); Foster, Alumni Oxon (1887-91).
COMMENTARY RECORDS
for William Seward:
BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for William Seward:
AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)