Oxenford, John (12th August 1812-21st February 1877)

He was a translator, dramatist, librettist and critic born in Camberwell, London, England who was mainly self-taught although studied for a time with S.T. Friend. In 1835 his My Fellow Clerk was staged at the Lyceum Theatre in London with his next play, Twice Killed, appearing the same year.

In 1837 though he was writing about finance and commerce instead of drama, which he would have much preferred, after having been persuaded to work for a solicitor. This didn’t halt him from reading as much British and European literature as he could though and before long he was concentrating on his own dramatic works.

His interest in translation was also prevalent and by 1846 he had translated Dichtung und Wahrenheit by Goethe from German to English. Two years later he had completed his translation of Conversations of Goethe by Eckermann.

By 1850 he had taken on the position of dramatic critic for The Times newspaper and in 1853 he wrote an article about the philosophy of the German, Arthur Schopenhauer, which is credited with bringing this philosopher fame throughout Britain and elsewhere.

His translation of Francis Bacon by Fischer appeared in 1857, his play The Porter’s Knot appeared in 1858 and 1872 he published his own version of Last Days of Pompeii, which had previously been written and published by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. He also translated Tartuffe by Moliere, and “Autobiography” by Goethe, wrote the libretto for several operas, translated Verdi’s Rigoletto into English and wrote a version of English lyrics to the popular Welsh songs “The Ash Grove” and “March of the Men of Harlech”.

He died after having suffered heart failure in Southwark, London, in 1877 when he was 64 years old and left behind him many translations and around 100 plays, which have been translated into various other European languages.

Sources:

Oxenford, John (12th August 1812-21st February 1877)

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