Cartoon portraits and biographical sketches of men of the day/George Augustus Sala
GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA.
Mr. George Augustus Sala was born in London about the year 1826. He is the son of a Portuguese gentleman, who married an English lady. Having adopted literature as his profession, Mr. Sala became a writer in 'Household Words,' which was edited by the late Charles Dickens. He also contributed to the 'Illustrated London News,' 'Cornhill Magazine,' and other papers and periodicals, until, in 1863, he went out to the United States as special correspondent for the 'Daily Telegraph.' On his return, he published his observations under the title of 'My Diary in America in the Midst of War.'
He also wrote a series of very graphic letters for the 'Daily Telegraph' from Algeria, during the Emperor's visit to that colony.
The following is a list of Mr. Sala's best-known works: 'A Journey due North: a Residence in Russia,' 1856; 'How I tamed Mrs. Cruiser,' 1858; 'Twice Round the Clock,' 1859; 'Gaslight and Daylight,' 1859; 'The Baddington Peerage,' 1860; 'Lady Chesterfield's Letters to her Daughter,' 1860; 'William Hogarth,' 1860; 'Looking at Life,' 1860; 'Make your Game,' 1860; 'Dutch Pictures,' 1861; 'Accepted Addresses,' 1862; 'Breakfast in Bed,' 1863; 'After Breakfast;' 'The Perfidy of Captain Slyboots,' 1863; 'Quite Alone' (finished by another writer), 1864; 'Robson: a Sketch,' 1864; 'Seven Sons of Mammon,' 1864; 'My Diary in America in the Midst of War,' 1865; 'From Waterloo to the Peninsula,' 1866; 'A Trip to Barbary by a Roundabout Route,' 1866; 'The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous,' 1869; 'The Two Prima Donnas,' 1869; 'Rome and Venice,' 1869.
'Gaslight and Daylight' is composed of short papers of very great humour and merit. 'Papers Humorous and Pathetic' contains 'The Key of the Street,' 'Colonel Quagg's Conversion,' and other sketches, arranged by the author in a form suitable for public reading. Better papers for .jpg)
A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.
platform reading it would be difficult to find; and both the volumes are very neatly got up, and deserve a large sale, for they are full of very amusing matter. Mr. Sala has been for years the life of the daily paper which he has filled with columns of his correspondence from all quarters of the globe. He is quite in his element when in commission as "Our Special Correspondent," and excels in his power of gushing on any touch-and-go topic of the day, in a manner very grateful to the feelings of the readers of the paper to which he is attached.
His literary style, though it possesses very great vigour and dash, is anything but good. His short essays and sketches, particularly the earlier ones, have much interest and originality. His novels were never very successful; and he seems to have hit his mark as the special correspondent of the Daily Telegraph.