The New Student's Reference Work/Addison, Joseph

Ad′dison, Joseph, a great English essayist, was born in 1672, graduated at Oxford, and held for some years a fellowship at the University. Here some of his early writings brought him into notice and secured him a pension of $1,500 a year. Gaining this, he traveled on the continent, observing, studying and writing. In the winter of 1701, amid the stoppages and discomforts of a journey across Mt. Cenis, he composed his Letter from Italy, which contains many fine touches of description and is by far the best of his poems. At the death of King William his pension was stopped, and having no means of his own his prospects were gloomy indeed, till a lucky chance put him on his feet again. The ministry desired a poem written in praise of Marlborough, who had just won the battle of Blenheim. Addison wrote the poem, The Campaign, and was rewarded with the office of excise commissioner. He held other public offices, which kept him from writing much for the next six years. In 1710 he began to bring out his famous essays. These he contributed to the Tattler, next to the Spectator and afterwards to the Guardian, which he published in conjunction with his friend Richard Steele. The most successful of these periodicals was the Spectator. It was a daily paper, but without any news. It took the fancy of Londoners at the time, and though it only ran a few months has been renowned ever since. Addision died in 1719. See Courthope’s Addison, in English Men of Letters Series.