ENERGETIC MELANCHOLY

Thomas Carlyle - his Health and Personality

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'...if an individual is really of consequence enough to have his life and character recorded, we have always been of opinion that the public ought to be made acquainted with all the inward springs and relations of his character.' - Carlyle, Essay on Burns,1828

"The world has no business with my life; the world will never know my life, if it should write and read a hundred biographies of me. The main facts of it are known, and are likely to be known, to myself alone of created men." - Journal, 10 Oct, 1843

" 'Poor devil,' he would say of some successful political Philistine, 'after all, if we looked into the history of him, we should find how it all came about." Froude

These pages reassess Carlyle's health and personality, and seek the 'inward springs'. They comprise a summary biography, a chronology with details of contemporary literary and historical events, and detailed accounts of Carlyle's health throughout his life, of his family history, and of the controversy that followed his death. There are sections on his literary style, on the history of hypochondriasis, and on psychiatric views of his personality, health, and sexual history. There are references, links and suggestions for further reading.

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E-mail : imingram@btinternet.com

Last revised1/06