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Gray, Thomas

(London 1716-1771 Cambridge) : Dichter, Gelehrter, Briefe-Schreiber

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Index of Names : Occident / Literature : Occident : Great Britain

Chronology Entries (5)

# Year Text Linked Data
1 1750 Gray, Thomas. A long story. (1750). In : Gray, Thomas. Designs by Mr. R. Bentley, for six poems. (London, R. Dodsley, 1753).
Into the Drawers and China pry,
Papers and books, a huge Imbroglio!
Under a tea-cup he might lie,
Or creased, like dogs-ears, in a folio.
2 1754 Letter from Thomas Gray to Dr. Wharton ; Stoke, Sept. 18, 1754.
Dr. Akenside, I perceive, is no conjurer in architecture; especially when he talks of the ruins of Persepolis, which are no more Gothic than they are Chinese.
3 1763 Letter from Thomas Gray to Mr. How ; Cambridge, Sept. 10, 1763.
Gray schreibt : "I mean our skill in gardening, or rather laying out grounds : and this is no small honour to us, since neither Italy nor France ever had the least notion of it, nor yet do at all comprehend it when they see it. That the Chinese have this beautiful art in high perfection, seems probable from the Jesuits' letters, and more from Chamber's little discourse, published some years ago ; but it is very certain we copied nothing from them, nor had any thing but Nature for our model. It is not forty years since the art was born among us ; and it is sure that there was nothing in Europe like it ; and as sure, we then had no information on this head from China at all."
  • Document: The vision of China in the English literature of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Ed. by Adrian Hsia. (Hong Kong : Chinese University press, 1998).
    [Enthält] :
    Qian, Zhongshu. China in the English literature of the seventeenth century. In : Quarterly bulletin of Chinese bibliography ; vol. 1 (1940).
    Fan, Cunzhong. The beginnings of the influence of Chinese culture in England. In : Wai guo yu ; no 6 (1982).
    Chen, Shouyi. John Webb : a forgotten page in the early history of sinology in Europe. In : The Chinese social and political review ; vol. 19 (1935-1936).
    Qian, Zhongshu. China in the English literature of the eighteenth century. In : Quarterly bulletin of Chinese bibliography ; vol. 2 (1941).
    Chen, Shouyi. Daniel Defoe, China's severe critic. In : Nankai social and economic quarterly ; vol. 8 (1935).
    Fan, Cunzhong. Chinese fables and anti-Walpole journalism. In : The review of English studies ; vol. 25 (1949).
    Fan, Cunzhong. Dr. Johnson and Chinese culture. In : Quarterly bulletin of Chinese bibliography ; vol. 5 (1945).
    Chen, Shouyi. Oliver Goldsmith and his Chinese letters. In : T'ien hsia monthly ; vol. 8 (1939).
    Chen, Shouyi. Thomas Percy and his Chinese studies. In : The Chinese social and political science review ; vol. 20 (1936-1937).
    Fan, Cunzhong. William Jones's Chinese studies. In : The review of English studies ; vol. 22 (1946).
    Chen, Shouyi. The Chinese garden in eighteenth century England. In : T'ien hsia monthly ; vol. 2 (1936).
    Chen, Shouyi. The Chinese orphan : a Yuan play. In : T'ien hsia monthly ; vol. 4 (1936). [Ji, Junxiang. Zhao shi gu'er].
    Hsia, Adrian. The orphan of the house Zhao in French, English, German, and Hong Kong literature. In : Comparative literature studies ; vol. 25 (1988). [Ji, Junxiang. Zhao shi gu'er]. S. 128. (Hsia8, Publication)
  • Document: Memoirs of the life and writings of Mr. Gray : http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004869659.0001.000/1:4?rgn=div1;view=fulltext. (GrayT1, Web)
  • Person: Chambers, William (1)
4 1768 Gray, Thomas. Ode on the death of a favourite cat. (1768). In : Gray, Thomas. The works of Thomas Gray. Vol. 1. (London : William Pickering, 1840).
[On a favourite cat called Selima, that fell into a China Tub with gold fishes in ist, and was drowned, MS. Wharton. Walpole, after the death of Gray, placed the China Vase on a pedestal at Strawberry Hill, with a few lines of the Ode for its inscription.]
'Twas on a lofty vase's side,
Where China's gayest art had dy'd
The azure flowers that blow ;
Demurest of the tabby kind,
The pensive Selima reclin's,
Gaz's on the lake below.
5 1772-1779 Mason, William. The English garden : a poem [ID D26953].
Note H. Page 165.
The respect Mr. Gray had for the Art of Gardening, appears in his letter to Mr. How, to which I have before referred my readers, (see Note B. p. 102) but which I shall here insert at large, because I have since been informed that a Poem on the same subject has been lately published in France, and is there highly esteemed, in which the Author, like the rest of his countrymen, ascribe the origin of our Gardens to the Chinese. “He (Count Algarotti) is highly civil to our nation, but there is one point in which he does not do us justice ; I am the more solicitous about it, because it relates to the only taste we can call our own ; the only proof of our original talent in matter of pleasure, I mean our skill in Gardening, or rather laying out grounds : and this is no small honour to us, since neither France nor Italy have ever had the least notion of it, nor yet do at all comprehend it when they see it. That the Chinese have this beautiful art in high perfection seems very probable from the Jesuit's Letters, and more from Chambers's little discourse published some years ago ; but it is very certain we copied nothing from them, nor had any thing but Nature for our model. It is not forty years since the Art was born among us, and as sure we then had no information on this head from China at all.” (See Memoirs of Mr. Gray, Section v. Letter VIII).
In the last smaller Edition of Mr. Walpole's Anecdotes of painting, the reader will also find a very entertaining and important addition made to his history of Gardening on this very subject (see vol. IV p. 283) which puts the matter out of all doubt. Yet it is to be observed, that Mr. Gray and Mr. Walpole differ in their ideas of Chinese perfection in this Art : But had Mr. Gray lived to see what he calls Chambers's 'little discours' enlarged into a 'dissertation on oriental Gardening', by Sir William Chambers, Knight, it is more than probable he would have come over to his friend's sentiments ; certain it is he would never have agreed with the French, in calling this species of Gardening 'Le gout Anglo-Chinois'.
  • Document: Mason, William. The English garden : a poem. Book 1-4. Book 1 : London : R. Horsfield, 1772. Book 2, 4 : York : Printed by A. Ward and sold by J. Dodsley, 1777, 1781. Book 3 : London : Printed by H. Goldney for J. Dodsley, 1779. = Mason, William. The English garden : a poem. In four books. A new ed., corrected. To which are added, A commentary and notes, by W[illiam] Burgh. (Dublin : Printed by P. Byrne, 1786).
    http://ia700200.us.archive.org/9/items/englishgardenpoe00masoiala/englishgardenpoe00masoiala.pdf. (MasW2, Publication)
  • Person: Mason, William
  • Person: Walpole, Horace

Bibliography (2)

# Year Bibliographical Data Type / Abbreviation Linked Data
1 1950 [Gray, Thomas]. Xiang yi di you huai. Gelai zhu ; Li Boxian yi. (Xianggang : [s.n.], um 1950). Übersetzung von Gray, Thomas. An elegy wrote in a country church yard. (London : Printed for R. Dodsley, and sold by M. Cooper, 1751).
鄉瘗地有懷 		Publication / GrayT2
2 2013 Memoirs of the life and writings of Mr. Gray : http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004869659.0001.000/1:4?rgn=div1;view=fulltext. Web / GrayT1