authorgraves

[authorgraves]

Guy de Maupassant

(Aug. 5th 1850 - Jul. 6th 1893)

Brief Bio:

Guy de Maupassant was born near Dieppe, France, into a prosperous bourgeois family. After studying law, he served in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, an experience that deeply influenced his writing. Maupassant initially worked as a civil servant, but under the guidance of Gustave Flaubert, soon turned to writing short stories, achieving fame with his first published story, "Boule de Suif," in 1880. His mastery of the short story form, characterized by its psychological insight, economy of style, and often ironic endings, solidified his reputation as one of the greatest French writers of his time. Maupassant's literary output was prolific, producing two to four volumes of stories a year. Despite suffering from syphilis and mental illness in his later years, Maupassant continued to write until his death in Paris at the age of 42.

Notable Works:

Boule de Suif (1880 short story)

Une Vie (1883)

A Vendetta (1883 short story)

Bel-Ami (1885)

Belhomme’s Beast (1885 short story)

The Necklace (1888 short story)

The Grave:

Maupassant is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. The cemetery is divided by the Rue Emil Richard. He is buried in the smaller half of the cemetery, right in the middle of Division 26. Keep an eye out for an ornate white fence. He wrote his own epitaph: “I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing.”

3 Boulevard Edgar Quinet

Paris, City of Paris, Île-de-France

75014 France

Surrounding Area:

Montparnasse is also the resting place of Samuel Beckett and Maurice Leblanc. The nearest Metro stop is Edgar Quinet.

Further Reading:

Guy de Maupassant Project Gutenberg

“You’ve never lived until you’ve almost died. For those who have fought for it, life has a flavor the protected shall never know.”

[authorgraves]

Gertrude Stein

(Feb. 3rd 1874 - Jul. 27th 1946)

Brief Bio:

Gertrude Stein was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Oakland, California. She studied psychology at Radcliffe College and then medicine at Johns Hopkins University but left without completing her studies. In 1903, she moved to Paris, where she lived for the rest of her life. Stein became a central figure in the city's vibrant cultural scene, hosting a renowned salon with her partner Alice B. Toklas at 27 rue de Fleurus. Here, she welcomed artists and writers like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, fostering an environment that would influence modernist literature and art profoundly. She was a collector of art, and is credited with having coined the phrase : “the Lost Generation.” Stein's own writing evolved dramatically during this time, challenging traditional narrative forms and syntax. In 1934, Stein returned to the United States for a lecture tour, where she gained both acclaim and controversy for her experimental literary style. Despite mixed reactions to her work, Stein's impact on literature and art remains significant, particularly for her pioneering use of language and inclusion of homosexual characters. She died during surgery for stomach cancer in Paris and was buried alongside Toklas in Pere Lachaise.

Notable Works:

Q.E.D. (1903)

Three Lives (1906)

Tender Buttons (1914)

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933)

Four in America (1947)

The Grave:

Stein is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. The nearest entrance is on the Rue de Rondeaux. Turn left down Avenue Circulaire, and you will find her in Division 94.

Surrounding Area:

Pere Lachaise is the final resting place of other authors, such as Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and Honore de Balzac.

Further Reading:

Gertrude Stein, Project Gutenberg

Gertrude Stein Society website

Pere Lachaise Cemetery website

Pere Lachaise Cemetery map

“A rose is a rose is a rose.”

[authorgraves]

Charles Baudelaire

(Apr. 9th 1821 - Aug. 31st 1867)

Brief Bio:

Charles Baudelaire was born in Paris to an elderly father who died when Charles was still a child. Educated at Lyon, he went on to study law, but chose to pursue a literary career. His stepfather tried to extinguish this ambition by sending Charles to India, but this had an adverse effect. Upon returning to Paris, Charles began to write. He was known by his friends as a spendthrift, and frequently suffered from poor health and worse debts. In 1857 he published his most famous volume of poetry, The Flowers of Evil. Its subject matter thrilled artists, but scandalized the rest of society, so that Baudelaire, his publisher and printer were all prosecuted, and the book censored. Baudelaire also spent considerable time translating the works of Edgar Allan Poe into French. After living for a time in the countryside and in Brussels, his poor health, pressing debts and heavy consumption of alcohol, opium and laudanum took their toll. He suffered a stroke and spent the last two years of his life semi-paralyzed before dying in Paris.

Notable Works:

The Flowers of Evil (1857)

The Grave:

Baudelaire is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. From the main entrance on Boulevard Edgar-Quinet, visitors may head inward on Avenue Principale and turn right onto Avenue du Nord. His grave is near the northern corner of Division 6. His is grave number 14 on the maps.

3 Boulevard Edgar Quinet

Paris, City of Paris, Île-de-France

75014 France

Surrounding Area:

In addition to his grave, Baudelaire also has a cenotaph between Divisions 26 and 27. Montparnasse Cemetery is the resting place of many other writers, such as Maurice Leblanc and Jean-Paul Sartre. The nearest Metro stop is Edgar Quinet.

Further Reading:

Baudelaire Project Gutenberg

The Baudelaire Song Project

"I have cultivated my hysteria with pleasure and terror.”

[authorgraves]

Maurice Leblanc

(Dec. 11th 1864 - Nov. 6th 1941)

Brief Bio:

Born in Rouen to a ship-owner merchant, Maurice Marie Emile Leblanc was introduced to many literary giants during his education. Against his father’s wishes, he moved to Paris in 1888 to be a writer. While working as a journalist he wrote several novels with a fair amount of success. In 1905 he received a commission to write a short story about a Sherlock Holmes/A.J. Raffles type of character. The result was Arsene Lupin, the gentleman thief. The success of the first story led to many more sensational Lupin stories and novels, gaining Leblanc enormous commercial renown. His attempted crossover stories featuring Lupin and Sherlock Holmes did not sit well with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, so Leblanc changed Lupin’s rival to ‘Herlock Sholmes’ to avoid copyright disputes. Much like Doyle, Leblanc found himself trapped writing Lupin stories at the expense of pursuing other projects. As WWII loomed closer, he relocated to southern France where he died of pneumonia.

Notable Works:

Un femme (1893)

Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar (1907)

Arsene Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes (1908)

The Hollow Needle (1909)

The Three Eyes (1919)

From Midnight to Morning (1937)

The Grave:

Leblanc was initially buried in Perpignan where he died, but was relocated to Montparnasse Cemetery in 1947. Montparnasse is an enormous cemetery that is split in half by the Rue Emil Richard, with the smaller half to the east and the larger to the west. Leblanc is buried in the western cemetery, directly across from the exit at the rear-left corner, in Division 10. Maps at the cemetery entrance point the way.

3 Boulevard Edgar Quinet

Paris, City of Paris, Île-de-France

75014 France

Surrounding Area:

Montparnasse Cemetery is the resting place of many other writers, such as Charles Beaudelaire and Jean-Paul Sartre. The nearest Metro stop is Edgar Quinet.

Further Reading:

Maurice Leblanc Project Gutenberg

“I shall not be present at my trial.” - Arsene Lupin

[authorgraves]

Oscar Wilde

(Oct. 16th 1854 - Nov. 30th 1900)

Brief Bio:

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Ireland, the second son of Dublin socialites. Fluent in many languages, he excelled as a student at Trinity and Oxford (Magadalen College), where he became a Freemason. After university, when his childhood sweetheart married Bram Stoker, Wilde traveled to the United States to give a lecture tour on aestheticism, during which he met Walt Whitman. Famous in British society for his personality as much as his writing, he cultivated a growing reputation as a playwright and social oddity. In 1895 he sued his lover’s father for slander, thereby exposing the relationship, and getting himself prosecuted for “gross indecency” with men. He was sentenced to two years’ hard labor, after which he left for Paris, where he died of meningitis.

Notable Works:

The Happy Prince and Other Stories (1888 fairy stories)

Salome (1891 play)

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891 novel)

The Importance of Being Earnest (1895 play)

The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898 poem)

The Grave:

Oscar was initially buried in a pauper’s grave outside of Paris. Eventually his friends arranged for him to be moved to Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Wilde’s tomb features a modernist-style angel carven in a stone block. It was made by sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein at the request of Wilde’s literary executor, Robert Ross. Considered as controversial as Wilde himself, the phallus of the statue was removed by vandals and is currently missing. For years the grave was kissed by fans in reference to a love letter Wilde wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas, in which he described his “red rose-leaf lips.” Because cleaning off the lipstick was eroding the stone, the grave is now surrounded by a glass barrier. Ross’ ashes were interred in the tomb in 1950.

Pere Lachaise Cemetery

16 rue du Repos, 75020

Paris, France (Belleville / Père Lachaise)

Surrounding Area:

Fans of Oscar Wilde may also visit the hotel where he died on the Rue des Beaux-Arts. The building has been extensively remodeled. Oscar died in the little alcove across from the bar on the ground floor.

Further Reading:

Oscar Wilde Project Gutenberg

Article about Wilde’s Tomb

The Wilde-Whitman Love Affair article

L’Hotel website

Pere Lachaise website

“And alien tears will fill for him/ Pity’s long-broken urn,/ For his mourners will be outcast men,/ And outcasts always mourn.”

[authorgraves]

Phillips Brooks

(Dec 13th 1835 - Jan 23rd 1893)

Brief Bio:

Phillips Brooks was born in Boston and graduated from Harvard at age 20. After a failed attempt at being a teacher, he attended seminary in Virginia and was ordained a pastor of the Episcopal church. When he was appointed rector of Trinity Church in Boston, he played a key role in renovating it. As a clergyman he was known for his moral character, enthusiastic sermons, and physical stature. His sermons were so powerful and memorable that they were reproduced nationwide. Today he is most known for his poem O Little Town of Bethlehem, which was adapted into a Christmas carol. He died in 1893 at the age of 57.

Notable Works:

O Little Town of Bethlehem (1868)

The Grave:

Brooks is buried in historic Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. Maps are available at the office. From the front entrance, turn right and take a quick left onto Spruce Ave. After passing Pine Ave. turn right onto Mimosa Path. Brooks is buried on your right, halfway down the path.

Mt. Auburn Cemetery

580 Mt. Auburn St.

Cambridge, MA 02138

Surrounding Area:

Mt. Auburn Cemetery is a sprawling, picturesque place.  On a sunny day, it’s a nice place to bring a date for a leisurely stroll.  Just a few of Brooks’ neighbors are Thomas Bailey Aldrich and Harriet Jacobs.  A popular destination for tourists is Washington Tower, from which one can see the entire cemetery.  Across Coolidge Avenue to the east is Cambridge Cemetery.  Those looking for lunch can walk half a mile down Mt. Auburn Street, past the hospital, towards Harvard.

Trinity Church in Boston erected a statue of Brooks in 1910, which sits on the left exterior.

Further Reading:

Phillips Brooks Project Gutenberg

Mt. Auburn Cemetery website  

Mt. Auburn Cemetery TripAdvisor  

“Life is too short to nurse one’s misery. Hurry across the lowlands so that you may spend more time on the mountaintops.”

[authorgraves]

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley

(Aug. 30th 1797 - Feb. 1st 1851)

Brief Bio:

Born to political philosopher William Godwin and feminist activist Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley was given an advanced education for her time. At age 17 she fell in love with one of her father's political followers, a married poet named Percy Shelley. Together with her step-sister Clair Clairmont, they traveled Europe, and the Shelleys married upon the death of Percy's wife. In 1816, the trio spent a famous summer at Lake Geneva with Lord Byron and John Polidori, where they challenged each other to write ghost stories. This gave rise to the idea that became Frankenstein. In 1822 Percy drowned at sea with William Wordsworth off the coast of Italy. Mary returned to England with her son and focused on cultivating her career as an author. She wrote many novels, travel memoirs, and political articles, and eventually died of a brain tumor at age 53.

Notable Works:

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818)

Mathilda (1819)

The Last Man (1826)

Falkner (1837)

The Grave: She and her family are buried in the churchyard of St. Peter’s Church in Bournemouth. The cemetery is situated on a hill. Take the stairs up from the right side of the church, and she is immediately on your right.

St Peter’s Church, Hinton Rd,

Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 2EE

Surrounding Area:

Across the road from St. Peter’s Church is a restaurant named Mary Shelley, where a portrait of its namesake hangs on the wall. Bournemouth is a seaside community, with many boardwalk destinations.

Further Reading:

Mary Shelley Project Gutenberg

St. Peter’s Church website

“To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death.”

[authorgraves]

Robert Browning

(May 7th 1812 - Dec. 12th 1889)

Brief Bio: Born in Surrey, Robert Browning grew up surrounded by educational resources, and though a gifted student, was never suited to traditional education. As an adult he relied on his family for support while he pursued a literary career. His earliest works were published at his own expense, or that of a relative. These enjoyed brief acclaim. In 1846 he married poet Elizabeth Barrett, and their relationship proved mutually beneficial for their works. After her death in Florence, Browning began publishing again, regaining his reputation. He traveled extensively in his later years, writing as he went, eventually dying in his son’s house in Venice.

Notable Works:

Paracelsus (1835)

Men and Women (1855)

The Ring and the Book (1868-69)

Pacchiarotto, and How He Worked in Distemper (1876)

The Grave:

Browning is buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey, directly next to Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

20 Dean’s Yard

London SW1P 3PA

Surrounding Area:

By the time you’ve seen Browning you’ve seen the rest of Westminster Abbey. Across the river is the London Eye.

Further Reading:

Robert Browning Project Gutenberg

The Browning Society website

Westminster Abbey website

“You never know what life means till you die; even throughout life, tis death that makes life live.”

[authorgraves]

Mary Tourtel

(Jan. 28th 1874 - Mar. 15th 1948)

Brief Bio:

Born to a stonemason, Mary Caldwell studied art in Canterbury and became a children’s book illustrator. She married Herbert Tourtel, assistant editor of The Daily Express, in 1900. Wishing to compete with other papers’ comic strips, Herbert asked his wife for assistance, leading her to create the iconic character Rupert Bear. She stayed with the character for many years, making slight changes to his design over time. With the death of her husband Tourtel retired, and illustration of Rupert was handed over to another. She died of a brain tumor at age 74. Rupert is still published in The Daily Express.

Notable Works:

Rupert Bear (1920-present)

The Grave:

Mary was buried in the churchyard of St. Martin’s Church, one of the oldest churches in England. Her grave is in the outermost row of the eastern side of the cemetery.

St Martins Church

North Holmes Road

Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1P

Surrounding Area:

Canterbury is the town where Mary Tourtel grew up, and a few of the landmarks from her life still exist. The house on Ivy Lane where she spent her final years is commemorated with a plaque, and the school where she studied art is now the Canterbury University for the Creative Arts. Aside from this Canterbury is full of tourist hotspots. Canterbury Cathedral, the site of the murder of Thomas Beckett, has been a site of pilgrimage for centuries. There are also some remains of St. George’s Church, where Christopher Marlowe was baptized.

Further Reading:

Followers of Rupert website

St. Martin’s Church website

[authorgraves]

Christopher Marlowe

(Christened Feb. 26th 1564-May 30th 1593)

Brief Bio: Marlowe was born in Canterbury and baptized at St. George’s Church two months before the birth of William Shakespeare. He received a formal education and pursued a career as a poet, translator and playwright. His blank verse plays were enormously successful. He has been speculated as being a spy, atheist, and homosexual. In 1593, amidst a scandal surrounding his political and religious beliefs, he was murdered. Due to a lack of reliable evidence and conflicting witness statements, the circumstances surrounding Marlowe’s death remain shrouded in mystery.

Notable Works:

Dido, Queen of Carthage

Tamburlaine

The Jew of Malta

Doctor Faustus

Edward the Second

The Massacre at Paris

The Grave:

Marlowe’s remains were laid to rest in an unmarked grave in the churchyard of St. Nicholas Church in Deptford.

St. Nicholas Church

Deptford Green, London

SE8 3DQ

Surrounding Area:  

The nearest transit stations are the Deptford stop on the National Rail, and the New Cross station on the Overground.

Further Reading:

Marlowe Project Gutenberg

The Marlowe Society website

The Marlowe Studies website

St. Nicholas Church website

"You stars that reigned at my nativity, whose influence hath allotted death and hell.”

[authorgraves]

C.S. Lewis

(Nov. 9th 1898 - Nov. 22nd 1963)

Brief Bio:

Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland. Though raised in the church of Ireland, he became an atheist at 15. He was fascinated with Irish, Norse and Icelandic mythology and literature, and received a scholarship at university college, Oxford, where he met W.B. Yeats. He was wounded on the front lines of WWI, and developed a close friendship with Janie Moore, the mother of a fellow cadet. After the war he was appointed a fellow of literature at Magdalen college. During this time he befriended J.R.R. Tolkien, one of the Inklings, who converted him to Christianity with considerable difficulty. From here his writings covered Christian themes. In WWII he delivered religious programs on the BBC. In later life he married Joy Gresham, a fellow convert and former Communist, who later died of bone cancer. Lewis’ health began to decline in 1961, and he eventually died of kidney failure.

Notable Works:

The Space Trilogy (1938-1945)

The Problem of Pain (1940)

The Screwtape Letters (1942)

The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956)

Mere Christianity (1952)

The Dark Tower (1977)

The Grave:

Lewis is buried in the cemetery of Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry, just outside the city of Oxford. He was a parishioner of the church, and one of its windows is etched with a scene from Narnia. The grave is easily reached by bus from Oxford City Centre.

46 Quarry Rd

Headington, Oxford

OX3 8NU

Surrounding Area:

Lewis was a patron of many pubs in Oxford, most famously The Eagle and Child, where he and his fellow Inklings would meet for lunch and discuss each other’s work.

Further Reading:

C.S. Lewis Project Gutenberg

C.S. Lewis Foundation website

“The death of a beloved is an amputation.”

[authorgraves]

J.R.R. Tolkien

(Jan. 3rd 1892 - Sep. 3nd 1973)

Brief Bio:

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa and moved to England when he was three. Orphaned at twelve, he and his brother were taken in by a family friend. He was raised Catholic and showed an early keenness for languages at school. His courtship and marriage to Edith Bratt, a Protestant three years his senior, scandalized both their families. In 1915 he was reluctantly commissioned to serve in WWI. He contracted trench fever at the Somme and spent the remainder of the war in hospital. He took up an academic career, teaching and tutoring at various colleges. It was at Pembroke College in Oxford that he befriended C.S. Lewis, a co-founder of The Inklings, and wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. His knowledge of language enabled him to serve as a codebreaker in WWII. It was after his retirement that he saw increased fame and funds from his books, gradually becoming a literary cult figure. He died 21 months after his wife of a bleeding ulcer and chest infection.

Notable Works:

The Hobbit (1937)

The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)

The Two Towers (1954)

The Return of the King (1955)

The Silmarillion (1977 posthumous)

Beowulf (posthumous 2014)

The Grave:

Tolkien is buried with his wife in Wolvercote Cemetery in Oxford. Maps are available at the office, and signs point the way to the grave, which bears the names of Beren and Luthien.

447 Banbury Rd Oxford, OX2 8EE United Kingdom

Surrounding Area:

The cemetery is reached by bus from Oxford City Centre. One may walk around Oxford and explore many of Tolkien’s local haunts, such as The Eagle and Child pub.

Further Reading:

Tolkien Project Gutenberg

Tolkien Estate website

The Tolkien Society website

“End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take.”

[authorgraves]

John Polidori

(Sep. 7th 1795 - Aug. 24th 1821)

Brief Bio:

Polisario was born in London. He attended the University of Edinburgh, and at age 19 became the personal physician of Lord Byron and traveled with him throughout Europe. In 1816 Byron rented the Villa Diodati at Lake Geneva with Percy Shelley and Mary Godwin. They all challenged each other to write a ghost story, for which Polidori wrote The Vampyre, the first modern English vampire story. After leaving Byron’s service he traveled through Italy. His story was published against his wishes and attributed to Byron. Suffering from depression and gambling debts, Polidori died of cyanide poisoning at age 25. His death was attributed to natural causes.

Notable Works:

The Vampyre (1819)

The Fall of the Angels (1821, posthumous)

The Grave:

Polidori was buried in the churchyard of St. Pancras Old Church in London. In approximately 1865 his and many other graves were dug up to make way for a new railway, under the supervision of Thomas Hardy. It’s possible that his stone is one of the many surrounding the famous Hardy Tree behind the church.

Pancras Rd.

London NW1 1UL

Surrounding Area:

Just down Midland Road are St. Pancras International and King’s Cross Rail Stations, as well as the London Underground. Traveling in the other direction, one may visit the Camden Market, a labyrinthine hive of shopping and cuisine. One may also travel to Highgate Cemetery to visit Polidori’s niece, Christina Rossetti.

Further Reading:

Polidori Project Gutenberg

St. Pancras Old Church website

Keats-Shelley House website

“I now knew that I had died, and for my interment were intended the awful preparations about me. Was this then death?”

[authorgraves]

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Mar

(Nov. 19th 1850 - Oct. 6th 1892)

Brief Bio:

Tennyson was born to a middle class family in Lincolnshire. He won his first poetry award while attending Trinity College, Cambridge. Upon the death of his father he returned home to look after his family. His second volume of poetry was not well received, and he spent many subsequent years relocating while tending to his ailing mother. He moved to London and put out several new works, gaining so much fame that he was made Poet Laureate in 1850. It was in this capacity that he produced his most famous works and was raised to the British peerage. He continued writing until his death in 1892.

Notable Works:

Ulysses (1833)

The Lady of Shalott (1833)

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854)

Idylls of the King (1859-1885)

The Grave:

Tennyson is buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey, alongside Rudyard Kipling and Robert Browning.  Admission is not cheap, but the number of author graves in one place is well worth it.

Westminster Abbey 20 Dean's Yard London SW1P 3PA

Surrounding Area:

By the time you’ve seen Dickens you’ve already seen all of Westminster Abbey. Across the river is the London Eye.

Further Reading:

Lord Tennyson Project Gutenberg

Tennyson Farringford Cottages website

Twickenham Tennyson Museum website

Westminster Abbey website

“Oh that press shall have me now!” - Last Words

[authorgraves]

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(Oct. 21st 1772 - Jul 25th 1834)

Brief Bio:

Coleridge was born in Devon, the youngest of thirteen children. He was an advanced reader from an early age. While attending Jesus College, Cambridge he befriended poets Robert Southey and Robert Lovell. He began publishing poetry in 1796. The following year, while living in Somerset, he met William Wordsworth. Their friendship helped Coleridge produce some of his best works. They traveled through Europe together, and Coleridge introduced German philosophy to England with his translations and literary criticism. In 1800 he moved in with Wordsworth in the Lake District, and his drug habits and depression caused tension between them. Coleridge traveled through southern Europe to improve his health, but eventually he settled in Highgate, in the home of his physician, where he remained for the rest of his life. He died of heart failure.

Notable Works:

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)

Kubla Khan (1816)

Bibliographia Literaria (1817)

The Grave:

Coleridge was initially buried at Old Highgate Chapel, but the crypt fell to decay. He and his family were subsequently moved to St. Michael’s Parish Church, across the street from the house where he died. They are buried under the center aisle.

South Grove, Highgate, London

N6 6BJ United Kingdom

Surrounding Area:

St. Michael’s Church sits at the top of Swain’s Lane. At the bottom is Highgate Cemetery, where you can visit George Eliot and Christina Rossetti.

Further Reading:

Coleridge Project Gutenberg

St. Michael’s Parish Church website

Friends of Coleridge Society website

Coleridge Cottage website

Article about Coleridge’s grave

“A grief without a pang, void, dark and drear,/A drowsy, stifled, unimpassioned grief,/Which finds no outlet or relief,/In word, or sigh, or tear.”

[authorgraves]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

(May 22nd 1859 - Jul 7th 1930)

Brief Bio:

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Doyle’s childhood was strained by his father’s alcoholism. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he was taught by Joseph Bell, who became the inspiration for the character of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle tried several times to launch a medical career, but had little success. In his spare time, he took to writing fiction. A Study in Scarlet was published in 1887, prompting a long and lucrative career as an author of mysteries, though Doyle grew weary of writing them. He often branched out to historical novels and adventure stories. Doyle was a lifelong believer in spiritualism, which caused him to fall out with his friend and Masonic brother Harry Houdini. He served in the Second Boer War, and his writings on the subject led to his being knighted. He died of a heart attack in his home at East Sussex.

Notable Works:

A Study in Scarlet (1887)

The Sign of Four (1890)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)

The Lost World (1912)

The Valley of Fear (1915)

The Maracot Deep (1929)

The Grave:

Doyle is buried in the village of Minstead, Hampshire, which is right in the middle of the New Forest District. Being in a National Park, transit is limited. The nearest rail station is Ashurst New Forest, from which one may take a bus into Lyndhurst. From there, it’s a three-mile walk along a busy road to reach Minstead. Doyle is buried toward the back of the cemetery adjoining All Saints’ Church, under a large tree.

Church Lane, Minstead, GB

SO43 7EX

Surrounding Area:

Minstead is home to The Trusty Servant pub. Nearby Lyndhurst is the final resting place of Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

Further Reading:

Arthur Conan Doyle Project Gutenberg

The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia

New Forest National Park website

New Forest visitor page

Minstead Village website

“You are wonderful.” - Last Words to his Wife

[authorgraves]

Charles Dickens

(Feb. 7th 1812 - Jun. 9th 1870)

Brief Bio:

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born in Portsmouth, the second of eight children.  At age 12, his father was sent to debtors’ prison and he was forced to seek work to support the family.  In 1832 he pursued a career in journalism, which led to him serializing stories in the newspapers.   This led to a lifelong career as a novelist, fueled by monthly feedback from readers.  His writings were fueled by his childhood experiences, and he championed social reform and children’s rights.  As his fame grew, he turned to the theatre and went on several reading tours throughout Europe, Australia and America.  He frequently took holidays in France, and rubbed elbows with such giants as Victor Hugo and Alexander Dumas.  In 1865 he barely survived a train crash on return from France, and seldom traveled by train afterwards.  With dwindling health, he gave a few more tours before he died of a stroke in his home.

Notable Works:

Oliver Twist (1837-49)

A Christmas Carol (1843)

David Copperfield (1849-50)

A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

Great Expectations (1860-61)

The Grave:

As one of England’s most famous Victorian novelists, Dickens is buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey, alongside Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy.  Admission is not cheap, but the number of author graves in one place is well worth it.

Westminster Abbey 20 Dean's Yard London SW1P 3PA

Surrounding Area:

By the time you’ve seen Dickens you’ve already seen all of Westminster Abbey. Across the river is the London Eye.

Further Reading:

Charles Dickens Project Gutenberg

The Dickens Fellowship website

Dickens Birthplace Museum website

Westminster Abbey website

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”