Austin, Alfred

Austin, Alfred, 1835–1913, English author, b. Leeds. Originally trained for a legal career, he eventually turned to writing and politics. From 1883–95 he edited the National Review. Although in 1896 he succeeded Tennyson as poet laureate, his poetry is negligible, and he was the butt of many critics who attacked his snobbishness, tastelessness, and lack of poetic talent. His best work is A Garden That I Love (1894, 1907), a miscellany in diary form.

See his autobiography (1911, repr. 1973); study by N. B. Crowell (1953).

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