Gifford, William

Related Category: English Literature, 19th cent.: Biographies

1756–1826, English journalist and critic. He was editor (1797–98) of the Anti-Jacobin and first editor (1809–24) of the archconservative Quarterly Review. Although perceptive, his critical writings are frequently marred by harsh and short-sighted opposition to young and “radical” poets. His most famous poems are The Baviad (1794) and The Maeviad (1795), satirizing the English Della-Cruscans. He translated Juvenal (1802) and Persius (1821) and edited the works of Massinger, Jonson, and John Ford.