Leigh Hunt
(1784-1859), Poet, essayist and criticJames Henry Leigh Hunt
Regency Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter associated with 11 portraits
A poet and essayist best known for his promotion of younger writers such as Keats and Shelley. In 1808, he established a political periodical called the Examiner. Celebrated for its reformist line, the Examiner also promoted the work of Keats, Shelley, Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt. It deliberately antagonised the government and in 1812, after a string of libel charges, Hunt and his brother John were sentenced for an article criticising the Prince Regent. Although the Examiner continued in production from his prison cell, it lost momentum after the his release. In 1822, Leigh Hunt travelled to Italy with Shelley and Byron and founded a short-lived radical journal called The Liberal.
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