Frederic Shoberl

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Frederic Shoberl
Born1775
London, England
Died1853
Other namesFrederick Shoberl
Known forEditor, writer
ChildrenTwo

Frederic Shoberl (1775–1853), also known as Frederick Schoberl, was an English journalist, editor, translator, writer and illustrator. Shoberl edited Forget-Me-Not, the first[1] literary annual, issued at Christmas "for 1823"[2] and translated The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Biography[edit]

The title page and frontispiece from the Forget-Me-Not annual for 1823

Shoberl was born in London in 1775, and educated at the Moravian school at the Fulneck Moravian Settlement in West Yorkshire.[3]

From 1809 he began editing Rudolph Ackermann's Repository of Arts which had just started and was only at its third edition. Ackermann was seen as the populariser of aquatint engraving and his Repository of Arts was intended to cover "arts, literature, commerce, manufactures, fashions, and politics". At the beginning of February 1814, Shoberl and Henry Colburn founded and became co-proprietors of The New Monthly Magazine. For some time Shoberl was editor, writing many of the articles and reviews and editing Ackermann's magazine.[3]

From 27 June 1818 to 27 November 1819 he was printer and publisher of the Cornwall Gazette, Falmouth Packet, and Plymouth Journal. The last was published in Truro in Cornwall.[2]

In 1822 he was the founding editor of Ackermann's Forget-Me-Not which was an annual, a new type of publication in England.[4] This was the first literary annual in English[1] Shoberl continued to edit the annual until 1834. Shoberl also began overseeing Ackermann's junior annual, The Juvenile Forget-Me-Not from 1828 until 1832.

In addition to these editing tasks, Shoberl was an illustrator. He created his own hand-coloured engravings for The World in Miniature: Hindoostan which was published in London by Ackermann in the 1820s.[5]

In the 1820s, Shoberl created these images of India: (1) A Seapoy in native attire; (2) a Hindu soldier; and (3) a Brigbasi.[5]

Shoberl married Theodosia and they had two sons. William was an assistant to Henry Colburn, and then a publisher in Great Marlborough Street and Frederic, who was printer to Prince Albert in Rupert Street and died a year before his father. His wife died on 18 December 1838.

Shoberl died at Thistle Grove, Brompton, London, on 5 March 1853, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery a week later.[6]

Legacy[edit]

In addition to the selected works below and his illustrations, Shoberl's editing is still being viewed. The Forget-Me-Not publications are being digitised because of their value.[7] Poetry that was published includes works by Hester Thrale, Sir Walter Scott and Mary Wollstonecraft.[8] The artwork that was included has also been digitised which continues Shoberl's poetry. It was the editor and publisher's job to identify and then borrow artwork for the magazine. Many of the artists chosen were Royal Academicians and a considerable fee would have to be negotiated. Once engraved the artwork was then used to solicit accompanying texts.[9]

Selected works[edit]

Notes[edit]

Illustrations for a book called Daring Deeds of Elizabethan Heroes is also the work of Campbell.

  1. ^ a b A "Small" Genre Succeeds, Harris, Katherine D. "Forget-Me-Not: A Hypertextual Archive of Ackermann's 19th-Century Literary Annual", Sept 2007, Poetess Archive. General editor Laura Mandell, accessed June 2010
  2. ^ a b Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Shoberl, Frederic" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  3. ^ a b Banerji, Nilanjana. "Shoberl , Frederic (1775–1853)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25450. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ Contributions to annuals and gift-books, James Hogg, Janette Currie, Gillian Hughes, p.xiv, 2006, accessed June 2010
  5. ^ a b Columbia University: Frances W. Pritchett, Professor of Modern Indic Languages.
  6. ^ "Deaths". The Times. London. 8 March 1853. p. 9. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  7. ^ Harris, Katherine D. "Forget-Me-Not: A Hypertextual Archive of Ackermann's 19th-Century Literary Annual", January 2007, Poetess Archive. General editor Laura Mandell. 1 June 2010
  8. ^ Author List, Forget-Me-Not Archive, accessed June 2010
  9. ^ Index of Original Artists, Forget-Me-Not, Vols. (1823–1830), accessed June 2010
  10. ^ A biographical dictionary of the living authors of Great Britain and Ireland, John Watkins, Frederic Shoberl, William Upcott, pp. 315–6, 1816, accessed June 2010
  11. ^ A historical account, interspersed with biographical anecdotes, of the house of Saxony, F Shoberl, 1816, accessed June 2010
  12. ^ Kramer, Jack. (2002). The Art of Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Illustration, Its Masters and Methods, p. 64.
  13. ^ Frederick the Great, his court and times, Frederic Shoberl, Thomas Campbell

References[edit]

External links[edit]