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Richard Holmes

リチャード・ゴードン・ヒース・ホルムズ

Richard Gordon Heath Holmes

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1945-11-05 （London, England）
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Residence History
London → Norfolk, England

Career

Occupations
Author, Academic, Biographer
Active Years
1970-
Affiliations
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL), Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), Professor of Biographical Studies, University of East Anglia (2001–2007)
Memberships
Royal Society of Literature, British Academy
Influenced By
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley
Nominations
Baillie Gifford Prize 2025 shortlist (The Boundless Deep)

Education

Downside School
Period: 1950s–1960s
Country: United Kingdom
Churchill College, Cambridge
Period: 1964–1967
Year of Graduation: 1967
Country: United Kingdom

Awards

Somerset Maugham Award
1974
Work: Shelley: The Pursuit
Result: 受賞
Whitbread Book of the Year Prize
1989
Work: Coleridge: Early Visions
Result: 受賞
Duff Cooper Prize
Work: Coleridge: Darker Reflections
Result: 受賞
Heinemann Award
Work: Coleridge: Darker Reflections
Result: 受賞
James Tait Black Prize
1993
Work: Dr. Johnson and Mr. Savage
Result: 受賞
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
1992
Organization: The Crown / The London Gazette
Result: 受勲

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Shelley: The Pursuit

1974 Biography

A biography of Percy Bysshe Shelley focusing on his early life, passions, and creative development.

RomanticismLife of a poetCreativity and passion

Coleridge: Early Visions

1989 Biography

The first volume on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, dealing with his early life, poetic development and visionary experiences.

Visionary experiencePoetry and thoughtFormative years

Coleridge: Darker Reflections

1998 Biography

The second and final volume of the Coleridge biography, exploring his later life, struggles and darker aspects.

ConflictMaturity and setbacksEvolution of thought

Dr. Johnson and Mr. Savage

1993 Biography / Literary history

Examines the friendship between Samuel Johnson and Richard Savage and its literary-historical significance.

Friendship18th-century literatureBiographical practice

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science

2008 History / Cultural history

Explores the scientific ferment at the end of the 18th century and its intersections with Romantic literature and imagination.

History of scienceRomanticismExploration and discovery

Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air

2013 History / History of technology

A history of ballooning presented through biographies of balloonists, where science meets showmanship and adventure.

History of flightAdventureScience and society

This Long Pursuit: Reflections of a Romantic Biographer

2016 Memoir / Essays

A reflective collection of essays and memoir about his career and the practice of biography.

Biographical methodMemoirResearch practice

The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief

2025 Biography / Cultural history

A study of the young Tennyson's thought in the context of contemporary scientific and religious crises.

Poet biographyScience and belief19th-century culture

Bibliography

  • One for Sorrow (Poems, 1970)
  • Shelley: The Pursuit (1974)
  • My Fantoms (edited & translated, 1976)
  • Shelley on Love: Selected Writings (1980)
  • Coleridge (Past Masters, 1982)
  • Footsteps: Adventures of a Romantic Biographer (1985)
  • Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin: A Short Residence in Sweden and Memoirs (1987)
  • Kipling: Something of Myself (co-author, 1987)
  • Coleridge: Early Visions (1989)
  • Dr Johnson and Mr. Savage (1993)
  • Coleridge: Darker Reflections (1998)
  • Sidetracks: Explorations of a Romantic Biographer (2000)
  • The Age of Wonder (2008)
  • Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air (2013)
  • This Long Pursuit: Reflections of a Romantic Biographer (2016)
  • The Boundless Deep (2025)

Translations by Author

  • My Fantoms (translation and editing of Théophile Gautier)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Combines biographical narrative with on-site research and primary sourcesUses reflective, essayistic prose alongside scholarly narrative
Recurring Motifs
Intersection of Romanticism and scienceExploration and discoveryInterior life and the creative process

Legacy

Richard Holmes is a leading figure in modern biographical writing, praised for highlighting intersections between Romantic literature and the history of science. His work has influenced both scholarship and general readership.

Museums

  • National Portrait Gallery, London London

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature
  • British Academy

Archives

  • National Portrait Gallery (portraits and related material)
  • University of East Anglia archives (records of tenure and lectures)

In Popular Culture

  • Appearances on BBC Radio programs (e.g. Book of the Week, The Infinite Monkey Cage)

Trivia

  • Married to novelist Rose Tremain
  • Professor of Biographical Studies at the University of East Anglia (2001–2007)
  • The Age of Wonder (2008) was featured on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week
  • Awarded an OBE in 1992