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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a widely read poet lives long enough to hear his work become a target for ridicule?
In My Life as an Author, Martin Farquhar Tupper looks back on a long writing life, from his early wish to write to sudden fame. His memoir follows the success of Proverbial Philosophy, a book of moral reflections in loose, unrhymed verse that reaches readers across Britain and America.
But success is only part of the story. As literary tastes change, admiration gives way to mockery and parody. Tupper answers his critics and considers his century through strong faith and patriotic feeling. Published in 1886, this memoir offers a working writer’s own account of reputation, persistence, and the difficulty of finding his place as tastes change.
What you’ll discover
- The beginnings of a writer Follow Tupper into the early life where he sees his writing habits take shape.
- Sudden literary fame Discover the place of Proverbial Philosophy in a career transformed by widespread readership.
- A restless writing life Move through poems, stories, historical romance, and verse written for public occasions.
- An author answers back Hear Tupper’s own response when changing tastes turn praise into ridicule and parody.
- Convictions amid changing tastes See how faith and patriotic feeling shape his understanding of a long literary career.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you like Victorian voices, literary gossip, old letters and verse, and the story of a writer who turns a stammer into a calling.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A reluctant author sets his terms
- Small events suggest a guiding hand
- Kindness and cruelty shape a schoolboy
- Closed careers point toward writing
- Silence becomes a reason to write
- Private thoughts find a wide public
- Everyday encounters become seeds for stories
- Readers give his words meaning
- A portrait shaped by its voice
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My Life as an Author
by Martin Farquhar Tupper · 1886
A stammering Victorian writes proverbs in verse that win readers from Albury to America.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“I am human, and I consider nothing human foreign to me.”
In short
How does a man who burned his own diaries end up writing his life story? Martin Farquhar Tupper, a Victorian poet and barrister, opens this book by refusing to write it.
My Life as an Author at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 55 min6 h 15 min fast, 9 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 112,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1886by Martin Farquhar Tupper
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A reluctant memoirist sets his terms
Tupper says he has often been asked to write his life and has always said no. To one urgent request he replies with a sonnet of refusal. His life, he says, is in his books, a truthful photograph, and he wants to give the world no more.
He lists his fears. Memoirs excuse the writer's faults, puff up his successes and name some friends while leaving out others. He once burned a heap of his own diaries so that no one could print them after his death. Only God can weigh guilt or innocence, so he leaves his inner spiritual story to the Recording Angel.
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Details
- First published
- 1886
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Tupper, Martin Farquhar. My Life as an Author. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/my-life-as-an-author.
Tupper, M. F. (2026). My life as an author. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/my-life-as-an-author (Original work published 1886)
Tupper, Martin Farquhar. My Life as an Author. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/my-life-as-an-author.
@book{tupper2026my,
author = {Tupper, Martin Farquhar},
title = {My Life as an Author},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/my-life-as-an-author},
note = {First published 1886}
}
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What is My Life as an Author about?
It is Martin Tupper's account of his literary life, from childhood and schooldays through Oxford and the law to his books, his travels and his friendships. He quotes his own poems, letters and reviews as he goes.
What is Proverbial Philosophy, which Tupper keeps mentioning?
It is Tupper's best-known work, a series of short essays on subjects like love, marriage, friendship and education. They are written in rhythmic, unrhymed lines modelled on the Proverbs of Solomon, and it sold widely in Britain and America.
Did Tupper really have a stammer?
Yes. He says a serious speech impediment troubled him from fifteen to thirty-five and kept him out of the Church and the courtroom. He describes the cures he tried and says he overcame it through prayer and better health.
The author
Martin Farquhar Tupper
1810–1889 · English poet and novelist
Martin Farquhar Tupper was an English poet and novelist, born in London in 1810. He lived at Albury in Surrey and died there in 1889. He published Proverbial Philosophy in 1838 and later added further volumes. His autobiography, My Life as an Author, was published in 1886.
“I am human, and I consider nothing human foreign to me.”
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