Charles MacFarlane
BiographyCharles MacFarlane (1799–1858), the son of Robert MacFarlane, was a Scottish writer known more for his historical and travel works than for writing novels. From January 1816 to May 1827 he lived in Italy. In 1827 he went to Turkey and resided for sixteen months in Constantinople and the Turkish provinces. He returned to England in February 1829, settling in London, and supported himself by writing. He was for many years on Charles Knight’s staff. Accompanied by his eldest son, then 16, MacFarlane returned to Turkey in 1847. On his way home, in the summer of 1848, they visited Messina and made a tour through the kingdom of Naples, the Abruzzi, the marches of Ancona, and Rome. In July 1857 he was nominated a poor brother of the London Charterhouse, where he died December 9, 1858.
MacFarlane’s most substantial work was the Civil and Military History of England, part of Knight’s Pictorial History of England, 8 vols. 1838–44. An abridgment, with a continuation bringing it up to date, was published under the title of The Cabinet History of England, 26 vols., London, 1845–7. Another edition, with the title changed to The Comprehensive History of England, appeared under the editorship of Thomas Napier Thomson, 4 vols., London, 1856–61, and again in 1876–8; and a third, with a continuation to 1884, by Thomas Archer, was issued as The Popular History of England, 3 vols., London, 1886. Also for Knight, MacFarlane compiled anonymously two volumes called The Book of Table Talk, 1836 (another edition 1847), for which James Robinson Planché wrote a brief history of stage costume. MacFarlane wrote historical novels and biographies of Thomas Gresham (1847), the Duke of Marlborough (1852), the Duke of Wellington (1853, 1877, 1886), and Napoleon I (1852, 1879, 1880, 1886).
Bibliography
Constantinople in 1828 (1829, non-fiction)
The Armenians, a Tale of Constantinople (1830, 3-vol. novel)
Barba Yorghi (or Uncle George), the Greek Pilot (1831, fiction)
The Romance of History; Italy (1832, ??)
The Seven Apocalyptic Churches (1832, ??)
The Lives and Exploits of Banditti and Robbers in all parts of the World (1833, 2-vol. non-fiction)
Civil and Military History of England (1838–44, 8-vol. non-fiction)
The French Revolution (1844, 4-vol. non-fiction)
The Camp of Refuge (1844, 2-vol. ??)
Our Indian Empire (1844, non-fiction)
A Legend of Reading Abbey (1845, novelette)
The Dutch in the Medway (1845, novelette)
The Romance of Travel; the East (1845, 2-vol. novelette)
A Glance at Revolutionized Italy (1844, 2-vol. non-fiction)
Turkey and its Destiny (1850, 2-vol. non-fiction)
The Neapolitan Government and Mr. Gladstone (1851, non-fiction)
A History of British India (1852, non-fiction)
Japan, an account Geographical and Historical (1852, non-fiction)
The Catacombs of Rome, with Illustrations (1852, non-fiction)
A Memoir of the Duke of Wellington (1852, non-fiction)
A Life of Marlborough (1852, non-fiction)
The Great Battles of the British Army (1853, non-fiction)
Kismet, or the Doom of Turkey (1853, ??)
The Camp of 1853, with Hints on Military Matters for Civilians (1853, non-fiction)
The Chinese Revolution, with Details of the Habits, Manners, and Customs of China and the Chinese (1853, non-fiction)
Other links
Wikipedia