Edgar Fawcett was an American novelist and poet. He was a contributor to periodical publications, including Atlantic Monthly and Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine.
Background
Fawcett was born in New York City, New York, United States on May 26, 1847, and spent much of his life there. Fawcett was himself the only son of a wealthy and well-connected Manhattan family. His father, Frederick Fawcett, was an Englishman by birth, a successful leather merchant by trade. Fawcett’s mother, Sarah Lawrence Fawcett, was ensconced in a large and established clan.
Education
Fawcett was educated at Columbia College, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1867 and a Master of Arts in 1870.
Career
Fawcett was apparently engaged with literature from an early age; he began to publish his work while still at school. It was not until after he received two degrees from Columbia University, however, that he began to print his work in earnest. Fawcett tended to write in prose-like lines, with a limited lexicon and less than striking imagery. His verses were praised extravagantly in the press, however. Nevertheless, Fawcett soon turned to fiction writing, which he pursued with uncommon zeal.
Fawcett published extensively throughout his life and also copyrighted twenty novels that were never published. Fawcett’s writing often pleased his contemporaries, however, even if it left critics and later readers cold. By the time Fawcett had written New York, however, he had already relocated to England, where he spent the last seven years of his life. From this neutral ground, which he loved neither too much nor too little, Fawcett completed the work of describing the embarrassing, unwise, social world of New York.
Politics
Many of Fawcett’s novels take as their premise the ascension of vulgar, moneyed Americans to positions of social distinction. Like Henry James and Edith Wharton, Fawcett held a vision of America’s grasping middle class that was premised both on a snooty dislike of the nouveau riche and an idealistic appreciation of American democratic principles.
The prejudice and hypocrisy exhibited by the upper cost and those who aspired to enter its ranks were a lifelong gall to Fawcett. He never passed up an opportunity to attack New York and American social pretensions, which he viewed as diametrically opposed to the democratic principles upon which the United States was founded.
Views
In Fawcett’s stories, vulgar Americans attempt to snatch for themselves a measure of aristocracy by accruing wealth; but for Fawcett, both the snobbish upper class and the climbing middle class of America seem despicable.
Membership
Fawcett was a member of the Fraternity of Delta Phi and the Philolexian Society.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
The prejudice and hypocrisy exhibited by the upper crust and those who aspired to enter its ranks were a lifelong gall to Fawcett. He never passed up an opportunity to attack New York and American social pretensions, which he viewed as diametrically opposed to the democratic principles upon which the United States was founded.” - John D. Cloy
“Fawcett’s poetry shows his dark, introspective side. Moreover, Fawcett, whose conception of darkness is closely akin to Poe’s idea of beauty, was apparently drawn to the extreme poetic tenets of the American writer and Charles Baudelaire.” - John D. Cloy
“The sheer volume of Fawcett’s writing, besides the range of literary genres that he attempted, is impressive. This massive oeuvre, though not a viable excuse for slopping writing, helps to explain the repetitiveness, dragging plots, and preachiness of which Fawcett was often guilty.”
“Fawcett seems first among American poets; we do not know why we should stop short of saying among all the English-writing poets of our time.