Percy Edward Pinkerton
Percy Edward Pinkerton (19 June 1855 – 31 August 1946) was an English translator and poet. His translations included two novels by Émile Zola and a Puccini libretto.
Early life[edit]
Pinkerton was born at Stamford Hill, Middlesex, the third child of metal broker George Pinkerton (1823-1899), son of the missionary and linguist Rev. Robert Pinkerton, DD, and Mary (née Easum; 1823-1868). His siblings included the architect Godfrey Pinkerton.[1][2]
Writing[edit]
Pinkerton published some volumes of poetry: Galeazzo, a Venetian Episode: with other Poems (Venice and London, 1886), which was praised by John Addington Symonds,[3] Adriatica (1894), At Hazebro' (1909), and Nerina, a lyrical drama in three acts (Cambridge, 1927). He also wrote for the Magazine of Art,[4] and in 1889 edited Christopher Marlowe's plays. However most of his literary work consisted of English translations of European songs and literature. He was a member of the late Victorian Lutetian Society, dedicated to unexpurgated translations of the works of Émile Zola. The Society included Ernest Dowson, Havelock Ellis, Arthur Symons, Victor Plarr and Alexander Teixeira de Mattos.[5] He translated other works from German, Italian, French and Russian.
Translations[edit]
From German
- William Müller, Field-Marshal Count Moltke, 1800–1878, 1879
- Heinrich Düntzer, The Life of Schiller, 1883
From Italian
- Matteo Bandello, Novellieri Italiani. Twelve stories selected and done into English with a memoir of the author, 1892
From French
- Memoirs of Constant, the Emperor Napoleon's head valet, 1896
- Émile Zola, Restless House, 1924
- Émile Zola, "Pot Bouille" 1894-95 (Lutetian House, London)
From Russian
- Mikhail Artsybashev, Sanine, 1914
- Mikhail Artsybashev, The Millionaire, 1915
Operas and cantatas
- Puccini, La Bohème, 1896. Performed for radio in 1930[6]
- Puccini, The witch-dancers, performed at Manchester in 1897[7]
- Niccola Spinelli, A Basso Porto, performed at Brighton in 1900[8]
- Franz Schubert, songs with pianoforte accompaniment
- Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, The New Life, 1902
- Johann Sebastian Bach, Phoebus and Pan
- Hector Berlioz, Le Temple universel
- Francis Poulenc
Lyrics[edit]
- Pansies, to Salut d'Amour by Edward Elgar
Personal life[edit]
In 1909, aged 54, Pinkerton married 41-year-old Emily Harriet, spinster daughter of Rev. James Richard Woodgates, rector of Putley, Herefordshire. They lived at Red Lodge, Happisburgh, Norfolk. Pinkerton died on 31 August 1946, aged 91, at Ealing House, Porthleven, Cornwall.[9] and was buried at Porthleven Cemetery alongside his wife. They had no issue.[1][2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Percy Edward Pinkerton (1855-1946)" (PDF). Brindale.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Ealing House". Brindale.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- ^ "It has individuality: the mark of a true poet, of a finely-gifted nature." See Kirk, A supplement to Allibone's critical dictionary, 1891
- ^ "Cecil van Haanen", Magazine of Art 10 (1887), pp. 1–6; "Ludwig Passini: A Painter of Modern Life", Magazine of Art 10 (1887), pp. 127–132.
- ^ Denise Merkle, The Lutetian Society, TTR: traduction, terminologie, rédaction 16:2 (2003)
- ^ The Times, 29 January 1930
- ^ The Times, 1 April 1955
- ^ The Times, 15 November 1900
- ^ The Times, 5 September 1946.
External links[edit]
- Works by Percy Edward Pinkerton at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Percy Edward Pinkerton at Internet Archive
- Works by Percy Edward Pinkerton at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Sanine at Project Gutenberg
- Percy Pinkerton at Library of Congress, with 16 library catalogue records
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