Arthuriana in the 19th-Century

The following timeline is meant as a supplement to my presentation on the revival of Arthuriana in the 19th-century. Since I obviously can't give a comprehensive overview of Arthuriana in the 19th-century during my presentation, I hope that this list will give you some idea of how widespread and diverse the revival was. I've included some well known names, and some more obscure names and texts. However, even this list doesn't come close to a comprehensive list of texts, artwork, opera or theater that drew upon or adapted Arthurian elements. All information is taken from The Return of the King: British and American Arthurian Literature since 1900 by Beverly Taylor and Elisabeth Brewer, D.S. Brewer Press, 1983.

Arthur in 19th-century England

1800: John Thelwell, The Fairy of the Lake: A Dramatic Romance in Three Acts, an original story that includes Arthur, Guenevere and Tristram

1834: King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable: A New Grand Chivalric Entertainment in Three Acts is performed for the first time, author unknown

1842: Tennyson publishes Poems, includes "The Lady of Shallot," "Morte d'Arthur," "Sir Galahad" and "Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere"

1843: Christopher J Riethmuller publishes Lancelot of the Lake, a Tragedy in Five Acts

1846: Richard Henry Horne publishes his poem "The Three Knights of Camelot"

1852: Matthew Arnold publishes his poem "Tristram and Iseult"

1857: Charles Swinburne publishes Queen Yseult

1857: Dante Gabrielle Rossetti illustrates an edition of Tennyson's poems, includes paintings titled: “The Lady of Shallot,” “Sir Galahad,” “Morte de Arthur,” and “King Arthur and the weeping Queens”

1859: Tennyson's Idylls of the King is published

1865: Sir Charles Bruce's The Story of Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot of the Lake is published, a long poem in octosyllabic couplets

1865: Wagner's Tristan and Isolde debuts

1870: Tennyson's The Holy Grail and Other Poems is published

1870: The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson is published, includes "The Coming of Arthur," "Geraint and Enid," "Merlin and Vivien," "Lancelot and Elaine," "The Holy Grail," "Guinevere," and "The Passing of Arthur"

1875: Johns Jenkins' "The Grave of King Arthur" is published

1882: Charles Swinburne's Tristam of Lyonesse

1882: Wagner's Parsifal debuts

1886: Henry J. Shorthouse's novel Sir Percival is published

1889: Richard Henry's Lancelot the Lovely, a burlesque, is performed in London

1890: Stanley Steven's Guinevere: A Comic Opera debuts

1895: Sir Henry Newbolt's Mordred: a Trajedy is published

1899: Elinor Sweetman's "Pastoral of Galahad" and "Pastoral of Lancelot" are published

Arthur in 19th-century America

1820: Lambert A Wilmer publishes Merlin, a poetic drama of the life of Edgar Allen Poe in which Merlin appears

1840: Ralph Waldo Emerson published "Merlin I" and "Merlin II"

1848: James Russell Lowell publishes The Vision of Sir Launfal

1889: Mark Twain publishes A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Note: There were several other instances of Arthuriana in 19th-century American literature and theater. To me, this phenomenon speaks to the transatlantic nature of the 19th-century, where texts, artistic subjects, myths and ideas traversed freely between America and Great Britain.