John Rutter Chorley Explained

John Rutter Chorley (31 July 1806, Blackley Hurst, Lancashire – 29 June 1867, London) was an English author, bibliophile, and Hispanist (also interested in other Romance studies).

Born in Blackley Hurst near Billinge, Merseyside, John Rutter Chorley was the older brother of the author and critic Henry Fothergill Chorley (1808–1872). In addition to his career in railway administration as corporate secretary to the Grand Junction Railway between Liverpool and Birmingham,^[1] he worked as a private tutor. In 1845 a bequest^[2] from his uncle made him independently wealthy and he retired and moved to London. With help from George Ticknor, (1815–1872) and experts at the British Museum, Chorley became a significant collector as a bibliophile.

Among his friends was Thomas Carlyle.^[1]

Selected works

• Notes on the National Drama of Spain. Chapter I. Introductory. May 1859. Fraser's Magazine. 59. 543–557.
• Notes on the National Drama of Spain. Chapter II. Outlines. July 1859. Fraser's Magazine. 60. 49–71.
• Notes on the National Drama of Spain. Chapter III. Principles. September 1859. Fraser's Magazine. 60. 314–330.
• Notes on the National Drama of Spain. Chapter III (concluded). October 1859. Fraser's Magazine. 60. 423–434.
• with Cayetano Alberto de la Barrera y Leirado: Catálogo bibliográfico y biográfico del teatro antiguo Español, desde sus origenes hasta mediados del siglo XVIII. Madrid 1860
• Catálogo de comedias y autos de Frey Lope Félix de Vega Carpio, compuesta en lengua castellana. Corregido y adicionado por Cayetano Alberto de la Barrera. In: Comedias escogidas de Frey Lope Félix de Vega Carpio, 4, 1860, S. 535–558 und Madrid 1861
• The wife’s litany. A winter-night’s dream. Ballads and other pieces in verse. London 1865^[3]

Sources

• Catalogue of the Select Library of the late John Rutter Chorley comprising works on English, French, German, Italian and Spanish Romance literature which will be sold on Wednesday, November 27, 1867
• Hugo Albert Rennert: Bibliography of the dramatic works of Lope de Vega Carpio based upon the catalogue of John Rutter Chorley. New York / Paris 1915
• John Callan James Metford: An early Liverpool Hispanist: John Rutter Chorley. In: Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 25, 100, 1948, pp. 247–259

External links

• Named Collections of Printed Materials (C), British Library

Notes and References

1. Richard Garnett. 10. Chorley, John Rutter.
2. Book: Brake, Laurel. Demoor, Marysa. 2009. Chorley, John Rutter (1806–1867). Dictionary of Nineteenth-century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland. Academia Press. 113.
3. Review: The wife's litany by J. R. Chorley. 20 April 1867. The Spectator. 21.