Author: Fitzgerald, James
Biography:
FITZGERALD, James (fl 1811)
For a man with such a common Irish name, specific biographical information is hard to come by; in this case, internal evidence provides the best clues. According to the Preface, he was a young and inexperienced author who felt obliged to publish because his verses were already circulating in unauthorized copies. He was evidently well educated: his volume of Poetical Pastimes has a Greek epigraph from Anacreon, who was the model for the epigrams and the choice of subjects (Love, and Wine, as the Preface says). But he does not appear to have attended university in Ireland or England. He may have been well connected: the book is dedicated "with permission" to Francis, Lord Moira (1754-1826), who had been the commander of British forces during the American Revolution and was soon to be made Governor-General of India. But the reviews were uncommonly scathing and he did not venture into print again. (Critical Review 24 [1811] 64-70) HJ