Author: Forster, Edward
Biography:
FORSTER, Edward (1769-1828: ODNB)
The volume of verse was an anomaly in Forster's publishing career: generally he served as an editor or translator. He was born in Colchester, the son of Rhoda and Nathaniel Forster, and was educated at Norwich grammar school. He matriculated at Balliol College, Oxford (1788), but graduated BA from St. Mary Hall (1792) and then after some time spent studying law at Lincoln's Inn in London, he took orders (1796) and acquired an MA (1797). He was married twice, first to Elizabeth Bedingfeld (d 1794) in 1790 and then in 1799 to Lavinia Banks, daughter of the sculptor Thomas Banks (1735-1805). With his second wife he had three daughters. By an arrangement with the London bookseller William Miller, Forster embarked on a career as editor or translator in a succession of expensive editions, most of them illustrated and at least one with designs by his wife Lavinia. The most notable were his translation of the Arabian Nights (1802) and The British Gallery of Engravings (1807, left incomplete in 1813). At the same time, he pursued a career in the church. Though he held the living of Aston Somerville in Gloucestershire he was able to live in London, where he was a popular preacher at various chapels until 1814. In 1815, the family moved to Paris for financial reasons. Forster preached regularly 1816-27 at the Oratory there and secured positions as chaplain to the British embassy (1818-28) and to the earl of Bridgewater (1824-8). He died in Paris after a long illness and was buried at Père Lachaise cemetery. His widow produced an edition of his Paris sermons in 1828 with an account of his life, to benefit the family. (ODNB 30 Sept. 2021; CCEd 30 Sept. 2021; ancestry.com 30 Sept. 2021)