Author: Porter, R.
Biography:
PORTER, R. (fl 1818-21)
Very few clues to his (certainly his) identity are available. The Pleasures of Home, printed in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1818 with an expanded second edition in London in 1821, is dedicated to James Montgomery (q.v.) “whose poetical gifts have always been exercised on the side of benevolence and piety.” The author explains that he has drawn upon his own experience for his portrayal of the pleasures of home during childhood and youth, and on imagination for manhood and old age—so presumably he was a young man. No reviews have been traced. He writes well and appears, by the odd Latin tag, to have had a classical education, but he does not seem to have attended university. His subjects are reformist or pious: the importance of charity; the Missionary Society; opposition to slavery; concern for abandoned women. Allibone for unknown reasons refers to him as R. R. Porter and lists only this one title. (Allibone) HJ