Pope, Alexander
Pope, Alexander ( 1688 – 1744 ),the son of a Roman Catholic linen draper of London. His health was ruined and his growth stunted by a severe illness at the age of 12 (probably Pott's disease, a tubercular affection of the spine). He lived with his parents at Binfield in Windsor Forest and was largely self-educated. He showed his precocious metrical skill in his ‘Pastorals’ written, according to himself, when he was 16, and published in Tonson 's Miscellany (vol. vi) in 1709 . (For Pope's quarrel with Ambrose Philips on this subject see under Philips, A. ) He became intimate with Wycherley , who introduced him to London life. His Essay on Criticism ( 1711 ) made him known to Addison 's circle, and his ‘Messiah ’ was published in the Spectator in 1712 . The Rape of the Lock appeared in Lintot 's Miscellanies in the same year and was republished,...
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