Cary, Henry Francis

CARY, HENRY FRANCIS: Translator of Dante; b. at Gibraltar Dec. 6, 1772; d. in London Aug. 14, 1844. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford (M.A., 1796), took orders, and became vicar of Abbot's Bromley, Staffordshire. In 1800 he removed to Kingsbury, Warwickshire, and after 1807 lived in London. He was assistant keeper of printed books in the British Museum, 1826–37. His translation of Dante was begun in May, 1800, and finished twelve years later; the Inferno was published in 1805 and the completed work in 1814. It attracted little attention at first, but was commended by Coleridge in his lectures in 1818, and Southey afterward pronounced it "one of the most masterly productions in modern times." Four editions were issued during Cary's life, and it still remains the standard translation in English blank verse.

Bibliography: Henry Cary, Memoir of Rev. H. F. Cary, 2 vols., London, 1847; DNB, ix- 242–244.