This section brings together extracts from a range of primary material that offers a sense of the literary, philosophical and print-cultural context of In Memoriam's composition, publication and afterlife. In each case, an extract from an essay, article or review is accompanied by an introduction that links it to Tennyson's poem. The section begins with a review of Tennyson's fi rst volume of poetry written by Hallam himself, originally published in the Englishman's Magazine and later included in the Remains in Verse and Prose of Arthur Henry Hallam, published by Arthur's father, Henry, in 1834. This is followed by part of Henry Hallam's memoir of his son and an account of the funeral. I also include an extract from Hallam Tennyson's Memoir of his father, which includes Tennyson's own remarks about In Memoriam and a draft section that was not included in the fi nal published version of the poem. Extracts from Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology and Robert Chambers's Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation are included to provide a starting point for explorations of the scientifi c context of In Memoriam's composition (see also the ‘Profi t and Loss’ section of the Reading Guide). The second half of the section focuses on material published in response to In Memoriam, beginning with some contemporary reviews and ending with an essay by T. S. Eliot, which demonstrates how In Memoriam's identity and reputation were shaped by its readership.

Compositional Contexts

Arthur Henry Hallam, Review of Poems, Chiefl y Lyrical

Hallam's review of Tennyson's fi rst volume of poetry, one of the most infl uential early essays on Tennyson, was published in the Englishman's Magazine in August 1831.