Richard Bentley (baptised 1708 – 1782) was an English writer and designer, a friend of Thomas Gray and

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

Life

The son of

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellen ...

, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, he was admitted to the college at age 10. He entered the Middle Temple in 1720. His father's influence saw him made fellow of Trinity in 1728; but he never settled to a career, endured financial troubles, and spent time in France and Jersey. During the 1750s Bentley developed significant friendships, with

and Thomas Gray; in Jersey in 1754 he met also Johann Heinrich Müntz. He fell out with Walpole in 1761.

Works

Bentley made drawings for Gray's poems, and some were published in 1753, as ''Designs by Mr. Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray''. It was influenced by French style, a rococo work showing also

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

aspects and traces of chinoiserie. He was one of Walpole's group of advisers, with

John Chute John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and Thomas Pitt, who steered the design for

Strawberry Hill Strawberry Hill may refer to: United Kingdom *Strawberry Hill, London, England **Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole's Gothic revival villa **Strawberry Hill railway station United States *Strawberry Hill (San Francisco), California *Strawberry ...

, Pitt being Bentley's successor on the "Committee of Taste" when he fell out of favour. The poem illustrations have been thought connected with the style of Jean Bérain; Bentley's subsequent architectural designs were eclectic. Around 1761 Bentley turned playwright. His comedy ''The Wishes, or Harlequin's Mouth opened'' was acted at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

for three nights (27, 28, 80 July 1761), and at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, 3 October 1761. It was written to ridicule the construction of Ancient Greek drama, especially the three unities and moralisings of the chorus: the chorus in the ''Wishes'' are informed that a madman, a torch in his hand, is just on the point of setting fire to a powder magazine, and commence in strophe and antistrophe to lament their own condition, proceeding to exclaim against the thrice-unhappy madman and against the six-times unhappy fate of themselves thus exposed to a madman's fury. His tragedy ''Philodamus'' (printed 1767), with its scenes of courtship, paternal vigilance, and spousal preparations, is said to have convulsed the house with laughter. A posthumous comedy of his, ''The Prophet'', was acted for a few nights in 1788. Among Bentley's other writings were ''Patriotism, a Mock Heroic in five cantos'', London, 1763; and ''A Letter to the Right Hon. C. F. Fox'', 1793. He also translated the travels of

Paul Hentzner Paul Hentzner (29 January 1558 – 1 January 1623) was a German lawyer who published an account of his travels in England during the late Elizabethan era. Hentzner was born in Crossen, in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. In 1596, he becam ...

; and verse for tomb inscription by

Elizabeth Russell, Lady Russell Elizabeth Russell, Lady Russell (née Cooke; formerly Hoby; 1528–1609) was an English poet and noblewoman.Priestland – ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''; She was an influential member of Queen Elizabeth I's court and was known i ...

Notes

;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Richard 1708 births 1782 deaths Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge English dramatists and playwrights English translators English illustrators English male dramatists and playwrights English male non-fiction writers 18th-century British translators