Henry Mackenzie
born , Aug. 26, 1745, Edinburgh
died Jan. 14, 1831, Edinburgh
Scottish novelist, playwright, poet, and
editor, whose most important novel, The Man of
Feeling, established him as a major literary
figure in Scotland. His work had considerable
influence on Sir Walter Scott, who dedicated his
Waverley novels to him in 1814.
Mackenzie’s early works include imitations of
traditional Scottish ballads, but, on moving to
London to study law after 1765, he began to
imitate English literary styles in which
“sentiment” was then becoming a powerful
literary influence. His mawkish novel The Man of
Feeling (begun 1767, published 1771) was a
best-seller. Settling in Scotland from 1768,
Mackenzie wrote two more novels: The Man of the
World (1773), portraying a villainous hero, and
Julia de Roubigné (1777), imitating Richardson’s
Clarissa. He also wrote a play, edited two
periodicals, and helped found learned societies.
