41 Facts About Christopher Smart

Christopher Smart was a major contributor to two popular magazines, The Midwife and The Student, and a friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding.

Christopher Smart was infamous as the pseudonymous midwife "Mrs Mary Midnight" and for widespread accounts of his father-in-law, John Newbery, locking him away in a mental asylum for many years over Christopher Smart's supposed religious "mania".

Christopher Smart was born in Shipbourne in Kent, England on the Fairlawne estate of William, Viscount Vane, younger son of Lord Barnard of Barnard Castle.

Christopher Smart was, according to his nephew, "of a delicate constitution having been born earlier than the natural period".

Christopher Smart's father was Peter Smart, steward or bailiff of Fairlawne.

Christopher Smart's mother, Winifred was from Radnorshire, Wales.

Christopher Smart supposedly received this sum due to his father's closeness to the Vane family, Smart being named after Christopher Vane, and the young boy being considered "the pride of Fairlawn".

In 1726, three years after Christopher Vane died, Peter Smart purchased Hall-Place in East Barming, which included a mansion house, fields, orchards, gardens, and woodland, a property that was influential throughout Smart's later life.

Christopher Smart then attended Durham School, where the Reverend Mr Richard Dongworth was headmaster; it is not known whether he lived with his uncle, John Christopher Smart, or with a school master.

Christopher Smart spent vacations at Raby Castle, which was owned by Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington, the grandson of Christopher Vane.

In 1743, Christopher Smart published his translation of Pope's Ode on St Cecilia's Day as Carmen Cl.

In 1746, Christopher Smart became tutor to John Hussey Delaval, but this was abruptly cancelled because Delaval was removed from Pembroke after a variation of broken rules and mischief.

Christopher Smart worked for Newbery and married his stepdaughter in 1752.

Christopher Smart wrote in the "poetical essay" tradition using Miltonic blank verse.

However, after the publication of the poem, Christopher Smart became a regular contributor in The Student.

The Student, before Christopher Smart's work, was a serious magazine that included a few poems and critical essays.

The Oratory included Christopher Smart playing as Mrs Midnight, various songs and dances, animal acts, and "miscellany" acts.

In 1752, Christopher Smart was slowly dragged into a large "paper war" that involved many of London's writers.

Christopher Smart was incurring numerous debts, and started publishing as much as possible during this time to support his family.

Christopher Smart is said to have married Anna-Maria Carnan around 1752 or 1753, although the exact date is unknown; they initially kept their marriage a secret so Smart could continue to get money from his Cambridge fellowship, which ended shortly thereafter.

Between 1753 and 1755, Christopher Smart published or republished at least 79 works.

However, the strain of publishing caused Christopher Smart to have a seizure, and he was unable to keep up with the publishing of the paper.

Allen was a friend of Samuel Johnson, and it was Samuel Johnson, along with many other friends of Christopher Smart, who contributed to the magazine in order to help Christopher Smart keep up with his contract.

However, there is evidence that an incident of some kind took place in St James's Park in which Christopher Smart started to pray loudly in public until he had "routed all the company".

Christopher Smart's isolation led him into writing religious poetry, although he abandoned the traditional genres of the 18th century that marked his earlier poetry when he wrote Jubilate Agno.

Christopher Smart was left alone, except for his cat Jeoffry and the occasional gawker.

Christopher Smart was discharged from St Luke's asylum uncured after one year.

Christopher Smart was thought to be confined elsewhere for the following seven years, during which time he wrote Jubilate Agno.

Christopher Smart received occasional mentions by critics and scholars after his death, especially by Robert Browning, but analysis and commentary on his works increased dramatically with the "discovery" of Jubilate Agno in 1939.

Christopher Smart's "Let" verses join creation together as he seemingly writes his own version of Biblical poetry.

However, Christopher Smart accomplished his new science by relying on Newtonian empiricism.

Christopher Smart's A Song to David is an attempt to bridge poetry written by humans and Biblical poetry.

However, the Psalms perform a secondary function: they allow Christopher Smart to relate to the suffering of David and to reinforce his own religious convictions by following his Biblical model.

Christopher Smart's Hymns are modelled after a tradition exemplified by Robert Nelson.

Regardless of where he stood on the specific issue of translation Christopher Smart believed that there was an importance to language, which carried over to his constant revising of his poems to slowly correct them.

Many of Christopher Smart's poems served a dual purpose, and when put to music were altered to meet various standards.

Fraser Easton say the existence of Mrs Midnight proves that Christopher Smart identified a female connection to poetry and her character was used to defy popular 18th-century notions of who is able to attain knowledge.

However, Christopher Smart did not only write about gardens and vegetation, and his focus on his cat Jeoffry is widely known and his focus on nature connects him to those mistreated and neglected by 18th-century society.

Christopher Smart actively participated in the 18th-century taxonomy systems established by Carl Linnaeus; however, Smart is mythologising his view of nature and creation when he adds information from Pliny the Elder into his work.

In Jubilate Agno, Christopher Smart declares "I am the Lord's builder and free and accepted MASON in CHRIST JESUS".

Christopher Smart declares himself to be "the Lord's builder" and this connects his life with the building of King Solomon's Temple, an important Masonic idea.