- John Aikin
John Aikin (
January 15 ,1747 –December 7 ,1822 ) was an English doctor and writer.He was born at
Kibworth Harcourt ,Leicestershire, England , son of Dr. John Aikin, Unitarian divine, and received his elementary education at theNonconformist academy at Warrington, where his father was a tutor. He studied medicine at theuniversity of Edinburgh , and inLondon under Dr. William Hunter. He practised as a surgeon atChester andWarrington . Finally, he went toLeiden , earned an M.D. (1780), and in 1784 established himself as a doctor inGreat Yarmouth .In 1792, one of his pamphlets having given offence, he moved to London, where he practised as a consulting physician. However, he concerned himself more with the advocacy of liberty of conscience than with his professional duties, and he began at an early period to devote himself to literary pursuits, to which his contributions were incessant. In conjunction with his sister,
Anna Laetitia Barbauld , he published a popular series of volumes entitled "Evenings at Home " (6 vols., 1792-1795), for elementary family reading, which were translated into almost every European language.In 1798 Dr. Aikin retired from professional life and devoted himself with great industry to various literary undertakings, among which his "General Biography" (10 vols., 1799-1815) holds a conspicuous place. Besides these, he published "Biog. Memoirs of Medicine" (1780), "Lives of
John Selden andArchbishop Usher " (1812) and other works. He edited the "Monthly Magazine" from 1796 to 1807, and conducted a paper called "The Athenaeum" from 1807 to 1809, when it was discontinued.His son,
Arthur Aikin , was a prominent scientist and his daughter,Lucy Aikin , was a biographer.Bibliography
* "
Evenings at Home " (1792-95)
* "A Description of the Country from Thirty to Forty Miles Round Manchester" (1795) referenced in "The German Ideology " by Karl Marx
* "General Biography" (ten volumes, completed in 1815)
* "Annals of the Reign of George III" (1816)
* "Select Works of the British Poets" (1820)References
*
*Persondata
NAME=Aikin, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= physician and writer
DATE OF BIRTH=January 15 ,1747
PLACE OF BIRTH=Kibworth Harcourt ,Leicestershire, England
DATE OF DEATH=December 7 ,1822
PLACE OF DEATH=
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