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Edward William Garnett (5 January 1868[1] – 19 February 1937)[2] was an English writer, critic andliterary editor, who was instrumental in the publication ofD. H. Lawrence'sSons and Lovers.[3]
Edward Garnett was born inLondon. His father,Richard Garnett (1835–1906), was a writer and librarian at theBritish Museum. On 31 August 1889 Edward marriedConstance Black, known for her translations ofRussian literature; the writerDavid Garnett (1892–1981) was their son.
Garnett had only a few years' formal education at theCity of London School, leaving at the age of 16, but he educated himself further by reading widely. He gained a high reputation at the time for a mixture of good sense and sensitivity in relation to contemporary literature. His influence through his encouragement of leading authors exceeded by far that of his own writing. His literary contacts and correspondents spread far and wide, fromPeter Kropotkin toEdward Thomas.
He worked as an editor andreader for the London publishing houses ofT. Fisher Unwin,Gerald Duckworth and Company, and thenJonathan Cape. He brought together in 1898Joseph Conrad, an Unwin author to whom he acted as a mentor as well as a friend, andFord Madox Ford; they collaborated in the first few years of the twentieth century. Garnett befriended D. H. Lawrence, and for a time influenced him in the direction of realist fiction. In preparingSons and Lovers for publication by Duckworth, Garnett went through the manuscript, censoring some passages and cutting others until the novel was ten per cent shorter; he did not negotiate these changes with Lawrence, but sent the manuscript direct to the printers. The changes including replacing ′hips′ with ′body′ and ′thighs′ with ′limbs.′ He removed the word ′natural′ from ′He could smell her faint natural perfume.′″[4] Lawrence accepted the changes, saying ″It's got to sell, I've got to live.″[5]
Garnett also had a role in gettingT. E. Lawrence's work published. One of his oversights was to turn down for DuckworthJames Joyce'sA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, in 1915. He was a strong supporter ofJohn Galsworthy, andThe Man of Property inThe Forsyte Saga was dedicated to him. He also championed American writersStephen Crane andRobert Frost andAustralia'sHenry Lawson, and helped the Irish writerLiam O'Flaherty.
His playThe Breaking Point was not allowed a licence for dramatic performance in London under thecensorship system of the time (Lord Chamberlain's Office). Its publication was permitted, and in 1907 Garnett published the play, which dealt with anunmarried mother, together with an open letter to the censor. The letter was in fact written by the criticWilliam Archer. This was one battle in a campaign being waged at the time, under the leadership ofBernard Shaw, to free the stage.
Garnett lived at The Cearne,Crockham Hill, near Edenbridge in Kent. His London address was 19, Pond Place, Chelsea.[6]
