He was educated at
the Charterhouse school in London, and at Cambridge, but he did not
complete a collegiate course of study. He began his literary career as a
contributor to "Fraser's Magazine," under the assumed name of Michael
Angelo Titmarsh, and afterwards contributed to the column of "Punch." The
first novel published under Thackeray's own name was "Vanity Fair," which
is regarded by many as his greatest work. He afterwards wrote a large
number of novels, tales, and poems, most of which were illustrated by
sketches drawn by himself. His course of "Lectures on the English
Humorists" was delivered in London in 1851, and the following year in
several cities in the United States. He revisited the United States in
1856, and delivered a course of lectures on "The Four Georges," which he
repeated in Great Britain soon after his return home. In 1860 he became
the editor of "The Cornhill Magazine," the most successful serial ever
published in England.
1. Mr. Esmond called his American house Castlewood, from the patrimonial
home in the old country. The whole usages of Virginia, indeed, were fondly
modeled after the English customs. It was a loyal colony. The Virginians
boasted that King Charles the Second had been king in Virginia before he
had been king in England. English king and English church were alike
faithfully honored there.
2. The resident gentry were allied to good English families.
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