Charles Kingsley: The 20th Century Critical Heritage 

Huxley, Leonard. Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley. 2 Vols. (New York: D. Appleton, 1901, c1900).
Particularly interesting are two letters from Huxley to Kingsley. The first is a reply (23 September, 1860) to a letter of sympathy from Kingsley regarding the death of Huxley’s young son in which Kingsley sets forth his views on the purpose of life and his belief in immortality. Huxley’s letter is friendly and respectful but displays very different views on religion to those of Kingsley. The second letter (8 November 1866) sets forth Huxley’s reasons for joining the Jamaica Committee which advocated the prosecution of Governor Eyre. Kinsley was a supporter of Eyre. 
Huxley, T.H. ;  Eyre, Governor ; Religion ; Science.

Stoddard, Francis Hovey.  The Evolution of the English Novel (London: Macmillan, 1909; first published 1900).
In his examination of the English novel of purpose, Stoddard declares that Yeast and Alton Locke are slighter and less important than Mrs. Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the problem of slavery being far more serious than the social, industrial and political questions dealt with by Kingsley.  Nevertheless, the latter’s novels were influential in highlighting these questions and in so doing “notably advanced the cause of freedom” in England (174). 
Social and Political Novel ; Yeast ; Alton Locke .

Beers, Henry Augustin. A History of English Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century (New York: Gordian Press, 1966; first published 1901).
In Beer’s short consideration of  The Saint’s Tragedy he writes that the work provided a vehicle for Kingsley’s militant Protestantism and his fervent anti-Catholicism. He also argues that Kingsley intended the drama to repudiate the attraction that romance had given to medieval life. 
Saint's Tragedy, The

Howells, W. D.  “Charles Kingsley’s Hypatia ,” in Heroines of Fiction Vol. II (New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1901): 1-13.
Howells examines the novel Hypatia and concludes that it was not an artistic success.  Though capable of writing a greater work about fifth century Alexandria, Kingsley failed in his attempt mainly due to the weak representation of Hypatia herself, an unattractive and “rather repellent” character (6).  Howells considers Kingsley’s novel to be on a far higher plane than Bulwer Lytton’s The Last Days of Pompeii , yet falls below it in artistic effect.  While Bulwer was at least a melodramatist, “Kingsley was no dramatist at all, but an exalted moralist willing to borrow the theatre for the ends of the church.  If we realize this we shall understand why his figures seem to have come out of the property-room by way of the vestry” (8).  Howells praises Alton Locke for its potent protest against aspects of society’s injustices, yet criticizes it on artistic grounds as being excessively polemical. 
Hypatia; Characterization in Novels ; Reception of Kingsley's Works ; Lytton, Bulwer .

Paul, Herbert W. Men & Letters (London; New York: John Lane, 1901).
Paul very briefly discusses Kingsley the novelist, declaring that he was a real poet whose poetry will likely outlast his novels. 
Novels.

Griswold, Hattie Tyng.  Home Life of Great Authors .  7th ed. (Chicago: McClurg, 1902): 363-371.
Griswold presents a short account of Kingsley’s life and works with particular attention to his life in the parish of Eversley.  She provides little critical analysis. 
Overview ; Eversley .

Brunskill, F. R.  “Charles Kingsley's Social Philosophy,” Primitive Methodist Quarterly Review Vol. 25 (April 1903): 340-349.
Brunskill gives an ornate account of Kingsley’s work on behalf of the poor and less privileged and discusses his social and political views. 
Social and Political Views ; Social and Political Novel .

See Cazamian1973

Hale, Louise Closser. “Venezuela and Kingsley’s Westward Ho!” Bookman Vol. 18 (18 October, 1903): 129-135.
Closser briefly considers La Guayra, Venezuela, as represented in Westward Ho! and compares it with the same town of her own day. The article, illustrated with several drawings, displays a certain supercilious attitude to the South American Spanish that Kingsley himself might have found congenial. 
Westward Ho! .

McCabe, Joseph. “Hypatia,” The Critic 43, no. 3 (September 1903): 267-272.
McCabe strongly criticizes Kingsley’s depiction of Hypatia in the novel of the same name. It is “gravely unjust and misleading”. It is far from a true historical account, McCabe contending that an assiduous examination of the admittedly sparse authorities would result in “a far more commanding personage” than Kingsley’s portrait. In particular, the historical Hypatia, argues McCabe, was a much more serious and prominent intellectual figure in Alexandria than the picture presented by Kingsley. “It is impossible to conceive her pouring out the dithyrambs in which Mr. Kingsley’s naïve maiden delights, or as allying herself with a repulsive old hag in a series of incantations to Apollo and believing he would appear in bodily form” (271). 
Hypatia.

Stoddard, Charles Warren. “Charles Kingsley and Westminster Abbey,” 149-160 in Exits and Entrances: A Book of Essays and Sketches. (Boston: Lothrop, 1903)
Stoddard discusses a visit he paid to Westminster Abbey to lunch with Kingsley, Canon of the Abbey. He comments on Kingsley’s life and writings as well as on the history and beauty of the Abbey. 
Overview.

Woodworth, Arthur V. Christian Socialism in England. (London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1903).
In this work Woodworth traces the history of Christian Socialism from its beginnings under Maurice and Kingsley to its manifestation in the Christian Social Union. The work of Kingsley figures strongly in the first chapter, “Early Christian Socialists”. 
Christian Socialism. 

Adcock, A. St. John. “The Kingsleys,” The Bookman, January 1904, 167-173.
Adcock provides a brief, mainly laudatory, account of Kingsley’s life and works. He stresses that Kingsley will be remembered more for his literary skills, as a historical romancist, a novelist, and as a writer of ballads, than as a priest or reformer. Though acknowledging that the confrontation with Newman was regrettable for Kingsley, Adcock considers that the frequent representation of Kingsley as aggressive and ferocious is erroneous. Rather Kingsley was moved by sincerity and in his numerous controversies “was actuated more by a genuine sense of duty than by any natural inclination” (171). 
Overview. 

Moulton, Charles Wells (ed.).  The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors Vol. VII (Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1959 (c1904])
This is a collection of about 90 short extracts from mainly nineteenth century writings about diverse aspects of Kingsley’s life and work. It is particularly useful as an introduction to nineteenth century Kingsleyan studies. 
Overview. 

Dawson, W. J.  "Charles Kingsley," in The Makers of English Fiction. 2nd ed. (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1905): 179-190.
In this overview of Kingsley's life and works Dawson assigns Kingsley a high place in the secondary order of novelists, declaring that his failure to attain the highest rank is due to his versatility. While Dawson considers that none of his novels were as fine as The Cloister and the Hearth or Lorna Doone , he deems that Kingsley exerted a greater influence on his age than either Reade or Blackmoore, "an influence subtle and peculiar, based in part on personality, in part on the nature of his message" (179). 
Overview ; Novels .

Paul, Herbert. The Life of Froude (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1905).
Briefly discusses the friendly relationship between Froude and Kingsley as well as Froude’s criticisms of the latter’s politics and theology. 
Froude .

Friswell, Laura Hain. In the Sixties and Seventies: Impressions of Literary People and Others (Boston: Herbert B. Turner, 1906).
In this work of recollections Friswell briefly discusses her father’s and her own relationship with Kingsley. She writes affectionately of Kingsley and provides some interesting anecdotes. 
Overview ;

Lord, Walter Frewen.  “The Kingsleys,” in his The Mirror of the Century (London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1906): 188-203.
Lord discusses the life and work of the two brothers Henry and Charles Kingsley, focusing on their novels.  “As regards the work of Charles Kingsley, we shall have to say that over-emphasis destroyed the artistic effect that he would fain have produced.  A not dissimilar lack of finish is perceptible in the work of Henry Kingsley, owing to his eagerness to produce.  A little more mental concentration in the case of both; a little more deliberation in the case of Charles, and a little more earnestness in the case of Henry, and the world of letters would have been enriched by two great artists.  As it is – proxime accesserunt” (202). 
Overview ; Novels ; Kingsley, Henry .

Melville, Lewis.  "Charles Kingsley," in his Victorian Novelists (London: Archibald Constable, 1906): 106-124.
Melville reviews Kingsley’s life and works.  He praises some of  Kingsley’s shorter poems though considering that his poetry in general is not up to the standard of his romances.  Yeast is more a pamphlet than a novel and is spoiled by Kingsley’s dissertations on his own views.  Though the story of Alton Locke is slight, the novel’s characterization is superior to that of Yeast .  Melville praises Hypatia for its “brilliant and forcible picture of life”, for its fine characterization, and its good planning.  It is, however, “sometimes stagey, and often melodramatic, and not infrequently grandiloquent” (114, 118).  Westward Ho! is Kingsley’s most successful novel though it does not quite reach the level of Hypatia .  Melville singles out Kingsley’s command of language and his scene-painting. “. . . it is this power of description that distinguishes him above his contemporaries, with the exception, perhaps of Disraeli; indeed, places him in this respect above all writers since Scott, and even Scott’s landscape does not always seem so spontaneous” (124). 
Overview ; Novels ; Poetry ; Characterization in Novels .

Rhys, Ernest.  "Introduction," Westward Ho!  (London: Dent, 1906): 1-7.
In this brief introduction to Westward Ho! Rhys though mentioning that the story is lacking in historical accuracy and is full of Kingsley's prejudices nevertheless lauds highly Kingsley's descriptions and vivid writing style. 
History.

Goldberg, F. S.  “Kingsley and the Social Problems of His Day,” The Westminster Review Vol. 167 (Jan. 1907): 41-49.
Goldberg provides a rathernaïveaccount of Kingsley’s work on behalf of the poor and working classes and considers his views on social problems as expressed in his novels.  Though Kingsley believed that all men are equal in the eyes of God, he was not a socialist.  Rather, while their social conditions must be alleviated, it was right that the working classes should be governed by the upper classes. 
Social and Political Views ; Yeast ; Two Years Ago .

Nichols, May Ellis.  “In Kingsley-Land,” Book News Monthly Vol. 25 (June 1907): 670-674.
Nichols describes a “pilgrimage” she took through the West Country following in the footsteps of Amyas Leigh and others from Westward Ho! and visiting the scenes depicted in the novel. 
Westward Ho! ; Devon ; Cornwall .

Goldberg, F. S.  “Kingsley and the Social Problems of His Day,” The Westminster Review Vol. 167 (Jan. 1907): 41-49.
Goldberg provides a rathernaïveaccount of Kingsley’s work on behalf of the poor and working classes and considers his views on social problems as expressed in his novels.  Though Kingsley believed that all men are equal in the eyes of God, he was not a socialist.  Rather, while their social conditions must be alleviated, it was right that the working classes should be governed by the upper classes. 
Social and Political Views ; Yeast ; Two Years Ago .

Rhys, Ernest. “Introduction.” vii-ix in Charles Kingsley. Hereward the Wake. London: Dent, 1908).
Rhys commenting on the adverse criticism Kingsley received from historians for his representation of Hereward, nevertheless observes that his lack of historical acumen was well compensated by his skills as a saga maker. “The result is another of those valiant open-air romances, through which blows the very breath of the English countrysides – woodland, moorland, or fenland – and which help to stimulate a keener feeling in the people who read them about the people who inhabited there in the old time. Among the English romancers who opened the way into history, Charles Kingsley, despite his imaginative bravado and reckless hurry of the pen, is still one of the most invigorating” (x). 
Hereward the Wake; History.

Wedgwood, Julia.  Nineteenth Century Teachers and Other Essays (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1909).
This is a summary of Kingsley’s life and works.  There is little critical analysis. 
Overview .

Chapman, Edward Mortimer.  English Literature in Account with Religion 1800-1900 (Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1910).
Chapman devotes several pages to a cursory outline of Kingsley’s life and works. 
Overview .

Graves, Charles L. Life and Letters of Alexander Macmillan (London: Macmillan, 1910)
This biography of Alexander Macmillan of Macmillan’s publishers makes frequent reference to Kingsley and provides extracts from the correspondence between Kingsley and the Macmillans. 
Macmillan's .

Saintsbury, George. A History of English Prosody From the Twelfth Century to the Present Day . Vol. 3 (London; New York: Macmillan,  1910).
Saintsbury reviews Kingsley’s poetry declaring that though his poetical oeuvre was small it nevertheless resulted in “delightful flowers.” Referring specifically to Andromeda he speaks highly of Kingsley’s skills proclaiming him a deft master of practical versification. 
Poetry.

Benson, Arthur C.  “The Leaves of the Tree,” North American Review No. 669 (August 1911): 282-301.
Benson discusses Kingsley’s life, character, and works, paying particular attention to his life at Eversley.  He provides personal recollections of having met Kingsley as a child and relates other stories about Kingsley told him by his father. 
Overview ; Eversley .

Noel, Conrad.  Socialism in Church History (Milwaukee: Young Churchman, 1911).
Noel discusses the “socialist” views and work of Kingsley and Maurice and relates them to their religious beliefs.  He denies that they were broad Churchmen; rather “they protested against broad Churchism as being almost as anti-Christian as Puseyism or popular Protestantism.  Their lives were devoted to the revival of the Catholic democratic Faith” (245). 
Religion ; Christian Socialism ; Maurice . 

Gribble, Francis. The Romance of the Men of Devon. London: Mills and Boon, 1912.
In this survey of famous Devonians Gribble provides a short overview of Kingsley’s life, work, and writings. Though Kingsley only spent a short part of his life in Devon, he was always proud to have come from there. Referring in particular to Kingsley’s acceptance of the Regius Professorship of History at Cambridge, to his controversy with Newman, and to his Christian Socialist views, Gribble writes that he was “prejudiced and muddle-headed” though not as much as most other early and mid-Victorians (242). Still, Kingsley, according to Gribble, deserves praise as both a patriot and a poet. 
Overview.

Russell, George W. E. “Charles Kingsley.” 36-49 in Afterthoughts. London: Grant Richards, 1912.
In this short essay Russell provides a summary of Kingsley’s life and works. He states that his justification for writing about Kingsley was twofold: he knew him personally and Yeast, in which Kingsley “uttered his soul”, strongly influenced the formation of his own opinions. 
Overview.

Ward, Wilfrid. “Introduction.” v-xxx in Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua. The Two Versions of 1864 & 1865 Preceded by Newman's and Kingsley's Pamphlets. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1913.
In this introduction Ward considers how Newman reacted to Kingsley’s accusations. He shows that Newman’s treatment of Kingsley in the 1864 original composition of the Apologia betrayed a distinct anger, a sentiment that contributed, many felt, to the work’s great success. However, in the 1865 edition, intended as the permanent document, Newman deleted his more angry retorts. 
Newman Controversy.

Ward, Wilfrid. “The Writing of the ‘Apologia’” 1-46 in The Life of John Henry Cardinal Newman. Vol. II. London: Longmans, Green, 1913.
Ward treats the writing of Newman’s Apologia including the events that led up to it. Ward is largely critical of Kingsley’s role. 
Newman Controversy.

Nairne, Alexander. Poems, by Charles Kingsley: A Lecture Delivered Before the Chester Society of Natural Science, Literature, and Art, on March 4th, 1915. Chester: G.R. Griffith, 1915.
In this short lecture Nairne discusses the art of Kingsley’s poetry against the background of Kingsley the man and his work. Nairne concludes: “The impression left by a first swift reading of his poems is that their form is quite unstudied; the words seem to have fallen into their places of themselves. And a second, more observant reading seems to confirm this impression. There is a freedom, almost a roughness, in his use of extra syllables, and it does look like carelessness when we find two pieces entitled ‘Sonnet,’ one of which has only thirteen, the other seventeen lines. But further study alters the impression. Whether Kingsley was essaying a bold (not wholly unparalleled) innovation, or whether he was actually ignorant of, or (more likely) careless about the technical meaning of the word ‘sonnet,’ the workmanship of both pieces is excellent. Nor are the extra syllables let in at random, but in every case serve to adjust the sound to the sense and effect something that was desired. . . . That might come by instinct, but instinct of that kind is generally the final result of long and patient apprenticeship to an art” (24). 
Poetry.

Ward, A. W. and A. R. Waller (eds.). The Cambridge History of English Literature Vol. XIII, Part II  (New York, Putnam’s Sons, 1917): 392-410.
This is an overview of Kingsley's life and works with particular focus on his novels.  Kingsley's strong imagination and vivid descriptive style are singled out for especial praise. 
Overview; Social and Political Views ; Novels.

Courtney, Janet E.  “Charles Kingsley,” Fortnightly Review Vol. 105 (Jan-June 1919): 949-957.
In the centenary year of Kingsley’s birth Courtney offers a brief general outline of the author’s life and principal works.  She praises Kingsley’s historical novels for their readability though acknowledging the presence of many didactic passages.  She criticizes, however, the modern novels, i.e. Yeast, Two Years Ago , and Alton Locke for their old-fashionedness.  Their chief merit lies in their treatment of social questions rather in their literary skill.  On the other hand, Courtney lauds the children’s stories for their charm and ability to delight. Courtney also discusses the somewhat overlooked study of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, The Saint’s Tragedy (1848).  Though stressing the great interest and attention Kingsley paid to this early work, Courtney criticizes its pervasive didacticism.  “It is a sermon against monkishness and in praise of wedded love, more interesting to read, no doubt, than Kingsley’s sermons strictly so-called, but it does not differ from them essentially” (954). 
Overview ; Saint’s Tragedy, The ; Social and Political Novel .

Melville, Lewis.  “The Centenary of Charles Kingsley,” Contemporary Review Vol. 115 (June 1919): 670-674.
Melville’s appreciation of Kingsley’s life and works contains little that he did not write in his 1906 Victorian Novelists .  However, he is more certain this time that Westward Ho! is Kingsley’s best work.  “The deeds of derring–do in the South Seas and on the Spanish Main, and the story of the defeat of the great Armada are admirably told, and are comparable with similar episodes in the best works of any other author.  There Kingsley is at his best, and his best is very good indeed” (674). 
Overview ; Poetry ; Characterization in Novels ; Westward Ho! .

Roberts, R. Ellis.  “Charles Kingsley (1819-1875),” Bookman Vol. 56 (June 1919): 97-102.
Roberts provides an overview of Kingsley’s life and works.  He considers Westward Ho! to be Kingsley’s most satisfactory novel and The Water-Babies his “best book” praising in particular the latter’s story and songs.  Roberts also briefly mentions the Newman controversy, declaring that Kingsley’s inability to understand Newman was due to more than his distaste for the Roman Church.  Rather, Kingsley “had long ago closed his mind to the idea that truth was not the possession of the English nation as expressed by the English Church.  He had never pursued truth wherever it led as had Newman” (97). 
Overview ; Westward Ho!

Blore, G. H.  “Charles Kingsley,” in his Victorian Worthies: Sixteen Biographies (London: Oxford University Press, 1920): 177-195.
Blore provides a sketch of Kingsley’s life and principal works. 
Overview .

Elton, Oliver. A Survey of English Literature 1830-1880. Vol. II. 309-316. London: Edward Arnold, 1920.
Elton presents a broad overview of Kingsley’s life and works. Yeast is not really a novel but “a kind of pamphlet-fantasy” in which the authorial commentary renders Kingsley himself the most distinct character (310). However, the work reveals promise of the future novelist. The true power of Alton Locke lies in its pictures rather than its ideas. Hypatia is praised for its drama and the passion and action of the story. Westward Ho!, more “a saga than a novel with a plot” (311), is lauded for its action, its enthusiasm, and its fine scene painting. Though Two Years Ago has excessive moralizing, “Kingsley is himself again whenever he gets back to landscape or to narrative” (312). Hereward the Wake suffers from a surfeit of the professor and a paucity of the artist. The Heroes receives high praise for its style, its descriptions, its appeal to children. Elton also lauds Kingsley’s “fervid picturesqueness” in a number of his shorter works, particularly his naturalist depictions in At Last. The Water-Babies though popular “is a good book badly spoilt” (314). Elton commends Kingsley’s poetic power, particularly his lyric and narrative poems. “He is one of the few poets of the time who make us wish cordially that he had written more” (315). 
Overview; Novels; Poetry.

Raven, Charles E. Christian Socialism 1848-1854. London: Macmillan, 1920.
Raven discusses Kingsley's contribution to the Christian Socialist movement. He praises Kingsley's sincere and influential involvement at the commencement of the campaign -- "without him it could never have achieved its speedy recognition or its lasting influence" (97). However, he considers that his participation became increasingly problematic as the movement proceeded due to those personal faults that grew more prominent later in his career: "in view of them we cannot altogether regret the fact that he dropped out of the movement before he found a Newman to bring destruction upon him and it together" (101). 
Christian Socialism.

Williams, Stanley.  "'Yeast': A Victorian Heresy," North American Review Vol. 212 (November 1920): 697-704.
Williams discusses Yeast , paying particular attention to the novel’s characterization and such themes as antipathy to Roman Catholicism and the espousal of Christian Socialism.  Though he discerns distinct problems with the novel, for example its lack of genus, he praises its pervasive sincerity and Kingsley’s palpable ardor as well as its presentation of important Victorian disputes and movements.  While students of Victorian literature will readily discern the problems of this “potpourri”, “they will understand the Victorians better, and so think their reading worth while” (704). 
Yeast; Catholicism ; Christian Socialism .

Martineau, Violet. John Martineau, The Pupil of Kingsley. London: Edward Arnold, 1921. 
There is frequent mention of Kingsley in this short account of the life of John Martineau written by his daughter. Martineau became a private pupil of Kingsley in his house in 1850 when he was fifteen years old. He remained there for a year and a half. He was strongly influenced by Kingsley during this time and he maintained the relationship during later life. Violet Martineau has collected in this biography many letters written by her father. These letters have numerous references to Kingsley. 
Martineau, John.

Paget, Stephen. “The Water-Babies.” 102-116 in I Have Reason to Believe. London: Macmillan, 1921. 
This is a personal laudatory appreciation of The Water-Babies. Though admitting that it is not a book for children because of its numerous digressions, Paget declares “I would not give my copy of the Water-Babies for a wilderness of mad hatters” (105). 
The Water-Babies.

Hearn, Lafcadio.  Appreciations of Poetry (London: William Heinemann, 1922).
In his examination of Kingsley’s poetry Hearn declares that he wrote the best hexameters and the best songs of the period and gives especial praise to “Sands of Dee”.  On the other hand, he is very critical of the dramatic work “The Saint’s Tragedy” and declares that instances of “rubbish” reside in Kingsley’s poetic oeuvre.  Still, “the jewels among that rubbish have a peculiar colour and splendour that distinguish them from everything else written during the same period” (297). 
Poetry .

Saintsbury, George.  A History of English Prose Rhythm (London: Macmillan, 1922).
In a brief consideration Saintsbury praises Kingsley's rhythmic and metrical style in some of his prose works, particularly Westward Ho!. 
Prose Rhythm .

Brown, William Henry. Charles Kingsley: The Work and Influence of Parson Lot (Manchester: The Co-Operative Union, 1924).
Brown, an acquaintance of J. M Ludlow, provides a book length overview of Kingsley’s life and work focusing in particular on his “Parson Lot” period. Though excessively complimentary and lacking in critical rigor, this biography offers some interesting insights. 
Full Book Treatment ; Overview.

Jewitt, Arthur Russell.  “Charles Kingsley: An Appreciation,” Dalhousie Review Vol. 4 (July 1924): 193-202.
Jewitt provides a short general overview of Kingsley’s life and works.  He stresses what posterity owes to Kingsley’s endeavors in such areas as sanitation and the franchise and to his influence in the enactment of factory acts, workmen’s compensation acts, better poor laws, and the right to form trade unions.  However, Jewitt offers little deep analysis and less negative criticism.  His treatment is gushing and ornate as in “Charles Kingsley enriched English literature by the originality and imagination of his genius, quickened and enlivened public opinion by his life of ideal behaviour and resonant golden deeds, leaving the world better than he found it, going to his reward recognized, revered, and loved, a ‘gallant knight-errant of God’” (202) 
Overview ; Social and Political Views . 

Brown, W. Henry.  “Maurice, Kingsley and Hughes,” The Manchester Quarterly Vol. 51 (1925): 253-68.
Brown considers the life and works of Kingsley interweaving them with those of Maurice and Hughes.  All is laudatory with little critical analysis. 
Overview ; Hughes, Thomas ; Maurice .

Weygandt, Cornelius.  A Century of the English Novel, Being a Consideration of the Place in English Literature of the Long Story, Together with an Estimate of its Writers from the Heyday of Scott to the Death of Conrad (New York: Century, 1925): 165-168.
In his short treatment of Kingsley the novelist, Weygandt declares that Westward Ho! is his best known novel and praises both Hypatia and Hereward the Wake , the latter being his “most unified and most completely realized story” (167).  On the other hand, both Yeast and Alton Locke are “amateurish and crude” (167) while Two Years Ago he dismisses as “an unassimilated hodge-podge of adventure and Christian Socialism and American Slavery and satire of English conventions” (167).  Weygandt is generally critical of Kingsley’s depiction of character especially the lack of life in his women: “they are a boy’s women rather than a man’s” (168). 
Novels.

Vooys, Sijna de. The Psychological Element in the English Sociological Novel of the Nineteenth Century (New York: Haskell House, 1966).
De Vooys provides a brief examination of Alton Locke focusing in particular on Locke’s characterization. He concludes that “In Alton Locke’s character we can trace Kingsley’s belief that the workers should associate themselves, not in envy of their privileged brothers, but in the spirit of Love, to find beauty in Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood, not by assistance from without, but by the help of the Spirit working in each.” 
Alton Locke.

McAlpin, Edwin A.  "The Conflict Between Theology and Spirituality. Hypatia , by Kingsley," Old and New Books as Life Teachers (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1928): 109-124.
After briefly sketching several other of Kingsley’s novels, McAlpin provides a longer though not very substantive account of Hypatia.   “Without defining his conviction in words Kingsley indicates in the experience of Raphael Aben-Ezra the supreme importance of Christianity as a life rather than as a set of theological doctrines and dogmas” (121-22). 
Hypatia.

Sedgwick, John Hunter.  "A Mid-Victorian Nordic,” North American Review Vol. CCXXV (January 1928): 86-93.
Sedgwick writes that Westward Ho! is an old-fashioned work displaying “beautiful, unabashed Nordicism” (87).  Kingsley’s reasoning is simple.  “All the people in Westward Ho! who do good things are British and belong to the Established Church; ergo, there is only one shop to go to, and that is Britain, and the Established Church comes second” (88). 
Westward Ho! ; Nordicism .

Beer, Max.  A History of British Socialism . Vol. II (London: Bell and Sons, 1929).
In his treatment of Christian Socialism Beer declares that Kingsley “thought the real battle of the time was not Radical or Whig against Peelite or Tory, but the Church, the gentleman, the workman against the shopkeepers and the Manchester School” (183). 
Christian Socialism ; Social and Political Views .

Murray, Robert H. "Kingsley and Christian Socialism" in Studies in the English Social and Political Thinkers of the Nineteenth Century Vol. I (Cambridge, U.K.: Heffer, 1929): 432-455.
After a brief analysis of the age's social and political context, especially the Marxist background, Murray provides an overview of Kingsley's life and works focusing in particular on his activities in the Christian Socialist sphere. 
Overview ; Maurice ; Social and Political Views ; Christian Socialism .

Somervell, D. C. English Thought in the Nineteenth Century (New York: David McKay, 1965; first published 1929).
This is a brief overview of Kingsley’s works and thought. Somervell concludes that Kingsley anticipated on the sentimental side the imperialist movement that dominated British politics at the end of the nineteenth century. 
Overview .

See Adamson 1964

Robertson, J. M.  A History of Freethought in the Nineteenth Century .  2 Vols. (New York: Putnam's Sons, 1930).  Vol. II, pp. 321-323.
Robertson very briefly discusses Kingsley’s understanding of the compatibility of science and religion and his acceptance of the theory of evolution. 
Science ; Religion ; Evolution .

Wright, Cuthbert.  “Newman and Kingsley,” Harvard Graduates’ Magazine Vol. 40 (December 1931): 127-134.
This is a cursory account in rather flowery language of the Newman-Kingsley controversy.  The primary focus of the article is on the life and career of Newman. 
Newman Controversy . 

Baker, Joseph Ellis.  The Novel and the Oxford Movement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1932): 88-100.
Baker argues that Kingsley’s hostility to the Oxford Movement was based on a quite different view concerning the nature of man.  Whereas the Oxford Movement held that man's nature was essentially sinful, Kingsley, “of the school of Rousseau”, believed that it was essentially good (88).  Baker reviews the novels of this “pugnacious Protestant” for anti-Catholic sentiments (99).  “Though Kingsley’s pictures of Tractarians are so obviously prejudiced that it is hardly necessary to correct them, his comments help to reveal the core of his own vigorous mind, and the setting of the Oxford Movement within the framework of other mid-century ideas” (100). 
Oxford Movement (Tractarianism) ; Novels ; Catholicism ; Religion .

Elton, Oliver.  A Survey of English Literature 1830-1880 .  2 Vols. (London: Edward Arnold, 1932; first published 1920) Vol. II: 309-316.
Elton presents a broad overview of Kingsley’s life and works. Yeast is not really a novel but “a kind of pamphlet-fantasy” in which the authorial commentary renders Kingsley himself the most distinct character (310).  However, the work reveals promise of the future novelist.  The true power of Alton Locke lies in its pictures rather than its ideas. Hypatia is praised for its drama and the passion and action of the story. Westward Ho! , more “a saga than a novel with a plot” (311), is lauded for its action, its enthusiasm, and its fine scene painting.  Though Two Years Ago has excessive moralizing, “Kingsley is himself again whenever he gets back to landscape or to narrative” (312). Hereward the Wake suffers from a surfeit of the professor and a paucity of the artist. The Heroes receives high praise for its style, its descriptions, its appeal to children.  Elton also lauds Kingsley’s “fervid picturesqueness” in a number of his shorter works, particularly his naturalist depictions in At Last .  The Water-Babies though popular “is a good book badly spoilt” (314).  Elton commends Kingsley’s poetic power, particularly his lyric and narrative poems.  “He is one of the few poets of the time who make us wish cordially that he had written more” (315). 
Overview ; Novels ; Poetry .

Lovett, Robert Morss and Helen Sard Hughes. The History of the Novel in England (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1932).
In this brief outline of Kingsley’s life and works, the authors stress the influence of Carlyle declaring that Kingsley was a popular expounder of the latter’s doctrine. 
Overview ;   Carlyle.

Brinton, Crane.  English Political Thought in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954; first published 1933).
Brinton provides an overview of Kingsley’s life and his major social and political views.  While his Christian Socialism was by no means a system, Kingsley held that a Christian Socialist society would indeed be hierarchical where each one's place is determined by his moral value as well as democratic in the sense that each one's place has been allotted by God.  Brinton considers that Kingsley’s ideal society was based on older English societies where different social classes “were knit together by habits which were genuine human relationships”.  His “programme is singularly like that of Tory Democracy” (125).  Kingsley’s paternalism did not signify that he rejected competition.  Competition was good but workers must first be members of cooperative associations, an ideal similar to “modern guild Socialism” (126).  While Brinton considers that Kingsley’s achievements were not insignificant, his ideals based on his religious faith could accomplish little to improve the very practical ills of working class and under-privileged society.  “His God, his virtue, his England, made too many promises to the flesh – promises unfulfilled to the common man.  For the uncommon man, his faith was even more inadequate.  Taste and intellect alike recoil from the simplicities of a universe on the pattern of Eversley” (130). 
Social and Political Views ; Alton Locke ; Christian Socialism ; Religion ; Science Evolution ; Democracy ; Capitalism ; Teutons .

Carpenter, S. C.  Church and People, 1789-1889: A History of the Church of England from William Wilberforce to “Lux Mundi”   (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1933).
Carpenter frequently mentions Kingsley in his study, paying particular attention to his activities as a parson in Eversley. 
Parson, Kingsley as ; Eversley .

Partington, Wilfred.  "Westward Ho! with Charles Kingsley," The Colophon: A Book Collector's Quarterly Vol. 3, Part xi (1933).
In January 1874 Kingsley embarked on the steamship Oceanic on an eleven day voyage to America. Partington discusses the chart, issued to the passengers, on which Kingsley indicated the course followed by the ship and the daily distance covered.  On the back of the chart Kingsley recorded his log of the voyage.  Partington also briefly mentions some of the major incidents in Kingsley's six month sojourn in America and Canada. 
Chart/Log of Voyage to America ; America .

Baldwin, Stanley E. Charles Kingsley (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1934).
This is a book length treatment of Kingsley's life and works.  After chapters providing a brief biography, a discussion of the background of the novels, and a consideration of the influence of Carlyle and Maurice, Baldwin devotes separate chapters to each of the novels: Yeast, Alton Locke, Two Years Ago, Hypatia, Westward Ho!, and Hereward the Wake .  Baldwin is measured in his assessment, though he still finds much to praise in Kingsley's diverse literary endeavors. Nevertheless, he considers Kingsley the man as more prominent than his literature.  "Some men's writings are the greatest part of them, and posterity studies their lives through a spirit of curiosity excited by their works.  In a sense this is true of Kingsley, but in a truer sense many are reading Kingsley's literary works because of the indelible impression his personality made upon his fellow men, for whom, in all his activities, he labored.  His life in itself was a poem of deep lyric passion" (194). 
Full Book Treatment ; Overview ; Carlyle ; Maurice ; Y east; Alton Locke ; Two Years Ago ; Hypatia ; Westward Ho! ; Hereward the Wake .

Raven, Rev. Canon C. E.  “Charles Kingsley,” The Listener Vol. 11, No. 283 (13 June, 1934) 1007-1008.
Though holding that Alton Locke is clearly a work of propaganda, Raven praises it for its scene painting, its descriptions of landscape, atmosphere, sights, sounds and smells.  He declares that the best work of Kingsley, a passionate lover of nature, was as an interpreter of recent scientific discoveries in terms of Christianity.  “. . . he was almost the only Churchman of his time to realise that science and the scientific method were accomplishing a revolution in human thought, and that unless the Church recognised this it would be unfit to commend its message to the world” (1008). 
Alton Locke ; Science ; Evolution ; Religion .

Hicks, Granville.  “Literature and Revolution,” The English Journal Vol. XXIV, No. 3 (March 1935): 219-239.
Hicks observes that “Kingsley made Alton Locke a plea for obedience to the church and the crown, attacking the ruthless business men, it is true, but opposing as well Chartist aspirations to working class independence” (228-9). 
Social and Political Views ; Alton Locke ; Capitalism .

Baker, Ernest Albert. The History of the English Novel. Vol. VIII (New York: Barnes and Noble; first published 1937): 161-176.
Baker provides a brief overview of Kingsley's novels, discussing their major themes and the context of the times in which they were written, especially the period of the Crimean war. 
Novels ; Social and Political Novel ; Crimean War .

Bush, Douglas. Mythology and the Romantic Tradition in English Poetry (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937). 
Though Bush finds certain weaknesses in Andromeda, for example its excessive length, its absence of spondaic variety, and the fact that its movement is more anapestic than dactylic, he praises its sonorous perfection, its ease, its unflagging interest, as well as its Homeric echoes and similes. 
Andromeda

Hanawalt, Mary Wheat, "Charles Kingsley and Science," Studies in Philology Vol. 34, No. 4 (October, 1937): 589-611.
Hanawalt examines Kingsley’s interest and endeavors in science, arguing that his broader philosophy and art have been misunderstood because of the neglect shown to Kingsley the scientist.  To remedy this neglect and this misunderstanding she discusses firstly, Kingsley’s lifelong interest in science; secondly, the relation between his science and the art of his novels and poetry; thirdly, his views on the relation of science to religion and the importance of science in man’s existence; and, fourthly, the general influence of science on his philosophy. 
Science ; Religion .

Marmo, Macario.  The Social Novel of Charles Kingsley (Salerno: Di Giacomo, 1937).
In this book length study of Kingsley’s life, personality, views, and works Marmo focuses in particular on the art as well as the social implications of Kingsley’s social novels.  He concludes that Kingsley the man was more significant than his poetry and novels.  His very diverse deeds and objectives were greater than the art of his literary works.  Above all, Marmo contends, Kingsley was a vehement opponent of democracy as well as of rampant laissez-faire competition.  In summing up Marmo declares “But now that this selfish democratic system has reached its crisis and civilization is centering again round Rome, we must recognize in Kingsley an ideal Pioneer;  for Charles Kingsley denounced the foul competitive system at the time of its birth, and remained all his life the assertor of the Collectivist Ideal and the monitor of Co-operation as the one remedy for unbridled competition” (114). 
Overview ; Full Book Treatment ; Novels .

Thorp, Margaret Farrand.  Charles Kingsley 1819-1875 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1937).
A well-documented book-length biography and analysis of Kingsley's diverse ideas and views.  Contains a good bibliography of Kingsley's own writings. 
Full Book Treatment ; Overview ; Social and Political Views .

Young, G. M. “Sophist and Swashbuckler.” 102-111 in Daylight and Champaign: Essays. London: Jonathan Cape, 1937. 
Young discusses Kingsley’s controversy with Newman. Agreeing that Kingsley was no match for the brilliance of Newman and that he was totally out-manoeuvered, Young nevertheless contends that Kingsley in an admittedly “clumsy way” had a certain right. “But if the public, or the modern reader, said ‘Never mind all that: what we want to know is, when Dr. Newman or one of his pupils tells us a thing, can we believe it as we should believe it if the old-fashioned parson said it?’ I am afraid the upshot of the Apologia and its appendices is No” (110). 
Newman Controversy ; Catholicism.

Conacher, W. M.  “Charles Kingsley,” Queen’s Quarterly Vol. 45 (1938): 503-511.
Conacher presents a sketch of Kingsley’s life and works.  He praises the characterization in Hereward the Wake ; it surpasses that of Bulwer Lytton’s Harold and that of Scott’s Ivanhoe .  While he criticizes Kingsley’s anti-Catholic treatment in Westward Ho! as being mere bigotry and not based on proper historical facts, he admires the novel’s color and romance.  Though Hypatia has matter for a masterpiece, “haste, over-enthusiasm, and lack of artistry have spoiled it” (509). Alton Locke is modern in its sympathy for the working classes and its political views, while Yeast , though the work of a young author, is praised for its “generous feeling” (510).  Kingsley, according to Conacher, “railed at John Bull in life and in letters and was essentially in the end John Bull himself” (511). 
Overview ; Novels ; Religion ; Catholicism.

Mack, Edward C. Public Schools and British Opinion, 1780 to 1860: An Examination of the Relationship Between Contemporary Ideas and the Evolution of an English Institution (London: Methuen, 1938).
Mack briefly describes Kingsley’s Christian Socialism as an odd mixture of democracy, socialism, Christianity, and fascism and observes that it was more akin to Tory paternalism than to democratic socialism. Kingsley’s muscular Christianity, according to Mack, meant little more than the state of cleanliness and good physical development. 
Christian Socialism ;  Muscular Christianity .

Fichter, Joseph H., S. J.  “The Socialism of a Protestant: Charles Kingsley (1819-1875)” in his Roots of Change (New York: Appleton-Century, 1939): 134-156.
Fichter reviews Kingsley’s life and principal works focusing on his social and political thought.  He is balanced in his assessment, pointing out a number of Kingsley’s faults, prejudices, and illogicalities in addition to his good qualities.  With respect to Kingsley’s changing views and specifically to his title of Christian Socialist, Fichter declares that “he was no more thoroughgoing Socialist than he was thoroughgoing Christian” (135).  Fichter briefly reviews Kingsley’s condition of England novels declaring Alton Locke to be “a tremendously effective book” (151) and the autobiographical Yeast to be badly marred by Kingsley’s intense anti-Catholic bigotry.  Fichter concludes that “the work of Charles Kingsley was on the whole a genuine contribution to the improvement of man’s relation with man.  His mistakes were the mistakes of every demagogue to tread the earth, but the hand he had in rousing social interest in English problems more than made up for them” (156). 
Overview ; Christian Socialism ; Social and Political Views ; Catholicism ; Alton Locke ; Yeast .

Bevington, Merle Mowbray. The Saturday Review, 1855-1868: Representative Educated Opinion in Victorian England (New York: Columbia University Press, 1941).
Bevington relates how Kingsley received sympathetic and complimentary reviews in the Saturday Review for his novels Hypatia and Two Years Ago . However, after he became Professor of History at Cambridge in 1860, historians on the Saturday mercilessly reviled his historical abilities. Hereward the Wake was particularly censured for what was considered to be its bad history. 
Saturday Review ; History Professor .

Matthews, Ruth Estelle.  “Three Articles from the Pen of Charles Kingsley,” Stanford Studies in Language and Literature (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1941): 312-20.
Matthews discusses the background behind Kingsley’s publication of four articles in a Colorado Springs periodical, Out West .  She prints the text of three of the articles, all unpublished apart from in Out West.  They had originally been published on March 23, 1872, April 6, 1872, and June 20, 1872 respectively. 
America ; Colorado Springs .

Sampson, George.  The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1941).
Sampson provides a brief account of Kingsley’s life and principal works of literature.  Neither Yeast nor Alton Locke are very successful novels “and even as pamphlets they are vague, unvital and inconclusive” (780).  Hypatia is the best conceived and constructed novel. Westward Ho!, his most successful novel, “is an excellent tale of its kind” (781).  Though Two Years Ago has some vivid episodes, it fails to hold attention.  Hereward the Wake has vigor and freshness but has never been popular due to the story’s remoteness.  Both The Heroes and The Water-Babies “deserve their success” (781). 
Overview ; Novels.

Gerould, Gordon Hall. The Patterns of English and American Fiction: A History (Boston: Little Brown, 1942).
After a short sketch of Kingsley’s life and major novels, Gerould is quite disparaging in his summing up of Kingsley’s achievement. The characterization of his historical novels is lacking in solidity and consistency. Moreover, in addition to great inaccuracies in historical details, Hypatia and Westward Ho! fail to represent well even the fundamental aspects of human nature. Crude melodrama abounds, there is too much homiletic discourse and sentimentalism, as well as an unwholesomeness of tone. Gerould concludes that the historical novels are “representative of nineteenth century taste at its lowest ebb.” 
Novels.

Morgan, Charles. The House of Macmillan (1843-1943) (New York: Macmillan, 1944).
Morgan makes frequent reference to Kingsley’s long relationship with the Macmillan publishing company. 
Macmillan’s.

La Nauze, J. A. “A Letter of J. S. Mill to Charles Kingsley,” Australian Quarterly   Vol. XVIII, No. 4 (December 1946): 30-34.
La Nauze discusses and publishes for the first time a letter from Mill to Kingsley.  It is a reply to a letter from Kingsley and both letters concerned the status and the suffrage of women. 
John Stuart Mill ; Females .

Schilling, Bernard N.  “Kingsley,” in Human Dignity and the Great Victorians (New York: Columbia University Press, 1946): 96-122.
Schilling examines Kingsley's work as a humanitarian and his efforts to dignify the life of England's poor.  "Kingsley achieved a working synthesis between his religion and his radicalism; he made it seem as if he had to be a humanitarian reformer because of the implications which he saw in religion, not in spite of them" (96).  Schilling discusses Kingsley's work on behalf of sanitary reform and his campaign against the terrible conditions of the sweated tailoring trade, stressing Kingsley's belief that many societal problems had their underlying cause in laissez-faire capitalism. He also considers Kingsley's advocacy of popular medical instruction and of cooperative movements, his plans to make art, amusement, country life and education more available to the public, and his staunch promotion of public education.  Though Kingsley became increasingly conservative and came to embrace a form of feudalism as he aged, Schilling concludes that he "bore the mark of all great humanitarians - the union of compassion, humaneness, and optimism" (122). 
Overview ; Sanitation ; Social and Political Views ; Religion ; Education ; Christian Socialism .

Ward, Maisie. “Introduction” to John Henry Cardinal Newman. Apologia Pro Vita Sua (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1946): v-xiv.
In her introduction to Newman’s autobiography, Ward strongly impugns Kingsley’s motives and honesty. 
Newman Controversy.

See Barnard 1961

Houghton, Walter E.  “The Issue Between Kingsley and Newman,” Theology Today Vol. IV (April 1947): 81-101.
Houghton argues that the fundamental disagreement between Kingsley and Newman was the elemental dichotomy between Protestant Liberalism and Christian Orthodoxy. Though in many respects a conservative and a public enemy of those espousing the liberal cause, in religion Kingsley followed the liberalism of the likes of Maurice and Carlyle.  While we read such thinkers to understand liberal ideology, argues Houghton, we study Kingsley to comprehend Protestant Liberalism in its actual practice. 
Catholicism ; Newman Controversy ; Newman, John Henry ; Religion ; Protestant Liberalism .

Johns, Edward F. Let the Twig Follow Its Bent: Recalling Charles Kingsley (Winchester: Warren and Son, 1947). 
The sub-title of this short volume is somewhat misleading. Though the author does indeed refer to Kingsley on several occasions, the work is primarily concerned with the school for boys, Winton House, that the author’s father founded in 1874. However, a couple of interesting observations of Kingsley’s views on children and education are included. 
Education.

Kendall, Guy.  Charles Kingsley and His Ideas (London: Hutchinson, 1947).
This book-length treatment of Kingsley in addition to providing a biographical account focuses in particular on his diverse views and ideas. 
Overview ; Full Book Treatment ; Social and Political Views .

Reckitt, Maurice B. Maurice to Temple: A Century of the Social Movement in the Church of England (London: Faber and Faber, 1947).
In his examination of Kingsley’s role in the Chartist and Christian Socialist movements, Reckitt concludes that Kingsley’s greatest significance lay in his staunch advocacy that humanity should follow the laws of Nature rather than those of the industrial system. The former were natural, the latter abnormal. 
Chartism ; Christian Socialism ; Nature .

Ford, George H. “The Governor Eyre Case in England,” University of Toronto Quarterly, Vol. 17 (April 1948): 219-233.
Ford discusses Kingsley’s membership, with his brother Henry, of the Governor Eyre Defence Committee and his siding with Carlyle and other right wing individuals who defended Eyre’s activities in Jamaica. However, Ford relates that Kingsley later wavered in his support of Eyre mainly due to widespread criticism he received for the support as well as to his own conflicted feelings about the matter. Ruskin, Carlyle and others on the Defence Committee never forgave Kingsley for rejecting Eyre. 
Eyre, Governor ;  West Indies .

Kendall, Guy. The Social Application of Christianity (London, Duckworth, 1948).
Kendall presents a brief account of Kingsley’s involvement in the Chartist movement of 1848. 
Chartism

Hope, Norman V. “The Issue Between Newman and Kingsley: A Reconciliation and a Rejoinder,” Theology Today (6 April, 1949): 77-90.
Hope contends that while Kingsley held that the world is good because God made it, he was far from being an apologist for all of mid-Victorian civilization. Rather, he was well aware of the social and economic inequities rampant in society. Nor was he complacent about how the contemporary Christian religion was sometimes manifest in society. Hope also observes that it may be thought “that Kingsley was nearer the mind of Jesus Christ than Newman, who appears to have had no social conscience whatever.” 
Social and Political Views ; Newman Controversy ; Religion.

Pope-Hennessy, Una.  Canon Charles Kingsley: A Biography (New York, Macmillan, 1949)