Profession: writer

Stevenson wasn’t a great socialiser. When James first came to visit, he was turned away, taken for a tradesman. However they became close lifelong friends; Stevenson gave him a copy of ‘Kidnapped’, and they exchanged letters world-wide. Sargent and Stevenson became friends as young men in Paris, where Sargent had gone to study; he painted three portraits of Stevenson, one destroyed (probably by Mrs Stevenson). Stevenson wrote to Twain that he’d read ‘Huck Finn’ four times; Twain visited him in his Greenwich Village hotel, sat with him in the sun, and wrote about his thin frame and beautiful eyes.

Dickens, a friend and keen supporter, described Lewes and Eliot as the ugliest couple in London (he was also the first to deduce that the author ‘George Eliot’ must be a woman). Eliot met Owen and Emerson when she moved to Coventry and encountered a circle of free-thinkers. As a journalist in London she met Carlyle, whom she admired greatly, Spencer, whom she fell for (unsuitably), Martineau, Thackeray and Browning. Liebig and Liszt (a real friend) were met in Germany. Turgenev (who stayed with her) and James befriended her admiringly. She met Wagner when he visited London, liking him more than his music.

Ibsen and Bjørnson met as students; their long up-and-down friendship was held together by a shared belief in a Norwegian national literature among much else. Brandes, befriending Bjørnson, was a strong influence. Grieg worked closely with him, writing music for his verses, but a long rift followed. Andersen was met in Rome (they saw each other almost daily for a month). In Paris, Bjørnson energetically supported his friend Zola over the Dreyfus affair, and was visited by Kielland. Taking a cab with Lie to see Musset’s grave but with nothing to pay the fare, they were showered with abuse and driven back home.

Fouqué was as well-connected in German cultural circles as he was blessed with literary facility. Several of his acquaintances were also literary collaborators, or influenced by him. Schlegel was a strong early influence, and published his first book. Goethe and Fouqué corresponded for years after their meeting in Weimar, when Schiller and Herder were also met. Von Arnim kept in close touch, and Heine was among his circle in Paris. He wrote a libretto for his close friend Hoffmann (Beethoven also considered approaching him.) Kleist, Runge, Tieck, Fichte, Brentano, Friedrich and Weber were among his other acquaintances.