Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th earl of, English Literature, 1500 To 1799, Biographies

Related Category: English Literature, 1500 To 1799, Biographies

Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th earl of 1694–1773, English statesman and author. A noted wit and orator, his long public career, begun in 1715, included an ambassadorship to The Hague (1728–32), a seat in Parliament, and a successful tenure as lord lieutenant of Ireland (1745–46). His literary fame rests upon his letters to his illegitimate son, Philip Stanhope (first pub. 1774), designed for the education of a young man, and upon his letters to his godson (pub. 1890).

See edition of his letters by B. Dobree (6 vol., 1932) and additional letters edited by S. L. Gulick, Jr. (1938); study by S. Shellabarger (rev. ed. 1951, repr. 1971).