Editing Walter Bagehot

{{Short description|English journalist and writer (1826–1877)}}
{{for|the asteroid|2901 Bagehot}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Walter Bagehot
| image = Walter Bagehot NPG cropped.jpg
| image_size = 225px
| caption = Portrait by Norman Hirst,<br /> after an unknown artist
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1826|2|3}}
| birth_place = [[Langport]], Somerset, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1877|3|24|1826|2|3}}
| death_place = Langport, Somerset, England
| party      = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Selinger |first1=William |last2=Conti |first2=Greg |title=Reappraising Walter Bagehot's Liberalism: Discussion, Public Opinion, and the Meaning of Parliamentary Government |journal=History of European Ideas |date=2015 |volume=41 |issue=2 |page=264|doi=10.1080/01916599.2014.926105 |s2cid=144027865 }}</ref>
| nationality = British
| alma_mater = [[University College London]]
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Businessman
* essayist
* journalist
}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Elizabeth (Eliza) Wilson|1858}}
| signature = File:Walter Bagehot signature.png
}}
'''Walter Bagehot''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|æ|dʒ|ə|t}} {{respell|BAJ|ət}}; 3 February 1826&nbsp;– 24 March 1877) was an English journalist, businessman, and essayist, who wrote extensively about government, economics, literature and race. He is known for co-founding the ''[[National Review (1855)|National Review]]'' in 1855, and for his works ''[[The English Constitution]]'' and ''[[Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market]]'' (1873).

==Life==
Bagehot was born in [[Langport]], [[Somerset]], [[England]], on 3 February 1826. His father, Thomas Watson Bagehot, was managing director and vice-chairman of [[Stuckey's Bank]]. He attended [[University College London]] (UCL), where he studied mathematics and, in 1848, earned a master's degree in moral philosophy.<ref>[[Richard Holt Hutton|Hutton, Richard Holt]] (1915). [https://archive.org/stream/worksandlifewal00barrgoog#page/n6/mode/2up "Memoirs."] In: ''The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot,'' Vol. 1. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., pp. 1–54.</ref> Bagehot was [[Call to the Bar|called to the bar]] by [[Lincoln's Inn]], but preferred to join his father in 1852 in his family's shipping and banking business.

In 1858, Bagehot married Elizabeth (Eliza) Wilson (1832–1921), whose father, [[James Wilson (UK politician)|James Wilson]], was the founder and owner of ''[[The Economist]]''. The couple were happily married until Bagehot's untimely death at age 51, but had no children.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Roberts|first1=David H.|title=Walter Bagehot: A Brief Biography|url=http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bagehot/bio.html|website=The Victorian Web|access-date=10 April 2016}}</ref>  A collection of their love-letters was published in 1933.<ref>{{cite web|title=Women's Studies Subject Guide: Eliza Wilson|url=http://www.hull.ac.uk/arc/collection/womensstudies/wilson.html|website=University Archives|publisher=The University of Hull|access-date=10 April 2016}}</ref>

===Journalism===
In 1855, Bagehot founded the ''[[National Review (1855)|National Review]]'' with his friend [[Richard Holt Hutton]].<ref>[https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9428981 ''Walter Bagehot'' by St. Norman John-Stevas The British Council/National Book League/Longmans, Greene & Co.] London. (1963)</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lnazy2B3SQAC&pg=PA50 |title=Victorian Print Media: A Reader |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/victorianprintme00plun |archive-date=July 23, 2013 |url-access=limited |author=Andrew King, John Plunkett |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-927037-8 |page=https://archive.org/details/victorianprintme00plun/page/n66 50 |quote=''National Review'' (1855–64) one of the most prestigious quarterlies of mid-century |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> In 1861, he became editor-in-chief of ''[[The Economist]]''. In the 16 years he served as its editor, Bagehot expanded the reporting of politics by ''The Economist'', and increased its influence among policy-makers.  He was widely accepted by the British establishment and was elected to the [[Athenaeum Club, London|Athenaeum]] in 1875.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Walter Bagehot Key dates - A brief chronology of his life, family, work and legacy |url=https://langportheritage.org.uk/walter-bagehot/key-dates |access-date=12 September 2022  |work=Langport Heritage Society|date=6 January 2021 }}</ref>

He considered himself a "conservative Liberal or 'between size in politics.'"<ref>Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. (20 Mar. 2024). "[https://www.britannica.com/money/Walter-Bagehot Walter Bagehot.]" Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed 11 September 2024.</ref>

===Works===
[[File:Walter Bagehot, The English Constitution (1st ed, 1867, title page).jpg|thumb|left|200px|Title page of the first edition of Bagehot's ''[[The English Constitution]]'', 1867.<ref name="English Constitution">{{citation|author=Walter Bagehot|title=The English Constitution|edition=1st|location=London|publisher=[[Chapman & Hall]]|year=1867|oclc=60724184|title-link=:File:Walter Bagehot, The English Constitution (1st ed, 1867).pdf}}.</ref>]]
{{Conservatism UK|Intellectuals}}

In 1867, Bagehot wrote ''[[The English Constitution]]'',<ref name="English Constitution"/> a book that explores the nature of the [[constitution of the United Kingdom]], specifically its [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] and [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|monarchy]]. It appeared at the same time that Parliament enacted the [[Reform Act 1867]], requiring Bagehot to write an extended introduction to the second edition which appeared in 1872.

Bagehot also wrote ''Physics and Politics'' (1872),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101019642824;view=2up;seq=528;size=150 |title=Physics and Politics. No. I. The Pre-Economic Age. |last=Bagehot |first=Walter |date=November 1867 |website=Hathi Trust |publisher=Fortnightly Review |access-date=17 July 2018 |quote= This three-part article was published over the course of three years in the Fortnightly Review: the first section was published in November, 1867; the second section in April, 1868; and the third in July, 1869.}}</ref> in which he examines how civilisations sustain themselves, arguing that, in their earliest phase, civilisations are very much in opposition to the values of modern liberalism, insofar as they are sustained by conformism and military success but, once they are secured, it is possible for them to mature into systems which allow for greater diversity and freedom.

His viewpoint was based on his distinction between the qualities of an "accomplished man" and those of a "rude man", which he considered to be the result of iterative inheritances by which the "nervous organisation" of the individual became increasingly refined down through the generations.<ref name="Black Deficit">{{cite web |last1=Shilliam |first1=Robbie |title=How Black Deficit Entered the British Academy |url=https://robbieshilliam.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/how-black-deficit-entered-the-british-academy.pdf |website=robbieshilliam.wordpress.com |publisher=Robbie Shilliam |access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref> He regarded that distinction as a moral achievement whereby, through the actions of the will, the "accomplished" elite was able to morally differentiate themselves from "rude men" by a "hereditary drill". He equally applied such reasoning to develop a form of [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] [[scientific racism|racism]], whereby those of [[mixed race]] lacked any "inherited creed" or "fixed traditional sentiments" upon which, he considered, human nature depended.

He attempted to provide empirical support for his views by citing [[John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury|John Lubbock]] and [[Edward Tylor]] although, in their writings on [[human evolution]], neither of them accepted arguments for innate hereditary differences, as opposed to cultural inheritance. Tylor, in particular, rejected Bagehot's view of the centrality of physical heredity, or that the modern "savage" mind had become "tattooed over with monstrous images" by which base instincts had been preserved in crevices, as opposed to accomplished European man, for whom such instincts had been smoothed away through the inherited will to exercise reason.<ref name="Black Deficit"/>

In ''[[Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market]]'' (1873) Bagehot seeks to explain the world of finance and banking.<ref>"Bagehot and International Lending". by Professor M. Lipton. ''The Financial Times'' (London, England), Tuesday, June 12, 1984; p. 17; edition 29,344.</ref> His observations on finance are often cited by [[central bank]]ers, in particular in the period after the [[2008 financial crisis]]. More specifically, there was particular popularity "[[Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market#Lender of last resort|Bagehot's Dictum]]" that in times of  crisis of the financial system, central banks should lend freely to solvent [[depository institutions]], yet only against sound [[Collateral (finance)|collateral]] and at [[interest rates]] high enough to dissuade those borrowers that are not genuinely in need.<ref>Paul Tucker, Deputy Governor, Financial Stability, Bank of England, [http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/speeches/2009/speech390.pdf "The Repertoire of Official Sector Interventions in the Financial System: Last Resort Lending, Market-Making, and Capital"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220193000/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/speeches/2009/speech390.pdf |date=20 February 2012 }}, Bank of Japan 2009 International Conference, 27–28 May 2009, p. 5</ref>

===Legacy===
[[File:Bagehot - Lombard Street, 1873 - 5747415.tif|thumb|200px|''Lombard Street'', 1873.]]
Bagehot never fully recovered from a bout of [[pneumonia]] he suffered in 1867, and he died in 1877 from complications of what was said to be a cold.<ref>Roger Kimball, [http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/bagehot-kimball-2990 "The Greatest Victorian"], ''The New Criterion'' October 1998.</ref> Collections of Bagehot's literary, political, and economic essays were published after his death. Their subjects ranged from [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] and [[Benjamin Disraeli|Disraeli]] to the price of silver. Every year, the British [[Political Studies Association]] awards the Walter Bagehot Prize for the best dissertation in the field of government and [[public administration]].

Bagehot's collected works were issued in a set of 15 volumes, published by ''The Economist'' between 1965 and 1986, and edited by [[Norman St. John-Stevas]].

Minor planet [[2901 Bagehot]], discovered by [[Luboš Kohoutek]], is named in his honour.<ref>{{cite book|title=(2901) Bagehot In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |pages = 238|publisher=Springer |date=2003 |isbn=978-3-540-29925-7 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_2902|chapter = (2901) Bagehot}}</ref>

''The Economist'' carries a weekly current affairs commentary entitled "Bagehot", which is named in his honour and is described as "an analysis of British life and politics, in the tradition of Walter Bagehot".<ref>{{cite news |title=Adrian Wooldridge |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |url=https://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/mr-adrian-wooldridge/| access-date=19 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=What can Britain today learn from Walter Bagehot? | newspaper=The Economist | date=3 January 2020 | url=https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/01/03/what-can-britain-today-learn-from-walter-bagehot | access-date=19 June 2021}}</ref> 
{{as of|January 2022}}, the column has been written by Duncan Robinson, political editor of the publication.

==Major publications==
* (1848). [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433115443990;view=1up;seq=472 "Principles of Political Economy,"] ''The Prospective Review'', Vol. 4, No. 16, pp.&nbsp;460–502.
* (1858). ''Estimates of Some Englishmen and Scotchmen''.
* (1867; second edition, 1872). ''[[The English Constitution]]''. ([https://archive.org/details/worksofwalterbag04bageiala/page/n7 online])
* (1872). ''Physics and Politics'' ([https://archive.org/details/workslifeofwalte08bage/page/n11 online]).
* (1873). ''[[Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market]]''. ([https://archive.org/details/workslifeofwalte06bage/page/n9 online])
* (1875). [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015016712740;view=1up;seq=585 "A New Standard of Value,"] ''The Economist'', Vol. 33, No. 1682, pp.&nbsp;1361–63.
* (1877). ''Some Articles on the Depreciation of Silver and on Topics Connected with It''.
* (1879). ''Literary Studies''.
** [https://archive.org/details/literarystudiesb01bage/page/n8 Vol I]
** [https://archive.org/details/literarystudiesb03bage/page/n5 Vol III]
* (1880). ''Economic Studies''.
* (1881). ''Biographical Studies''.
* (1885). ''The Postulates of English Political Economy''.
* (1889). ''The Works of Walter Bagehot''.
* (1933). ''The Love Letters of Walter Bagehot and Eliza Wilson'' (with his spouse).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* Barrington, Emilie Isabel Wilson (1914). [https://archive.org/stream/lifeofwalterbage00barruoft#page/n7/mode/2up ''Life of Walter Bagehot'']. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
* Buchan, Alastair (1960). ''The Spare Chancellor: The Life of Walter Bagehot''. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
* Grant, James (2019). ''Bagehot: The Life and Times of the Greatest Victorian''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
* Orel, Harold (1984). ''Victorian Literary Critics''. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
* Sisson C.H. (1972). ''The Case of Walter Bagehot''. London: Faber and Faber Ltd.
* [[Norman St John-Stevas|Stevas, Norman]] (1959). ''Walter Bagehot a Study of His Life and Thought''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
* Sullivan, Harry R. (1975). ''Walter Bagehot''. Boston: Twayne Publishers.
* {{Cite SBDEL|wstitle=Bagehot, Walter |short=x}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Bagehot, Walter |short=x}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* Barrington, Emilie Isabel Wilson (1933). ''The Love-letters of Walter Bagehot and Eliza Wilson.'' London: Faber & Faber
* [[Arthur Anthony Baumann|Baumann, Arthur Anthony]] (1916). [https://archive.org/stream/personspoliticso00baumuoft#page/120/mode/2up "Walter Bagehot."] In: ''Persons & Politics of the Transition.'' London: Macmillan & Co., pp.&nbsp;121–50
* [[Augustine Birrell|Birrell, Augustine]] (1922). [https://archive.org/stream/collectedessaysa02birruoft#page/212/mode/2up "Walter Bagehot."] In: ''The Collected Essays and Addresses of the Rt. Hon. Augustine Birrell'', Vol. 2. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, pp.&nbsp;213–35
* Briggs, Asa, “Trollope, Bagehot, and the English Constitution,” in Briggs, ''Victorian People'' (1955) pp.&nbsp;87–115. [https://archive.org/details/victorianpeoplea000327mbp/page/n9/mode/2up online]
* Brogan, Hugh (1977). "America and Walter Bagehot," ''Journal of American Studies,'' Vol. 11, No. 3, pp.&nbsp;335–56
* [[Crane Brinton|Brinton, Crane]] (1962). "Walter Bagehot." In: ''English Plolitical Thought in the 19th Century.'' New York: Harper Torchbooks
* Buchan, Alastair. "Walter Bagehot." ''History Today'' (Nov 1954) 4#11 pp 764–770
* Clinton, David (2003). "'Dash and Doubt': Walter Bagehot and International Restraint," ''The Review of Politics,'' Vol. 65, No. 1, pp.&nbsp;89–109
* [[John William Cousin|Cousin, John William]] (1910). [https://archive.org/stream/shortbiographica00cousuoft#page/n7/mode/2up ''A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature'']. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, p.&nbsp;20
* Easton, David (1949). "Walter Bagehot and Liberal Realism," ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 43, No. 1, pp.&nbsp;17–37
* Edwards, Ruth Dudley (1993). ''The Pursuit of Reason:'' The Economist ''1843–1993''. London: Hamish Hamilton
* [[M. E. Grant Duff|Grant Duff, M.E.]] (1903). [https://archive.org/stream/outpastsomebiog02duffgoog#page/n12/mode/2up "Walter Bagehot: His Life and Works, 1826–1877."] In: ''Out of the Past.'' London: John Murray, pp.&nbsp;1–34
* Halsted, John B. (1958). "Walter Bagehot on Toleration," ''Journal of the History of Ideas,'' Vol. 19, No. 1, pp.&nbsp;119–28
* Hanley, Brian (2004). "'The Greatest Victorian' in the New Century: The Enduring Relevance of Walter Bagehot's Commentary on Literature, Scholarship, and Public Life", ''Papers on Language and Literature,'' Vol. 40, No. 2, pp.&nbsp;167–98
* Irvine, William (1939). ''Walter Bagehot.'' London: Longmans, Green and Co.
* Kolbe, F.C. (1908). "Walter Bagehot: An Appreciation," ''The Irish Monthly,'' Vol. 36, No. 419, pp.&nbsp;282–87
* [[John Lanchester|Lanchester, John]], "The Invention of Money:  How the heresies of two bankers became the basis of our modern economy", ''[[The New Yorker]]'', 5 & 12 August 2019, pp.&nbsp;28–31.
* Morgan, Forrest (1995). ''Collected Works of Walter Bagehot''. Routledge
* Ostlund, Leonard A. (1956). "Walter Bagehot—Pioneer Social Psychology Theorist," ''Social Science,'' Vol. 31, No. 2, pp.&nbsp;107–11
* Spring, David (1976). "Walter Bagehot and Deference," ''The American Historical Review,'' Vol. 81, No. 3, pp.&nbsp;524–31
* [[Leslie Stephen|Stephen, Leslie]] (1907). [https://archive.org/stream/studiesofbiogr03step#page/144/mode/2up "Walter Bagehot."] In: ''Studies of a Biographer,'' Vol. 3. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, pp.&nbsp;144–74
* Stevas, Norman, ed. (1986). ''The Collected Works of Walter Bagehot: Volumes 1–15''. New York: Oxford University Press
* Westwater, S.A.M. (1977). "Walter Bagehot: A Reassessment," ''The Antioch Review,'' Vol. 35, No. 1, pp.&nbsp;39–49
* [[Woodrow Wilson|Wilson, Woodrow]] (1895). [http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=atla;cc=atla;rgn=full%20text;idno=atla0076-5;didno=atla0076-5;view=image;seq=674;node=atla0076-5%3A11;page=root;size=100 "A Literary Politician,"] ''The Atlantic Monthly,'' Vol. 76, No. 457, pp.&nbsp;668–80
* Wilson, Woodrow (1898). [http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=atla;cc=atla;rgn=full%20text;idno=atla0082-4;didno=atla0082-4;view=image;seq=533;node=atla0082-4%3A9;page=root;size=100 "A Wit and a Seer,"] ''The Atlantic Monthly,'' Vol. 82, No. 492, pp.&nbsp;527–40
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikisource author}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=1461}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Walter Bagehot}}
* [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?lookfor=%22Bagehot,%20Walter,%201826-1877.%22&type=author&inst= Works by Walter Bagehot] at [[Hathi Trust]]
* [http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/bagehot/index.html Walter Bagehot]: at [http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/ McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought].
* {{Librivox author |id=9365}}

{{English historical school economists}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagehot, Walter}}
[[Category:English political scientists]]
[[Category:English constitutionalists]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]
[[Category:Members of Lincoln's Inn]]
[[Category:The Economist editors]]
[[Category:English essayists]]
[[Category:People from Langport]]
[[Category:1826 births]]
[[Category:1877 deaths]]
[[Category:English historical school of economics]]
[[Category:Proponents of scientific racism]]