Identity:

Richard Le Gallienne was a poet and essayist.

Life:

Born in Liverpool, Le Gallienne began his career as an apprentice in an accountant's office but soon abandoned it for a literature. His first book of poetry My Ladies' Sonnets, was privately printed in 1887. He went on to become a contributor to the Yellow Book, the literary and artistic quarterly published by John Lane. From about 1890 he worked as a reader for the firm and became a well-known figure on a London literary scene that included W. B. Yeats, Ernest Rhys and Lionel Johnson. While he was also known as a literary critic in the 1890s, he is probably best remembered for later works such as The Romantic '90s (1925), and the books of essays From a Paris Garret (1936) and From a Paris Scrapbook (1938).

He is referred to in JW's correspondence about 1899.

Bibliography:

Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, 2004, online edition (accessed August 2004); Mix, Katherine Lyon, A Study in Yellow: the Yellow Book and its Contributors, Kansas, 1960.