The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Wells, Charles Jeremiah

WELLS, Charles Jeremiah, English poet: b. probably London, about 1799; d. Marseilles, France, 17 Feb. 1879. He was a schoolfellow of a younger brother of the poet John Keats, and was the subject of a sonnet by the poet; later, however, he lost his friendship, as well as that of Haslitt. He wrote extensively but not successfully, and upon his wife's death he destroyed most of his work. He was for a

time a solicitor in London, but retired to Wales about 1830, removed to Hertfordshire in 1835, and after 1840 lived abroad. Of his work there remains a volume of prose &ldquo;Stories After Nature&rdquo; (1822; reprinted 1891); and the Biblical drama, &ldquo;Joseph and His Brethren&rdquo; (1824). The drama met with little favor until it came to the notice of Rossetti in 1863 and was warmly praised by him, a judgment later confirmed by Swinburne. It was reprinted in 1876 and brought a considerable meed of praise to the author in his last years.