Robert Buchanan was born in Caverswall in Staffordshire on 18 August 1841. His family moved to Glasgow in 1850 where Buchanan was educated at the High School and the University. His father was a socialist and atheist, and an outspoken editor of various Glasgow newspapers. Derided in his childhood as the son of an infidel, Buchanan's life and work were beset by religious questioning. He was torn between the agnosticism of his heritage and the spiritualism towards which he was inevitably drawn in the search for a replacement for the discredited orthodoxies of Christianity.

At University Buchanan became interested in the theatre and sent samples of his poetry to eminent figures in London, receiving some tempered encouragement from

This article in full comprises 1436 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

First published 24 November 2001

Citation: Nash, Andrew. "Robert Williams Buchanan". The Literary Encyclopedia. 24 November 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=627, accessed 21 November 2009.]