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56-448: The book was based on a course of lectures Carlyle had given. The French Revolution: A History had brought Carlyle recognition, but little money, so friends organized courses of public lectures, drumming up an audience and selling one guinea tickets. Though Carlyle disliked lecturing, he discovered a facility for it; more importantly, it brought in much-needed income. Between 1837 and 1840, Carlyle delivered four such courses of lectures,

112-615: A £2 coin to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the minting of the first guinea coin. The new coin was designed by the artist Anthony Smith and features a reworking of the spade guinea from the late 18th century. The edge of the coin contains a quotation from the writer Stephen Kemble (1758–1822) : "What is a guinea? ‘Tis a splendid thing." This was the first time in the United Kingdom that one coin has been used to celebrate another. Richard Garnett (writer) Richard Garnett C.B. (27 February 1835 – 13 April 1906)

168-469: A couple of years after decimalisation in 1971 . The guinea was used in a similar way in Australia until that country converted to decimal currency in 1966, after which it became worth $ 2.10. Bids are still made in guineas for the sale of racehorses at auction, at which the purchaser will pay the guinea-equivalent amount but the seller will receive only that number of pounds. The difference (5p in each guinea)

224-402: A fine right-facing bust of Charles II wearing a laurel wreath (amended several times during the reign), surrounded by the legend CAROLVS II DEI GRATIA (" Charles II by the grace of God"), while the reverse showed four crowned cruciform shields bearing the arms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, between which were four sceptres, and in the centre were four interlinked "C"s, surrounded by

280-402: A most powerful and civilized nation in less than two decades". His interpretation has been widely cited by Muslim scholars to show Muhammad without orientalist bias. Carlyle held that "Great Men should rule and that others should revere them," a view that for him was supported by a complex faith in history and evolutionary progress. Societies, like organisms, evolve throughout history, thrive for

336-469: A person for their failings is the philosophy of those who seek comfort in the conventional. Carlyle called this "valetism", from the expression "no man is a hero to his valet ". University of British Columbia professor Michael K. Goldberg writes: The gospel of heroes met resistance from nineteenth-century liberalism for ignoring the masses; from Engels , at least, among nineteenth-century Marxists for being too religious and mystical; from some segments of

392-494: A royal proclamation in December of the same year fixed the value of the guinea at 21 shillings. King George II 's guinea pieces are a complex issue, with eight obverses and five reverses used through the 33 years of the reign. The coins were produced in all years of the reign except 1742, 1744, 1754, and 1757. The coins weighed 8.3–8.4 g (0.29–0.30 oz), and were 25–26 mm (0.98–1.02 in) in diameter except for some of

448-413: A time, but inevitably become weak and die out, giving place to a stronger, superior breed. Heroes are those who affirm this life process, accepting its cruelty as necessary and thus good. For them courage is a more valuable virtue than love; heroes are noblemen, not saints. The hero functions first as a pattern for others to imitate, and second as a creator, moving history forwards not backward (history being

504-456: Is milled diagonally. The dies for all guineas of Queen Anne and King George I were engraved by John Croker , an immigrant originally from Dresden in the Duchy of Saxony . King George I 's guinea coins were struck in all years between 1714 and 1727, with the elephant and castle sometimes appearing in 1721, 1722, and 1726. His guineas are notable for using five different portraits of the king, and

560-512: Is traditionally the auctioneer's commission (which thus, effectively, amounts to 5% on top of the sales price free from commission). Many major horse races in Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia bear names ending in "Guineas", even though the real values of their purses today are much higher than the £1,050 or £2,100 suggested by their names. In 2013 the Royal Mint issued

616-477: The Military Guinea . At this time, gold was still scarce and the guinea was trading on the open market for 27 shillings in paper money, so the coining of this issue for the army's special needs was a poor deal for the government, and this was the last issue of guineas to be minted. The reverse of the military guinea is a unique design, showing a crowned shield within a Garter, with HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE on

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672-573: The "guitar hero," as epitomised in the 1960s meme " Clapton is God ". Guinea (British coin) The guinea ( / ˈ ɡ ɪ n iː / ; commonly abbreviated gn. , or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold . The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where much of the gold used to make

728-488: The 1714 coin is notable for declaring him to be Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire . The coins weighed 8.3–8.4 grams, were 25–26 millimetres in diameter, and the average gold purity was 0.9135. The 1714 obverse shows the right-facing portrait of the king with the legend GEORGIVS D G MAG BR FR ET HIB REX F D ("George, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Fidei Defensor "), while

784-461: The 1727 coins which were 24–25 mm. The average gold purity was 0.9140. Some coins issued between 1729 and 1739 carry the mark EIC under the king's head, to indicate the gold was provided by the East India Company , while some 1745 coins carry the mark LIMA to indicate the gold came from Admiral George Anson 's round-the-world voyage. In the early part of the reign the edge of the coin

840-653: The 1903 edition); biographies of Thomas Carlyle , John Milton , William Blake , and others; The Age of Dryden (1895); Essays of an Ex-Librarian (1901); a History of Italian Literature ; English Literature: An Illustrated Record (with Edmund Gosse ); and many articles for encyclopaedias, including the ninth and tenth editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica , and the Dictionary of National Biography . He also discovered and edited some unpublished poems of Shelley ( Relics of Shelley , 1862) and edited

896-453: The Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire"). In 1787 a new design of reverse featuring a spade-shaped shield was introduced, with the same legend; this has become known as the spade guinea . In 1774 almost 20 million worn guineas of King William III and Queen Anne were melted down and recoined as guineas and half-guineas. Towards the end of

952-819: The Garter, and BRITANNIARUM REX FIDEI DEFENSOR ("King of the Britains, Defender of the Faith") around the edge, and "1813" between the edge inscription and the garter. In the Great Recoinage of 1816 , the guinea was replaced by the pound as the major unit of currency, and in coinage by the sovereign . After the guinea coin ceased to circulate, the guinea continued in use as a unit of account worth 21 shillings (£1.05 in decimalised currency). The guinea had an aristocratic overtone, so professional fees, and prices of land, horses, art, bespoke tailoring, furniture, white goods and other "luxury" items were often quoted in guineas until

1008-410: The Holy Roman Empire") and the year. The edge of the coin is milled diagonally. The value of the guinea had fluctuated over the years from 20 to 30 shillings and back down to 21 shillings and sixpence by the start of George's reign. In 1717, Great Britain adopted the gold standard , at a rate of one guinea to 129.438 grains (8.38 g, 0.30 oz) of crown gold , which was 22 carat gold, and

1064-515: The Holy Roman Empire"). Unlike the two-guinea and five-guinea coins, production of the guinea continued through much of the long reign of King George III . The guineas of King George III weighed 8.4 g (0.27 ozt) and were 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter, with an average gold purity (at the time of the 1773 assay) of 0.9146 (meaning it contained 7.7 g (0.25 ozt) of gold). They were issued with six different obverses and three reverses in 1761, 1763–79, 1781–99, and 1813. All

1120-560: The Prophet's greatness and bravery and austere living." Otto Weininger drew on this work to supplement his discussion of the masculine and the feminine in Sex and Character (1903). Frédéric Masson spoke favourably of the Carlylean hero in his introduction to the fifth volume of Napoléon et sa famille (1902) . Deena Weinstein detects the influence of On Heroes in the rock music phenomenon of

1176-618: The Reading Room, in 1881, editor of the General Catalogue of Printed Books, and in 1890, succeeding George Bullen , he was Keeper of Printed Books until his retirement in 1899. His literary works include numerous translations from the Greek , German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese ; several books of verse; the book of short stories The Twilight of the Gods (1888, 16 stories; 12 stories added in

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1232-414: The biography of great men). Carlyle was among the first of his age to recognize that the death of God is in itself nothing to be happy about, unless man steps in and creates new values to replace the old. For Carlyle, the hero should become the object of worship, the centre of a new religion proclaiming humanity as "the miracle of miracles... the only divinity we can know". For Carlyle's creed Bentley proposes

1288-487: The century gold began to become scarce and rise in value. The French Revolution and the subsequent French Revolutionary Wars had drained gold reserves and people started hoarding coins. Parliament passed a law making banknotes legal tender in any amount, and in 1799 the production of guineas was halted, although half- and third-guineas continued to be struck. Following the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800,

1344-557: The coin was 1 in (25.4 mm) throughout Charles II's reign, and the average gold purity (from an assay done in 1773 of samples of the coins produced during the preceding year) was 0.9100. "Guinea" was not an official name for the coin, but much of the gold used to produce the early coins came from Guinea (largely modern Ghana ) in West Africa . The coin was produced every year between 1663 and 1684, with an elephant appearing on some coins each year from 1663 to 1665 and 1668, and

1400-419: The coins was sourced. It was the first English machine-struck gold coin , originally representing a value of 20 shillings in sterling specie , equal to one pound , but rises in the price of gold relative to silver caused the value of the guinea to increase, at times to as high as thirty shillings. From 1717 to 1816, its value was officially fixed at twenty-one shillings. In the Great Recoinage of 1816 ,

1456-436: The design probably being the work of Johann Crocker, also known as John Croker, since James Roettiers had died in 1698 and his brother Norbert had moved to France in 1695. The coins of William III's reign weighed 8.4 g (0.27 ozt) with an average gold purity of 0.9123. The diameter was 25–26 mm (0.98–1.02 in) until 1700 and 26–27 mm (1.02–1.06 in) in 1701. William's head faces right on his coins, with

1512-623: The elephant with a howdah on other coins minted from 1674 or 1675 onwards. The elephant, with or without a howdah, was the emblem of the Royal African Company (RAC), which had been granted a monopoly on English trade with Africa in slaves, gold and other goods, from 1672 until 1698; gold imported from Africa by the RAC bore the elephant emblem beneath the monarch's head on the coin. The obverse and reverse of this coin were designed by John Roettiers (1631– c.  1700 ). The obverse showed

1568-564: The established church for being too radical; and later from some twentieth-century democrats for being too tyrannical. Two reviews which appeared in the Christian Remembrancer in 1843 provide representative reactions to On Heroes . Archbishop of York William Thomson denounced Carlyle's syncretism , writing: "It is not a Christian Book." In response, theologian Frederick Denison Maurice defended Carlyle's emphasis on truth over semblances, as well as his ability to challenge and test

1624-550: The field of religion through to literature and politics. The figures chosen for each lecture were presented by Carlyle as archetypal examples of individuals who, in their respective fields of endeavour, had dramatically impacted history in some way. The Islamic prophet Muhammad found a place in the book in the lecture titled "The Hero as Prophet". In his work, Carlyle outlined Muhammad as a Hegelian agent of reform, insisting on his sincerity and commenting "how one man single-handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into

1680-489: The final of which was on "Heroes". His lecture notes were transformed into the book, with the effects of the spoken discourse still discernible in the prose. "The Hero as Man of Letters" (1840): Carlyle was one of the few philosophers who lived through the British Industrial Revolution but maintained a non-materialistic view of historical development. The book included lectures discussing people ranging from

1736-614: The grace of God"), while the reverse is the same as in Charles II's reign except for omitting the interlinked "C"s in the centre of the coin. The edge of the coins are milled diagonally. With the removal of James II in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, his daughter Mary and her husband Prince William of Orange reigned jointly as co-monarchs. Their heads appear conjoined on the guinea piece in Roman style, with William's head uppermost, with

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1792-491: The guinea was demonetised and replaced by the gold sovereign . Following the Great Recoinage, the word "guinea" was retained as a colloquial or specialised term, even though the coins were no longer in use; the term guinea also survived as a unit of account in some fields. Notable usages included professional fees (medical, legal, etc.), which were often invoiced in guineas, and horse racing and greyhound racing , and

1848-468: The hero to his concept of the Übermensch . Elizabeth Barrett Browning referenced the work in the 5th book of Aurora Leigh (1856). George Bernard Shaw took inspiration from On Heroes in his plays Arms and the Man (1894), The Man of Destiny (1897), Man and Superman (1905), and Back to Methuselah (1920). Mahatma Gandhi read "The Hero as Prophet" in his studies of Islam and "learnt of

1904-426: The inscription MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX ("Of Great Britain , France , and Ireland King"). The edge was milled to deter clipping or filing, and to distinguish it from the silver half-crown which had edge lettering. Until 1669 the milling was perpendicular to the edge, giving vertical grooves, while from 1670 the milling was diagonal to the edge. John Roettiers continued to design the dies for this denomination during

1960-648: The king's titles changed, and an Order in Council of 5 November 1800 directed the Master of the Mint to prepare a new coinage, but although designs were prepared, the production of guineas was not authorised. In 1813 it was necessary to strike 80,000 guineas to pay the Duke of Wellington 's army in the Pyrenees , as the local people would accept only gold in payment. This issue has become known as

2016-567: The later coins bear the legend GEORGIVS D G M BR FR ET HIB REX F D . The reverse follows the same general design as before, except the order of the shields is England and Scotland, France, Ireland, and Hanover, with the legend in 1714 BRVN ET LVN DUX S R I A TH ET PR EL (" Duke of Brunswick and Lueneburg , Arch-Treasurer and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire ") and the year, and in other years BRVN ET L DUX S R I A TH ET EL ("Duke of Brunswick and Lueneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Elector of

2072-421: The legend GEORGIVS II DEI GRATIA ( GEORGIUS II DEI GRA between 1739 and 1743), while the reverse features a single large crowned shield with the quarters containing the arms of England+Scotland, France, Hanover, and Ireland, and the legend M B F ET H REX F D B ET L D S R I A T ET E ("King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Elector of

2128-409: The legend GVLIELMVS ET MARIA DEI GRATIA ("William and Mary by the grace of God"). In a departure from the previous reigns, the reverse featured a totally new design of a large crowned shield which bore the arms of England and France in the first and fourth quarters, of Scotland in the second quarter, and of Ireland in the third quarter, the whole ensemble having a small shield in the centre bearing

2184-486: The legend GVLIELMVS III DEI GRATIA , while the reverse design of William and Mary's reign was judged to be unsuccessful, so the design reverted to that used by Charles II and James II, but with a small shield with the lion of Nassau in the centre, with the legend MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX and the year. The coin had a diagonal milled edge. During the reign of Queen Anne (1702–1714) guineas were produced in all years between 1702 and 1714 except for 1704. The 1703 guinea bears

2240-429: The name "heroic vitalism", a term embracing both a political theory, aristocratic radicalism, and a metaphysic, supernatural naturalism. The heroic vitalists feared that the recent trends toward democracy would hand over power to the ill-bred, uneducated, and immoral, whereas their belief in a transcendent force in nature directing itself onward and upward gave some hope that this overarching force would overrule in favor of

2296-402: The obverses show right-facing busts of the king with the legend GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA with different portraits of the king. The reverse of guineas issued between 1761 and 1786 show a crowned shield bearing the arms of England+Scotland, France, Ireland and Hanover, with the legend M B F ET H REX F D B ET L D S R I A T ET E and the date ("King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of

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2352-494: The order of arms appearing on the shields becomes England and Scotland, France, England and Scotland, Ireland. The elephant and castle can appear on the coins of 1708 and 1709. The centre of the reverse design shows the Star of the Order of the Garter . The coins weighed 8.3 g (0.29 oz), were 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter, and had a gold purity of 0.9134. The edge of the coin

2408-417: The rampant lion of Nassau ; the legend on the obverse read MAG BR FR ET HIB REX ET REGINA (Of "Magna Britannia" Great Britain, "Francia" France and "Hibernia" Ireland King and Queen) and the year. By the early part of this reign the value of the guinea had increased to nearly 30 shillings. The guineas of this reign weighed 8.5 g (0.30 oz), were 25–26 mm (0.98–1.02 in) in diameter, and were

2464-435: The reign of King James II . In this reign, the coins weighed 8.5 g (0.27 ozt) with a diameter of 25–26 mm (0.98–1.02 in), and were minted in all years between 1685 and 1688, with an average gold purity of 0.9094. Coins of each year were issued both with and without the elephant-and-castle mark. The king's head faces left in this reign, and is surrounded by the inscription IACOBVS II DEI GRATIA ("James II by

2520-564: The republication of the newly discovered poetry collection Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire in 1898. His poem Where Corals Lie was set to music by Sir Edward Elgar as part of Sea Pictures and was first performed in 1899. Long interested in astrology, in 1880 he published a monograph on the subject, "The Soul and the Stars", in the University Magazine under the pseudonym "A. G. Trent"; ill health prevented him from writing more on

2576-550: The reverse showed the arms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland in order, separated by sceptres and with a central rose, and the legend MAG BR FRA ET HIB REG ("Of Great Britain, France, and Ireland Queen") and the year. With the Act of Union, the English and Scottish arms appear conjoined on one shield, with the left half being the English arms and the right half being the Scottish arms, and

2632-591: The sale of rams . In each case a guinea meant an amount of one pound and one shilling (21 shillings, £1.05 in decimal notation). The first guinea was produced on 6 February 1663 (361 years ago)  ( 1663-02-06 ) ; a proclamation of 27 March 1663 made the coins legal currency. One troy pound of 11 ⁄ 12 (0.9133) fine gold (22 carat or 0.9167 pure by weight) would make 44 + 1 ⁄ 2 guineas, each thus theoretically weighing 129.438 grains (8.385 grams crown gold, 7.688 grams fine gold, or 0.247191011 ozt (troy ounces) fine gold). The coin

2688-418: The sincerity of readers that disagree with him. The impact of On Heroes on intellectuals and the reading public was deep and continued long after its publication. Richard Garnett wrote that its ideas were "echoed by all the best minds of [the] day", while Edmund Gosse reported in 1900 that "it is read by practically every one who reads at all". Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in 1883 that it

2744-432: The strong, intelligent, and noble. For Carlyle, the hero was somewhat similar to Aristotle 's " magnanimous " man – a person who flourished in the fullest sense. However, for Carlyle, unlike Aristotle, the world was filled with contradictions with which the hero had to deal. All heroes will be flawed. Their heroism lay in their creative energy in the face of these difficulties, not in their moral perfection. To sneer at such

2800-490: The subject. He wrote a biography of prime minister Charles James Fox , published 1910. In 1901, Garnett was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society . He died on 13 April 1906 and was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery . According to Joseph McCabe , Garnett "cherished a genuine and somewhat mystical belief in religion, which combined hostility to priestcraft and dogma with

2856-662: The word VIGO under the Queen's bust, to commemorate the origin of the gold taken from Spanish ships captured at the Battle of Vigo Bay . With the Acts of Union 1707 creating a unified Kingdom of Great Britain through the union of the Parliament of Scotland with the Parliament of England , the design of the reverse of the first truly British guinea was changed. Until the Union, the cruciform shields on

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2912-414: The work of James and Norbert Roettiers. They were produced in all years between 1689 and 1694 both with and without the elephant and castle; in 1692 and 1693 the mark of the elephant alone was also used. Following the death of Queen Mary from smallpox in 1694, William continued to reign as William III. The guinea coin was produced in all years from 1695 to 1701, both with and without the elephant and castle,

2968-464: Was "a very beautiful little book." Henry David Thoreau compared it favourably with previous writings on heroism such as Parallel Lives , opining that Carlyle "even leaves Plutarch behind." These lectures are regarded as an early and powerful formulation of the Great Man theory of historical development. Friedrich Nietzsche agreed with much of Carlyle's hero worship, transferring many qualities of

3024-610: Was a scholar, librarian, biographer and poet. He was keeper of printed books at British Museum from 1890 to 1899. Garnett was educated at a school in Bloomsbury . He entered the British Museum in 1851 as an assistant librarian. Anthony Panizzi , a close friend of Garnett's father, invited the then 16-year-old Richard to work at the British Museum following his father's death. He married Olivia Narney Singleton in 1863. They had six surviving children. In 1875, he became superintendent of

3080-403: Was milled diagonally, but from 1739 following the activities of a particularly bold gang of guinea filers for whom a reward was posted, the milling was changed to produce the shape of a chevron or arrowhead. In 1732 the old hammered gold coinage was demonetised, and it is thought that some of the old coins were melted down to create more guineas. The obverse has a left-facing bust of the king with

3136-429: Was originally worth twenty shillings (one pound), but an increase in the price of gold during the reign of King Charles II led to the market trading it at a premium. The price of gold continued to increase, especially in times of trouble, and by the 1680s, the coin was worth 22 silver shillings . Indeed, in his diary entries for 13 June 1667, Samuel Pepys records that the price was 24 to 25 shillings. The diameter of

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