Harvey, Gabriel

(?1550-1631)

   Born at Saffron Walden, Essex, the son of a master rope-maker, he graduated B.A. from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1569; he was elected a fellow of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, in 1570, was granted an M.A. in 1573, and elected a fellow of Trinity Hall in 1578. He and Edmund Spenser (see entry) formed a friendship that lasted until Spenser died. Sir James Croft and the Earl of Oxford were much displeased at satirical allusions in some of his poems (printed, he alleged, without his permission), but friends interceded and he escaped punishment. He died at Saffron Walden and is buried there. Some Latin publications: Rhetor sive, 1577. Ciceronianus sive, 1577. Dierum Oratio de Natura, 1577. Smithus, vel Musarum Lachrymæ pro Obitu honoratiss. Viri, 1578. Gratulationes Waldenses, 1578 (composed for the visit of Queen Elizabeth to the Duke of Norfolk at Audley End, Essex, and presented to her majesty in person). His English publications: The Story of Mercy Harvey, 1574-1575. Letters to and from Edmund Spenser, 1579-1580. Foure Letters and Certaine Sonnets, 1592. Precursor of Pierce's Supererogation, 1593. Pierce's Supererogation, or a new Prayse of the Olde Asse, 1593.

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Foure Letters and Certaine Sonnets, Gabriel Harvey. Bodley Head Quartos, 1592. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.