John Forster

John Forster (born April 2, 1812, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Eng.—died Feb. 2, 1876, London) was a writer and journalist, a notable figure in mid-19th-century literary London who, through his friendship with the influential editor Leigh Hunt, became adviser, agent, and proofreader to many leading writers of the day. A close friend and adviser of Charles Dickens, he wrote The Life of Dickens (1872–74).

After early contributions to an encyclopaedia and to periodicals, he was editor of The Examiner (1847–55). In 1855 he became secretary to the lunacy commissioners and in 1861 became a commissioner. Apart from his Dickens study, Forster’s Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith (1848; expanded into The Life and Times . . . , 1854), his Walter Savage Landor (1869), and his unfinished Life of Jonathan Swift (1876) remain authoritative and readable.