Surname: Buchanan Forename(s): Robert Williams b. 18 August 1841. d. 10 June 1901. Nationality: Scottish. VIAF.
Poet, novelist, playwright, critic. Pseudonym: “B.,” “Thomas Maitland.” Alternate
signatures: “R. W. Buchanan,” “R. Williams Buchanan,” and “Robert Buchanan.” Son of
Robert Buchanan. Born at Caverswall, Staffordshire, but moved to Glasgow in 1850.
He continued to move between England and Scotland throughout his life. Contributed
to The Athenaeum and All the Year Round. Acquainted with George Eliot, Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, and Walt Whitman.
Author of the notorious review, “The Fleshly School of Poetry” (1871), which controversially
attacked the poetry of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Algernon Charles Swinburne. Biographical
information: ODNB. (CC)