As with many of his socialist friends, Salt was introduced to Edward Carpenter by his brother-in-law, James Leigh Joynes.
Whilst at Eton he read Carpenter’s essays about Thoreau and the simplification of life. Carpenter the reformer and social critic appealed greatly to Salt, for Carpenter reconfirmed his own growing dissatisfaction with society and its institutions.
Henry and Kate were close friends with Carpenter as their long correspondence demonstrates. In 1910 the Salts moved to Holmesfield, close to Carpenter’s home at Millthorpe.
Following Carpenter’s death, Henry Salt wrote A Sage at Close Quarters for Edward Carpenter: In Appreciation edited by Gilbert Beith. As George Hendrick states, “His essay is written with great honesty and perception, the work of a friend, but an objective one.”
We recommend Hendrick’s Salt biography for details on the Salts friendship with Carpenter and Sheila Rawbotham’s outstanding Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty and Love.
There are so many outstanding Edward Carpenter resourecs that we can’t possible begin to do Carpenter justice. Therefore we strongly recommend Sheila Rawbotham’s book and The Friends of Edward Carpenter website which is listed on our links page.
More on Carpenter by Henry Salt
- A Sage at Close Quarters, Edward Carpenter: In Appreciation, edited by G. Beith, 1931
- Edward Carpenter, Vegetarian Review, April 1896
- Edward Carpenter and Brighton, Unknown, After 1929
- Edward Carpenter’s Writings, The Pioneer (London), January 1891
- Edward Carpenter – Democratic Author and Poet, The Times, June 29, 1929