Matthews, [James] Brander (1852–1929),born in New Orleans, graduated from Columbia (1871) and two years later received an LL.B. After the loss of his family's wealth, he devoted himself to writing fiction and criticism and became prominent in literary and artistic circles in New York and London, being a founder of the Authors' Club, The Players, and other societies. In 1880–81 he wrote two books on the French stage, and with Laurence Hutton he edited
Actors and Actresses of Great Britain and the United States (5 vols., 1886). Meanwhile, besides collaborating with
H.C. Bunner on a book of short stories, Matthews wrote a comedy,
Margery's Lovers (1884), and collaborated on two other successful plays,
A Gold Mine (1887), a comedy, and
On Probation (1889), a farce, as well as writing several one‐act plays. After lecturing at Columbia (1891–92), he became professor of literature there (1892–1900), and from 1900 to 1924 was professor of dramatic literature, being the first to hold such a position at any American university. His influence on playwrights, criticism, and public taste was great, through his many texts, compilations, and books of essays, including
The Development of the Drama (1903),
Molière (1910),
Shakspere as a Playwright (1913),
A Book About the Theater (1916),
Principles of Playmaking (1919), and
Rip Van Winkle Goes to the Play (1926).
These Many Years (1917) is an autobiography, and he wrote several volumes of fiction about New York, including
Vignettes of Manhattan (1894),
His Father's Son (1895),
Outlines in Local Color (1897), and
Vistas of New York (1912). He lectured widely in the U.S. and abroad, was an original member and president (1913–14) of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and has been called “perhaps the last of the gentlemanly school of critics and essayists” in America.
