Stuart Pratt Sherman

Stuart Pratt Sherman 1881-1926, American critic and editor, b. Anita, Iowa, grad. Williams, 1900, Ph.D. Harvard, 1906. Professor of English at the Univ. of Illinois from 1907 to 1924, he resigned to edit the literary section of the New York Herald Tribune. His conservative, chauvinistic views involved him in a lengthy quarrel with H. L. Mencken; in later years his beliefs became more liberal. Among his critical works are a biography of Matthew Arnold (1917), Americans (1922), and The Emotional Discovery of America and Other Essays (1932). Sherman was also an editor of The Cambridge History of American Literature.

Sherman, Stuart P[ratt] (1881–1926),after graduation from Williams College (1903) continued his studies at Harvard, where he fell under the influence of the New Humanism of Irving Babbitt, as may be observed in his works such as Matthew Arnold: How To Know Him (1917) and On Contemporary Literature (1917). His moderate conservatism, defense of the American Puritan tradition, and almost chauvinistic patriotism led him into many literary quarrels with such critics as H.L. Mencken. His change to a more liberal point of view may be traced through Americans (1922), The Genius of America (1923), Points of View (1924), and Critical Woodcuts (1926). He was a professor of English at the University of Illinois (1907–24), and edited the literary supplement of the New York Herald‐Tribune (1924–26). He was an editor of The Cambridge History of American Literature. Jacob Zeitlin and Homer Woodbridge edited his Life and Letters (2 vols., 1929).