AMERICAN RENAISSANCE

by F.. Matthiessen ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 22, 1941

The half decade from 1850-1855, saw the concentration of some of the greatest works in American literature. Matthiessen takes the great men of that age, specifically Emerson. Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman -- and analyzes the theory and the practice of art as demonstrated through their work. He tests out his definition of the function of the artist as translating the whole soul of man into activity, through weighing their literary merit, relating them to each other, to what had gone before, what was to follow. Not a book for those demanding a human valuation, a picture of the times. But a serious critical synthesis for the scholar.

Pub Date: May 22, 1941

ISBN: 1163434957

Page Count: -

Publisher: Oxford

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1941

Categories: NONFICTION