Edwin Percy Whipple (March 8, 1819 – June 16, 1886) was an American essayist and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

Biography

He was born in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1819. For a time, he was the main literary critic for Philadelphia-based ''

Graham's Magazine ''Graham's Magazine'' was a nineteenth-century periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham and published from 1840 to 1858. It was alternatively referred to as ''Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine'' (1841–1842, and J ...

''. Later, in 1848, he became the Boston correspondent to '' The Literary World'' under

Evert Augustus Duyckinck Evert Augustus Duyckinck (pronounced DIE-KINK) (November 23, 1816 – August 13, 1878) was an American publisher and biographer. He was associated with the literary side of the Young America movement in New York. Biography He was born on Novem ...

and

George Long Duyckinck George Long Duyckinck (October 17, 1823 – March 30, 1863) was a New York City writer. Biography He was born on October 17, 1823, in New York City; his sibling was Evert Augustus Duyckinck. He attended Geneva College and then entered New Y ...

. Historian Perry Miller called Whipple "Boston's most popular critic". Whipple was also a public lecturer. In 1850, he defended the intelligence of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and compared him to other brilliant men of his time in a speech which later became known as "The Genius of Washington". Whipple was a close friend of

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...

. After Hawthorne's death in 1864, Whipple served as a pallbearer for his funeral alongside

Amos Bronson Alcott Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and av ...

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

James T. Fields James Thomas Fields (December 31, 1817 – April 24, 1881) was an American publisher, editor, and poet. His business, Ticknor and Fields, was a notable publishing house in 19th century Boston. Biography Early life and family He was born in ...

, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., and

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...

. Whipple's close relationship with other Boston-area authors occasionally tinted his reviews. Edward Emerson later noted, "No other member of the Saturday Club has ever been more loyally felicitous in characterizing the literary work of his associates."Buell, Lawrence. ''New England Literary Culture: From Revolution Through Renaissance''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986: 44. Whipple died in 1886 and was interred at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

Selected list of works

His first book was ''Essays and Reviews'' (two volumes, 1848), which was followed by: * ''Literature and Life'' (1850) * ''Character and Characteristic Men'' (1866) * ''Success and its Conditions'' (1871) * ''Literature of the Age of Elizabeth'' (1876) * ''Recollections of Eminent Men'' (1887) * ''American Literature and Other Papers'' (1887) * ''Outlooks on Society, Literature and Politics'' (1888) An edition of his ''

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

'' (two volumes, Boston), with an introduction by Arlo Bates, appeared in 1912.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Whipple biography
at the Boston Public Library web site * *
The Genius of Washington
speech {{DEFAULTSORT:Whipple, Edwin Percy American literary critics Journalists from Boston 1819 births 1886 deaths Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery 19th-century American journalists American male journalists American male essayists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American essayists Trustees of the Boston Public Library