Eric Hall McCormick (17 June 1906 – 23 March 1995) was a New Zealand teacher, critic, historian, university lecturer and biographer.

Life and career

McCormick was born in

Taihape Taihape is in the Rangitikei District of the North Island of New Zealand. It serves a large rural community. New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1, which runs North to South through the centre of the North Island, passes through the town ...

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

. He attended

Wellington College, Wellington Wellington College, is a state-run boys secondary school in Wellington, New Zealand. It is situated on 12 hectares of green belt land in the suburb of Mount Victoria (Wellington suburb), Mount Victoria, in the vicinity of the Basin Reserve and ...

, as a

boarder Boarder may refer to: Persons A boarder may be a person who: *snowboards *skateboards *bodyboards * surfs *stays at a boarding house *attends a boarding school *takes part in a boarding attack Other uses * ''The Star Boarder'', a 1914 American ...

, and then studied at the Teachers' Training College, Wellington, and

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

. He continued his studies at Victoria while teaching at rural schools near

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, eventually graduating

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in English and Latin. In the early 1930s he studied at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

. Of McCormick's first book, ''Letters and Art in New Zealand'' (1940), the reviewer for the ''

Auckland Star The ''Auckland Star'' was an evening daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, from 24 March 1870 to 16 August 1991. Survived by its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Star'', part of its name endures in ''The Sunday Star-Times'', created i ...

'' declared that of all the books published in New Zealand's centennial year of 1940, none was "so rich in information not otherwise easily accessible, or so likely to increase understanding of the social changes which the Dominion has known", and concluded that it was "an excellent piece of work of which New Zealand until now has stood much in need". The historian

Keith Sinclair Sir Keith Sinclair (5 December 1922 – 20 June 1993) was a New Zealand poet and historian. Academic career Sinclair was the oldest child of Ernest Duncan Sinclair and Florence Pyrenes Kennedy. Born and raised in Auckland, Sinclair was a st ...

later described it as "a work of such discrimination and scholarship as at once to establish the author as the first of his countrymen entitled to be called critic". McCormick served with the New Zealand Army in the Middle East during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, at first as a medical orderly but later as a war archivist. He rose to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and on his return to New Zealand in 1945 he was appointed chief war archivist. In 1947, McCormick was appointed senior lecturer in English at

Auckland University College The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loca ...

. He resigned in 1951 to take up a two-year

University of New Zealand A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

senior research fellowship. Later in the 1950s he became an independent scholar, living frugally in the Auckland suburb of Green Bay with his sister Myra.

Books

*''Making New Zealand: Pictorial Surveys of a Century'' (1939–40; he edited this 30-volume series) *''Letters and Art in New Zealand'' (1940) *''New Zealand, a Colony of the Mind'' (1945) *''Poetry in New Zealand'' (1947) *''The Later Novel'' (1947) *''The Expatriate: A Study of

Frances Hodgkins Frances Mary Hodgkins (28 April 1869 – 13 May 1947) was a New Zealand painter chiefly of landscape, and for a short period was a designer of textiles. Born in Dunedin, she was educated Dunedin School of Art, then became an art teacher, ...

'' (1954) *''The Voice of a Silent Land: New Zealand Writing'' (1955) *'' Eric Lee-Johnson'' (1956) *''The Inland Eye: A Sketch in Visual Autobiography'' (1959) *''New Zealand Literature: A Survey'' (1959) *''Tasman and New Zealand: A Bibliographical Study'' (1959) *''The Fascinating Folly: Dr Hocken and His Fellow Collectors'' (1961) *'' Alexander Turnbull: His Life, His Circle, His Collections'' (1974) *''

Omai Mai ( 1753–1779), also known as Omai in Europe, was a young Ra'iatean man who became the first Pacific Islander to visit England, and the second to visit Europe, after Ahutoru who was brought to Paris by Bougainville in 1768. Life M ...

: Pacific Envoy'' (1977) *''Portrait of

'' (1981) *''The Friend of

Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

: A Life of

Charles Armitage Brown Charles Armitage Brown (14 April 1787 – 5 June 1842) was a close friend of the poet John Keats, as well as a friend of artist Joseph Severn, Leigh Hunt, Thomas Jefferson Hogg, Walter Savage Landor and Edward John Trelawny. He was the fath ...

'' (1989) *''An Absurd Ambition: Autobiographical Writings'' (1996; edited by Dennis McEldowney) ''Writing, a New Country: A Collection of Essays Presented to E. H. McCormick in His 88th Year'' is a 1993

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

of 16 essays by 16 authors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, Eric 1906 births 1995 deaths Academic staff of the University of Auckland 20th-century New Zealand historians New Zealand biographers People from Taihape People educated at Wellington College, Wellington Victoria University of Wellington alumni Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand literary critics