Lorne Albert Pierce (3 August 1890 – 27 November 1961) was a Canadian

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

Biography

Pierce was born in

Delta, Ontario Delta, Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 C ...

. He attended several universities including Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, Victoria College at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and the Wesleyan Theological College in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. He became a Methodist Church minister and later a United Church minister. In 1916 he married Edith Chown who came from a prominent Kingston family. In 1920 he was appointed as literary advisor to the

Ryerson Press Ryerson Press was a Canadian book publishing company, active from 1919 to 1970. First established by the Methodist Book Room, a division of the Methodist Church of Canada, and operated by the United Church Publishing House after the Methodist Ch ...

and from 1922 to 1960 he was editor. Among the many writers whom Pierce fostered at Ryerson Press were

Frederick Philip Grove Frederick Philip Grove (February 14, 1879 – September 9, 1948) was a German-born Canadian novelist and translator. He was a prolific translator in Germany, working under his original name Felix Paul Greve and posing as a dandy, before he left ...

, E. J. Pratt, A. J. M. Smith,

Louis Dudek Louis Dudek, (February 6, 1918 – March 23, 2001) was a Canadian poet, academic, and publisher known for his role in defining Modernism in poetry, and for his literary criticism. He was the author of over two dozen books. In ''A Digital Hist ...

, A. M. Klein,

P. K. Page Patricia Kathleen Page, (23 November 1916 – 14 January 2010) was a Canadian poet,Peter ScowenP.K. Page dies at age 93 ''The Globe and Mail'', 14 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010. though the citation as she was inducted as a Fellow of th ...

Dorothy Livesay Dorothy Kathleen May Livesay, (October 12, 1909 – December 29, 1996) was a Canadian poet who twice won the Governor General's Award in the 1940s, and was "senior woman writer in Canada" during the 1970s and 1980s.Mathews, R.D.. "Dorothy L ...

Earle Birney Earle Alfred Birney (13 May 1904 – 3 September 1995) was a Canadian poet and novelist, who twice won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honour, for his poetry. Life Born in Calgary in the North-West Territories' District o ...

and

Marjorie Pickthall Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall (14 September 1883, in Gunnersbury, London – 22 April 1922, in Vancouver) was a Canadian writer who was born in England but lived in Canada from the time she was seven. She was once "thought to be the best Can ...

. Along with novels and poetry, Ryerson also published important

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...

and books of literary criticism. Pierce was a member of the

Arts and Letters Club of Toronto The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto is a private members' club in Toronto, Ontario, which brings together writers, architects, musicians, painters, graphic artists, actors and others working in or with a love of the arts and letters. It was foun ...

; fellow members

J. E. H. MacDonald James Edward Hervey MacDonald (12 May 1873–26 November 1932) was an English-Canadian artist, best known as a member of the Group of Seven who asserted a distinct national identity combined with a common heritage stemming from early modernism ...

and

Frederick Varley Frederick Horsman Varley (January 2, 1881 – September 8, 1969) was a member of the Canadian Group of Seven. Career Early life Varley was born in Sheffield, England, in 1881, the son of Lucy (Barstow) and Samuel James Smith Varley the 7th. He ...

designed covers and endpapers for some Ryerson books, and others such as Pratt and

George Locke George Herbert Locke (March 29, 1870 – January 28, 1937) was a Canadian librarian. He was chief librarian of the Toronto Public Library from 1908 until his death, a time of great expansion in that library system. In 1926-27 he became the s ...

were published by the press. Beginning in 1927 Pierce edited the series of Ryerson books of prose and verse, which brought Canadian literature into Canadian school classrooms, and he was the author of critical studies of Pickthall and the early Canadian novelist William Kirby. During his more than forty years as editor he oversaw the publishing and promotion of

Canadian literature Canadian literature is written in several languages including Canadian English, English, Canadian French, French, and various Indigenous Canadian languages. It is often divided into French- and English-language literatures, which are rooted in th ...

. A committed

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

, he viewed literature as an important aspect of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's cultural development in the mid-twentieth century, Pierce lent his name to the

Lorne Pierce Medal The Lorne Pierce Medal is awarded every two years by the Royal Society of Canada to recognize achievement of special significance and conspicuous merit in imaginative or critical literature written in either English or French. The medal was first ...

, established in 1926 to honor writers, critics, and educators for their outstanding contributions to the development of Canadian literature and culture.

Works

* ''Our Canadian Literature'', (1922) o-edited* ''Albert Durant Watson: An Appraisal'', (1923) * ''Methodism And The New Catholicism'', (1923) * ''Primitive Methodism And The New Catholicism'', (1923) * ''Fifty Years Of Public Service: A Life Of James L Hughes'', (1924) * ''Marjorie Pickthall: A Book Of Remembrance'', (c1925) * ''In Conference With The Best Minds'', (1927) * ''An Outline Of Canadian Literature (French And English)'', (1927) * ''William Kirby: A The Portrait Of A Tory Loyalist'', (1929) * ''Toward The Bonne Entente'', (1929) * ''The Chronicle Of A Century: Publishing, Churches'', (1929) dited* ''New History For Old: Discussions On Aims And Methods'', (1931) * ''English Canadian Literature 1882-1932'', (1932) * ''Unexplored Fields Of Canadian Literature'', (1932) * ''Three Fredericton Poets'', (1933) * ''Master Builders'', (1937) * ''A Postscript Of J E H Macdonald 1873-1932'', (1940) * ''Thoreau Macdonald'', (1942) * ''Marjorie Pickthall: A Memorial Address'', (1943) * ''E Grace Coombs (Mrs James Sharp Lawson), AOCA, OSA'', (1949) * ''In Memoriam: Charles W Jefferys 1869-1951'', (1951) * ''The House Of Ryerson'', (1954) Source:

Legacy

The

remains an important award for the recognition of excellence in Canadian literature and criticism. After Pierce's death, his large collection of Canadian literary

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition is all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a book pr ...

s was bequeathed to Queen's University in

, where it has been expanded and remains a significant repository of rare Canadian books.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Lorne 1890 births 1961 deaths Canadian book editors Canadian book publishers (people) Canadian literary critics Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Literary critics of English Ministers of the United Church of Canada Writers from Ontario

Biography

Works

Legacy

References

Further reading

External links