R. W. B. Lewis
Encyclopedia
Richard Warrington Baldwin Lewis (November 1, 1917- June 13, 2002) was an American literary scholar and critic. He gained a wider reputation when he won a 1976 Pulitzer Prize
for biography, the first National Book Critics Circle Award
for nonfiction, and a Bancroft Prize
for his biography of Edith Wharton
. The New York Times called the book "a beautifully wrought, rounded portrait of the whole woman, including the part of her that remained in shade during her life ..." and said the "expansive, elegant biography ... can stand as literature, if nothing else. ... "
He was the Niel Gray Professor of English and American Studies at Yale University
, where he taught from 1959 until his retirement in 1988. From 1954 to 1959 he taught at Rutgers-Newark
. In 1988 Lewis received a Litt.D. from Bates College
. A member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Lewis received its Gold Medal for Biography in 2000.
Lewis is generally considered one of the founders of the academic field of American Studies, and was regarded as one of the finest Americanists of his generation. His interests ranged from criticism of American and European writers, to biography and even artistic criticism.
Lewis' career as critic involved him in the lives of many influential American and European thinkers and writers. Lewis received his doctoral degree from the University of Chicago
, where he studied under Norman Maclean
, author of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories. He and his wife and sometime co-author, Nancy, later became close friends with the Southern writer Robert Penn Warren
.
Lewis' first major work, The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century (1955), explored De Crèvecoeur's idea of the American as a "new man" - an innocent Adam in a bright new world dissociating himself from the historic past. Lewis portrayed this preoccupation as a pervasive, transforming ingredient of the American mind that shaped the consciousness of lesser thinkers as fully as it shaped the giants of the age.
The book traces the Adamic theme in the writings of Emerson
, Thoreau, Hawthorne
, Melville
, Henry James
, and others, and in an Epilogue, Lewis exposes its continuing spirit in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald
, William Faulkner
, Ralph Ellison
, J. D. Salinger
, and Saul Bellow
.
Lewis' father and maternal grandfather were Episcopalian priests. He graduated from Harvard College in 1939 and received an M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1941, only to volunteer for war service in 1942 before continuing his graduate studies. After returning from serving in the British-U.S. intelligence service known as "M.I. X" in Italy in World War II he pursued his fascination with world literature, already awakened by his Harvard teachers. Lewis developed a life-long fascination and love for Italy after visiting as a child, and later serving in Tuscany
during the war, including a harrowing stint behind enemy lines. He and his wife Nancy visited there regularly for much of their lives, and Lewis later wrote a book on the city of Florence
.
While teaching at Yale, Lewis lived in a house in Bethany, Connecticut
. He worked in an octagonally-shaped writing studio situated in a ravine about 30 feet from his house. A railed walkway connected the house to the studio, which was built by Nancy Lewis' brother-in-law, Isham McConnell, who studied under the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright
. Lewis continued to write his books on a typewriter into his later years.
Bookshelves lined the walls of Lewis' office, with each section containing works from Lewis' various areas of research: the James' family, Edith Wharton, Dante and Italy, American literature, etc.
In 2006, the Yale College Writing Center was endowed with a directorship in Lewis' name.
"This position in Dick Lewis’ name will serve as a permanent tribute to a writer who made every subject he engaged in memorable and to a memorable teacher who made every student mindful of great writing,” said Yale President Richard C. Levin in a University press release.
Lewis married Nancy Lindau in 1950. They had three children: Nathaniel (born 1960), who is also a literary historian at Saint Michael's College
; Sophie (born 1965), a health expert with the government of Massachusetts; and Emma (born 1967), an environmental lawyer. Lewis also had a son by the Danish writer Elsa Gress; this is the historian David Gress
.
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for biography, the first National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
for nonfiction, and a Bancroft Prize
Bancroft Prize
The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948 by a bequest from Frederic Bancroft...
for his biography of Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
. The New York Times called the book "a beautifully wrought, rounded portrait of the whole woman, including the part of her that remained in shade during her life ..." and said the "expansive, elegant biography ... can stand as literature, if nothing else. ... "
He was the Niel Gray Professor of English and American Studies at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he taught from 1959 until his retirement in 1988. From 1954 to 1959 he taught at Rutgers-Newark
Rutgers-Newark
Rutgers University in Newark is one of three campuses of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the eighth oldest college in the United States and a member of the Association of American Universities...
. In 1988 Lewis received a Litt.D. from Bates College
Bates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
. A member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Lewis received its Gold Medal for Biography in 2000.
Lewis is generally considered one of the founders of the academic field of American Studies, and was regarded as one of the finest Americanists of his generation. His interests ranged from criticism of American and European writers, to biography and even artistic criticism.
Lewis' career as critic involved him in the lives of many influential American and European thinkers and writers. Lewis received his doctoral degree from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where he studied under Norman Maclean
Norman Maclean
Norman Fitzroy Maclean was an American author and scholar noted for his books A River Runs Through It and Other Stories and Young Men and Fire .-Biography:...
, author of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories. He and his wife and sometime co-author, Nancy, later became close friends with the Southern writer Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the influential literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935...
.
Lewis' first major work, The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century (1955), explored De Crèvecoeur's idea of the American as a "new man" - an innocent Adam in a bright new world dissociating himself from the historic past. Lewis portrayed this preoccupation as a pervasive, transforming ingredient of the American mind that shaped the consciousness of lesser thinkers as fully as it shaped the giants of the age.
The book traces the Adamic theme in the writings of Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
, Thoreau, Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
, Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
, Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
, and others, and in an Epilogue, Lewis exposes its continuing spirit in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
, William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
, Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Waldo Ellison was an American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Ellison is best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953...
, J. D. Salinger
J. D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980....
, and Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
.
Lewis' father and maternal grandfather were Episcopalian priests. He graduated from Harvard College in 1939 and received an M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1941, only to volunteer for war service in 1942 before continuing his graduate studies. After returning from serving in the British-U.S. intelligence service known as "M.I. X" in Italy in World War II he pursued his fascination with world literature, already awakened by his Harvard teachers. Lewis developed a life-long fascination and love for Italy after visiting as a child, and later serving in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
during the war, including a harrowing stint behind enemy lines. He and his wife Nancy visited there regularly for much of their lives, and Lewis later wrote a book on the city of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
.
While teaching at Yale, Lewis lived in a house in Bethany, Connecticut
Bethany, Connecticut
Bethany is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,040 at the 2000 census. Bethany was first settled in 1717 but it was not until May 1832 that Bethany separated from Woodbridge to become incorporated as a town. This slightly remote, sparsely populated,...
. He worked in an octagonally-shaped writing studio situated in a ravine about 30 feet from his house. A railed walkway connected the house to the studio, which was built by Nancy Lewis' brother-in-law, Isham McConnell, who studied under the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
. Lewis continued to write his books on a typewriter into his later years.
Bookshelves lined the walls of Lewis' office, with each section containing works from Lewis' various areas of research: the James' family, Edith Wharton, Dante and Italy, American literature, etc.
In 2006, the Yale College Writing Center was endowed with a directorship in Lewis' name.
"This position in Dick Lewis’ name will serve as a permanent tribute to a writer who made every subject he engaged in memorable and to a memorable teacher who made every student mindful of great writing,” said Yale President Richard C. Levin in a University press release.
Lewis married Nancy Lindau in 1950. They had three children: Nathaniel (born 1960), who is also a literary historian at Saint Michael's College
Saint Michael's College
Saint Michael's College is a private, residential liberal arts Catholic college. The campus is located in Colchester, Vermont. It was founded in 1904 by the Society of Saint Edmund, a French order of Catholic priests.-History:...
; Sophie (born 1965), a health expert with the government of Massachusetts; and Emma (born 1967), an environmental lawyer. Lewis also had a son by the Danish writer Elsa Gress; this is the historian David Gress
David Gress
David Richard Gress , is a Danish-American historian, known for his 1998 survey From Plato to Nato on Western identity and grand narratives.-Life:...
.
Works written
- The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century (1955)
- The Picaresque Saint. Representative Figures in Contemporary Fiction (1959)
- Herman Melville (1962)
- Trials of the Word: Essays in American Literature and the Humanistic Tradition (1965)
- The Poetry of Hart CraneHart Crane-Career:Throughout the early 1920s, small but well-respected literary magazines published some of Crane’s lyrics, gaining him, among the avant-garde, a respect that White Buildings , his first volume, ratified and strengthened...
: A Critical Study (1967) - American Literature: The Makers and the Making: Book C / 1861 to 1914 (1974, with Cleanth BrooksCleanth BrooksCleanth Brooks was an influential American literary critic and professor. He is best known for his contributions to New Criticism in the mid-twentieth century and for revolutionizing the teaching of poetry in American higher education...
and Robert Penn WarrenRobert Penn WarrenRobert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the influential literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935...
) - Edith Wharton (1975)
- The Jameses: A Family Narrative (1991)
- Literary Reflections : A Shoring of Images 1960-1993 (1993)
- The City of Florence: Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings (1995)
- American Characters: Selections from the National Portrait Gallery, Accompanied by Literary Portraits (1999, with Nancy Lewis)
- Dante (2001)
Works edited
- Presence of Walt Whitman (1962)
- Malraux: A Collection of Critical Essays (1964)
- The Letters of Edith Wharton (1989, with Nancy Lewis)
- The Selected Short Stories of Edith Wharton (1991)