Educated at Williams College, the University of Berlin and the University of Strassburg, Perry taught at Williams College from 1886 to 1893. He then taught at Princeton University until 1900. In 1899, he became the editor of Atlantic Monthly, a position he held until 1909. In 1905, he was the editor of the Cambridge edition of the major American poets. From 1909 to 1910, he was the Harvard lecturer at the University of Paris. He taught at Harvard University from 1907 to 1930. Perry was a recognized scholar in American literature, but his work The American Spirit in Literature (1918), was severely attacked by many critics of the time including H. L. Mencken. Perry was an avid fisherman and published the very popular Fishing With a Worm in 1916. His other works include Broughton House (1890), Plated City (1895), Powers at Play (1899), Park-Street Papers (1908), Study of Poetry (1920), Study of Prose Fiction (1920 and Pools and Ripples (1927) in addition to numerous biographies including Emerson, Richard Henry Dana, Macaulay and Henry James. |
