Educated at Haverford College, Harvard University and Balliol College, Oxford, Smith remained in England after graduation and traveled in Europe for a time before beginning to write. In 1895, he published his first book, The Youth of Parnassus and Other Stories. His work Trivia (1902) received much critical praise. He became a recognized authority on the correct use of English and was one of the founders of the Society for Pure English in 1919. He became a British citizen in 1913. His many works include Songs and Sonnets (1909), The English Language (1912), More Trivia (1921), English Idioms (1923), Words and Idioms (1925), Afterthoughts (1931), On Reading Shakespeare (1933), Unforgotten Years (1938), Milton and His Modern Critics (1940) and A Treasury of English Aphorisms (1943). |
