Contemporary American Literature / Bibliographies and Study Outlines

Transcriber’s Note

A number of typographical errors have been maintained in the current version of this book. They are marked and the corrected text is shown in the popup. A [list] of these errors is found at the end of this book.

CONTEMPORARY

AMERICAN LITERATURE

BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND STUDY OUTLINES

BY

JOHN MATTHEWS MANLY

AND

EDITH RICKERT

NEW YORK
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC.

Printed in the U. S. A.

CONTENTS

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book is intended as a companion volume to Contemporary British Literature; but the differences between conditions in America and in England have made it necessary to alter somewhat the original plan.

In America today we have a few excellent writers who challenge comparison with the best of present-day England. We have many more who have been widely successful in the business of making novels, poems, plays, which cannot rank as literature at all. In choosing from such a large number a list for study, it is our hope that we have not omitted the name of any author who counts as a force in our developing literature; but, on the other hand, it is undoubtedly true that we have excluded many writers whose work compares favorably with that of some on the list. Our choice has been governed by two principles: (1) To include experimental work—work dealing with fresh materials or attempting new methods—rather than better work on familiar patterns; and (2) to represent varying tendencies in the literary effort of our country today rather than work that ranks high in popular taste. The task of doing justice to every writer is impossible; but we have been primarily concerned not with writers but with readers—those who wish guidance to the best that there is in our literature and to the signs that point to the future.

The word contemporary we have interpreted arbitrarily to mean since the beginning of the War, excluding writers who died before August, 1914, and living authors who have produced no work since then. Space limitations made it impossible to go back to the beginning of the century, and no other date since then is so significant as 1914.

The biographical material is limited to information of interest for the interpretation of work. The bibliographies are selective except in the case of the more important authors, for whom they are, for the student’s purpose, complete. The following items have usually been omitted: (1) books privately printed; (2) separate editions of works included in larger volumes; (3) unimportant or inaccessible works; (4) works not of a literary character; (5) English reprints; (6) editions other than the first. Exceptions to this plan explain themselves.

The stars (*) are merely guides to the reader in long bibliographies and bibliographies containing works of very unequal merit.

The Suggestions for Reading given in the case of the more important authors are intended for students who need and desire guidance. It is our hope that these hints and questions may lead to discussion and differences of opinion, for dissent is the guidepost to truth. As far as possible, we have avoided statement of our own opinions.

The Studies and Reviews are the meagre result of long search in periodical literature. The fact that the photograph and the personal note bulk far more largely than criticism in America needs no comment here.

Supplementary to the alphabetical list of authors with material for study, which constitutes the body of the book, are the classified indexes. These are intended for use in planning courses of study. The classification according to form suggests the limitation of work to poets, dramatists, novelists, short-story writers, essayists, critics, writers on country life, travel, and Nature, humorists, “columnists,” and writers of biography and autobiography. In this connection should be noted the supplementary list of poets whose names have not been included in our list but whose work can be studied in one or more of the anthologies indicated.

The classification according to birthplace (in some cases information could not be obtained) furnishes material for the study of local groups of writers.

The classification according to subject matter (including the use of local color and background), although it is necessarily incomplete, will, it is hoped, suggest courses of reading on these bases.

Preceding the alphabetical list of authors are bibliographies of different types, which should be of use in the finding of material: lists of indexes and critical periodicals; of general works of reference discussing the period; of collections of poems, plays, short-stories, and essays; and of bibliographies of short plays and short stories.

Our thanks for criticisms and suggestions are due to Professors Robert Herrick, Robert Morss Lovett, and Percy Holmes Boynton.

To Mr. G. Teyen, of the Chicago Public Library, we are indebted for continual help in procuring books, verifying references, and, in general, for putting the resources of the library at our disposal.

INDEXES AND CRITICAL PERIODICALS

Indexes

Periodicals

(The initials following the abbreviated titles of the periodicals refer to the indexes in which they are listed.)

The Book Review Digest, 1905- ——, contains summaries of important reviews in periodicals and newspapers.

Academy: London (ceased 1916)—Acad.

American Catholic Quarterly Review: Philadelphia—Amer. Cath. Quar.

Athenæum: London—Ath.—A. L. I. Combined with Nation (London), Feb. 19, 1921.

Atlantic Monthly: Boston—Atlan.—R. G.; A. S. I.

Bellman: Minneapolis, Minn. (ceased 1919).

Booklist (A. L. A.): Chicago.

Bookman: New York—Bookm.—R. G.

Bookman: London—Bookm. (Lond.)—D. I.; A. S. I.

Book News: Philadelphia (ceased 1918).

Boston Transcript: Boston—Bost. Trans.

Catholic World: New York—Cath. World.

Century: New York—Cent.—R. G.

Chapbook (a Monthly Miscellany): London.

Columbia University Quarterly: New York—Columbia Univ. Quar.

Contemporary Review: London and New York—Contemp.—R. G.; A. S. I.

Craftsman: New York. Includes some literary studies.

Critic: New York (ceased 1906)—R. G.

Current Literature: New York (name changed to Current Opinion, 1913)—Cur. Lit.—R. G.

Current Opinion: New York—Cur. Op.—R. G.

Dial: New York—Dial—R. G.

Double-Dealer: New Orleans (1921- ——).

Drama: Washington—Drama—R. G. S.

Dublin Review: London—Dub. R.—D. I.; A. S. I.; R. G. S.

Edinburgh Review: Edinburgh—Edin. R.

Egoist: London (1914-19). Includes art, music, literature, emphasizing especially new movements.

English Review: London (1908- ——)—Eng. Rev.—R. G. S.; D. I.; A. S. I.

Fortnightly Review: London and New York—Fortn.—R. G.; A. S. I.

Forum: New York—R. G.; A. S. I.

Freeman: New York (ceased 1924).

Harper’s Magazine: New York—Harp.

Independent: New York—Ind.—R. G.

Literary Digest: New York—Lit. Digest—R. G.

Literary Review of the New York Evening Post: New York (1921- ——).—Lit. Rev.

Little Review: Chicago.

Littell’s Living Age: Boston—Liv. Age—R. G. Reprints from the best periodicals.

London Mercury: London (1919- ——)—Lond. Merc. Critical review, established in 1919, edited by J. C. Squire.

London Times Literary Supplement: London—Lond. Times—A. S. I.

Manchester Guardian: Manchester, England—The best English provincial paper for reviews.

Nation: London—Nation (Lond.)—A. S. I. See [Athenæum].

Nation: New York—Nation—R. G.

New Republic: New York (1914- )—New Repub.—R. G.

New Statesman: London (1913- )—New Statesman—R. G. S.; A. S. I.

New York Eve. Post. See [Literary Review].

New York Times Review of Books: New York—N. Y. Times.

Nineteenth Century and After: London and New York—19th Cent.—R. G.; A. S. I.

North American Review: New York—No. Am.—R. G.; A. S. I.

Outlook: New York.

Poet Lore: Boston—Poet Lore—R. G. S.

Poetry: Chicago—Poetry—R. G.

Quarterly Review: London and New York—Quar.—R. G.; A. S. I.

The Review: New York—a weekly journal of political and general discussion: Began 1919; changed its name, June, 1920, to Weekly Review; consolidated with Independent, October, 1921.

Review of Reviews: New York—R. of Rs.—R. G.

Saturday Review: London—Sat. Rev.—A. S. I.

Sewanee Review: Sewanee, Tennessee.

Spectator: London—Spec.—R. G. S.; A. S. I.

Springfield Republican, Springfield, Mass.—Springfield Repub.

Touchstone: New York.

Unpopular Review—New York. 1915-19. Continued as Unpartizan Review to 1921.

Westminster Review—London—Westm. R. (ceased 1914).

World Today: New York (ceased 1912).

Yale Review: New Haven, Conn.—R. G. S.

Popular magazines, referred to on occasion, are not listed above.

GENERAL WORKS OF REFERENCE

(Referred to in the book by the first word usually)

1. Histories and General Discussion

Boynton, Percy Holmes. A History of American Literature. 1919. (Bibliographies.)

Cambridge History of American Literature. 1917-21. By W. P. Trent, John Erskine, Stuart P. Sherman, and Carl Van Doren. (Vols. III, IV.) (Bibliographies.)

Macy, J. A. The Spirit of American Literature. 1913.

Pattee, Fred Lewis. A History of American Literature since 1870. 1915. (Bibliographies.)

Perry, Bliss. The American Spirit in Literature. 1918.

Stearns, Harold E. America and the Young Intellectual. 1921.

—— —— Civilization in the United States. 1922. (Special chapters.)

2. Criticism of Special Authors or Phases

Canby, H. S., Benét, W. R., and Loveman, Amy, Saturday Papers. 1921.

Hackett, Francis. Horizons: a Book of Criticism. 1918.

—— —— Editor. On American Books. 1920. (Symposium by Joel D. Spingarn, Padraic Colum, H. L. Mencken, Morris R. Cohen, and Francis Hackett.)

Littell, Philip, Books and Things. 1919.

Mencken, H. L. Prefaces. 1917.

—— —— Prejudices, First and Second Series. 1919-20.

Underwood, John Curtis, Literature and Insurgency. 1914.

3. Drama

Andrews, Charlton. The Drama Today. 1913.

Baker, George Pierce. Dramatic Technique. 1912.

Beegle, Mary Porter, and Crawford, Jack R. Community Drama and Pageantry. 1916.

Burleigh, Louise. The Community Theatre in Theory and in Practice. 1917. (Bibliography.)

Chandler, F. W. Aspects of Modern Drama. 1914.

Cheney, Sheldon. The Art Theatre. 1917.

—— —— The New Movement in the Theatre. 1914.

—— —— The Out-Of-Door Theatre. 1918.

Clark, Barrett H. The British and American Drama of Today. 1915, 1921.

Dickinson, Thomas H. The Case of American Drama. 1915.

—— —— The Insurgent Theatre. 1917.

Eaton, Walter Prichard. At the New Theatre and Others. 1910.

—— —— Plays and Players: Leaves from a Critic’s Notebook. 1916.

Goldman, Emma. The Social Significance of the Modern Drama. 1914.

Grau, Robert. The Theatre of Science. 1914.

Hamilton, Clayton. Studies in Stagecraft. 1914.

Henderson, Archibald. The Changing Drama. 1914.

Lewis, B. Roland. The Technique of the One-Act Play. 1918.

Lewisohn, Ludwig. The Modern Drama. 1915.

Mackay, Constance D’Arcy. The Little Theatre in the United States. 1917.

Mackaye, Percy. The Civic Theatre. 1912.

—— —— Community Drama. 1917.

—— —— The Playhouse and the Play. 1909.

Macgowan, K. The Theatre of Tomorrow. 1921.

Matthews, Brander. A Book about the Theatre. 1916.

Moderwell, Hiram Kelly. The Theatre of Today. 1914.

Moses, Montrose J. The American Dramatist. 1917.

Nathan, George Jean. Another Book on the Theatre. 1915.

Phelps, William Lyon. The Twentieth Century Theatre. 1918.

4. Novel

Cooper, Frederic Taber. Some American Story-Tellers. 1911.

Gordon, G. The Men Who Make our Novels. 1919.

Overton, Grant. The Women Who Make our Novels. 1918.

Phelps, William Lyon. The Advance of the English Novel. 1916.

Van Doren, Carl. The American Novel. 1921.

Wilkinson, H. Social Thought in American Fiction (1910-17). 1919.

5. Poetry

Aiken, Conrad, Scepticisms. Notes on Contemporary Poetry. 1919.

Caswell, E. S. Canadian Singers and Their Songs. 1920.

Cook, H. W. Our Poets of Today. 1918.

Lowell, Amy. Tendencies in Modern American Poetry. 1917.

Lowes, John Livingston. Convention and Revolt in Poetry. 1919.

Peckham, E. H. Present-Day American Poetry. 1917.

Phelps, William Lyon. The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth Century. 1918.

Rittenhouse, Jessie B. The Younger American Poets. 1904.

Untermeyer, Louis. The New Era in American Poetry. 1919.

Wilkinson, Marguerite. New Voices. 1919.

6. Biographical and Personal

Halsey, F. W. American Authors and Their Homes. Personal Descriptions and Interviews (Illustrated). 1901.

—— —— Women Authors of our Day in their Homes (Illustrated.) 1903.

Harkins, E. F. Famous Authors. (Men.) 1901.

—— —— Famous Authors. (Women.) 1901.

ANTHOLOGIES

Andrews, C. E. From the Front; Trench Poetry. Appleton, 1918.

Anthology of American Humor in Verse. Duffield, 1917.

American and British from the Yale Review. (Foreword by J. G. Fletcher.) 1920-21.

Armstrong, H. F. Book of New York Verse. Putnam, 1917.

Blanden, C. G., and Mathison, M. Chicago Anthology. Roadside Press, 1916.

Braithwaite, W. S. Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of

American Poetry. Small, Maynard, 1914- ——.

—— —— Golden Treasury of Magazine Verse. Small, Maynard, 1918.

Clarke, G. H. Treasury of War Poetry. Houghton Mifflin: First Series, 1917; Second Series, 1919.

Cook, H. W. Our Poets of Today. Moffat, Yard, 1918.

Cronyn, George W. The Path on the Rainbow (North American Indian Songs and Chants.) Boni & Liveright, 1918.

Des Imagistes: 1914. Poetry Bookshop, London, 1914.

Edgar, W. C. The Bellman Book of Verse, 1906-19. Bellman Co., 1919.

Erskine, John. Contemporary Verse Anthology. (War poetry.) Dutton, 1920.

Kreymborg, Alfred. Others. Knopf, 1916, 1917, 1919.

Le Gallienne, Richard. Modern Book of American Verse. Boni & Liveright, 1919.

Miscellany of American Poetry, A. Harcourt, Brace, 1920.

Monroe, Harriet, and Henderson, Alice Corbin. The New Poetry. Macmillan, 1917; revised edition, 1920.

O’Brien, Edward J. A Masque of Poets. Dodd, Mead, 1918.

Richards, G. M. High Tide; Songs of Joy and Vision. Houghton Mifflin, 1918.

—— —— The Melody of Earth. (Nature and Garden Poems from Present-day Poets.) Houghton Mifflin, 1920.

—— —— Star Points; Songs of Joy, Faith, and Promise. Houghton Mifflin, 1921.

Rittenhouse, Jessie B. The Little Book of Modern Verse. Houghton Mifflin, 1913-19.

—— —— The Second Book of Modern Verse. Houghton Mifflin, 1919.

Some Imagist Poets: 1915, 1916, 1917. Constable.

Stork, Charles Wharton, Contemporary Verse Anthology. Favorite Poems Selected from the Magazine of Contemporary Verse. 1916-20. Dutton, 1920.

Untermeyer, Louis. Modern American Poetry. Harcourt, Brace, 1920; enlarged, 1921.

COLLECTIONS OF PLAYS

Baker, George Pierce. Harvard Plays. Brentano.

I. 47 Workshop Plays. First Series. 1918. (Rachel L. Field, Hubert Osborne, Eugene Pillot, William L. Prosser.)

II. Plays of the Harvard Dramatic Club. First Series. 1918. (Winifred Hawkridge, H. Brock, Rita C. Smith, K. Andrews.)

III. Plays of the Harvard Dramatic Club. Second Series. 1919. (Louise W. Bray, E. W. Bates, F. Bishop, C. Kinkead.)

IV. 47 Workshop Plays. Second Series, 1920. (Kenneth Raesback, Norman C. Lindau, Eleanor Holmes Hinkley, Doris F. Halnan.)

Baker, George Pierce. Modern American Plays. Harcourt, Brace, 1920. (Belasco, Sheldon, Thomas).

Cohen, Helen Louise. One-Act Plays by Modern Authors. Harcourt, Brace, 1921. (Mackaye, Marks, Peabody, R. E. Rogers, Tarkington, Stark Young.)

—— —— Longer Plays by Modern Authors. Harcourt, Brace, 1922. (Thomas, Tarkington.)

Cook, G. C. and Shay, F. Provincetown Plays. Stewart Kidd.

—— —— First Series (Louise Bryant, Dell, O’Neill), 1916.

—— —— Second Series (Neith Boyce and Hutchins Hapgood, G. C. Cook and Susan Glaspell, John Reed), 1916.

—— —— Third Series (Neith Boyce, Kreymborg, O’Neill), 1917. (Boyce and Hapgood, Cook and Glaspell, Dell, P. King, Millay, O’Neill, Oppenheim, Alice Rostetter, W. D. Steele, Wellman), 1921.

Dickinson, Thomas H. Chief Contemporary Dramatists. Houghton Mifflin, 1915. (Mackaye, Thomas.)

—— —— Second Series (G. C. Hazelton and Benrimo, Peabody, Walter).

Dickinson, Thomas H. Wisconsin Plays. Huebsch.

—— —— First Series (Thomas H. Dickinson, Gale, William Ellery Leonard), 1914.

—— —— Second Series (M. Ilsley, H. M. Jones, Laura Sherry), 1918.

47 Workshop, Plays of the. See [Baker].

Harvard Dramatic Club, Plays of the. See [Baker].

Knickerbocker, Edwin Van B. Plays for Classroom Interpretation. Holt, 1921.

Lewis, B. Roland. Contemporary One-Act Plays. 1922. (Bibliographies.)
(Middleton, Althea Thurston, Mackaye, Eugene Pillot, Bosworth Crocker, Kreymborg, Paul Greene, Arthur Hopkins, Jeannette Marks, Oscar M. Wolff, David Pinski, Beulah Bornstead.)

Mayorga, Margaret Gardner. Representative One-Act Plays by American Authors. Little, Brown, 1919. (Full bibliographies). (Mary Aldis, Cook and Glaspell, Sada Cowan, Bosworth Crocker, Elva De Pue, Beulah Marie Dix, Hortense Flexner, Esther E. Galbraith, Alice Gerstenberg, Doris F. Halnan, Ben Hecht and Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, Phœbe Hoffman, Kreymborg, Mackaye, Marks, Middleton, O’Neill, Eugene Pillot, Frances Pemberton Spenser, Thomas Wood Stevens and Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, Walker, Wellman, Wilde, Oscar M. Wolff.)

More Portmanteau Plays. Stewart Kidd, 1919. (Stuart Walker.)

Morningside Plays. Shay, 1917. (Elva de Pue, Caroline Briggs, Elmer L. Reizenstein, Zella Macdonald).

Moses, Montrose J. Representative Plays by American Dramatists. Dutton, 1918-21. Vol. III. (Belasco, Thomas, Walter.)

Pierce, John Alexander. The Masterpieces of Modern Drama. English and American. (Summarized and quoted.) 1915. (Thomas [2], Walter, Mackaye, Belasco.)

Portmanteau Plays. Stewart Kidd, 1918. (Stuart Walker.)

Provincetown Plays. See [Cook].

Quinn, A. H. Representative American Plays. Century, 1917. (Crothers, Mackaye, Sheldon, Thomas).

Shay, Frank, and Loving, P. Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays, 1920.

Small Stages, Plays for. Duffield, 1915. (Mary Aldis.)

Smith, Alice Mary. Short Plays by Representative Authors. Macmillan, 1920. (Constance D’Arcy Mackay, Mary Macmillan, Marks, Torrence, Walker.)

Stage, Guild Plays and Masques. (Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, Thomas Wood Stevens.)

Washington Square Plays. Drama League Series. Doubleday, Page, 1916. (Lewis Beach, Alice Gerstenberg, Edward Goodman, Moeller.)

Wisconsin Plays. See [Dickinson].

COLLECTIONS OF SHORT STORIES

Heydrick, B. A. Americans All. Harcourt, Brace, 1920.

Howells, W. D. Great Modern American Stories. Boni & Liveright, 1920. (Does not include much recent work.)

Laselle, Mary Augusta. Short Stories of the New America. Holt, 1919.

Law, F. H. Modern Short Stories. Century, 1918.

O’Brien, Edward J. H. Best short stories for 1915, 1916, etc. Published annually. Small, Maynard.

Thomas, Charles Swain. Atlantic Narratives. Atlantic, 1918.

Wick, Jean. The Stories Editors Buy and Why. Small, Maynard, 1921.

Williams, Blanche Colton. Our Short Story Writers. Moffat, Yard, 1920.

COLLECTIONS OF ESSAYS

Kilmer, Joyce. Literature in the Making. Harper, 1917.

Morley, Christopher, Modern Essays. Harcourt, Brace, 1921.

Tanner, W. M. Essays and Essay-Writing. Atlantic, 1917.

Thomas, Charles Swain. Atlantic Classics, First and Second Series. Atlantic, 1918.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

OF SHORT PLAYS

Boston Public Library. One-Act Plays in English. 1900-20.

Brown University Library. Plays of Today. 1921. (100 of the best modern dramas.)

Chicago Public Library. Actable One-Act Plays. 1916.

University of Utah. The One-Act Play in Colleges and High Schools. 1920.

Worcester, Massachusetts, Free Public Library. Selected List of One-Act Plays. 1921.

Boynton, Percy H. History of American Literature. 1919.

Cheney, Sheldon. The Art Theatre. 1917. (Appendix.)

Clapp, John Mantel. Plays for Amateurs. 1915. (Drama League of America.)

Clark, Barrett H. How to Produce Amateur Plays. 1917.

Dickinson, Thomas H. The Insurgent Theatre. 1917. (Appendix.)

Drummond, A. M. Fifty One-Act Plays. 1915. (Quarterly Journal of Public Speaking, I, 234.)

—— —— One-Act Plays for Schools and Colleges. 1918. (Education, IV, 372.)

Johnson, Gertrude Elizabeth. Choosing a Play. Century, 1920.

Lewis, B. Roland. Contemporary One-Act Plays. 1922.

Mackay, Constance D’Arcy, The Little Theatre in the United States. 1917. Appendix.

Mayorga, Margaret Gardner, Representative One-Act Plays by American Authors. 1919.

Plays for Amateurs; a Selected List Prepared by the Little Theatre Department of the New York Drama League. Wilson, 1921.

Riley, Alice C. D. The One-Act Play Study Course. 1918. (Drama League Monthly, Feb.-Apr.)

Shay, Frank, Plays and Books of the Little Theatre, 1921.

Shay, Frank, and Loving, P. Fifty Contemporary One-act Plays, 1920.

Stratton, Clarence, Producing in Little Theatres, 1921. (Appendix lists 200 plays for amateurs.)

OF SHORT STORIES

Hannigan, F. J. Standard Index to Short Stories, 1900-1914. 1918.

O’Brien, E. J. H. Best Short Stories for 1915, 1916, etc. (Published annually.)