Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury

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Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury (born January 1, 1838 in Ovid , New York , † April 9, 1915 in New Haven , Connecticut ) was an American linguist , writer and librarian at Yale University .

Lounsbury earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1859 . He then worked for Appleton's New American Cyclopaedia before fighting on the Union side in the 126th New York Regiment in the American Civil War. After his discharge from military service in 1865, he first worked at Lespinasse's French Institute in Washington Heights , then as a tutor .

In 1870 he received a position as instructor for English and Germanic languages ​​at Yale University , in 1871 he was appointed professor for English there, which he held until his retirement in 1906. From 1873 he was also head of the scientific library of Yale and from 1900 to 1906 member of the board of directors of the university.

He was considered one of the United States' leading authorities on the English language and English literature . In particular, he made a contribution to researching the work of Geoffrey Chaucer . He edited the collected works of Charles Dudley Warner and published several monographs on William Shakespeare and his work. He was an advocate of a simplification of spelling .

Lounsbury received honorary degrees from Yale University (1887), Harvard University (1893), the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (1895), Princeton University (1896) and the University of Aberdeen (1906). In 1896 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1898 to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Since 1871 Lounsbury was married to Jennie D. Folwell, the couple had a son. Thomas Lounsbury died of pneumonia in 1915 .

Fonts (selection)

  • History of the English language , 1879
  • Life of James Fenimore Cooper , 1882
  • Studies in Chaucer , three volumes, 1892
  • Shakespeare as a dramatic artist, with an account of his reputation at various periods , 1901
  • Shakespeare and Voltaire , 1902
  • The standard of pronunciation in English , 1904
  • The Text of Shakespear
  • The first editors of Shakespeare (Pope and Theobald) , 1906
  • The standard of usage in English , 1908
  • The problems before us , 1908
  • English spelling and spelling reform , 1909
  • The early literary career of Robert Browning , 1911
  • Yale book of American verse , 1912
  • The life and times of Tennyson, from 1809 to 1850 , 1915

Sources and References

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter L. (PDF; 1.1 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved September 6, 2017 .
  2. ^ Academy Members - American Academy of Arts and Letters. In: artsandletters.org. Retrieved September 6, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Lounsbury, Thomas Raynesford
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American linguist
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH Ovid (New York)
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 1915
Place of death New Haven (Connecticut)