M. H. Abrams (1912–2015)
Author of The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 1
About the Author
M. H. Abrams, 1912 - 2015 Meyer Howard Abrams was born in Long Branch, New Jersey on July 23, 1912. He received a B.A. in English from Harvard University in 1934. He won a Henry fellowship to Cambridge University in 1935. He returned to Harvard University, where he received a Masters' degree in show more 1937 and a Ph. D. in 1940. He joined the Cornell University faculty in 1945 and taught a popular introductory survey class. While at Cornell in the 1950s, he was asked by publisher W. W. Norton to lead a team of editors compiling excerpts of vital English works. The first edition of the Norton Anthology came out in 1962. Abrams stayed on through seven editions. He was also the author of a popular Glossary of Literary Terms, The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition, Natural Supernaturalism, The Milk of Paradise, and the essay collection The Fourth Dimension of a Poem. In 2014, he received a National Arts Medal for "expanding our perceptions of the Romantic tradition and broadening the study of literature." He died on April 21, 2015 at the age of 102. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by M. H. Abrams
The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors {generic} (1968) — Editor — 853 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature (Ninth Edition) (Vol. Package 1: Volumes A, B, C) (2012) 129 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature (Ninth Edition) (Vol. Package 2: D, E, F) (1800) 86 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, The Major Authors (Ninth Edition) (Vol. Volume 2) (2013) 50 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Vol. 2/Pride and Prejudice (1993) 27 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1 — Editor — 26 copies
The Milk of Paradise: The Effect of Opium Visions on the Works of DeQuincey, Crabbe, Francis Thompson, and Coleridge (1934) 20 copies
Norton Anthology of English Literature 12 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature With Jane Eyre (Norton Anthology of English Literature) (1993) 9 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature (Ninth Edition) (Vol. D) by M. H. Abrams (2012-02-08) (1673) 4 copies
Theories of Criticism: Essays in Literature and Art (Occasional Papers of the Council of Scholars) (1984) 3 copies
A HANDBOOK OF LITERARY TERMS 2 copies
The Norton Anthology of M.H. Abrams 2 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Packaged With Hard Times (Norton Anthology of English Literature) (1993) 1 copy
The Norton Anthology of English Literature (Ninth Edition) (Vol. F)-The Twentieth Century and After 1 copy
Associated Works
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9th Edition, Volume A (2005) — Editor, some editions — 431 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9th Edition, Volume C (2012) — Editor, some editions — 196 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9th Edition, Volume E (2012) — Editor, some editions — 182 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9th Edition, Volume D (2012) — Editor, some editions — 166 copies
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9th Edition, Volume F (2012) — Editor, some editions — 159 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Abrams, M. H.
- Legal name
- Abrams, Meyer Howard
- Other names
- Abrams, Mike
- Birthdate
- 1912-07-23
- Date of death
- 2015-04-21
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Long Branch, New Jersey, USA
- Place of death
- Ithaca, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Long Branch, New Jersey, USA (birth)
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Ithaca, New York, USA
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Los Angeles, California, USA (show all 7)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Education
- Harvard University (BA | 1934)
Harvard University (MA | 1937)
Harvard University (PhD | 1940)
Magdalen College, University of Cambridge - Occupations
- literary critic
professor
editor - Organizations
- Cornell University
- Awards and honors
- American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (Literature, 1990)
American Academy of Arts and Letters (Literature, 2001)
National Humanities Medal (2013) - Short biography
- Abrams was born in a Jewish family in Long Branch, New Jersey. The son of a house painter and the first in his family to go to college, he entered Harvard University as an undergraduate in 1930. He went into English because, he says, "there weren't jobs in any other profession, so I thought I might as well enjoy starving, instead of starving while doing something I didn't enjoy." After earning his baccalaureate in 1934, Abrams won a Henry fellowship to the University of Cambridge, where his tutor was I.A. Richards. He returned to Harvard for graduate school in 1935 and received his Masters' degree in 1937 and his PhD in 1940. During World War II, he served at the Psycho-Acoustics Laboratory at Harvard. Abrams wrote his first book, The Milk of Paradise: The Effects of Opium Visions on the Works of De Quincey, Crabbe, Francis Thompson, and Coleridge (1934), while an undergraduate. With his second work, The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition (1953), an expanded version of his Ph.D. dissertation, he joined the front rank of Romantic-literature scholars. In 1945 Abrams became a professor at Cornell University. As of March 4th, 2008, he was Class of 1916 Professor of English Emeritus there.
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Statistics
- Works
- 96
- Also by
- 8
- Members
- 12,099
- Popularity
- #1,940
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 33
- ISBNs
- 155
- Languages
- 4
The Wanderer
Caedmon's Hymn
Beowulf
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
King Lear