Showing results by author "William Lyon Phelps" in All Categories

A collection of essays on 19th century novelists, both famous ones and those largely forgotten now. Among the writers presented most wrote in English, but three foreign authors are also discussed. Phelps taught a course on novels at a university and he added to those biographical essays some of his ideas about the importance of novels in the process of teaching about literature. (Summary by Piotr Nater)

William Lyon Phelps was founder of the Pundits, a secret society at Yale, noted for its collection of the wittiest and most erudite students, and he later became one of the most beloved professors at Yale for many years. He was sought after as a lecturer, preacher, and scholar. His writing output covered a wide range of literary guides to novels, poetry, and drama from Shakespeare to Russian novels,, as well as works on the Bible. In this collection of fifty-two short essays, with unusual wit, insight, and breadth of learning, Phelps covers such serious topics as “War,” “Russia Before ...

William Lyon Phelps (1865 - 1943) was an author, critic, and scholar. He had a radio show, wrote a daily syndicated newspaper column, lectured frequently, and published numerous popular books and articles. "Human Nature in the Bible" (1931) is an essay about the curiosities of human nature. Phelps looks at the Bible from another perspective than those based simply on dogma.