author
Ashley Horace Thorndike
1871–1933
A longtime Columbia University professor and noted Shakespeare scholar, he helped shape how generations of students approached English drama. His books on tragedy, comedy, and Shakespeare aimed to make literary history clear, lively, and useful.
2 Audiobooks
The Facts About Shakespeare
by William Allan Neilson, Ashley Horace Thorndike
Tragedy
by Ashley Horace Thorndike
About the author
Born on December 26, 1871, Ashley Horace Thorndike was an American educator and literary scholar best known for his work on Shakespeare. He taught at Columbia University, and records of his papers also show teaching materials from his years at Western Reserve and Northwestern, suggesting a broad academic career centered on English literature and drama.
Thorndike wrote several influential studies and textbooks, including Tragedy, Shakespeare's Theater, and The Facts About Shakespeare (with William Allan Neilson). His surviving lecture notes and bibliographical lists cover Shakespeare, Victorian literature, Romantic literature, Elizabethan theater, and the classical period of English literature, which gives a good sense of both his range and his commitment to teaching.
He died on April 17, 1933. Though not a household name today, he remains an important figure in early twentieth-century literary scholarship, especially for readers interested in how Shakespeare and English drama were taught and interpreted in American universities.