author
F. E. (Frederick Erastus) Pierce
1878–1935
An American scholar of English who also wrote poetry and fiction, he moved easily between literary criticism and imaginative writing. His work ranges from studies of Webster and Dekker to early books like Leidenheim and Poems of New England and Old Spain.
1 Audiobook
An Introduction to Shakespeare
by H. N. (Henry Noble) MacCracken, W. H. (Willard Higley) Durham, F. E. (Frederick Erastus) Pierce
About the author
Born in South Britain, Connecticut, on March 11, 1878, Frederick Erastus Pierce was an American academic and writer whose career was closely tied to Yale. Archival records identify him as the son of the Rev. David French Pierce and note that he earned his B.A. from Yale in 1904; he died in New Haven on March 26, 1935.
Pierce wrote across several genres. Library and archive records show poetry collections such as Poems of New England and Old Spain and The World That God Destroyed, and Other Poems, as well as the early work Leidenheim. He was also active as an editor and teacher of writing, collaborating on books including Facts, Thought, and Imagination and an edition of selections from Robert Louis Stevenson.
He is especially remembered for his work as a scholar of English literature. His books include The Collaboration of Webster and Dekker and Currents and Eddies in the English Romantic Generation, which reflect a strong interest in Renaissance drama and Romantic-era criticism. Taken together, his writing suggests a mind equally at home with close literary study and creative expression.