author
Frank Sidgwick
1879–1939
A publisher, editor, and writer with a deep love of poetry and ballads, this Edwardian man of letters helped shape literary taste while also building a successful publishing house. He is especially remembered for his work on traditional songs and for the sharp, bookish wit he brought to criticism and light verse.
3 Audiobooks
About the author
Born in 1879, Frank Sidgwick was an English publisher, writer, scholar, and literary editor. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won the Chancellor’s Medal for English Verse in 1900, and he later trained in publishing before going on to make his name in the book trade.
In 1908 he co-founded the publishing firm Sidgwick & Jackson with Robert Cameron Jackson. Alongside his publishing work, he wrote novels and light verse, edited older poetry, and became especially well known for books on ballads and traditional song, including Popular Ballads of the Olden Time and The Ballad. Collections connected with English folk song show how seriously he took that work.
Sidgwick also had a lively critical side: Sherlock Holmes readers still remember him for an early essay on The Hound of the Baskervilles. He died in 1939, leaving behind a reputation as a versatile literary figure who moved easily between publishing, scholarship, and creative writing.