author
Henry T. (Henry Theodore) Tuckerman
1813–1871
Remembered as a graceful nineteenth-century essayist and critic, this Boston-born author brought a traveler’s eye and an art lover’s curiosity to American literary life. His books range from Italian-inspired sketches to studies of artists, writers, and culture.
1 Audiobook
The Collector Essays on Books, Newspapers, Pictures, Inns, Authors, Doctors, Holidays, Actors, Preachers
by Henry T. (Henry Theodore) Tuckerman
About the author
Born in Boston in 1813, he became known as an American writer, essayist, and critic, later taking part in the literary world of New York. Sources agree that poor health interrupted his time at Harvard and led him to travel in Europe, especially Italy, an experience that strongly shaped his early writing.
His work covered a wide range of subjects, including travel, poetry, literary criticism, and art. Among the books most often noted are The Italian Sketch-Book, Isabel; or, Sicily: A Pilgrimage, Characteristics of Literature, and Artist Life, which helped make him an important interpreter of American artists and authors for nineteenth-century readers.
He died in 1871. Although he is less widely read today, he remains a useful figure in the story of American letters: a cultivated, accessible critic whose writing connected literature, travel, and the visual arts.