author
Hiram Corson
1828–1911
A pioneering literature professor at Cornell, he helped shape the study of English in American universities and became known for bringing poetry to life through expressive reading. His books and lectures on Shakespeare, Browning, and other major writers made him a respected guide for generations of students.
2 Audiobooks
The Voice and Spiritual Education
by Hiram Corson
An Introduction to the Study of Robert Browning's Poetry
by Robert Browning, Hiram Corson
About the author
Born in Philadelphia on November 6, 1828, Hiram Corson built an unusually wide-ranging career in books and teaching. He worked at the Smithsonian Institution's library in Washington, lectured on English literature in Philadelphia, and taught at Girard College and St. John's College before joining Cornell University in 1870.
At Cornell, he became one of the university's best-known early professors of literature. He taught English and Anglo-Saxon for more than three decades and was especially admired for his belief that literature should be heard as well as studied. That approach shaped his public readings and critical writing, particularly on Shakespeare, Robert Browning, and other English poets.
Corson died in Ithaca, New York, on June 15, 1911. Remembered as an influential teacher and scholar, he belonged to the first generation of American professors who helped establish English literature as a serious academic field.