author

John Smith Harrison

b. 1877

A literary scholar with a strong interest in Emerson and the long reach of classical thought, he wrote closely argued studies for readers who enjoy ideas as much as stories. His work connects English literature to older philosophical traditions in a clear, serious way.

1 Audiobook

Platonism in English poetry of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Platonism in English poetry of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

by John Smith Harrison

About the author

Born on February 3, 1877, in Orange, New Jersey, John Smith Harrison was the son of William Ogden Harrison and Lottie Ann Smith Harrison. He studied at Columbia University, earning A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. degrees, and he married Elisabeth Shepard Southworth in 1907.

Harrison is known for works including The Teachers of Emerson, Platonism in English Poetry of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, and The Vital Interpretation of English Literature. His books show a steady interest in how major writers inherit, reshape, and argue with earlier traditions, especially classical philosophy and English literary history.

Reliable biographical details on him appear to be limited, but the record that is easy to confirm presents him as an American scholar-writer whose work was aimed at serious readers of literature and ideas.