Louis b wright biography

American writer (–)

Louis Booker Wright (March 1, – December 26, ) was an American author, educator and librarian.

Wright was the director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, the author of numerous books about the American colonial period, and in he was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship.^[1]

Life and career

Wright resided in Greenwood County, South Carolina, his birthplace, until he attended Wofford College, where he enlisted in the Student Army Training Corps.

He was subsequently stationed at Plattsburgh, New York, for six months during World War I. He did not return directly to Wofford after the war, but spent several months as an airmail pilot before resuming his studies. In he graduated from Wofford with a B.A. in chemistry.^[2] In , he became an English teaching assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he wrote his Master's thesis in In , he received his Ph.D from Chapel Hill and became an Assistant Professor of English there.

During this period, he married Francis Black.

Louis b wright biography wikipedia But more than this, he also gave us for our enlightenment and enjoyment such delightful pieces as the readable annual reports of the Folger Library and his newsletter observations in welcoming each Chinese new year. Louis and Francis moved to London in upon his reception of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Truman Institute for National and International Affairs. Toggle the table of contents.

Louis and Francis moved to London in upon his reception of a Guggenheim Fellowship.^[3][4]

In , joined the staff of the Huntington Library as an administrator and scholar. Much of his research at Huntington was concerned with the English Renaissance and the colonial period of the United States.

While at the Huntington, he also served as a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, the California Institute of Technology, and Pomona College.^[5]

Before his appointment as director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in , Wright was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by Princeton University.

He officially began working for the Folger in the summer of While director, Wright used administrative insight gained at the Huntington to initiate more modern and efficient practices at the Folger, adding reference works and improving lighting in the main research room.

Louis b wright biography Rosenbach Lectures in Bibliography in Wikidata item. Contents move to sidebar hide. The Cultural Life of the American Colonies,

During his time as director, Folger also adopted the Library of Congress' classification system.^[6] With Virginia LaMar, the Folger's executive secretary, Wright edited an early series of Folger Shakespeare Library editions of Shakespeare's plays, drawing on Folio and Quarto editions of the plays and compiling notes to make the plays as accessible as possible to the casual reader.

The editions were published in the late s and early s.^[7] He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in ^[8][9] Following retirement Wright published some other books, including Barefoot in Arcadia, a coming of age memoir about his developmental years in South Carolina.

Wright gave the A.S.W. Rosenbach Lectures in Bibliography in He received the Cosmos Club Award in ^[10]

Among the organizations Wright served after his retirement in were the National Geographic Society, the Modern Language Association, and the Harry S. Truman Institute for National and International Affairs.

B reith During his tenure, the first full-length performance of shakespeare in the Elizabethan theater occurred. Louis Booker Wright — was an author, scholar, and educator who served as the second director of the Folger Shakespeare Library. He officially began work at the Library until July 1, Puritans in the South Seas.

Wright died in of cardiovascular disease in Chevy Chase, Maryland.^[11][12] He is buried in West Oakwood Cemetery, Spartanburg, SC with his wife and her parents.

Publications

Wright, Louis B. The First Gentlemen of Virginia, Intellectual Qualities of the Early Colonial Ruling Class. San Marino: Huntington Library Publications,

Wright, Louis B.

The Cultural Life of the American Colonies, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode,
Wright, Louis B. The Dream of Prosperity in Colonial America. New York: New York University Press, Wright, Louis B. "Life on the American Frontier." New York: Capricorn Books,

References

Sources

External links