Henry Seidel Canby

Henry Seidel Canby, born on September 6, 1878, in Wilmington, Delaware, was an American writer and critic. After completing preparatory school at the Friends School in Wilmington, he attended Yale University, graduating with his PhB in 1899 and his PhD in 1905.

Canby is the author of many books of nonfiction, including his autobiographical American Memoir (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1947); the biographies Walt Whitman: An American (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1943) and Thoreau (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1939); as well as works of criticism and analysis, such as Definitions: Essays in Contemporary Criticism (Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1922) and The Short Story in English (Henry Holt & Company, 1909), which was praised as an eminent text on the subject.

While completing his education, Canby worked as an assistant in English at Yale’s Sheffield Scientific School, eventually becoming an instructor, and, later, assistant professor. In addition to teaching, Canby served as the editor of the Yale Review from 1911–22, the first of several publications Canby worked on during his career. In 1920, he joined the New York Evening Post, establishing the literary review supplement that, in 1924, became its own publication, the Saturday Review of Literature. There, Canby served as editor until 1936. Additionally, Canby was the first editor-in-chief of the Book-of-the-Month Club, founded in 1926. He was outspoken against censorship and twice served as president of PEN America. From 1946 to 1961, he served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. 

Canby’s honors include doctor of letters degrees from the University of Delaware–Wilmington and Knox College. He died on April 5, 1961, in Ossining, New York.