Louis Booker Wright (March 1, 1899 – December 26, 1984) was an
American author, educator and librarian.
Wright was the director of the
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materi ...
, the author of numerous books about the American colonial period, and in 1928 he was awarded the
Guggenheim Fellowship.
Life and career
Wright resided in Greenwood County, South Carolina, his birthplace, until he attended
Wofford College
Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was founded in 1854. The campus is a national arboretum and one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the America ...
, where he enlisted in the Student Army Training Corps. He was subsequently stationed at Plattsburgh, New York, for six months during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He did not return directly to Wofford after the war, but spent several months as an airmail pilot before resuming his studies. In 1920 he graduated from Wofford with a B.A. in chemistry. In 1923, he became an English teaching assistant at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
, where he wrote his Master's thesis in 1924. In 1926, he received his Ph.D from Chapel Hill and became an Assistant Professor of English there. During this period, he married Francis Black. Louis and Francis moved to London in 1928 upon his reception of a Guggenheim Fellowship.
In 1931, joined the staff of the
Huntington Library
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Ma ...
as an administrator and scholar. Much of his research at the 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 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
, the
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
, and
Pomona College
Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...
.
Before his appointment as director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1947, Wright was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...
by
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. He officially began working for the Folger in the summer of 1948. 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. During his time as director, the Folger also adopted the
Library of Congress' classification system. With Virginia LaMar, the Folger's executive secretary, Wright edited an early series of Folger Shakespeare Library editions of
Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
plays, drawing on
Folio
The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...
and
Quarto
Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
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 1950s and early 1960s.
Among the organizations Wright served after his retirement in 1968 were the
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...
, the
Modern Language Association, and the Harry S. Truman Institute for National and International Affairs. Wright died in 1984 of cardiovascular disease in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He is buried in West Oakwood Cemetery,
Spartanburg, SC
Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...
with his wife and her parents.
Louis Booker Wright Find A Grave memorial
/ref>
Publications
Wright, Louis B. ''The First Gentlemen of Virginia, Intellectual Qualities of the Early Colonial Ruling Class.'' San Marino: Huntington Library Publications, 1940.
Wright, Louis B. ''The Cultural Life of the American Colonies, 1607-1763.'' London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1949.
Wright, Louis B. ''The Dream of Prosperity in Colonial America.'' New York: New York University Press, 1965.
Wright, Louis B. "Life on the American Frontier." New York: Capricorn Books, 1971.
References
Sources
External links
Louis B. Wright biography on the Folger Library website
Louis Booker Wright Find A Grave memorial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Louis Booker
1899 births
1984 deaths
Folger Shakespeare Library
Pomona College faculty