Pelham Edgar

Oscar Pelham Edgar (1871-1948) was a Canadian literary critic and academic.

Life
Pelham Edgar was born in Toronto, the son of Matilda (Ridout) and James David Edgar. He was educated at Upper Canada College, the University of Toronto (B.A., 1892), and Johns Hopkins University (Ph.D., 1897). From 1892 to 1895 he taught modern languages at Upper Canada College. He joined the Department of French at Victoria College, University of Toronto as a Lecturer in 1897, serving as Department Head from 1901 until 1910. In 1902 he also began to lecture in the Department of English, where he served as Department Head for 28 years until his retirement in 1938. Biographical Sketch, Pelham Edgar, Fonds #09, Emmanuel College, Victoria University. Web, Nov. 8, 2013.

In 1935 he married Dona Gertrude Cameron (Waller), who bore him one child, Katherine Jane.

He served as President of the Modern Language Association of Ontario and the Tennyson Society of Toronto; Secretary of the Canadian Society of Authors and the Ontario Education Society. He was the founder of the Canadian Writers' Foundation, and a member of the Athenaeum Club of London.

Writing
In addition to many articles and reviews, Edgar published three books: A Study of Shelley with Special Reference to his Nature Poetry (1899), Henry James: Man and Author (1927), and The Art of the Novel from 1700 to the Present Time (1933). He also wrote the chapter on Canada in The Cambridge History of English Literature (1916), and served as Canadian advisor for the Dictionary of National Biography (1911).

Recognition
The Royal Society of Canada elected Edgar a Fellow in 1915, and awarded him its Lorne Pierce Medal in 1936.

External lins
{[DEFAULTSORT:Edgar, Pelham}}