H. L. Mencken

The American Credo: a Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind (Dodo Press) H. L. Mencken

George Jean Nathan (1882-1958) who also wrote under the pseudonym Owen Hatteras, was an American drama critic and editor. Together with H. L. Mencken, he co-edited the magazine The Smart Set from 1914 and co-founded The American Mercury in 1924. He was noted for the erudition and cynicism of his reviews. Over the years, Nathan's criticisms were published in Mr. George Jean Nathan Presents (1917) and The Critic and the Drama (1922) amongst others. He also co-authored a number of works with H. L. Mencken including: The Artist (1912), Europe After 8:15 (1914) and The American Credo: A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind (1920). Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken (1880-1956), was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a student of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century. Mencken is perhaps best remembered today for The American Language (1919), a multi-volume study of how the English language is spoken in the United States and his satirical reporting on the Scopes Trial, which he named the "Monkey" trial. Amongst his other works are: George Bernard Shaw: His Plays (1905) and The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche (1908).