Stewart, Stanley 1931–

(Stanley N. Stewart, Stanley Nordahl Stewart)

PERSONAL: Born June 5, 1931, in Minneapolis, MN; son of Mark Hannah and Elvia (Probpst) Stewart; married Barbara Riviere, March, 1959; children: Bradford Scott, Duncan Heath. Education: University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1956, M.A., 1958, Ph.D., 1961.

ADDRESSES: Home—301 Massachusetts Ave., Riverside, CA. Office—Department of English, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521. E-mail—Stanley.stewart@ucr.edu.

CAREER: Educator, critic, and writer. Space Technology Laboratories, El Segundo, CA, part-time technical writer, 1960; University of California, Riverside, instructor, 1961–62, assistant professor, 1962–66, associate professor, 1966–69, professor of English, 1969–; Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, 1991–; St. Bonaventure University, New York, Reginald A. Lenna Visiting Professor, 1991.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America, Renaissance Society of America, Philological Association of the Pacific Coast, Renaissance Society of Southern California, Augustan Reprint Society.

AWARDS, HONORS: Senior fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1971–72; Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California, Riverside; Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship, Huntington Library, January-February, 1992; recipient of grants.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, as Stanley N. Stewart) Anne Collins, Divine Songs and Meditations (1653), William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California (Los Angeles, CA), 1961.

The Enclosed Garden: The Tradition and the Image in Seventeenth-Century Poetry, University of Wisconsin Press (Madison, WI), 1966.

(Compiler) The Unity of Prose: From Description to Allegory, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1968.

The Expanded Voice: The Art of Thomas Traherne, Huntington Library (San Marino, CA), 1970.

The King James Version, Random House (New York, NY), 1977.

George Herbert, Twayne (Boston, MA), 1986.

(With James A. Riddell) Jonson's Spenser: Evidence and Historical Criticism, Duquesne University Press (Pittsburgh, PA), 1995.

"Renaissance" Talk: Ordinary Language and the Mystique of Critical Problems, Duquesne University Press (Pittsburgh, PA), 1997.

(Editor and contributor, with Richard Harp) The Cambridge Companion to Ben Jonson, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

(With Jeffrey Kahan) Caped Crusaders 101: Composition through Comic Books, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 2006.

Also author of two plays produced by college companies. Contributor of short stories to literary magazines and critical articles to Pacific Coast Studies in Shakespeare and Studies in English Literature.

SIDELIGHTS: Stanley Stewart has written extensively about Renaissance literature. In his book George Herbert, the author discusses the poet and his work, focusing on various interpretations of the poems and on the poet's influence on later generations of poets. Writing in Choice, M.I. Prochilo called the book a "model of balance, careful reasoning, and scholarship" and noted that the author attempted to correct the "mistaken" interpretations of Herbert's works by other critics.

Stewart teamed up with James A. Riddell to write Jonson's Spenser: Evidence and Historical Criticism, a look at Ben Jonson's critical writings on Edmund Spenser and how recent discoveries of criticism by Jonson may affect modern views of both authors. Writing in ANQ, Bruce Boehrer called the book "a welcome addition to the current body of critical literature about Jonson and Spenser." Notes and Queries contributor Andrew Hadfield found Jonson's Spenser to be "a useful book which adds to our knowledge of English Renaissance reading habits as well as illuminating the relationship between both authors."

In "Renaissance" Talk: Ordinary Language and the Mystique of Critical Problems, Stewart presents his method for discussing literary criticism based on the thought of Austrian-born British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. The author then examines scholarly criticisms of early English writers, including John Donne, Edmund Spenser, and William Shakespeare. Writing in the Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Gale H. Carrithers, Jr., commented: "This book can help our graduate students." In a review on the Early Modern Literary Studies Web site, Tony Williams wrote: "'Renaissance' Talk is a sane and timely book."

Stewart also served with Richard Harp as editor of and a contributor to The Cambridge Companion to Ben Jonson, which is an introduction to Jonson's life and works. Writing in Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900, W.B. Worthen called the book "an exemplary student guide" and an "exceptionally useful collection." Shakespeare Newsletter contributor Michael P. Jensen noted that "this entry in the Cambridge Companion series is a fine place to begin the study of Ben Jonson."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

ANQ, spring, 1998, Bruce Boehrer, review of Jonson's Spenser: Evidence and Historical Criticism, p. 59.

Choice, March, 1987, M.I. Prochilo, review of George Herbert, p. 1066; April, 1998, F.K. Barasch, review of "Renaissance" Talk: Ordinary Language and the Mystique of Critical Problems, p. 1375.

Journal of English and Germanic Philology, October, 1999, Gale H. Carrithers, Jr., review of "Renaissance" Talk, p. 573.

Notes and Queries, September, 1997, Andrew Hadfield, review of Jonson's Spenser, p. 389.

Renaissance Quarterly, autumn, 1999, Jon R. Snyder, review of "Renaissance" Talk, p. 917.

Shakespeare Newsletter, summer, 2003, Michael P. Jensen, review of The Cambridge Companion to Ben Jonson, p. 55.

Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900, spring, 2002, W.B. Worthen, review of The Cambridge Companion to Ben Jonson, p. 399.

ONLINE

Early Modern Literary Studies Web site, http://www.shu.ac.uk/ (January 13, 2006), Tony Williams, review of Renaissance" Talk.

Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Web site, http://rmmla.wsu.edu/ (February 14, 2006), Michael Richard Bonin, review of "Renaissance" Talk.

University of California, Riverside Web site, http://www.ucr.edu/ (February 14, 2006), faculty profile of author.