Mencken, H(enry) L(ouis) (1880–1956)
US essayist and critic. He was known as ‘the sage of Baltimore’. His unconventionally phrased, satiric contributions to the periodicals The Smart Set and American Mercury (both of which he edited) aroused controversy.
| His critical reviews and essays were gathered in Prejudices 1919–27, comprising six volumes. He did not restrict himself to literary criticism, but took nearly every US institution to task in his writings. His book, The American Language 1918, is often revised. |
