Matthew Arnold 
Discourses in America (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) 

Published in 1885, this collection of Arnold’s public addresses given during his 1883-84 American tour consists of ‘Numbers: or the Majority and the Remnant, ‘ ‘Literature and Science, ‘ and ‘Emerson, ‘ in which he judges Emerson as a mediocre poet and philosopher but nevertheless places him among the ‘most distinctly and honourably American of your writers.’

About the author

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) wrote “Dover Beach” (1867), one of the best-known poems in the English language. A prominent Victorian man of letters, he was appointed professor of poetry at Oxford. His writings on contemporary society, culture, and religion were instrumental in establishing criticism as an art form.