Stedman, Edmund Clarence

Stedman, Edmund Clarence, 1833–1908, American banker, poet, and critic, b. Hartford, Conn., attended Yale. A successful Wall St. broker, he was also one of the leading poets of his time although his somewhat derivative poetry, similar to Tennyson's in style, is little read today. As critic he wrote his most significant works, Victorian Poets (1876) and The Poets of America (1885); he compiled the excellent collections A Victorian Anthology (1895) and An American Anthology (1900).

Bibliography

See his Poems (1908).

---

Stedman, Edmund Clarence (1833–1908) poet, writer; born in Hartford, Conn. His father died when he was two, and he was raised by his maternal grandfather (1835–39), and by his uncle in Norwich, Conn. He studied at Yale (1849–c. 51), then worked for various newspapers in Connecticut and New York City. He ran his own brokerage house in New York City (1864–1908), and lived in Bronxville, N.Y. He wrote rather imitative sentimental poetry, as in Poems, Lyrical and Idyllic (1860), but had some influence with his critical studies and anthologies such as Poets of America (1885) and An American Anthology (1900).