“Biography, in its purer form, confined to the ended lives of the true and brave, may be held the fairest meed of human virtue–one given and received in entire disinterestedness–since neither can the biographer hope for acknowledgment from the subject, not the subject at all avail himself of the biographical distinction conferred.”
Herman Melville, Israel Potter
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
An ArtsJournal Blog