Rolfe Arnold Scott-James

Rolfe Arnold Scott-James (1878-1959) was an important British journalist, editor and literary critic in early twentieth-century literature. He is often cited as one of the first people to use the word "modernism" in his 1908 book "Modernism and Romance", in which he writes, "there are characteristics of modern life in general which can only be summed up, as Mr. Thomas Hardy and others have summed them up, by the word, modernism" (ix).

Scott-James was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford and graduated in 1901. The "Dictionary of National Biography" states that Scott-James "possessed a strongly developed social conscience: this manifested itself at many different points in his career in activities which, if distinct from his literary gifts, at the same time enriched them" (872). In 1914, Scott-James, then a close friend Wyndham Lewis became the editor of the "New Weekly", which did not survive the outbreak of war later in 1914. During the war, Scott-James enlisted as and fought in the Royal Garrison Artillery in France, and by the end of the war he had rose to the rank of Captain and in 1918 was awarded the Military Cross.

In 1934, Scott-James took over the editorship of the influential magazine, the "London Mercury" from J. C. Squire, in which he published many canonically recognized authors of modernism. The last issue of the "London Mercury" in April 1939 contained W. H. Auden's "In Memory of W. B. Yeats."

Editorships and literary positions

* Literary Editor, "Daily News", London (1902-1912)
* "New Weekly", London (1914)
* Lead-Writer, the "Daily Chronicle", London (1919-1930)
* Assistant Editor, the "Spectator", London (1933-1935; 1939-1945)
* "London Mercury", London (1934-1939)
* "Britain To-day" (1940-1954)

Works cited

* Scott-James, R.A. "Modernism and Romance". New York and London: John Lane, 1908.
* "Dictionary of National Biography", 1951-1960. Edited by E.T. Williams and Helen M. Palmer. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1971.

Bibliography

* "Fifty Years of English Literature, 1900-1950" (1951)
* "The Influence of the Press" (1913)
* Short Study: "Lytton Strachey" (1955)
* "The Making of Literature: Some Principles of Criticism Examined in the Light of Ancient and Modern Theory". New York: Holt and Company, 1928.
* "Modernism and Romance". New York and London: John Lane, 1908.
* "Personality in Literature" (1913)
* Short Study: "Thomas Hardy" (1951)