G. S. Street

G. S. Street
In The Sketch, 5 December 1894
Born
George Slythe Street

(1867-07-18)18 July 1867
Wimbledon, London, England
Died31 October 1936(1936-10-31) (aged 69)
London, England
Education
OccupationsCritic, journalist, novelist

George Slythe Street MVO (18 July 1867 – 31 October 1936) was a British critic, journalist and novelist.

Biography

G. S. Street was born in Wimbledon, London on 18 July 1867 and educated at Charterhouse School and Exeter College, Oxford. He was associated with William Ernest Henley and the "counter-Decadents" on the staff of the National Observer.[1] His works were characterized by "whimsy, detachment, sympathy, tenderness, satire, humor, and occasionally cynicism". Street's satirical works assailed "snobbery, hypocrisy, vulgarity, and pretentiousness at all levels of society, especially among the aesthetes and the upper class".[2] He is perhaps best known for his 1894 novel The Autobiography of a Boy, which satirized contemporary aesthetes Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, although Street would later write favorably of Wilde's De Profundis.[1]

Max Beerbohm, a lifelong friend and fellow dandy and wit, wrote that Street's conversation, "delivered in a clear, light and scholarly voice, had the flavor of the best old dry sherry."[3]

In 1914 Street was appointed to the office of the Lord Chamberlain as joint Examiner of Plays with E.A. Bendall. He became sole examiner in 1920.[4]

He died in London on 31 October 1936.[4][5][6]

Bibliography

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Beckson, Karl E. Oscar Wilde: the Critical Heritage. Page 252. Routledge, 1970.
  2. ^ The Dictionary of Literary Biography
  3. ^ Cecil, David (1965). Max: a biography. MCO. p. 130. ISBN 9780689706837.
  4. ^ a b "Cues and Comments". The Stage. No. 2901. 5 November 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 25 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Mr. George Street". The Times (London). 2 November 1936. p. 19.
  6. ^ Written at London. "George S. Street Dead". The Gazette. Montreal (published 3 November 1936). CP. 2 November 1936. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Review of The Ghosts of Piccadilly by G. S. Street". The Athenaeum (4178): 648–649. 23 November 1907.