Laurence Hutton (August 8, 1843 – June 10, 1904) was an American essayist and critic.
Biography
Hutton was born in New York City on August 8, 1843, and educated privately there. He was an inveterate traveler and for about 20 years spent his summers abroad. From about 1870 he contributed continually to periodicals. He was the dramatic critic of the New York Evening Mail from 1872 to 1874. From 1886 to 1898 he was the literary editor of Harper's Magazine. He was one of the organizers of the Authors' Club and of the International Copyright League, and was a founding member of The Players, and a member of the Princeton Club, and the Nassau Club. An ardent collector of literary curiosities, his collections are of remarkable interest. In 1892 he received the degree of A.M. from Yale University and an honorary Master of Art degree from Princeton University in 1897. From 1901 until his death in 1904, he was a lecturer of English at Princeton.
Hutton died of pneumonia in New York City in 1904. He left a collection of papers (Laurence Hutton Papers), 801 rare books, and a collection of death masks to the Princeton University Library. After his death, his friend Samuel Elliott donated $2,500 in his memory to endow the Laurence Hutton Prize, awarded annually to the top student in the Princeton University Department of History.
Death mask collection
According to Princeton University, Hutton's collection of life and death masks contains about 100 masks and is the largest of its kind in the United States. Frank Weitenkampf quotes Hutton and the Epoch magazine on its genesis:
