Richard Grant White was a visible figure in New York during the time when that city was emerging as a world center for the arts, for publishing, and for the cultural institutions supported by a wealthy and ambitious society. As a leisured gentleman of excellent pedigree, inherited money, aesthetic sensibility, and wide reading, White affected to hate New York and its brashness. But the city's cultural institutions and its many periodicals provided a forum for his strong opinions and his aristocratic persona. White's critical writings covered music, the visual arts, drama, and poetry. He wrote on such political issues as international copyright, public schools, and office seeking. He published satires on the peace movement during the Civil War, on postwar New York politics, and on Darwinism. His most important work, however, was as a scholar of Shakespeare. His edition of the plays, and his essays on Shakespeare's texts...