In spite of the fact that Willard Phillips was one of America's earliest romantic critics, he has never received the full recognition he deserves. As a founder and longtime reviewer for the North American Review, Phillips brought the commitment to reason and judgment explicit in judicial criticism to bear on the romantic revolution of his day, thereby avoiding the histrionics romantic critics often indulged in.

Phillips was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to Joseph Phillips, a descendant of John Phillips, who settled in Duxbury, Massachusetts, before 1640, and to Hannah Egerton Phillips. He received a common-school education in Hampshire County. At eighteen he graduated as valedictorian of Bridgewater Academy and became a teacher there while he prepared for college. He was admitted to Harvard College in 1806 and graduated with high rank in 1810. From 1811 to 1815 he was a tutor at Harvard in Latin, geometry, and natural philosophy while he studied law...