SOURCE: "I: Brander Matthews," in The Literary Spotlight, George H. Doran Co., 1924, pp. 15-23.

In the following essay, the critic depicts Matthews as a literary dilettante mired in the past and of little contemporary importance

The year 1922 was an annus mirabilis in many ways. One of the most unexpected occurrences was the inexplicable departure of Professor James Brander Matthews from the weekly book review of our largest daily newspaper. Professor Matthews had been like death and taxes in one respect. He was always with us. Fifty-two times a year his name was to be discerned appended to printed matter in the New York Times Book Review. This matter took various forms. Sometimes it seemed to be a review of a current publication. At other times it wasn't. Professor Matthews's article could often be identified by certain phrases. One of them was "Forty years ago, etc." Another was the...