George Ticknor

George Ticknor was an American academic and literary historian who held the first Samuel Eliot Professorship of French and Spanish Languages and Literature at Harvard University, a chair he helped design after studying at the University of Gottingen in Germany. At Harvard he introduced European-style modern language instruction and reformed the college's teaching methods, moving away from rote recitation toward lecture and seminar based study of literature. He is best known for his multivolume History of Spanish Literature, first published in 1849, long regarded as the standard English-language reference on the subject. Ticknor was also a central figure in founding the Boston Public Library, one of the first major free municipal libraries in the United States, and he donated his own extensive personal library, including a notable collection of Spanish literature, to the institution. His Harvard reforms and his advocacy for public access to books made him an influential figure in both American higher education and the American public library movement.