The Biographical Dictionary of America/Anderson, Melville West

ANDERSON, Melville West, educator, was born at Kalamazoo, Mich., March 28, 1851; son of the Rev. Edward C. and Helen (Best) Anderson. He studied at Cornell university, 1870-'72, but took no degree. After three years spent in teaching and private study, he went abroad and studied literature and history at the universities of Göttingen and Paris, 1875-'77. He was professor of modern languages at Butler university, 1877-'80; professor of English literature at Knox college, Galesburg, Ill., 1881-'86; professor of literature and history at Purdue university, 1886-'87; professor of the English language and literature at the University of Iowa, 1887-'91; and became professor of English literature at Leland Stanford Jr. university, Cal., in 1891. He was married in 1875 to Charlena Van Vleck. He translated from the French, Hugo's "William Shakespeare"(1886); six volumes of the biographical series known as the "Great French Writers" (1887-'89); "Paul and Virginia" (1894); and contributed to The Dial and other periodicals.