H. L. Mencken

H. L. Mencken was an American journalist, editor, critic, and student of language whose sharp essays shaped national literary debate during the early twentieth century. A Personal Word is a sixteen-page pamphlet issued in 1921 to promote The Smart Set, the magazine he edited with George Jean Nathan. The Morgan Library describes the item as a promotional pamphlet, placing it within Mencken’s editorial work rather than among his major book-length studies. His best-known publications include The American Language, the multi-volume Prejudices series, and the autobiographical Days books. As an editor, he championed new fiction and criticism while attacking conformity, puritanism, and what he considered intellectual complacency. His interest in American speech led him to collect regional expressions, immigrant influences, names, and differences from British usage. A Personal Word captures a smaller, practical side of that career: Mencken addressing prospective readers about a magazine and its identity. Its brevity contrasts with the expansive linguistic and cultural arguments that made his reputation.