ABSTRACT
James Gibbons Huneker, who is described in the reference work Twentieth Century Authors as an art and music critic as well as a "miscellaneous writer," was born in Philadelphia on Januray 31, 1860, the son of John H. Huneker. The Huneker family was of Hungarian origin but had been in America since 1700. James was sent as a child to Roth's Military Academy in Philadelphia but disliked discipline imposed from without as much as Poe did and had to be taken out by his parents at the age of twelve. By temperament, he was apparently something of an autodidact and undertook of his own volition a vast program of reading. He also played the organ well enough to be hired by a Jewish temple to play on Saturdays, while on Sundays his services went to a Catholic church. He has found a place, however modest, in the cultural history of the United States.
