Rubin, Louis D., Jr. (Louis Decimus), 1923-2013

Papers of Louis Decimus Rubin, Jr., of Chapel Hill, N.C., educator, literary critic, scholar, novelist, journalist, editor, and publisher. Rubin was professor of English at Hollins College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and founder of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

From the description of Louis Decimus Rubin papers, 1945- (Series 1.1.1 D-H) [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 31069813

From the description of Louis Decimus Rubin papers, 1945- WorldCat record id: 31069837

From the description of Louis Decimus Rubin papers, 1945- (Series 1.1.1 V-W) [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 31069830

From the description of Louis Decimus Rubin papers, 1945- (Series 1.1.1 I-N) [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 31069816

Louis Decimus Rubin, Jr., of Chapel Hill, N.C., educator, literary critic, scholar, novelist, journalist, editor, and publisher. Rubin was professor of English at Hollins College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and founder of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

From the description of Louis Decimus Rubin papers, 1929-1992. WorldCat record id: 31069821

From the description of Louis Decimus Rubin papers, 1929-1992 (Series 1.1.1 A-C). WorldCat record id: 31069824

Louis Decimus Rubin Jr. was born 19 November 1923 in Charleston, S.C. He attended the College of Charleston, 1940-1942, received a B.A. from the University of Richmond in 1946, and a Ph.D. in Aesthetics of Literature from Johns Hopkins in 1954. He was an instructor at Johns Hopkins and editor of the Hopkins Review, 1950-1954; assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, 1954-1956; associate editor of the News-Leader of Richmond, Va., 1956-1957; associate professor and, later, professor and chairman of the English Department at Hollins College, 1957-1967; and professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1967-1989. Rubin founded Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill in 1982.

Rubin is the author or editor of almost forty books. His novels include The Golden Weather (1961) and Surfaces of a Diamond (1981), but it is as a scholar and critic that he is best known. His works of literary criticism include Thomas Wolfe: The Weather of His Youth (1955), The Faraway Country (1963), The Curious Death of the Novel: Essays in American Literature (1967), The Comic Imagination in American Literature (1973), and The Edge of the Swamp: A Study in the Literature and Society of the Old South (1989). Books for which he was editor include Southern Renascence (1953), A Bibliographical Guide to the Study of Southern Literature (1969) and A History of Southern Literature (1985). Rubin's non-fiction books include Virginia: A Bicentennial History (1977) and Small Craft Advisory: A Book About the Building of a Boat (1991).

Rubin is married to Eva Redfield Rubin, and he is the father of two sons, Robert and William.

From the guide to the Louis Decimus Rubin Papers, circa 1929-1992, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)