William Archer

William Archer (23 September 185627 December 1924) was a Scottish author, theatre critic, and English spelling reformer based, for most of his career, in London. He was an early advocate of the plays of Henrik Ibsen, and a friend and advocate of George Bernard Shaw.

Life and career Archer was born in Perth, the eldest boy of the nine children of Thomas Archer and his wife Grace, née Morrison. Thomas relocated frequently seeking employment, and William attended schools in Perth, Lymington, Reigate and Edinburgh. He spent parts of his boyhood with relatives in Norway where he became fluent in Norwegian and became acquainted with the literature of Henrik Ibsen.

Archer won a bursary to the University of Edinburgh to study English literature, moral and natural philosophy, and mathematics. When the family relocated to Australia in 1872, he remained in Scotland as a student. While still at the university he became a leader-writer for the Edinburgh Evening News in 1875, and after a year visiting his family in Australia, he returned to Edinburgh.

Archer was an early friend of George Bernard Shaw, and arranged for his plays to be translated into German. An attempted collaboration on a play failed, although Shaw later used their joint ideas for his early work, Widower's Houses. By Archer's influence Shaw obtained the post of art critic to the periodical The World, before becoming its music critic. which would assist the development of SoundSpel.

Works Critical works English Dramatists of To-day (1882) Henry Irving, a study (1883) About The Theatre: Essays and Studies (1886) Masks or Faces? A Study in the Psychology of Acting (1888) W. C. Macready, a biography (1890) Alan's Wife; a Dramatic Study in Three Scenes (1893) "The Theatrical World for..." (1893–97), in five volumes America To-day, Observations and Reflections (1900) Poets of the Younger Generation (1901) John Lane, the Bodley Head, London Real Conversations (1904) A National Theatre: Scheme and Estimates, with H. Granville Barker, (1907) Through Afro-America (1910) The Life, Trial, and Death of Francisco Ferrer (1911) Play-Making (1912) India and the Future (1917) The Old Drama and the New (1923)

Essays The Great Analysis: A Plea for a Rational World-Order (1912). Introduction by Gilbert Murray

Plays War Is War (1919) The Green Goddess (1921)