During his lifetime H. L. Mencken was called the Great Iconoclast and the Sage of Baltimore, appellations he gained because of his journalistic writing in newspapers and magazines. However, his contributions to American letters were more extensive than those ordinarily found in one who gained fame--or, as some would describe it, notoriety--as a reporter, editor, and columnist. For Mencken was the author of at least thirty books and collections of essays and criticism, including his highly acclaimed philological study, The American Language (1919, 1945, 1948); the popular autobiographical trilogy, Happy Days, 1880-1892 (1940), Newspaper Days, 1899-1906 (1941), and Heathen Days, 1890-1936 (1943); and the fascinating volumes on politics, religion, and ethics: Notes on Democracy (1926), Treatise on the Gods (1930), and Treatise on Right and Wrong (1934).

Henry Louis Mencken was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on 12 September 1880. When he was three years old, his parents, August and Anna Abhau Mencken, moved to 1524 Hollins Street. There Mencken lived...