Bulfinch, Thomas

Bulfinch, Thomas, 1796–1867, American author, b. Newton, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1814. He wrote a series of works popularizing fable and legend, including The Age of Fables (1855), The Age of Chivalry (1858), Legends of Charlemagne (1863), and Oregon and Eldorado (1866).

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Bulfinch, Thomas (1796–1867) banker, author; born in Newton, Mass. Son of the influential architect Charles Bulfinch, he tried his hand at various businesses, then ended up working in a bank (1837–67). This job left him a lot of spare time, which he spent studying natural history and literature. Eventually he began to write books drawing on his extensive reading—Hebrew Lyrical History (1853), The Age of Chivalry (1858), Shakespeare Adapted for Reading Classes (1865). One title in particular, The Age of Fable (1855), gained wide fame; known as "Bulfinch's Mythology," it introduced Greek and Roman mythology to generations of Americans who did not read Greek or Latin.