Gamaliel Bradford VI (October 9, 1863 – April 11, 1932) was an American biographer, critic, poet, and dramatist. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, the sixth of seven men called Gamaliel Bradford in unbroken succession, of whom the first, Gamaliel Bradford, was a great-grandson of Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony. His grandfather, Dr. Gamaliel Bradford of Boston, was a noted abolitionist.

Early life

Bradford attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

briefly with the class of 1886, then continued his education with a private tutor, but is said to have been educated "mainly by ill-health and a vagrant imagination." As an adult, Bradford lived in

Wellesley, Massachusetts Wellesley () is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of Greater Boston. The population was 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of Massachusetts Bay Commun ...

. The building and student newspaper for the

Wellesley High School Wellesley High School is a public high school in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States, educating students on grades 9 through 12. The principal is Jamie Chisum, who took the position in 2014 after the departure of Andrew Keough. As of 2022, ...

(where

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, ''The ...

received her secondary school education) were named after Gamaliel Bradford. The town changed the name of the building to Wellesley High School, but the newspaper maintains Bradford's name.

Career

In his day Bradford was regarded as the "Dean of American Biographers." He is acknowledged as the American pioneer of the

psychographic Psychographics is a qualitative methodology used to describe traits of humans on psychological attributes. Psychographics have been applied to the study of personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles. Two approaches to ...

form of written biographies, after the style developed by

Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of ''Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight a ...

. Despite suffering poor health during most of his life, Bradford wrote 114 biographies over a period of 20 years. He was friends with fellow Harvard University graduate and poet, George Faunce Whitcomb, as he inscribed the book, ''Jewels of Romance'' with the words: ''To Gamaliel Bradford with deepest gratitude, George Faunce Whitcomb, Easter 1930''

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and West ...

Death

Bradford died on April 11, 1932 in

Bibliography

* ''A Pageant of Life'' (poetry) * ''A Prophet of Joy'' (poetry) * ''Shadow Verses'' (poetry)
''Unmade in Heaven''
(drama), 1917.

1912. * ''American Portraits, 1875-1900''

1916.
''Confederate Portraits''
1914. * ''Portraits of Women''
''Portraits of American Women''
1919. * ''Saints and Sinners'', 1932.
''A Naturalist of Souls: Studies in Psychography''
(reprinted in part from various periodicals), 1917. * ''Life and I'' (autobiography) * ''Elizabethan Women'', 1936.

Articles

"Government in the United States,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. XLVIII, July/December 1885. * "Municipal Government," ''Scribners,'' October 1887.
"A Hero's Conscience: A Study of Robert E. Lee,"
''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', Vol. CVI, December 1910, pp. 730–39. * "Journalism and Permanence," ''The North American Review,'' August 1915. * "A Confederate Pepys," ''The American Mercury,'' December 1925.

References

"Gamaliel Bradford"
''Encyclopædia Britannica: Online'', student article; on-line source, accessed: 4 May 2007.
Bradford, Gamaliel, 1863-1932. Correspondence: Guide
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University; on-line source, accessed: 4 May 2007.

External links

* *
Gamaliel Bradford letters at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Gamaliel 1863 births 1932 deaths Writers from Boston American biographers American male biographers Poets from Massachusetts American male poets Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters