Thomas Bulfinch
| Thomas Bulfinch | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
July 15, 1796 Newton, Massachusetts |
| Died | May 27, 1867 (aged 70) Boston, Massachusetts |
| Occupation | Banker, writer |
| Nationality | USA |
| Subject | Mythology and Fable |
Thomas Bulfinch (July 15, 1796 – May 27, 1867) was an American writer born in Newton, Massachusetts, best known for the book Bulfinch's Mythology.
Bulfinch belonged to a well-educated merchant family of modest means. His father was Charles Bulfinch, the architect of the Massachusetts State House in Boston and parts of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.. Bulfinch supported himself through his position at the Merchants' Bank of Boston.
Although he also reorganized the biblical book of Psalms to illustrate the history of the Hebrews, Bulfinch is best known as the author of Bulfinch's Mythology, an 1881 compilation of his three previous works:
Bulfinch's Mythology is a classic work of popularized mythology, the standard for over a century and still in print 160 years after the first work, Age of Fable, was published in 1855. The compilation, assembled posthumously by Edward Everett Hale, includes various stories belonging to the mythological traditions known as the Matter of Rome, the Matter of Britain and the Matter of France, respectively. Bulfinch wrote in his preface:
"Our work is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for the philosopher, but for the reader of English literature, of either sex, who wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently made by public speakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and those which occur in polite conversation."
The original volume was dedicated to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and described on the title page as an "attempt to popularize mythology and extend the enjoyment of elegant literature". In his preface, Bulfinch outlined his purpose, which was
His obituary noted that the contents were "expurgated of all that would be offensive".
The versions Bulfinch gives for the classical myths are those in Ovid and Virgil. His Norse myths are abridged from a work by Paul Henri Mallet (1730–1807), a professor at Geneva, translated by Bishop Thomas Percy as Northern Antiquities (London, 1770, often reprinted).
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