See also
| Name: | Thomas Bulfinch |
| Sex: | Male |
| Father: | Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844) |
| Mother: | Hannah Apthorp (1767-1841) |
| Birth | 15 Jul 1796 | Newton, Massachusetts |
| Death | 27 May 1867 (age 70) | Boston, Massachusetts |
Thomas Bulfinch (July 15, 1796 - May 27, 1867) was an American writer, born in Newton, Massachusetts. Bulfinch belonged to a well educated Bostonian 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 Thomas Bulfinch reorganized Psalms to illustrate the history of the Hebrews, he is best known as the author of Bulfinch's Mythology, an 1881 compilation of his previous works:
1. The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes (1855)
2. The Age of Chivalry, or Legends of King Arthur (1858)
3. Legends of Charlemagne, or Romance of the Middle Ages (1863)
The compilation assembled posthumously by Edward Everett Hale, known simply as Bulfinch's Mythology includes various stories belonging to the mythological traditions known as the Matter of Rome, the Matter of Britain and the Matter of France, respectively.
His obituary noted that the contents were "expurgated of all that would be offensive". The Bulfinch version of myth, published for genteel Americans, presents the myths in their literary versions, without unnecessary violence, sex, psychology or ethnographic information. "Mr. Bulfinch was a gentleman of a pure Christian character," his obituary observed, "of delicate sensibilities and refined culture." The Bulfinch myths are an indispensable guide to the cultural values of the American 19th century, yet the Bulfinch version is still the version being taught in many American public schools. Marie Sally Cleary, "The Bulfinch Solution: Teaching the Ancient Classics in American Schools" (1990), sets the book in the context of "democratizing" classical culture for a wider American antebellum readership.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bulfinch
See also "Thomas Bulfinch (1796-1867), His Life and Work" by Marie Cleary, including a photograph