Paul Leicester Ford
Encyclopedia
Paul Leicester Ford was an American
novelist and biographer, born in Brooklyn
.
and the brother of the noted historian Worthington C. Ford
. He wrote lives of George Washington
, Benjamin Franklin
, and others, edited the works of Thomas Jefferson
, and wrote a number of novels, which had considerable success, including The Honorable Peter Stirling (1894), Story of an Untold Love, Janice Meredith, Wanted a Matchmaker, and Wanted a Chaperon. He was murdered in his Manhattan home by his brother, Malcolm Webster Ford
, at one time the most famous amateur athlete in the United States, who then committed suicide
.
Ford's edition of The Writings of Thomas Jefferson is still regarded as one of the monuments of American historical scholarship, setting the standard for documentary editing for half-a-century, till the appearance of the first volume of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Julian A. Boyd. Ford's edition remains valuable for its accuracy of transcription from original manuscripts and its careful annotation of the documents chosen for publication. Ford, however, was at best cool to Jefferson, unlike Boyd, whose critics sometimes attacked him as an uncritical apologist for Jefferson. The Ford edition appeared in two versions, a ten-volume edition published between 1892 and 1896 and a fourteen-volume limited numbered edition (known as the "Federal" edition) issued in 1904; other than the different breakdown of volumes, the contents of these editions are identical. Readers, however, have to take note of which edition is being used in a given scholarly work.
Paul Leicester Ford is interred at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
in Sleepy Hollow
, NY.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist and biographer, born in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
Life and work
He was the great-grandson (through his mother's family) of Noah WebsterNoah Webster
Noah Webster was an American educator, lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author...
and the brother of the noted historian Worthington C. Ford
Worthington C. Ford
Worthington Chauncey Ford was an American historian and editor of a number of collections of documents from early American history. He served in a variety of government positions: first, as the chief of the Bureau of Statistics for the U.S. Department of State, from 1885–1889, then at the U.S...
. He wrote lives of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, and others, edited the works of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, and wrote a number of novels, which had considerable success, including The Honorable Peter Stirling (1894), Story of an Untold Love, Janice Meredith, Wanted a Matchmaker, and Wanted a Chaperon. He was murdered in his Manhattan home by his brother, Malcolm Webster Ford
Malcolm Webster Ford
Malcolm Webster Ford , athlete and journalist. He was born in Brooklyn, the son of Gordon Lester Ford and Emily Webster Ford ....
, at one time the most famous amateur athlete in the United States, who then committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Ford's edition of The Writings of Thomas Jefferson is still regarded as one of the monuments of American historical scholarship, setting the standard for documentary editing for half-a-century, till the appearance of the first volume of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Julian A. Boyd. Ford's edition remains valuable for its accuracy of transcription from original manuscripts and its careful annotation of the documents chosen for publication. Ford, however, was at best cool to Jefferson, unlike Boyd, whose critics sometimes attacked him as an uncritical apologist for Jefferson. The Ford edition appeared in two versions, a ten-volume edition published between 1892 and 1896 and a fourteen-volume limited numbered edition (known as the "Federal" edition) issued in 1904; other than the different breakdown of volumes, the contents of these editions are identical. Readers, however, have to take note of which edition is being used in a given scholarly work.
Paul Leicester Ford is interred at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York is the resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent Old Dutch Burying Ground. Incorporated in 1849 as Tarrytown Cemetery, it posthumously honored Irving's...
in Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow
-Fiction:* The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, an 1819 short story by Washington Irving* Sleepy Hollow , a 1998 adaptation of Washington Irving's short story* Sleepy Hollow , a 1999 movie by Tim Burton...
, NY.