author
Alfred Billings Street
d. 1881
A 19th-century American poet and author, he was best known for vivid writing about the forests, lakes, and history of New York. He also spent more than three decades as New York State Librarian, balancing literary work with public service.
1 Audiobook
Forest Pictures in the Adirondacks
by Alfred Billings Street
About the author
Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1811, Alfred Billings Street studied law with his father and worked as a lawyer before turning more fully toward writing. He became known as a poet, editor, and man of letters at a time when regional history and landscape writing had a wide audience.
Much of his poetry drew on the natural scenery of New York State, and readers of his day especially valued his descriptive, outdoors-centered style. His work also reached into historical subjects, including poems and longer pieces inspired by early New York and the Iroquois frontier.
In 1848 he was appointed New York State Librarian, a position he held until his death in Albany on June 2, 1881. That long public career helped make him a familiar literary figure in New York, remembered both for his nature poetry and for his steady place in the state's cultural life.