Bayard Taylor

Born in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, in 1825, Bayard Taylor began early as a printer’s apprentice and published verse while still young. He went on to build an unusually wide-ranging career as a poet, journalist, literary critic, and travel writer, gaining a large readership in the United States and Britain.

Travel shaped much of his reputation. His accounts of journeys through Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the American West were known for their energy and detail, and they helped make him one of the better-known American men of letters of his time. He also earned lasting notice as a translator, especially for his English version of Goethe’s Faust.

Later in life, Taylor served in diplomatic posts in Russia and Prussia. He died in Berlin in 1878, leaving behind a body of work that reflects both restless curiosity and a strong appetite for the wider world.