author
Eliot Gregory
1854–1915
A stylish essayist and artist of the Gilded Age, he wrote light, observant pieces about society, travel, and the little rituals of everyday life. His books have an easy wit that still feels companionable more than a century later.
2 Audiobooks
Worldly Ways & Byways
by Eliot Gregory
The Ways of Men
by Eliot Gregory
About the author
Born in New York City in 1854, Eliot Gregory built a reputation as both a writer and a painter. He studied at Yale's Sheffield Scientific School, later continued his training in art in Europe, and moved comfortably in literary and artistic circles on both sides of the Atlantic.
Gregory is best remembered for essays and social sketches gathered in books such as Worldly Ways and Byways and The Ways of Men. Writing under the pen name An Idler, he also contributed The Idler Papers to the Evening Post. His work is known for its polished, conversational charm and its amused eye for manners, culture, and travel.
He was also active in the arts beyond the page, and is noted as one of the founders of the New Theatre. Gregory died in 1915, leaving behind a body of writing that captures the tone, tastes, and social world of his era with elegance and humor.