author
Frank H. Stauffer
1832–1895
A 19th-century journalist and compiler of curiosities, he is best remembered for gathering strange anecdotes, odd customs, and literary oddments into a book made for browsers and trivia-lovers. His work has the feel of a Victorian cabinet of wonders: lively, eclectic, and full of surprises.
1 Audiobook
The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical: A Cabinet for the Curious
by Frank H. Stauffer
About the author
Born in Philadelphia on October 3, 1832, Frank H. Stauffer became known as a journalist, literary editor, and man of letters. A Chester County biographical sketch describes him as the eldest son of Col. Jacob and Sarah Birch Stauffer, and says that after his education he entered the printing trade before moving into newspaper and literary work.
He was associated with Saturday Night in Philadelphia as a literary editor, and later settled in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, where local historical accounts remembered him as a writer of national importance. Stauffer is best known today for The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical: A Cabinet for the Curious (1882), a wide-ranging collection of unusual facts, anecdotes, and odd pieces of lore that captures the Victorian taste for the curious and unexpected.
He died in 1895. Although not a household name now, his surviving work still appeals to readers who enjoy browsing through the stranger corners of history and literature.