author
Frank Preston Stearns
1846–1917
A Massachusetts writer with deep ties to the antislavery movement, he is remembered for lively biographical and literary sketches of notable American and European figures. His work often blends historical interest with a critic’s eye for character and public life.
3 Audiobooks
Sketches from Concord and Appledore Concord thirty years ago; Nathaniel Hawthorne; Louisa M. Alcott; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Matthew Arnold; David A. Wasson; Wendell Phillips; Appledore and its visitors; John Greenleaf Whittier
by Frank Preston Stearns
The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne
by Frank Preston Stearns
Cambridge Sketches
by Frank Preston Stearns
About the author
Born in Medford, Massachusetts, in 1846, he was the son of George Luther Stearns, a prominent abolitionist. Contemporary reference sources describe him as an American author, critic, and abolitionist, and note that he became known especially for writing biographies and studies of well-known Americans and Italians.
His books include Cambridge Sketches and Sketches from Concord and Appledore, along with biographical work on figures such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and his father, George Luther Stearns. Across these works, he focused on literary culture, reform, and public character, giving readers a window into New England intellectual life and the people who shaped it.
He died in 1917. Much of his writing now survives through public-domain archives, which has helped keep his work available to modern readers interested in 19th-century biography, criticism, and regional history.