Frederic Leake

Frederic Leake is a little-known author now chiefly remembered for Historic Bubbles, published in Albany, New York, in 1896. In the book’s preface, he says he had been a member of the faculty at Williams College and that the pieces in the volume began as lectures.

That background shows in his writing. Historic Bubbles gathers short historical essays on subjects including the Duke of Berwick, Babylon, Burgundy, Hoche, Queen Victoria’s ancestry, and John Wiclif, mixing learning with a light, conversational tone.

Very little reliable biographical information about Leake seems to survive in easily accessible sources, so it is safest to picture him as an academic-minded essayist rather than make broader claims about his life or career.