author
Frederic Mayer Bird
1838–1908
A 19th-century minister, teacher, and hymn scholar, he wrote with equal energy about church history, devotional subjects, and literature. His work bridges the worlds of preaching, scholarship, and popular religious writing.
1 Audiobook
A Pessimist in Theory and Practice
by Frederic Mayer Bird
About the author
Born in Philadelphia in 1838, Frederic Mayer Bird was the son of novelist and playwright Robert Montgomery Bird. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and Union Theological Seminary, then served first as a Lutheran minister and later in the Episcopal Church.
Bird also worked as an educator, including service at Lehigh University, and became especially known for his writing on hymns and hymnology. Archive records note that he published extensively on sacred subjects while also producing novels and other secular works, showing a career that ranged well beyond the pulpit.
He died in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1908. Today he is remembered as a versatile religious writer and scholar whose books reflect the wide interests of an American clergyman deeply engaged with worship, literature, and Christian history.