author
Frederick Saunders
1807–1902
An English-born man of letters who built a long career in New York, he moved easily between publishing, journalism, and librarianship. His books range from city sketches to literary collections, reflecting a lifelong love of books and reading.
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About the author
Born in London in August 1807, Frederick Saunders came from a publishing family and moved to New York in 1837. Over the years he worked in bookselling and publishing, spent time in journalism, and became closely connected with the city’s literary world.
Saunders is best remembered as a librarian and literary compiler. He served at the Astor Library in New York for decades, first as assistant librarian and later as librarian, and he also wrote and edited a wide variety of books. Among the works associated with him are New-York in a Nutshell, Mosaics, and The Story of Some Famous Books.
That mix of practical library work and broad literary curiosity gives his writing its character. He was not only preserving books for readers, but also introducing them to authors, anecdotes, and the pleasures of literary culture; he died in 1902 after a remarkably long life in the world of books.