author

George Burnham Ives

1856–1930

A Harvard-trained lawyer who rebuilt his life after a dramatic fall, he became a prolific translator and man of letters. His English versions helped bring major French writers to a wider American audience.

1 Audiobook

Penal Methods of the Middle Ages: Criminals, Witches, Lunatics

Penal Methods of the Middle Ages: Criminals, Witches, Lunatics

by George Burnham Ives

About the author

Born in 1856, George Burnham Ives was an American bibliographer, editor, and translator with deep New England roots in Salem's Pickering family. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard Law School and began his career in law as an assistant district attorney in Essex County.

His life took a sharp turn in 1890, when he was convicted of embezzlement and forgery, disbarred, and sent to Charlestown Prison. During and after that period, he redirected his talents into literary work and went on to build a notable second career.

Ives became known for translating a wide range of French authors into English, including Balzac, Daudet, Gautier, Hugo, Maupassant, Mérimée, and George Sand. He also edited an edition of Montaigne's essays, later compiled a major bibliography of Oliver Wendell Holmes, and worked as an editor at The Atlantic Monthly. His story is unusual: a fallen lawyer who remade himself through books, scholarship, and translation.