author
George William Bagby
1828–1883
A sharp, funny voice from 19th-century Virginia, he moved from medicine into journalism and became known for lively sketches, essays, and lectures. His work captures the manners and contradictions of his era, with wit on the surface and history close behind.
1 Audiobook
Canal Reminiscences Recollections of Travel in the Old Days on the James River & Kanawha Canal
by George William Bagby
About the author
Born in Buckingham County, Virginia, in 1828, George William Bagby studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and began his career as a physician before turning fully to writing and editing. He became known as a journalist, essayist, and humorist whose energetic style helped make him a memorable literary figure in Virginia.
Bagby is especially associated with the Southern Literary Messenger, which he edited around the time of the Civil War. Sources consistently describe him as both a popular man of letters and a strong Confederate partisan during that period, a part of his legacy that remains inseparable from his literary reputation.
After the war, he continued to write, lecture, and work in literary circles, and he later served as librarian of the State Library in Richmond. He died in 1883, but his sketches and essays remained in circulation, especially for readers interested in Southern humor, journalism, and the culture of 19th-century Virginia.