author
Joseph Benson Gilder
1858–1936
A lively figure in American literary journalism, he helped shape the reading world of New York through influential magazines and newspaper book coverage. His career moved between editing, public service, and finance, giving his writing and criticism a broad, practical outlook.
1 Audiobook
Trilbyana: The Rise and Progress of a Popular Novel
by Joseph Benson Gilder, Jeannette L. (Jeannette Leonard) Gilder
About the author
Born in Flushing, New York, in 1858, Joseph Benson Gilder became part of a notably literary family that also included editor Richard Watson Gilder and writer Jeannette Leonard Gilder. He studied for a time at the United States Naval Academy before turning to newspaper and magazine work.
Gilder is best remembered as an editor. He was a founder and co-editor of The Critic, an important New York literary periodical, later edited its successor Putnam's Magazine, and also served as editor of The New York Times Book Review. Archival sources also describe him as an author, diplomat, and banker, suggesting a career that reached well beyond the literary page.
Though he is less widely known today than some of his contemporaries, Gilder belonged to the network of editors and cultural organizers who helped introduce books and ideas to American readers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He died in 1936.