author
Joseph Francis MacGrail
b. 1873
Best known for a sharp early-1900s religious polemic and for assisting on a practical book about salesmanship, this little-known writer moved between controversy and business advice. His surviving work suggests a voice shaped by the debating culture and self-improvement spirit of his era.
1 Audiobook
Selling Things
by Orison Swett Marden, Joseph Francis MacGrail
About the author
Joseph Francis MacGrail was an American writer born in 1873. The clearest confirmed record I found links him to Curse of Rome (1907), a short anti-Catholic controversial work printed in New York, and library records identify him as its author.
He is also credited in early editions of Selling Things with Orison Swett Marden, where he is described as an instructor in salesmanship and efficiency for large sales and industrial organizations. That suggests he was active not only as an author but also in the world of business training and practical advice.
Beyond those points, reliable biographical details appear to be scarce in easily accessible sources. Even so, the books attached to his name show an interesting range: one aimed at religious argument, another at persuasive communication and commercial success.