Joseph Hergesheimer

Born in Philadelphia on February 15, 1880, he first studied painting before turning to fiction. That visual background shows in the lush, carefully composed style that made his work stand out to readers and critics.

He broke through with The Lay Anthony in 1914, and built his reputation with novels such as The Three Black Pennys (1917), Java Head (1919), and Balisand (1924). His fiction often focused on privilege, refinement, and the moral weariness of the wealthy, and he also wrote short stories, essays, biography, and autobiography.

He died on April 25, 1954, in Sea Isle City, New Jersey. Although his reputation is quieter now than it was at its peak, he remains an interesting figure for readers drawn to elegant prose and portraits of ambition, class, and decline.