author
Jr. (Josiah Henry) Josiah H. Benton
1843–1917
A Boston lawyer, public servant, and book-loving historian, he wrote lively works on American civic life, legal history, and the Civil War. His writing pairs a lawyer’s eye for detail with a real affection for old institutions and public memory.
1 Audiobook
John Baskerville, type-founder and printer, 1706-1775
by Jr. (Josiah Henry) Josiah H. Benton
About the author
Born in Vermont in 1843, Benton built his career in Boston as an attorney and became a well-known figure in the city’s civic and cultural life. He also served for many years as a trustee of the Boston Public Library, and the library later received his notable collection of editions of the Book of Common Prayer.
As a writer, he produced books and pamphlets on law, politics, history, and public institutions. Among the works associated with him are Voting in the Field: A Forgotten Chapter of the Civil War, The Story of the Old Boston Town House, 1658–1711, and The Working of the Boston Public Library.
He died in 1917, but his interests are easy to recognize on the page: American government, the workings of civic institutions, and the preservation of the past. For listeners drawn to history told with precision and purpose, his work offers a thoughtful window into public life in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America.