author
Max Farrand
1869–1945
A careful historian of early America, he is best remembered for assembling the landmark records of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and for helping shape major research libraries and universities.
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About the author
Born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1869, Max Farrand was an American historian and teacher who studied at Princeton University and later taught at Stanford, Yale, and Cornell. His work focused on the founding era of the United States, especially the making of the Constitution.
Farrand is most closely associated with The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, the influential collection that brought together the surviving notes and documents of the Constitutional Convention. That project made him an important resource for readers and scholars trying to understand how the Constitution took shape.
He also served as the first director of the Huntington Library, linking his scholarship with the growth of one of the country's major research institutions. Farrand died in 1945, and he is still remembered for combining patient archival work with a clear interest in the ideas and debates behind the American founding.