Theodore F. (Theodore Frelinghuysen) Wolfe

Born in New Jersey in 1847, Theodore Frelinghuysen Wolfe built an unusually varied career as a physician, ethnologist, lecturer, and author. Records for his papers at Columbia University describe him as both an author and a physician, and they show that he gathered letters, manuscripts, notes, and photographs connected with American and English writers.

Wolfe is best remembered for books such as Literary Shrines, A Literary Pilgrimage Among the Haunts of Famous British Authors, Literary Haunts & Homes: American Authors, and Literary Rambles at Home and Abroad. Those titles reveal what made his writing appealing: he turned literary history into a kind of journey, bringing readers to the places where writers lived and worked.

His surviving papers suggest how seriously he pursued that interest. Columbia notes that he drew on the letters and books he collected while writing his literary studies, which helps explain the documentary feel of his work. He died in 1915, leaving behind books that still appeal to readers who enjoy classic authors, literary travel, and the atmosphere of old bookish places.