author
William Henry Burr
1819–1908
A 19th-century journalist and independent-minded writer, this forgotten "literary detective" loved chasing big historical and religious questions. His books range from biblical criticism to bold arguments about Shakespeare, Junius, and Thomas Paine.
1 Audiobook
Bacon and Shakspere
by William Henry Burr
About the author
Born in Gloversville, New York, in 1819, William Henry Burr built a varied career as a reporter, author, and painter. Contemporary summaries of his life describe him as a trained shorthand reporter who worked on the official record of the U.S. Senate and later on the Congressional Globe, giving him a close view of public debate in Washington.
Burr is best remembered for argumentative, investigative books that tackled religion, politics, and literary history. Catalogs of his work include Self-Contradictions of the Bible, Bacon and Shakspere, and Junius Rediscovered, showing how often he returned to disputed authorship, hidden identities, and controversial ideas.
Later writers called him Gloversville's "great literary detective," a fitting label for someone who seemed drawn to mysteries of authorship and belief. Though he is not widely known today, his work captures a lively side of 19th-century American intellectual life: skeptical, curious, and never afraid of a debate.