Colby, Frank Moore

▪ American writer and editor

born Feb. 10, 1865, Washington, D.C., U.S.

died March 3, 1925, New York, N.Y.

      American encyclopaedia editor and essayist.

      Early in his career Colby taught history and economics at Columbia University, Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.), and New York University (New York City). To supplement his income, he began writing for encyclopaedias, and so began his lifelong career. In 1898 he became editor of the International Year Book (later the New International Year Book), a position he was to hold until his death. He was editor, with Daniel Colt Gilman and Harry Thurston Peck, of the New International Encyclopedia (1900–03). From 1913 to 1915, with Talcott Williams, he supervised publication of the second edition.

      Colby contributed to many magazines, including Bookman, The New Republic, and Vanity Fair, and his witty essays were widely read. After his death, his popularity rose with the publication of The Colby Essays (1926), edited by Clarence Day, Jr.

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