Rufus Wilmot Griswold (13 February 1815-27 August 1857), editor and the most famous anthologist of his day, was born in Benson, Vermont, the twelfth child of Rufus and Deborah Griswold. Young Rufus grew up mainly under the influence of his mother, who passed on to him her love of books and her deep piety, though in later years he would often stray from the latter quality.

Apparently Rufus showed little inclination to follow in the steps of his father, a tanner and farmer; in his early teens he was apprenticed to a printer, a move which set the course of his life. In 1830 Griswold was sent to live with an older brother in Troy, New York. There he enrolled in the Rensselaer School, but was soon expelled because of his involvement in a prank. As a result--and, probably to Griswold, as a punishment--he was sent to work clerking in his...