Frank Moore Colby

{{Short description|American educator and writer (1865–1925)}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | name = Frank Moore Colby | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image =  | image_size = | image_upright = | landscape =  | alt = | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date|1865|02|10}} | birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1925|03|3|1865|02|10}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | death_cause =  | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | siglum = | pronounce = | citizenship =  | nationality =  | fields = | workplaces = Amherst College<br>Columbia University<br>New York University | patrons = | education = | alma_mater = | thesis_title =  | thesis_url =  | thesis_year =  | doctoral_advisor =  | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | parents = | father = | mother = | relatives = | signature =  | signature_type =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = }} '''Frank Moore Colby''' (February 10, 1865 – March 3, 1925) was an American educator and writer.

==Biography== Colby was born in Washington, D. C., the son of Stoddard B. Colby and Ellen Cornelia (Hunt) Colby.<ref name="Davenport">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ancestoryarchives.com/2015/04/stoddard-benham-colby-and-family-lines.html |title=Stoddard Benham Colby and Family Lines |last=Berry |first=Melissa Davenport |date=April 11, 2015 |website=AncestoryArchives.com |publisher=AnceStory Archives |access-date=December 7, 2024}}</ref> He graduated from Columbia University in 1888, was acting professor of history at Amherst College in 1890 and 1891, lecturer on history at Columbia and instructor in history and economics at Barnard College from 1891 to 1895, and professor of economics at New York University until 1900.<ref name="Davenport"/>

Between 1893 and 1895 he was a member of the editorial staff of ''Johnson's Universal Cyclopaedia'' in the department of history and political science, and in 1898 he joined the ''New International Encyclopedia'' (called ''International Cyclopedia'' when he started) as an editor. He went on to publish its first edition in 1902, then the second in 1914 with Talcott Williams. From 1898 until his death in 1925, he edited the ''International Year Book.''

His other literary work comprises editorial writing for the New York ''Commercial Advertiser'' 1900–1902, "The Book of the Month" in the ''North American Review'' (1913– ), as well as critical articles for the ''Bookman'' and other magazines. He wrote: *''Outlines of General History'' (1900), *''Imaginary Obligations'' (1904), and *''Constrained Attitudes'' (1910). Colby was described as "an essayist who wrote so well and so provocatively that every lover of American letters is aware of him," and his writing appears in an anthology called "Reading I Like" by prominent humorist Clifton Fadiman.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1946-09-14 |title=Life with Uncle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-life-with-uncle/176182548/ |access-date=2025-07-08 |work=The Birmingham News |page=4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1941-10-18 |title='Reading I've Liked' Reviewer's Choices By Clifton Fadiman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pasadena-star-news-reading-ive-liked/176182963/ |access-date=2025-07-08 |work=Pasadena Star-News |pages=18}}</ref>

After his death, Clarence Day edited a two-volume collection of Colby's best work, ''The Colby Essays'', containing various "Colbyisms" that became well known and quoted. Among them are "Nobody can describe a fool to the life, without much patient self-inspection." and "Men will confess to treason, murder, arson, false teeth, or a wig. How many of them will own up to a lack of humor."

== Personal life == On December 31, 1896, Colby married Harriet Wood Fowler (born 1872), and they three children, Georgina, Stoddard, and Harriet. Harriet joined him in editing ''International Year Book'', ''Johnson's Encyclopedia'', and the ''New International Encyclopedia''.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Wikiquote}} {{wikisource|works=or}} * [https://archive.today/20130127081629/http://knowkwote.com/author.php?author_name=Frank_Moore_Colby Quotes from Frank Moore Colby] *{{NIE |wstitle= Colby, Frank Moore |volume= V |page= |short=}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colby, Frank Moore}} Category:1865 births Category:1925 deaths Category:American book editors Category:American educators Category:American encyclopedists Category:20th-century American historians Category:Writers from New York (state) Category:Writers from Washington, D.C. Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni Category:Amherst College faculty Category:Columbia University faculty Category:New York University faculty Category:19th-century American historians

Frank Moore Colby

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