Background
George William was born on February 24, 1824 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. The son of George and Mary (Burrill) Curtis.
George William was born on February 24, 1824 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. The son of George and Mary (Burrill) Curtis.
George William's early travel books, Nile Notes of a Howadji (1851), The Howadji in Syria (1852), and Lotus-Eating (1852), were followed by two Irvingesque volumes, Potiphar Papers (1853) and Prue and I (1856), and a mildly satirical novel, Trumps (1861). It was through magazine editing and lecturing, however, that Curtis became a figure of national importance. As associate editor, from 1853 to 1857, of Putnam's Monthly, as contributor of the "Easy Chair" department to Harper's Monthly from 1853 to 1892, and as editor of Harper's Weekly from 1863 until his death on Aug. 31, 1892, at New Brighton, Staten Island, N. Y., he exerted a wide influence on the literary, political, and social thought of his time. His Wesleyan University oration, The Duty of the American Scholar to Politics and the Times (1856), was only one of his many notable public addresses; his lecture on Political Infidelity (1864) was given more than 50 times in various parts of the country.
George William was married to Anna Shaw.