Bigelow, John
Bigelow, John bĭg´əlō [key], 1817–1911, American editor, author, and diplomat, b. Malden, N.Y. In 1838 he was admitted to the New York bar. From 1848 to 1861 he shared with William Cullen Bryant the ownership and editing of the New York Evening Post. His antislavery and free trade editorials were especially vigorous. In 1861 he was appointed consul general at Paris, and later (1865–66) he served as U.S. minister to France. He is given much credit for preventing French recognition of the Confederacy he also treated with great skill the problems arising from Napoleon III's attempts to establish an independent state in Mexico. His France and the Confederate Navy (1888) is a valuable historical work. Bigelow found in Paris the original manuscript of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, which he edited and published in 1868. His other works include a life of Franklin (1874) and an edition of Franklin's complete works (10 vol., 1887–88).
See his Retrospections of an Active Life (5 vol., 1909–13).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Journalism and Publishing: Biographies
Browse by Subject
- Earth and the Environment +-
- History +-
- Literature and the Arts +-
- Medicine +-
- People +-
- Philosophy and Religion +-
- Places +-
- Africa
- Asia
- Australia and Oceania
- Britain, Ireland, France, and the Low Countries
- Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic Nations
- Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Oceans, Continents, and Polar Regions
- Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and the Balkans
- United States, Canada, and Greenland
- Plants and Animals +-
- Science and Technology +-
- Social Sciences and the Law +-
- Sports and Everyday Life +-