Edward Bolland Osborn (1867–1938) was a British journalist, author and editor. Born in London in 1867, Osborn was the first son of Edward Haydon Osborn, an Inspector of Factories. He was educated at
Rossall School
Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...
, before matriculating at
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
, where he studied mathematics.
Osborn worked for a period under
W. E. Henley
William Ernest Henley (23 August 184911 July 1903) was an English poet, writer, critic and editor. Though he wrote several books of poetry, Henley is remembered most often for his 1875 poem " Invictus". A fixture in London literary circles, the ...
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' and other British journals.
The majority of Osborn's journalistic career was spent as literary editor of '' The Morning Post'', which was later absorbed by ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
''. He remained an employee of the combined newspaper for the rest of his life.
In addition to his newspaper work, Osborn was also an accomplished author, writing books on a wide range of subjects, including Greek and Roman civilisation and the Middle Ages. He was the editor of the highly successful anthology of British war poetry ''
The Muse in Arms
''The Muse in Arms'' is an anthology of British war poetry published in November 1917 during World War I. It consists of 131 poems by 52 contributors, with the poems divided into fourteen thematic sections. The poets were from all three branches ...
'', described as "the most celebrated collection of the war years."
Twice married, Osborn had two sons and two daughters. He died on 8 October 1938 in
Ealing
Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Ealing was histor ...
, West London.
Bibliography
* ''Greater Canada: The Past, Present and Future of the Canadian North-West'' (1900)
* ''The Maid with Wings: And Other Fantasies, Grave to Gay'' (1917)
* ''
The Muse in Arms
''The Muse in Arms'' is an anthology of British war poetry published in November 1917 during World War I. It consists of 131 poems by 52 contributors, with the poems divided into fourteen thematic sections. The poets were from all three branches ...
'' (1917)
* ''The New Elizabethans, a First Selection of the Lives of Young Men Who Have Fallen in the Great War'' (1919)
* ''Our Debt to Greece and Rome'' (1924)
* ''The Middle Ages'' (1928)