J. A. Leo Lemay (January 17, 1935 – October 15, 2008) was du Pont Winterthur Professor of English at the
University of Delaware. He was most renowned for his lifelong fascination with
Benjamin Franklin, although he wrote on many topics, including
Edgar Allan Poe,
Ebenezer Cooke, and
Joel Barlow.
Biography
Lemay was a 1953 graduate of
Baltimore City College
Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...
in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
,
Maryland. Lemay was also a graduate of the
University of Maryland, where he earned his master's degree, and obtained his doctorate from the
University of Pennsylvania. He died on October 15, 2008, at home, shortly after returning home from a hospital stay.
Lemay was selected by
Library of America to edit two of its selections on Franklin. His edition of ''
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,'' co-edited with Paul Zall, is generally recognized as the most authoritative.
In the 1990s, he put up the first substantial web resource to share with Franklin scholars and biographers in "Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History."
The Documentary History was preparation for arguably his greatest investigation, a projected seven-volume biography of Franklin. Two of the volumes were published in 2006, by the University of Pennsylvania Press, in time for Franklin's Tercentennial.
The ''American Historical Review'' (Feb. 2007) called his first two volumes, "a labor of love balanced by thoughtful criticism. There is nothing like it."
Selected writings
The Life of Benjamin Franklin Vol 3, Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748-1757
Copyright 2009 University of Pennsylvania Press
Library" target="_blank" class="mw-redirect" title="of Congress The Life of Benjamin Franklin">of Congress The Life of Benjamin Franklin
NB: Ref is only to the main title and not to Vol 3
References
External links
*
Benjamin Franklin
Baltimore City College alumni
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
University of Pennsylvania alumni
University of Delaware faculty
1935 births
2008 deaths
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