Thomas Bailey Aldrich is of interest today for his contributions to American literature and journalism. As a literary figure he contributed to the development of realism in adolescent fiction; one of his novels introduced a character type that became the antecedent of the "bad boy" developed later by Mark Twain and others. As a journalist Aldrich held editorial positions with several publications in New York and Boston. His journalistic career reached its height during the time he served as editor of the Atlantic Monthly, a period some critics consider to be among the most successful in terms of quality in Atlantic history.

Thomas Bailey Aldrich was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 11 November 1836, the only child of Elias Taft Aldrich and Sarah Abba Bailey Aldrich. The family on both sides was of New England colonial stock. His father was a wanderer, and Aldrich later said that as a...