Biography

CHILD, FRANCIS J. (1825-1896). —English scholar, b. at Boston, Mass., was a prof. at Harvard, one of the foremost students of early English, and especially of ancient ballads in America. He ed. the American ed. of English Poets in 130 vols., and English and Scottish Ballads. He was also a profound student of Chaucer, and pub. Observations on the Language of Chaucer, and Observations on the Language of Gower's Confessio Amantis.