Henry Cuyler Bunner (August 3, 1855 – May 11, 1896) was an American novelist, journalist and poet. He is known mainly for Tower of Babel.

Bunner's works have been praised by librarians for its "technical dexterity, playfulness and smoothness of finish".

Biography

Bunner was born on August 3, 1855, in Oswego, New York, to Rudolph Bunner Jr. (1813–1875) and Ruth Keating Tuckerman (1821–1896) and was educated in New York City. His paternal grandparents were Rudolph Bunner (1779–1837) and Elizabeth Church (1783–1867), the daughter of John Barker Church (1748–1818) and Angelica Schuyler (1756–1814).

From being a clerk in an importing house, he turned to journalism, and after some work as a reporter, and on the staff of the Arcadian (1873), he became in 1877 assistant editor of the comic weekly Puck. He soon assumed the editorship, which he held until his death. He developed Puck from a new struggling periodical into a powerful social and political organ. published in 1884 and including one of his best known poems, "The Way to Arcady"; Rowen (1892), and Poems (1896), edited by his friend Brander Matthews and displaying a light play of imagination and a delicate workmanship. He also wrote clever vers de société and parodies. One of his several plays (usually written in collaboration) was The Tower of Babel (1883). brother of Edith Dimock (1876–1955), the artist.

  • Philip Schuyler Bunner (1892–1892)
  • Laurence H. Bunner (1894–1974)

Bunner died on May 11, 1896, in Nutley, New Jersey.

References

  • Some H. C. Bunner stories, including 'What Mrs. Fortescue Did' and 'Zenobia's Infidelity' are read in Mister Ron's Basement Podcast, now indexed for your convenience.
  • The Best American Humorous Short Stories by H. C. Bunner et al. Project Gutenberg eBook