Thomas Bailey Aldrich, an American poet, born in Portsmouth, N. H., in 1836. After commencing a course of study preparatory to entering college, upon the .death of his father he abandoned this purpose to enter the counting room of an uncle, a merchant in New York. Here he remained three years; and it was during this period that he began to contribute verses to the New York journals. A collection of his poems was published in New York in 1855, the volume taking its name from the initial piece, " The Bells." Mr. Aldrich's most successful poem, "Babie Bell," which was published in 1856, was copied and repeated all over the country; and perhaps it was the favor with which it was received that induced him to abandon mercantile pursuits for a literary career. He became a frequent contributor to "Putnam's Magazine," the "Knickerbocker," and the weekly newspapers, for one of which he wrote " Daisy's Necklace, and What Came of It," a prose poem which was afterward issued in a volume, and attained a wide popularity. In 1856 Mr. Aldrich joined the staff of the "Home Journal," which was then under the charge of N. P. Willis and George P. Morris, and continued in this position for three years. His pen was always busy during this period, and many of its products became popular favorites.

The volumes published by him since 1855 are: "The Ballad of Babie Bell and other Poems " (1856); " The Course of True Love never did Run Smooth" (1858); " Pam-pinea and other Poems" (1861); " Out of his Head, a Romance in Prose " (1862); a collection of poems (1863); and a volume of poems published in Boston in 1865. Among his later works is " The Story of a Bad Boy," which is to some degree autobiographical. This attracted wide attention as a serial in " Our Young Folks," and was issued in book form in 1870. Mr. Aldrich has been chief editor of "Every Saturday" from its foundation, and has also made occasional prose contributions to the "Atlantic Monthly " and other magazines.