Charles Godfrey Leland - Definition and Overview

Charles Godfrey Leland (1824 - 1903), American humorist and folklorist, born at Philadelphia, was educated at Princeton, and in Europe. In his travels he made a study of the gypsies, on whom he wrote more than one book. His fame rests chiefly on his comic Hans Breitmann Ballads (1871), written in the patois known as Pennsylvania German. His writings on Algonquin and gypsy culture were part of the contemporary interest in pagan and Aryan traditions. They influenced the development of Wicca and modern neo-paganism . Other books of his are Meister Karl's Sketch-book (1855), Legends of Birds (1864), Algonquin Legends (1884), Legends of Florence (1895), and Flaxius, or Leaves from the Life of an Immortal.

This article is originally from A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.