Daniel Boorstin (1914–2004)
Author of The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself
About the Author
A prolific writer, Daniel Boorstin is the author of numerous scholarly and popular works in American Studies. Born in Georgia and raised in Oklahoma, Boorstin received degrees from Harvard and Yale universities and was a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford. A member of the Massachusetts Bar, show more he has been visiting professor of American History at the Universities of Rome, Puerto Rico, Kyoto, and Geneva. He was the first incumbent of the chair of American History at the Sorbonne and Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at Cambridge. He taught at the University of Chicago for 25 years. In 1959 Columbia University awarded him its Bancroft Prize for The Americans: The Colonial Experience (1958), the first volume of his trilogy titled The Americans. In 1966 he received the Francis Parkman Award for the second volume, The Americans: The National Experience (1965), and in 1974 he received the Pulitzer Prize for the third volume, The Americans: The Democratic Experience (1973). Many of Boorstin's books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and various European languages. In 1969 Boorstin became director of the National Museum of History and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1973 he became senior historian at the Smithsonian. Boorstin was appointed Librarian of Congress in 1975 and served in that position with distinction for 12 years, becoming Librarian Emeritus in 1987. (Publisher Provided) show less
Image credit: USCG photo by MILNES, PETE PA1
(cgvi.uscg.mil)
Series
Works by Daniel Boorstin
The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself (1983) 4,494 copies, 43 reviews
The Seekers: The Story of Man's Continuing Quest to Understand His World (1992) 1,211 copies, 7 reviews
The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America, 25th Anniversary Edition (1992) 508 copies, 5 reviews
The republic of letters : Librarian of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin on books, reading, and libraries, 1975-1987 (1988) 14 copies, 1 review
America and the Image of Europe: Reflections on American Thought (Meridian Books, M89) (1960) 13 copies
Newsweek Condensed Books: Survive the Savage Sea, Laughing All the Way, Food in History, The Americans (1973) 4 copies
Upptäckarna. 3, Samhället : skrivkonsten, boken, arkeologi och historia, samhällsvetenskaper (1989) 3 copies
The Discoverers byBoorstin 2 copies
Essays on History 1 copy
IMAX: The Discoverers [1993 film] — Screenwriter — 1 copy
Descoperitorii, volumul I 1 copy
Cleopatra's Nose 1 copy
Descoperitorii, volumul II 1 copy
L'Image 1 copy
Os Descobridores 1 copy
KEŞİFLER VE BULUŞLAR 1 copy
Associated Works
The Timetables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events (1946) — Foreword, some editions — 3,513 copies, 20 reviews
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire {abridged by Mueller} (1781) — Introduction — 1,154 copies, 5 reviews
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835) — Introduction, some editions; Introduction, some editions — 1,072 copies, 10 reviews
Booknotes: America's Finest Authors on Reading, Writing, and the Power of Ideas (1997) — Contributor — 440 copies, 5 reviews
The Spanish-speaking world : an anthology of cross-cultural perspectives (1992) — Contributor — 3 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Boorstin, Daniel
- Legal name
- Boorstin, Daniel Joseph
- Other names
- Boorstin, Daniel J.
- Birthdate
- 1914-10-01
- Date of death
- 2004-02-28
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Place of death
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Cause of death
- pneumonia
- Places of residence
- Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
- Education
- Harvard University (BA|1934)
Balliol College, University of Oxford (BA|1936|BCL|1937)
Yale University (SJD|1940) - Occupations
- librarian
writer
historian
professor
director
barrister (show all 8)
lawyer
Librarian of Congress (1975-1987) - Relationships
- Boorstin, Jon (son)
- Organizations
- Library of Congress
University of Chicago (Preston and Sterling Morton Distinguished Service Professor of History)
Swarthmore College
Authors League of America
American Studies Association (president | 1969-1970)
American Historical Association (show all 15)
National Museum of History and Technology (USA)
Organization of American Historians
International House of Japan
Colonial Society of Massachusetts
Authors Guild
Elizabethan Club
Cosmos Club
Inner Temple (1937)
Massachusetts Bar (1942) - Awards and honors
- Charles Frankel Prize (1989)
Distinguished Service to the Humanities Award (Phi Beta Kappa)
National Book Award for Distinguished Contributions to American Letters (1989)
Rhodes Scholar (1934-37)
Order of the Sacred Treasure, First Class (1986)
Bowdoin Prize (1934) (show all 17)
Pulitzer Prize (1974)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1969)
American Philosophical Society (1981)
Bancroft Prize (1959)
Francis Parkman Prize (1966)
Golden Plate Award (1986)
Tulsa Hall of Fame (1989)
Oklahoma Book Award 91993)
Royal Historical Society
Dexter Prize (1974)
American Antiquarian Society (1969)
Members
Discussions
Daniel Boorstin and Jacques Barzun in Ancient History (April 2011)
Reviews
The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America by Daniel J. Boorstin
This is a vast selection from the author books, "Americans", "Creators", "Discoverers" and "Essays". I think this is the first time I've read Boorstin, probably because as even he considers himself an 'amateur', he is not a darling of the history professors. In several ways, Boosrtin reminds me of Wilson, a genius with the language, sentence structure and clarity, but a bit of a gadfly with topics and no agenda, except, perhaps, commonsense. I came away with some fascinating insights with chapters like 'Wanted: A Philosophy of the Unexpected', 'How Orthodoxy Made the Puritans Practical', 'How Quakers Misjudged the Indians', 'The Mythologizing of George Washington', 'The Wee: Gateway to Science, 'Priority Becomes the Priize', 'Paths to Evolution'. 'The Discovery of Prehsitory', 'Castles of Eternity', 'A Wrestler with the Angel', 'Self-Liquidating Ideals', 'Extravagant Expectations', and my two favorites, 'The Fertile Verge' and 'The Age of Negative Discovery'. A totally refreshing way to examine important and unimportant issues.… (more)
Lists
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 82
- Also by
- 21
- Members
- 15,276
- Popularity
- #1,491
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 105
- ISBNs
- 246
- Languages
- 16
- Favorited
- 21
