Postal rates -- History -- Sources

Abstract Elihu Burritt was born on December 10, 1810, in New Britain, Connecticut, into a working class family. He attended school briefly, but was largely self-educated. Burritt became a blacksmith to support himself, but he continued to study languages at night. Word of his erudition spread; he became known as the "Learned Blacksmith", and was offered opportunities to speak in public. While writing a lecture on "The Anatomy of the Earth", he was so impressed by the interdependency of its parts that...