Benjamin Henry Day Jr.

Benjamin Henry Day Jr. (March 7, 1838[1] – August 30, 1916) was an illustrator and printer, best known for his invention of Ben-Day dots.[2][3]

Model for an Empress, in A Tramp Abroad, p. 393, 1880

Day was the son of Benjamin Day, an American newspaper publisher best known for founding the New York Sun, the first penny press newspaper in the United States, in 1833. He was born in New York City, studied in Paris, and after returning to the United States worked for Leslie's, Harper's Weekly and similar publications.[3] He also contributed to the humorous weekly magazine Vanity Fair.[4]

Great Heidelberg Tun, in A Tramp Abroad, Appendix B on Heidelberg Castle, 1880
Unexpected Meeting of Friends, in A Tramp Abroad, p. 469 about the remains of "Pierre Balmat", 1880

The Mark Twain book A Tramp Abroad contains more than 20 pictures by Day.[4]

He married Maria Theresa Miller around 1859, who died in 1875.[1][5] They had two sons, Benjamin H. (April 11, 1860 – October 17, 1905) and Charles Shepherd (1866 – January 26, 1900).[6]

In 1878, Day was remarried to Rebecca Augusta Avery (June 27, 1844 – January 10, 1926), with whom he had two daughters (Florence and Helen).[5][7]

In 1908, he moved to Summit, New Jersey and built a large studio.[8] He died at his home in Summit on August 30, 1916, at the age of 78.[9]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Benjamin Henry Day.
  1. Dwight, Benjamin Woodbridge. The history of the descendants of John Dwight of Dedham, Mass, p. 974 (1874)
  2. Necrology, New York State Historical Society, Vol XVI (1917), p.283
  3. (31 August 1916). Benjamin Day, Inventor, The New York Times
  4. R. Kent Rasmussen (2007). Critical companion to Mark Twain: a literary reference to his life and work. New York: Facts on File. p. 662. ISBN 978-0-8160-5398-8.
  5. Records of the descendants of Nathaniel Ely, p. 388 (1885)
  6. History of Union County, New Jersey: 1664-1923, Volume 2, p. 686 (1923)
  7. (12 January 1926). Died, The New York Times
  8. (20 September 1916). Deaths, Bulletin of Photography, p. 338
  9. Levy, Florence Nightingale (1917). American Art Annual, Volume 13. MacMillan Company. p. 314.
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