Josiah G. Holland

Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819–1881) was an American novelist, poet, essayist, and editor. Born in Massachusetts, he trained as a physician but turned to writing and journalism. Holland gained wide popularity through moral and domestic fiction, including *Arthur Bonnicastle* and *Sevenoaks*, and through the long narrative poem *Bitter-Sweet*. He also wrote influential essays and advice literature, notably *Letters to the Joneses*. In 1870 he helped found *Scribner’s Monthly* and served as its longtime editor, shaping the magazine’s literary and cultural profile; it later became *The Century Magazine*. Holland’s work reflects nineteenth-century American values and reform-minded optimism.