FISKE, (1831-1904). An
American scholar, born in Ellisburg, Jefferson
County, N. Y. He was educated at Hamilton
College, but left before graduating to go abroad and
devote his time to a study of the Scandinavian
language and literature. He spent the years
1849-52 at the University of Upsala, supporting
himself by teaching English and lecturing on
American literature. From 1852 to 1859 he was
an assistant in the Astor Library, New York
City, and devoted much of his attention to
gathering its valuable Scandinavian collection. He
edited the American Chess Monthly (1857-60), and published The Book of the American Chess Congress (1859). In 1861-62 he was an attaché of the American Legation at Vienna, under John Lothrop Motley. He was editor of the Syracuse (N. Y.) Daily Journal in 1864-66, and of the Hartford (Conn.) Courant in 1867-68. In the latter year he was elected professor of North European languages and librarian at Cornell University. In 1881 he resigned, and removed to Florence, Italy. He presented to Cornell a very valuable Dante collection, for the catalogue of which he wrote a noteworthy introduction.