Birth and Early Career ● Born on 31 May 1819 near Huntington,Long Island,New York He was almost entirely self- educated,especially admiring the work of Dante,Shakespeare, and Homer. His mother described him as very good,but very strange." His brother described him as being "stubborner than a load of bricks."Birth and Early Career l Born on 31 May 1819 near Huntington, Long Island, New York l He was almost entirely self- educated, especially admiring the work of Dante, Shakespeare, and Homer. l His mother described him as “very good, but very strange.” l His brother described him as being “stubborner than a load of bricks