William Roscoe Thayer (1859–1923) received a master's degree at Harvard University in 1886. He was best known for his works on Italian history, especially The Dawn of Italian Independence 1814 to 1840, 2 vols. (1893); A Short History of Venice (1905), and The Life and Times of Cavour, 2 vols. (1911).

Bibliography

The influence of Emerson, by William R. Thayer. Boston: Cupples, Upham, and Co.: Old Corner Bookstore, 1886.

Hesper: an American drama, by William Roscoe Thayer. Cambridge: C.W. Sever, 1888.

A short history of Venice, by William Roscoe Thayer. New York, London: Macmillan, 1905.

The life and times of Cavour, by William Roscoe Thayer. 2 vols. Boston: New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1911.

The life and letters of John Hay, by William Roscoe Thayer. 2 vols. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1915; Reprint, New York: AMS Press, 1972.

Letters of John Holmes to James Russell Lowell and others, ed. by William Roscoe Thayer; with an introduction by Alice M. Longfellow Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1917.

Theodore Roosevelt; an intimate biography, by William Roscoe Thayer. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1919

Volleys from a non-combatant, by William Roscoe Thayer. Garden City: Doubleday, Page, 1919.

George Washington, by William Roscoe Thayer. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1922.

The art of biography, by William Roscoe Thayer. Norwood, Pa.: Norwood Editions, 1978, c1920.