FLAGG, Edmund, author, born in Wiscasset, Maine, 24 November 1815. He was graduated at Bowdoin in 1835, and soon afterward taught in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also contributed to the "Louisville Journal," with which his connection continued for nearly thirty years. He read law in St. Louis, where he was admitted to the bar in 1837. He edited the St. Louis "Commercial Bulletin" in 1838, served with George D. Prentice as associate editor of the "Louisville Literary Newsletter" in 1838'9, practiced law in Vicksburg, Miss., in 1840'1, and at the same time was editor of the "Whig," in which capacity he was severely wounded in a duel with the editor of the Vicksburg " Sentinel." He owned and conducted the "Gazette" at Marietta, Ohio, in 1842, and the St. Louis " Evening Gazette" in 1844'5.

He subsequently acted as the official reporter of the courts of St. Louis, reported a volume of debates in the Constitutional convention of Missouri, and in 1849 was secretary of legation at Berlin. In 1850'1 he was U. S. consul at Venice, and also correspondent for several New York journals. On his return, in February 1852, he at once took charge of a Democratic paper in St. Louis, and edited it during the presidential campaign of that year. He was afterward placed at the head of the bureau of statistics in the Department of state at Washington, and prepared, by order of congress, a report on the commercial relations of the United States with all foreign nations (4 vols., 1856'7). This, with reports on the cotton and tobacco trades, and numerous annual statements respecting foreign commerce and emigration, have made Mr. Flagg's name familiar to merchants, not only throughout the country, but also in Europe. Having resigned his office in the state department, Mr. Flagg acted, in 1858'60, as Washington correspondent of the western press. From 1861 till 1870 he had charge of copyrights in the Department of the interior, and has since resided near Falls Church, Fairfax County, Virginia, where he has practiced law. In 1836 Mr. Flagg wrote "Sketches of a Traveller" for the "Louisville Journal," afterward included in "The Far West" (New York, 1838). He also contributed to Park Benjamin's " New World" a series of seven historical romances, based on the dramas of Victor Hugo. In 1848 he was awarded a prize of $100 for a novel entitled "The Howard Queen," and in 1850 a similar prize for" Blanche of Artois." He also wrote "Edmond Dantes," a sequel to "Monte Christo" (Philadelphia, 1849; new ed., 1884);" Venice, the City of the Sea, 17971849," his chief work (2 vols., New York, 1853); "North Italy since 1849 " ; and "De Molai, the Last of the Military Grand Masters," an historical romance, the last two not yet published. He has also written "Mary Tudor " and other dramas, which have been put on the stage, and has in preparation his "Reminiscences."