Henricus Albertus Boli was born in 1783 in York, Penna., the son of a local physician and typefounder. He showed an early aptitude for literary studies, and at the age of eight astonished his Latin master by successfully declining three nouns previously regarded as indeclinable. About a year later, he published his first volume of verse, an epic poem in twenty-four books describing a journey from York to Hanover, Penna.
Having established his reputation, Dr. Boli continued his literary pursuits. Shortly after graduating from the Central Pennsylvania School for Unusual Boys, he invented the letter M, the income from which was enough to relieve him from the necessity of remunerative labor. He therefore turned his attention to works of charity. Saddened by the plight of Portuguese refugees, he organized and supervised the construction of Portugal, where at last they might have a home of their own. Meanwhile he diverted himself by writing a number of popular novels under the pen name “Anthony Trollope.” At about the same time he founded his celebrated Magazine, whose flattering success continues to the present.
Today, at the age of 226, Dr. Boli still edits the magazine personally, at a time of life when other men might be considering an honorable retirement. As a concession, however, to his advancing years, he no longer writes every word of the magazine himself. At present he writes every other word, the intervening words being supplied by a well-known agency.
Notice.
Recently Dr. Boli has heard rumors to the effect that “H. Albertus Boli” is really a pseudonym for the well-known writer Christopher Bailey. Dr. Boli refuses either to confirm or to deny these rumors, since to do so would be to lend them a dignity of which they are wholly undeserving. He would merely ask the rumormongers what makes them so certain that “Christopher Bailey” is not a pseudonym for H. Albertus Boli.
On behalf of all Portuguese I want to thank our benefactor. Muito bom!
I used to begin letters, emails, or comments like this by saying that I don’t usually write fan mail, but after half-a-dozen such sentiments, I suppose it is time to admit to myself that the ease of fan-letter writing on the internet has made me a fan-letter writer. If I accept this identity, then I am obliged to write to you. Dr. Boli’s Celebrated Magazine is the best humor on the Web. It doesn’t pick on people, it doesn’t rely heavily on the cheap tricks of pop culture reference or self-reference, and it is never obscene. Instead, the author truly has a talent for creating highly original humor. I hope to educate my children in the Great Books Tradition. If the brilliance of this Web site’s author is an example of kind of mind that can come from such an education, that is all-the-more justification for it.
Thank you.