In this Book
- Alcott in Her Own Time: A Biographical Chronicle of Her LIfe, Drawn from Recollections, Interviews, and Memoirs by Family, Friends, and Associates
- Book
- 2005
- Published by: University of Iowa Press
- Series: Writers in Their Own Time
summary
By 1888, twenty years after the publication of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) was one of the most popular and successful authors America had yet produced. In her pre-Little Women days, she concocted blood-and-thunder tales for low wages; post-Little Women, she specialized in domestic novels and short stories for children. Collected here for the first time are the reminiscences of people who knew her, the majority of which have not been published since their original appearance in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Many of the printed recollections in this book appeared after Alcott became famous and showcase her as a literary lion, but others focus on her teen years, when she was living the life of Jo March; these intimate glimpses into the life of the Alcott family lead the reader to one conclusion: the family was happy, fun, and entertaining, very much like the fictional Marches. The recollections about an older and wealthier Alcott show a kind and generous, albeit outspoken, woman little changed by her money and status.
From Annie Sawyer Downs’s description of life in Concord to Anna Alcott Pratt’s recollections of the Alcott sisters’ acting days to Julian Hawthorne’s neighborly portrait of the Alcotts, the thirty-six recollections in this copiously illustrated volume tell the private and public story of a remarkable life.
Many of the printed recollections in this book appeared after Alcott became famous and showcase her as a literary lion, but others focus on her teen years, when she was living the life of Jo March; these intimate glimpses into the life of the Alcott family lead the reader to one conclusion: the family was happy, fun, and entertaining, very much like the fictional Marches. The recollections about an older and wealthier Alcott show a kind and generous, albeit outspoken, woman little changed by her money and status.
From Annie Sawyer Downs’s description of life in Concord to Anna Alcott Pratt’s recollections of the Alcott sisters’ acting days to Julian Hawthorne’s neighborly portrait of the Alcotts, the thirty-six recollections in this copiously illustrated volume tell the private and public story of a remarkable life.
Table of Contents
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- Introduction
- pp. vii-xviii
- Chronology
- pp. xix-xxx
- [Louisa May Alcott in 1860]
- pp. 5-6
- [A Visit to the Alcotts in 1864]
- pp. 12-14
- “The Alcotts” (1888)
- pp. 47-52
- “A Foreword by Meg” (1893)
- pp. 74-77
- [Reminiscences of “Laurie”] (1901 and 1902)
- pp. 100-109
- From The Alcotts in Harvard (1902)
- pp. 110-123
- From Bits of Gossip (1904)
- pp. 124-125
- From The Alcotts as I Knew Them (1909)
- pp. 133-144
- “Reminiscences of Louisa M. Alcott” (1912)
- pp. 145-152
- “The ‘Little Women’ of Long Ago” (1913)
- pp. 153-161
- From Alcott Memoirs (1915)
- pp. 169-182
- [A Visit to Louisa May Alcott] (1917)
- pp. 186-187
- From Memories of Concord (1926)
- pp. 211-219
- “Miss Clara and Her Friend, Louisa” (1960)
- pp. 227-232
- Image Plates
- pp. 241-264
Additional Information
ISBN
9781587295980
Related ISBN(s)
9780877459378, 9780877459385
DOI
MARC Record
OCLC
85810160
Pages
272
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2005