Harriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe

"Harriet Beecher Stowe" by Frank M^cAlpine.
From M^cAlpine, Frank Our Album of Authors: A Cyclopedia of Popular Literary People. . Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati: Elliot and Beezley, 1888. (Copyright 1885.) pp. 366-369.

[Page 366]

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

HARRIET ELIZABETH BEECHER STOWE was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, June 15, 1812. Her father was Dr. Lyman Beecher, a distinguished clergyman. In 1833, with her father, she removed to Cincinnati, where, in 1836, she was married to the Rev. Calvin Stowe, who afterward became professor at Bowdoin College and at Andover Theological School.

Several stories which she had written for the Cincinnati "Gazette" and other periodicals, were collected and published in a volume entitled "The Mayflower." In 1851 she commenced "Uncle Tom's Cabin," in the Washington "National Era." The story was afterward published in Boston in two volumes. "Its success was without parallel in the literature of any age. Nearly half a million copies were sold in this country, and a considerably larger number in England. It was translated into every language of Europe, and into Arabic and Armenian. It was dramatized and acted in nearly every theatre in the world. " In 1853 she visited Europe and was received with gratifying attention. "Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands" was published upon her return from Europe. In 1856 appeared "Dred, a Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp." This work produced but slight impression. The success of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" probably removed the charm of novelty in the subject of her new story. "The Minister's Wooing" appeared in book form in 1859. "Agnes of Sorrento" and "The Pearl of Orr's Island" were published in 1862; "House and Home Papers," in 1864; "The Chimney Corner," in 1865; "Little Foxes," 1865; "Queer Little People," 1867; "Oldtown Folks," 1869; "Pink and White Tyranny," 1871; "My Wife and I," 1872. Probably the great mistake in her literary work was made in pub- [Page 367]

[Page 368] lishing "The True Story of Lady Byron's Life." If true it should not have been told, but the story is thought not to be true.

Mrs. Stowe has written very extensively, and her published works entitle her to a place among the greatest authors of fiction. While her fame rests upon her first great book, yet all of her works contain excellent qualities. Her genius is rare and original. For several years she has spent the greater part of her time in her Florida home, in company with her husband and daughters.

It is customary with most authors to classify female writers as the wife or sister or some other relative of some man. Mrs. Stowe, however, needs not the name of her husband, nor the world-wide fame of the Beechers, to give her a place in the front ranks of literature. The world knows her as well as it knows her relatives, and its admiration for her is richly merited. [Page 369]