Mary Tappan Wright
Mary Tappan Wright | |
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Aliens (1902) |
Mary Tappan Wright (1851–1916) was an American novelist[1][2] and short story writer best known for her acute characterizations and depictions of academic life. She was the wife of classical scholar John Henry Wright[3][4][5][6][7] and the mother of legal scholar and utopian novelist Austin Tappan Wright and geographer John Kirtland Wright.[5]
Life and family
Wright was born Mary Tappan December 14, 1851, in
Career
Works
Wright and her husband are said to have "worked together on their literary activities."
Much of her fiction dealt with American university life, often set in the fictional college town she called Dulwich in her short stories and The Test, and Great Dulwich in her other novels, which combines elements of both Kenyon College and Harvard University. Her novels are all set in college towns, the third and fourth in Dulwich itself (the first and second also mention it peripherally). Her first novel,
Wright's first four books were published by
All of Wright's novels are currently available in e-editions on Book Search. Aliens was reprinted by Kessinger Publishing, LLC, in June, 2007; The Tower was reprinted by Kessinger in December, 2008. Wright's previously uncollected short stories were issued in new collections by Fleabonnet Press from December, 2007-November 2008.
Critical reception
In her writing Wright was praised as having "a keen sense of humor, good descriptive powers, a good working knowledge of human nature, an effective style" and the ability to "tell a story well."[17] Her skill at characterization was also noted.[1]
Papers
Wright's papers, including correspondence and original manuscripts and fragments, are found in various archival collections at the Harvard University Library and the Houghton Library at Harvard College.[22] An early commonplace book from 1870 to 1877, containing mostly poetry, is in the Stone-Wright family papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Bibliography
Novels
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- The Test[1][4][5][6][7][11] (1904) (Google e-text)
- The Tower[1][5][6][7][8][11] (1906) (Dulwich series) (Google e-text)
- The Charioteers[1][5][7][11][13] (1912) (Dulwich series) (Google e-text)
Collections
- A Truce, and Other Stories[1][3][4][5][6][7][8][11] (1895) (e-text)
- Pro Tempore, and Other Stories (2007) (e-text)
- Dead Letters, and Other Pieces (2008) (e-text)
- Beginning Alone, and Other Stories (2008) (e-text)
- Uncollected Works (2008) (e-text)
Short stories
- "How They Cured Him" (Mar. 1887) (Holiday series) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
- "Alice's Christmas" (Dec. 1889) (Holiday series) (e-text)
- "Numbered With Thy Saints" (Apr. 1890) (Dulwich series) (e-text)
- "As Haggards of the Rock" (May 1890) (Making of America e-text) (another e-text)
- "Beginning Alone" (Sep.-Oct. 1890) (Dulwich series) (e-text)
- "A Truce" (Jan. 1891) (Making of America e-text) (another e-text)
- "A Fragment of a Play, With a Chorus" (May 1891) (Making of America e-text) (another e-text)
- "Divided Allegiances" (Feb. 1892) (e-text)
- "A Lad—Dismissed" (Jul.-Aug. 1893) (e-text)
- "The Gray Fur Rug" (Nov. 1893) (Holiday series) (e-text)
- "Deep as First Love" (Feb. 1894) (Making of America e-text) (another e-text)
- "A Portion of the Tempest" (Jun. 1894) (Jackson series) (Making of America e-text) (another e-text)
- "His Last" (Jun. 1894; reprinted as "His Last Offence, A Story of College Life", 1900) (Dulwich series) (e-text)
- "From Macedonia" (Oct. 1894) (Jackson series) (Making of America e-text) (another e-text)
- "Three Fires at Redmont" (Jun. 1895) (e-text)
- "Cunliffe" (Sep. 1896) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
- "The Key of the Fields" (Feb. 1898) (Making of America e-text) (another e-text)
- "An Exception" (Jan. 1899) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
- "Ethel's Christmas Brother" (Jan. 20 1900) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
- "The Best Laid Plans" (ca.1901)
- "A Day Together"[5] (Jan. 1901) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
- "Dead Letters"[5] (Sep. 1901) (Dulwich series) (e-text)
- "A Sacred Concert"[5] (Jul. 1903) (Dulwich series) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
- "Vox"[5] (Oct. 1903) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
- "Pro Tempore" (Jun. 1906) (Dulwich series) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
- "The Mountain" (Feb. 1907) (e-text)
- "Asphodel"[5] (Oct. 1909) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
Non-fiction
- "Children and Books" (article) (Mar. 3 1900) (Google e-text) (another e-text)
- "The Iron Woman" (review of the novel by Margaret Deland) (Dec. 1911) (e-text)
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Wright, Mary Tappan" in The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge. New York, The Encyclopedia American Corporation, v. 29, 1920, p. 570.
- ^ a b Wallace, W. Stewart. A Dictionary of North American Authors Deceased before 1950. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1951, p. 520.
- ^ a b c d e f g Who's Who in America, a Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States, 1903–1905. Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company, 1903, p. 1658.
- ^ a b c d e f Adams, Oscar Fay. A Dictionary of American Authors. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1904, p. 438.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Leonard, John William, ed. Woman's Who's Who of America, 1914–1915, New York, The American Commonwealth Company, c1914, p. 907.
- ^ a b c d e f g Herringshaw, Thomas William, ed. Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography. Chicago, American Publishers' Association, 1914, p. 784.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Who Was Who in America. Volume 1, 1897–1942. Chicago: A. N. Marquis Company, 1943, p. 1386.
- ^ a b c d Warner, Charles Dudley, ed. Biographical Dictionary and Synopsis of Books Ancient and Modern. Akron, Ohio: Werner Co., 1902, p. 619.
- ^ a b Motter, H. L., ed. The International Who's Who; Who's Who in the World, 1912, New York, The International Who's Who Publishing Company, c1911, p. 1121
- ^ a b c d e Who's Who in New England. 2nd ed. Chicago : A. N. Marquis & Company, 1916. p. 1186.
- ^ a b c d e f g h American Authors and Books. 1640 to the present day. Third revised edition. By W.J. Burke and Will D. Howe. Revised by Irving Weiss and Anne Weiss. New York: Crown Publishers, 1972, p. 712.
- ^ Lexikon der Frau in zwei Bünden. Band II, I-Z. Zürich, Encyclios Verlag 1954, p. 1662.
- ^ a b c d e "Among the Authors – article". New York Times. July 14, 1912. p. BR412.
- ^ a b Flagg, Mildred Buchanan. Boston Authors Now and Then; More Members of the Boston Authors Club, 1900–1966. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dresser, Chapman & Grimes, 1966, p. 255.
- ^ "Death Notices" – article, Boston Journal, August 28, 1916, p. 11.
- ^ Wright, Mary Tappan. A Truce, and Other Stories. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1895.
- ^ a b "A Study of Conscience". New York Times. April 30, 1904. p. BR296.
- ^ "Some February Books". New York Times. January 30, 1904. p. BR66.
- ^ Peattie, Elia W. (April 2, 1904). "More Plays by Mr. Yeats". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 13.
- ^ "Scribner Spring Books – display advertisement". New York Times. April 7, 1906. p. BR207.
- ^ Houghton Mifflin Company. Houghton Mifflin Company reader reports on manuscripts submitted for publication: Guide. (MS Am 2516, Harvard University Library).
- ^ Wright, Mary Tappan, 1851–1916. Correspondence and compositions: Guide to papers at the Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
General references
- Coyle, William, ed. Ohio Authors and Their Books. Biographical data and selective bibliographies for Ohio authors, native and resident, 1796–1950. Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1962.