1878 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1878 in literature involved some significant new books.
Events
- January 28 - The Yale News becomes the first daily college newspaper in the United States.
- Guy de MaupassantGuy de MaupassantHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
becomes an employee of the Ministry of Public Instruction.
New books
- William Harrison AinsworthWilliam Harrison AinsworthWilliam Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket...
- Beatrice Tyldesley - Walter BesantWalter BesantSir Walter Besant , was a novelist and historian who lived largely in London.His sister-in-law was Annie Besant.-Biography:...
and James Rice - The Monks of ThelemaThe Monks of ThelemaThe Monks of Thelema was a novel by Walter Besant and James Rice. It was published during 1878 by Chatto & Windus, London.This novel includes descriptions of a sort of "church of Thelema", similar to the Abbey of Thélème, described by Rabelais's novel Gargantua. Aleister Crowley later initiated a... - Mary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret.-Life:...
- An Open Verdict - Wilkie CollinsWilkie CollinsWilliam Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
- The Haunted Hotel - Anna Katharine GreenAnna Katharine GreenAnna Katharine Green was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories.-Life and work:...
- The Leavenworth Case - Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
- The Return of the NativeThe Return of the NativeThe Return of the Native is Thomas Hardy's sixth published novel. It first appeared in the magazine Belgravia, a publication known for its sensationalism, and was presented in twelve monthly installments from January to December 1878... - Henry JamesHenry JamesHenry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
- Daisy MillerDaisy MillerDaisy Miller is an 1878 novella by Henry James first appearing in Cornhill Magazine in Jun-July 1879, and in book form the following year. It portrays the courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Winterbourne, a sophisticated compatriot of hers...
- The EuropeansThe EuropeansThe Europeans: A sketch is a short novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is essentially a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the 'new' world of New England. The novel first appeared as a serial in The Atlantic...
- Daisy Miller
- William Hurrell MallockWilliam Hurrell MallockWilliam Hurrell Mallock was an English novelist and economics writer.-Biography:He was educated privately and then at Balliol College, Oxford. He won the Newdigate prize in 1872 and took a second class in the final classical schools in 1874, securing his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford...
- The New Paul and VirginiaThe New Paul and VirginiaThe New Paul and Virginia, or Positivism on an Island is a satirical dystopian novel written by William Hurrell Mallock, and first published in 1878...
- - The New RepublicThe New Republic (novel)The New Republic or Culture, Faith and Philosophy in an English Country House by English author William Hurrell Mallock is a novel first published by Chatto and Windus of London in 1877. The work had its genesis as a serialization...
- - The New Republic
- Hector MalotHector MalotHector Malot was a French writer born in La Bouille, Seine-Maritime. He studied law in Rouen and Paris, but eventually literature became his passion. He worked as a dramatic critic for Lloyd Francais and as a literary critic for L'Opinion Nationale.His first book, published in 1859, was Les...
- Sans FamilleSans FamilleSans Famille is an 1878 French novel by Hector Malot. Most recent English translation is "Alone in the World" by AJ de Bruyn, 2007.-First Volume:... - Margaret Oliphant - The Primrose PathThe Primrose PathThe Primrose Path is an 1875 novel by Bram Stoker. It was the writer's first novel, published 22 years before Dracula and serialized in five installments in The Shamrock, a weekly Irish magazine, from February 6, 1875 to March 6, 1875....
- José Maria de Eça de Queiroz - O Primo BasílioO Primo BasílioO Primo Basílio is one of the greatest realist novels of the Portuguese author José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, also known under the modernized spelling Eça de Queirós. He worked in the Portuguese consular service, stationed at 53 Grey Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, from late 1874 until April 1879...
- Anne Eliza SmithAnne Eliza SmithAnn Eliza Smith was raised in St. Albans, Vermont by her parents Lawrence Brainerd and Fidelia B. Gadcombe. Ann Brainerd married J. Gregory Smith in 1842 and together they had six children. It has been believed for some time that the town of Brainerd, Minnesota was named after her...
- SeolaSeolaSeola is an antediluvian novel published in 1878, written by Ann Eliza Smith. The publishers of the novel are Boston: Lee and Shepard, New York: Charles T. Dillingham.... - Harriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
- Poganuc People: Their Loves and Lives - Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
- Anna KareninaAnna KareninaAnna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger... - Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
- Dick Sand, A Captain at FifteenDick Sand, A Captain at FifteenDick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen is a Jules Verne novel published in 1878. It deals primarily with the issue of slavery, and the African slave trade by other Africans in particular.- Themes :Themes explored in the novel include:... - Émile ZolaÉmile ZolaÉmile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
- Une Page d'amourUne Page d'amourUne page d'amour is the eighth novel in the Rougon-Macquart series by Émile Zola, set among the petite bourgeoisie in Second Empire suburban Paris. It was first serialized between December 11, 1877, and April 4, 1878, in Le Bien public, before being published in novel form by Charpentier in April...
Non-fiction
- Grove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansGrove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansThe New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
, 1st edition - Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
- Human, All Too HumanHuman, All Too HumanHuman, All Too Human , subtitled A Book for Free Spirits , is a book by 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1878...
(Menschliches, Allzumenschliches) - Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
- An Inland VoyageAn Inland VoyageAn Inland Voyage is a travelogue by Robert Louis Stevenson about a canoeing trip through France and Belgium in 1876. It is Stevenson's earliest book and a pioneering work of outdoor literature....
Births
- January 6 - Carl SandburgCarl SandburgCarl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
, poet, historian (d. 19671967 in literatureThe year 1967 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Influential science fiction anthology Dangerous Visions published.*Cecil Day-Lewis is selected as the new Poet Laureate of the UK.-New books:...
) - January 12 - Ferenc MolnárFerenc MolnárLanguageFerenc Molnár was a Hungarian dramatist and novelist. His Americanized name was Franz Molnar...
, writer (d. 19521952 in literatureThe year 1952, in literature involved some significant events and new literary publications.-Events:*J. L. Carr takes over as headmaster of Highfields Primary School, Kettering, which will eventually furnish the subject matter for his novel, The Harpole Report.*November 25 - Agatha Christie's play...
) - June 1 - John MasefieldJohn MasefieldJohn Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
, poet (d. 19671967 in literatureThe year 1967 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Influential science fiction anthology Dangerous Visions published.*Cecil Day-Lewis is selected as the new Poet Laureate of the UK.-New books:...
) - June 12 - James Oliver CurwoodJames Oliver CurwoodJames Oliver Curwood was an American novelist and conservationist. His writing studio, Curwood Castle, is now a museum in Owosso, Michigan.-Biography and career:Curwood was born in Owosso, the youngest of four children...
, American author (d. 19271927 in literatureThe year 1927 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Random House, book publishers, is founded in New York City by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer.-New books:*James Boyd - Marching On...
) - September 20 - Upton SinclairUpton SinclairUpton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
(d. 19681968 in literatureThe year 1968 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Dean R. Koontz's first novel, Star Quest is published....
)
Deaths
- February 1 - George CruikshankGeorge CruikshankGeorge Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.-Early life:Cruikshank was born in London...
, book illustrator (b. 17921792 in literature-New books:*Hugh Henry Brackenridge - Modern Chivalry: containing the Adventures of Captain John Farrago and Teague O'Regan, His servant*Johann Baptist Durach - Philippine Welserin*Susannah Gunning - Anecdotes of the Delborough Family...
) - April 24 - Heinrich LeoHeinrich LeoHeinrich Leo was a Prussian historian born in Rudolstadt, his father being chaplain to the garrison there....
, historian (b. 17991799 in literature-Events:* Charles Lamb becomes guardian of his sister, Mary Lamb, on the death of their father.* New edition of Edward Young's Night Thoughts, illustrated by Thomas Stothard.-New books:*Charles Brockden Brown**Arthur Mervyn**Edgar Huntly...
) - April 25 - Anna SewellAnna SewellAnna Sewell was an English novelist, best known as the author of the classic novel Black Beauty.-Biography:Anna Mary Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England into a devoutly Quaker family...
, novelist (b. 18201820 in literatureThe year 1820 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* Robert Chambers's publishing company publishes The Songs of Robert Burns....
) - July 1 - Catherine WinkworthCatherine WinkworthCatherine Winkworth was an English translator. She is best known for bringing the German chorale tradition to English speakers with her numerous translations of hymns.-Biography:...
, translator (b. 18271827 in literatureThe year 1827 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Samuel G. Goodrich publishes the first of the "Peter Parley" juvenile novels that would continue until 1860....
) - August 13 - George GilfillanGeorge GilfillanGeorge Gilfillan was a Scottish author and poet. He was one of the spasmodic poets, and an editor and commentator of earlier British poetry. He was born at Comrie, Perthshire, where his father, the Rev. Samuel Gilfillan, the author of some theological works, was for many years minister of a...
, poet and author (b. 18131813 in literatureThe year 1813 in literature involved some significant new books, including Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Robert Southey with Life of Nelson, Arthur Schopenhauer's Sufficient Reason, and Shelley's Queen Mab.-Events:...
)- Elizabeth PrentissElizabeth PrentissElizabeth Payson Prentiss was an author, well known for her hymn "More Love to Thee, O Christ" and the religious novel Stepping Heavenward...
, poet and hymn-writer (b. 18181818 in literatureThe year 1818 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Lord Byron begins writing Don Juan.* Series of lectures on poetry, drama, philosophy - Samuel Taylor Coleridge.-New books:*Jane Austen - Persuasion...
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- Elizabeth Prentiss
- November 17 - Karl Theodor KeimKarl Theodor KeimKarl Theodor Keim was a German Protestant theologian.He was born at Stuttgart. His father, Johann Christian Keim, was headmaster of a gymnasium. Here Karl Theodor received his early education, and then proceeded to the Stuttgart Obergymnasium. In 1843 he went to the university of Tübingen, where...
, theologian (b. 18251825 in literatureThe year 1825 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Henri Boulard dies, leaving behind one of the greatest book collections in history, with a library containing more than half a million books.-Fiction:...
) - December 19 - Bayard TaylorBayard TaylorBayard Taylor was an American poet, literary critic, translator, and travel author.-Life and work:...
, poet (b. 18251825 in literatureThe year 1825 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Henri Boulard dies, leaving behind one of the greatest book collections in history, with a library containing more than half a million books.-Fiction:...
) - date unknown - George Whyte-MelvilleGeorge Whyte-MelvilleGeorge John Whyte-Melville was a Scottish novelist of the sporting-field and a poet.-Life and work:Born at Mount Melville, near St. Andrews. He achieved immediate success as a writer of fox-hunting stories with his first novel Digby Grand in 1854...
, novelist (b. 18211821 in literatureThe year 1821 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* In the first known obscenity case in the United States, a Massachusetts court outlawed the John Cleland novel, Fanny Hill ...
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