Robert Montgomery Bird
Robert Montgomery Bird ( born February 5, 1806 in New Castle, Delaware; † January 23, 1854 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a North American writer, especially with the 1837 Kentucky - published novel Nick of the Woods ( The devil of the woods ) was successful. "This adventure story from the time of bloody battles between frontiersmen and Indians he wanted, as he expressly stated in the preface to the edition of 1853, against the idea of the ' noble savage ' protest ," says Kindler's new literary lexicon. For Bird were the " redskins " barbarians. However, he described the white frontiersman as hardly less cruel.
Life and work
Bird began as a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania to write stories that appeared since 1827 in Philadelphia Monthly Magazine. Soon after his graduation he decided to pursue a medical rather than a literary career. In 1828 he won with his theater piece Pelopidas an exposed by Edwin Forrest, doped with $ 1000 price, but this was not produced. Only in 1831 did Forrest Birds The Gladiator on stage. Bird delivered more successful plays, but because he felt cheated in financial terms, of Forrest, he turned to writing the novel. His subjects were first historical ( ancient Rome, Greece, the modern history of South America ) until it reaches the contemporary North American Indians " de-mythologized " Nick of the Woods, like Kindler said. From 1837 Bird also operated as a journalist; He was co-editor of the American Monthly Magazine and 1847 editor of the North American and United States Gazette (Philadelphia, PA). In addition, he taught medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical College and applied in 1842 for a seat in Congress. Since 1840 he lived in Maryland on a farm on the east coast. He died in Philadelphia in 1854.
Works (selection)
Tragedies
- The gladiator, created in 1831, first edition 1919
- Oralloossa, premiere in 1832, first edition 1919
- The broker of Bogota's premiere in 1834, first edition 1919
Novels
- Calavar, or the knight of the conquest, in 1834 ( Calavar or The Knight of the conquest )
- The infidel, or The case of Mexico, 1835
- Nick of the Woods, or The Jibbenainosay, 1837 ( dts.: The Waldteufel, Stuttgart 1928, also titled The dangers of the wilderness published )