William Dean Howells

William Dean Howells (* March 1, 1837 in Martinsville (now Martins Ferry ), Ohio, † May 11 1920 in New England ) was an American novelist, literary critic and magazine editor. His best known works are A Modern Instance (1881 ) and The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885 ).

Life and career

Born the second of eight children experienced William Dean Howells, a restless childhood. Together with his parents and his siblings, he often changed his place of residence and lived among other things, in the utopian commune Eureka Mills. Influenced by his father, an editor and typesetter, William D. Howells learned the job of the typesetter. At the same time he learned through self-study various languages, including German, and began writing short poems and essays which he published in the Ohio State Journal and The Atlantic Monthly.

A first national success came Howells with a biography of presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, which began this in his campaign. With the income from this work Howells financed his move to New England, where he met many literary greats, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Sarah Orne Jewett.

After a short time in New England William Dean Howells took to the Office of the Honorary Consul of Venice, which was offered to him in gratitude for his services in the presidential campaign. During his four- year stay in Italy (1861-1865), he met his wife Elinor Mead Howells know, who gave him three children ( Winifred * 1863 John Mead * 1868 * Mildred 1872).

With the return to New England Howells also returned to the Atlantic Monthly. Here he worked as deputy editor before he was appointed editor in 1871. As an influential editor of a literary magazine coined many famous American authors were personal friends Howells. Personally, he devoted himself to the basic literature and became an advocate of the ( American ) realism. In dealing with the Romantics, the propagated by Howells Realism was developed.

In 1881 Howells ended his involvement in the Atlantic Monthly, and published his work in various regional magazines. At the same time he has distinguished himself as a promoter of regional authors and helped those in the publication of their works.

In recognition of his performance Howells was elected in 1908 as the first president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. These same academy called as further recognition of Howells ' in 1915 the well-known today Howells Medal to life.

William Dean Howells died on 11 May 1920 in New England from the effects of pneumonia.

Scripture Generic phases

Besides his work as editor and publisher of various magazines William Dean Howells wrote numerous short stories, poems and short stories. Here are three phases to distinguish.

  • Early Works: The early works of Howells ' are largely dominated by breadwinning. Howells tried the taste of the East Coast population to take in order to make as many commissioned works can, which secured him his financial survival. In this context, the successful creation of a campaign biography of Abraham Lincoln is seen.
  • Realism: Irritated by the contrast between romantic writing, and the immense problems of the "real " America is Howells devoted to realism. For Howells was the romance of one of the fundamental problems of writing because it helped his opinion that the Americans closed their eyes to reality and took refuge in fantasy worlds. As one of the first authors Howells themed social problems of the Gilded Age. So he dealt with the slavery issue (An imperative duty, 1892), the exploitation of labor ( Annie Kilburn, 1888) and social ills ( Editha, 1905). In this context, his most famous work The Rise of Silas Lapham is to see which deals with the rise of a businessman. Howells hoped that the explicit description of these grievances could lead to a rethinking of the American population.
  • Autobiographical Phase: In a return to his roots in Ohio and prodded by a visit in 1888 to deal many late works of Howells ' with his home (including A boy 's town in 1890 and The Kenton 1903). These works, which are marked clearly autobiographical, include among critics to the weaker publications of William Dean Howells.

Bibliography

  • Their Wedding Journey, 1871, 1887, 1916
  • A Chance Acquaintance, 1873
  • A Foregone Conclusion, 1875
  • The Whole Family: a Novel by Twelve Authors
  • A Counterfeit Presentment (1877 )
  • The Lady of the Aroostook (1879 )
  • The Undiscovered Country (1880 )
  • A Fearful Responsibility ( 1881)
  • Dr. Breen 's Practice ( 1881)
  • A Woman's Reason (1883 )
  • Three Villages ( 1884)
  • Tuscan Cities ( 1885)
  • The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885 )
  • The Minister's Charge ( 1886)
  • Indian Summer (1886 )
  • Modern Italian Poets (1887 )
  • April Hopes (1888 )
  • A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890)
  • The Shadow of Their Wedding " (1890)
  • Criticism and Fiction ( 1891)
  • A Traveller from Altruria (1892/1893)
  • The World of Chance ( 1893)
  • The Coast of Bohemia ( 1893)
  • My Year in a Log Cabin (1893 )
  • The Day of Their Weeding (1895 )
  • The Story of a Play (1898 )
  • Ragged Lady ( 1899)
  • Their Silver Wedding Anniversary ( 1899)
  • The Flight of Pony Baker ( 1902)
  • The Kenton (1902 )
  • Questionable Shapes (1903 )
  • Son of Royal Langbrith (1904 )
  • London Films (1905 )
  • Certain Delightful English Towns (1906 )
  • Between the Dark and the Daylight (1907 )
  • Through the Eye of the Needle, A Romance (1907 )
  • Heroines of Fiction ( 1908)
  • My Mark Twain: Reminiscences (1910 )
  • New Leaf Mills (1913 )
  • A Fantasy (1914 )
  • The Leatherwood God ( 1916)
Martins Ferry, Ohio Integrated Authority File
822333
de