Transcriber's Note:
Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal
signs=
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
HER
Life, Letters, and Journals.
EDITED BY
EDNAH D. CHENEY
BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1898
_Copyright, 1889_,
BY J. S. P. ALCOTT.
UNIVERSITY PRESS:
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.
TO
MRS. ANNA B. PRATT,
THE SOLE SURVIVING SISTER OF LOUISA M. ALCOTT, AND HER
NEVER-FAILING HELP, COMFORTER, AND FRIEND
FROM BIRTH TO DEATH,
This Memoir
IS RESPECTFULLY AND TENDERLY DEDICATED,
BY
EDNAH D. CHENEY.
JAMAICA PLAIN,
June, 1889.
[Illustration: Portrait of Miss Alcott]
INTRODUCTION.
Louisa May Alcott is universally recognized as the greatest and most
popular story-teller for children in her generation. She has known the
way to the hearts of young people, not only in her own class, or even
country, but in every condition of life, and in many foreign lands.
Plato says, "Beware of those who teach fables to children;" and it is
impossible to estimate the influence which the popular writer of
fiction has over the audience he wins to listen to his tales. The
preacher, the teacher, the didactic writer find their audience in
hours of strength, with critical faculties all alive, to question
their propositions and refute their arguments. The novelist comes to
us in the intervals of recreation and relaxation, and by his seductive
powers of imagination and sentiment takes possession of the fancy and
the heart before judgment and reason are aroused to defend the
citadel. It well becomes us, then, who would guard young minds from
subtle temptations, to study the character of those works which charm
and delight the children.
Of no author can it be more truly said than of Louisa Alcott that her
works are a revelation of herself. She rarely sought for the material
of her stories in old chronicles, or foreign adventures. Her capital
was her own life and experiences and those of others directly about
her; and her own well-remembered girlish frolics and fancies were sure
to find responsive enjoyment in the minds of other girls.
It is therefore impossible to understand Miss Alcott's works fully
without a knowledge of her own life and experiences. By inheritance
and education she had rich and peculiar gifts; and her life was one of
rare advantages, as well as of trying difficulties. Herself of the
most true and frank nature, she has given us the opportunity of
knowing her without disguise; and it is thus that I shall try to
portray her, showing what influences acted upon her through life, and
how faithfully and fully she performed whatever duties circumstances
laid upon her. Fortunately I can let her speak mainly for herself.
Miss Alcott revised her journals at different times during her later
life, striking out what was too personal for other eyes than her own,
and destroying a great deal which would doubtless have proved very
interesting.
The small number of letters given will undoubtedly be a
disappointment. Miss Alcott wished to have most of her letters
destroyed, and her sister respected her wishes. She was not a
voluminous correspondent; she did not encourage many intimacies, and
she seldom wrote letters except to her family, unless in reference to
some purpose she had strongly at heart. Writing was her constant
occupation, and she was not tempted to indulge in it as a recreation.
Her letters are brief, and strictly to the point, but always
characteristic in feeling and expression; and, even at the risk of the
repetition of matter contained in her journals or her books, I shall
give copious extracts from such as have come into my hands.
E. D. C.
JAMAICA PLAIN, Mass., 1889.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION iii
CHAPTER.
I. GENEALOGY AND PARENTAGE 11
II. CHILDHOOD 16
III. FRUITLANDS 32
IV. THE SENTIMENTAL PERIOD 56
V. AUTHORSHIP 75
VI. THE YEAR OF GOOD LUCK 110
VII. "HOSPITAL SKETCHES" 136
VIII. EUROPE, AND "LITTLE WOMEN" 170
IX. EUROPE 204
X. FAMILY CHANGES 263
XI. LAST YEARS 329
XII. CONCLUSION 387
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
PORTRAIT OF MISS ALCOTT _Frontispiece_
Photogravure by A. W. Elson & Co., from a photograph by
Notman (negative destroyed), taken in 1883. The facsimile
of her writing is an extract from a letter to her
publisher, written from her hospital retreat a few weeks
previous to her death.
ORCHARD HOUSE ("APPLE SLUMP"), CONCORD,
MASS., THE HOME OF THE ALCOTTS, 1858 TO
1878 93
Engraved by John Andrew & Son Co., from a photograph.
PORTRAIT OF MISS ALCOTT 140
Photogravure by A. W. Elson & Co., from a photograph
taken just previous to her going to Washington as a hospital
nurse, in 1862.
FAC-SIMILE OF MISS ALCOTT'S WRITING 362
Extract from a letter to her publisher, January, 1886.
FAC-SIMILE OF PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION OF
"A MODERN MEPHISTOPHELES," NOW FIRST
PRINTED 380
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT.
CHAPTER I.
GENEALOGY AND PARENTAGE.
TO LOUISA MAY ALCOTT.
BY HER FATHER.
When I remember with what buoyant heart,
Midst war's alarms and woes of civil strife,
In youthful eagerness thou didst depart,
At peril of thy safety, peace, and life,
To nurse the wounded soldier, swathe the dead,--
How piercèd soon by fever's poisoned dart,
And brought unconscious home, with wildered head,
Thou ever since 'mid langour and dull pain,
To conquer fortune, cherish kindred dear,
Hast with grave studies vexed a sprightly brain,
In myriad households kindled love and cheer,
Ne'er from thyself by Fame's loud trump beguiled,
Sounding in this and the farther hemisphere,--
I press thee to my heart as Duty's faithful child.
Louisa Alcott was the second child of Amos Bronson and Abba May
Alcott. This name was spelled Alcocke in English history. About 1616 a
coat-of-arms was granted to Thomas Alcocke of Silbertoft, in the
county of Leicester. The device represents three cocks, emblematic of
watchfulness; and the motto is _Semper Vigilans_.
The first of the name appearing in English history is John Alcocke of
Beverley, Yorkshire, of whom Fuller gives an account in his Worthies
of England.
Thomas and George Alcocke were the first of the name among the
settlers in New England. The name is frequently found in the records
of Dorchester and Roxbury, and has passed through successive changes
to its present form.
The name of Bronson came from Mr. Alcott's maternal grandfather, the
sturdy Capt. Amos Bronson of Plymouth, Conn. "His ancestors on both
sides had been substantial people of respectable position in England,
and were connected with the founders and governors of the chief New
England colonies. At the time of Mr. Alcott's birth they had become
simple farmers, reaping a scanty living from their small farms in
Connecticut."
Amos Bronson Alcott, the father of Louisa, was born Nov. 29, 1799, at
the foot of Spindle Hill, in the region called New Connecticut. He has
himself given in simple verse the story of his quaint rustic life in
his boyhood, and Louisa has reproduced it in her story of "Eli's
Education" (in the Spinning-Wheel Stories), which gives a very true
account of his youthful life and adventures. He derived his refined,
gentle nature from his mother, who had faith in her son, and who lived
to see him the accomplished scholar he had vowed to become in his
boyhood. Although brought up in these rustic surroundings, his manners
were always those of a true gentleman. The name of the little mountain
town afterward became Wolcott, and Louisa records in her journal a
pilgrimage made thither in after years.[1]
Louisa Alcott's mother was a daughter of Col. Joseph May of Boston.
This family is so well known that it is hardly necessary to repeat its
genealogy here.[2] She was a sister of Samuel J. May, for many years
pastor of the Unitarian church at Syracuse, who was so tenderly
beloved by men of all religious persuasions in his home, and so widely
known and respected for his courage and zeal in the Antislavery cause,
as well as for his many philanthropic labors.
Mrs. Alcott's mother was Dorothy Sewall, a descendant of that family
already distinguished in the annals of the Massachusetts colony, and
which has lost nothing of its reputation for ability and virtue in its
latest representatives.[3]
Mrs. Alcott inherited in large measure the traits which distinguished
her family. She was a woman of large stature, fine physique, and
overflowing life. Her temper was as quick and warm as her affections,
but she was full of broad unselfish generosity. Her untiring energies
were constantly employed, not only for the benefit of her family, but
for all around her. She had a fine mind, and if she did not have
large opportunities for scholastic instruction, she always enjoyed the
benefit of intellectual society and converse with noble minds. She
loved expression in writing, and her letters are full of wit and
humor, keen criticism, and noble moral sentiments. Marriage with an
idealist, who had no means of support, brought her many trials and
privations. She bore them heroically, never wavering in affection for
her husband or in devotion to her children. If the quick, impatient
temper sometimes relieved itself in hasty speech, the action was
always large and unselfish.
It will be apparent from Louisa's life that she inherited the traits
of both her parents, and that the uncommon powers of mind and heart
that distinguished her were not accidental, but the accumulated result
of the lives of generations of strong and noble men and women.
She was well born.
_Mr. Alcott to Colonel May._
GERMANTOWN, Nov. 29, 1832.
DEAR SIR,--It is with great pleasure that I announce to you the
_birth of a second daughter_. She was born at half-past 12 this
morning, on my birthday (33), and is a very fine healthful child,
much more so than Anna was at birth,--has a fine foundation for
health and energy of character. Abba is very comfortable, and
will soon be restored to the discharge of those domestic and
maternal duties in which she takes so much delight, and in the
performance of which she furnishes so excellent a model for
imitation. Those only who have seen her in those relations, much
as there is in her general character to admire and esteem, can
form a true estimate of her personal worth and uncommon devotion
of heart. She was formed for domestic sentiment rather than the
gaze and heartlessness of what is falsely called "society." Abba
inclines to call the babe _Louisa May_,--a name to her full of
every association connected with amiable benevolence and exalted
worth. I hope its _present possessor_ may rise to equal
attainment, and deserve a place in the estimation of society.
With Abba's and Anna's and Louisa's regards, allow me to assure
you of the sincerity with which I am
Yours,
A. BRONSON ALCOTT.
The children who lived to maturity were--
ANNA BRONSON ALCOTT,
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT,
ELIZABETH SEWALL ALCOTT,
ABBA MAY ALCOTT.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For further particulars of the Alcott genealogy, see "New
Connecticut," a poem by A. B. Alcott, published in 1887. I am also
indebted to Mr. F. B. Sanborn's valuable paper read at the memorial
service at Concord in 1888.
[2] For particulars of the genealogy of the May families, see "A
Genealogy of the Descendants of John May," who came from England to
Roxbury in America, 1640.
[3] For the Sewall family, see "Drake's History of Boston," or fuller
accounts in the Sewall Papers published by the Massachusetts
Historical Society.