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Last edited by Tom Morris
September 25, 2023 | History
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Louisa May Alcott

29 November 1832 - 6 March 1888

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 29, 1832. She and her three sisters, Anna, Elizabeth, and May, were educated by their father, philosopher and teacher Bronson Alcott, and raised on the practical Christianity of their mother, Abigail May.

Louisa spent her childhood in Boston and in Concord, Massachusetts, where her days were enlightened by visits to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s library, excursions into nature with Henry David Thoreau, and theatricals in the barn at "Hillside".

Like her character, "Jo March" in Little Women, young Louisa was a tomboy. "No boy could be my friend till I had beaten him in a race," she claimed, "and no girl if she refused to climb trees, leap fences ..."

For Louisa, writing was an early passion. She had a rich imagination and often her stories became melodramas that she and her sisters would act out for friends. Louisa preferred to play the "lurid" parts in these plays --"the villains, ghosts, bandits, and disdainful queens."

At age 15, troubled by the poverty that plagued her family, she vowed: "I will do something by and by. Don’t care what, teach, sew, act, write -- anything to help the family; and I’ll be rich and famous and happy before I die, see if I won’t!"

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  • Cover of: Louisa May Alcott unmasked: collected thrillers

    First published in 1995 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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    First published in 1978 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: Glimpses of Louisa: a centennial sampling of the best short stories.

    First published in 1968 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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    First published in 1991 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: Little women: Good wives ; Little men.

    First published in 1978 2 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition littlewomengoodw00loui
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  • Cover of: Little women: the secret garden

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  • Cover of: A marble woman: unknown thrillers of Louisa May Alcott

    First published in 1995 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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    First published in 1877 2 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition mygirlsetc00alco
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    First published in 2010 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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    First published in 1870 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: American Classics for Children Little Women Pollyanna Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (American Classics For Children, II)

    First published in 2003 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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Photo of Louisa May Alcott
Subjects
Fiction, Children's fiction, Juvenile fiction, American fiction (fictional works by one author), Fiction, general, History, Social life and customs, Women, Young women, Classic Literature, Conduct of life, Families, New england, fiction, American literature, Fiction, historical, general, Fiction, short stories (single author), Family, Family life, Short stories, Children's stories, American, Juvenile literature, Sex role, Sisters, Family life, fiction, Man-woman relationships
Places
New England, United States, Massachusetts, Nouvelle-Angleterre, Salem Village, Alabama, England, Europe, Owl Creek Bridge, 221B Baker Street, Alpha Inn, Boston (Mass.), British Museum, Brixton, Chênière Caminada, Concord, Concord (Mass.), Covent Garden, Dayton (Ohio), Egypt, European Union countries, Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Grand Isle, Gulf of Mexico, Jefferson
People
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), Devil, Ethelred, Faith Brown, Goodman Brown, Goody Cloyse, Madeline Usher, Roderick Usher, Peyton Farquhar, Adèle Ratignolle, Alcée Arobin, Alphonse Ratignolle, Amanda Wingfield, Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888), Amy March, Baker Street Irregulars, Bartleby, Beaudelet, Beth March, Breckinridge, C. Auguste Dupin, Catherine Cusack, Cicero, Colonel Sartoris, Countess of Morcar
Time
19th century, Civil War, 1861-1865, 1600s, 1861-1865, American Civil War, Civil War, Siglo XIX, 1783-1865, 1861-65, 1868-, 19e siècle, 20e siècle, 20th century, Antebellum era, Jin dai ., Jindai, carnival

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Alternative names

  • M. Louisa Alcott
  • Louisa M. Alcott
  • Louisa Mae Alcott
  • Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888.
  • Alcott,Louisa May オルコット,ルイーザ・メイ (1832-1888)
  • A. M. Barnard
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  • Louisa May 1832-1888 Alcott
  • Louis May Alcott
  • ALCOTT
  • Louisa M Alcott
  • Louisa May Alcott [Annotated]
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  • Alcott. Louisa May. 1832-1888.

History

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September 25, 2023 Edited by Tom Morris merge authors
July 1, 2022 Edited by AgentSapphire merge authors
July 1, 2022 Edited by AgentSapphire merge authors
July 1, 2022 Edited by AgentSapphire merge authors
June 29, 2022 Edited by AgentSapphire merge authors