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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: Little Women: Or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy; Volume 1

    First published in 2022 7 editions in 1 language
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    First published in 1876 6 editions in 1 language — 4 previewable Cover of edition independence00alcorich Cover of edition silverpitchersin00alco2 Cover of edition silverpitchersan00alco
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    First published in 2000 6 editions
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  • Cover of: Lulu's library.

    First published in 1886 5 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: A double life: newly discovered thrillers of Louisa May Alcott

    First published in 1988 5 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition doublelifenewlyd00alco
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  • Cover of: Becky's Christmas dream and other stories: profusely illustrated

    First published in 1895 5 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: The United States in Literature

    First published in 1985 5 editions in 1 language — 3 previewable Cover of edition unitedstatesinli0007edunse Cover of edition unitedstatesinli1985mill
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  • Cover of: Little Women: Book One

    First published in 2002 4 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition littlewomenbooko00loui
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  • Cover of: The sketches of Louisa May Alcott

    First published in 2001 4 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition sketchesoflouisa0000alco
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  • Cover of: Transcendental wild oats and excerpts from the Fruitlands diary

    First published in 1975 4 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: Marjorie's three gifts

    First published in 1899 4 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition marjoriesthreegi00alco
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  • Cover of: Plots and counterplots: more unknown thrillers of Louisa May Alcott

    First published in 1976 4 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Quatre Filles du Docteur March: En l'absence de Leur Père, Pasteur Nordiste Engagé Comme Aumônier Durant la Guerre de Sécession, Quatre Jeunes Soeurs Font Face Aux Difficultés de la Vie Quotidienne en Temps de Guerre

    First published in 2020 4 editions in 1 language
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    First published in 2000 4 editions
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    First published in 2010 4 editions in 1 language
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    First published in 2020 4 editions in 1 language
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    First published in 1993 4 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Little Women Complete Collection: Little Women; Little Men; Jo's Boys

    First published in 2016 4 editions in 1 language
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Photo of Louisa May Alcott
Subjects
Fiction, Children's fiction, Fiction, general, Juvenile fiction, Fiction, short stories (single author), Social life and customs, American fiction (fictional works by one author), History, Conduct of life, New england, fiction, Women, Young women, American literature, Classic Literature, Families, Fiction, historical, general, Children's stories, American, Short stories, Sisters, fiction, Man-woman relationships, March family (fictitious characters), fiction, Sisters, Family life, Family life, fiction, Sex role
Places
New England, United States, Massachusetts, Nouvelle-Angleterre, England, Salem Village, Alabama, Egypt, Europe, Owl Creek Bridge, 221B Baker Street, Alpha Inn, Boston (Mass.), British Museum, Brixton, Chênière Caminada, Concord, Concord (Mass.), Covent Garden, Dayton (Ohio), European Union countries, Fruitlands (Harvard, Mass.), Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Grand Isle, Gulf of Mexico
People
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), Devil, Ethelred, Faith Brown, Goodman Brown, Goody Cloyse, Madeline Usher, Roderick Usher, Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888), Peyton Farquhar, Adèle Ratignolle, Alcott family, Alcée Arobin, Alphonse Ratignolle, Amanda Wingfield, Amy March, Baker Street Irregulars, Bartleby, Beaudelet, Beth March, Breckinridge, C. Auguste Dupin, Catherine Cusack, Catherine Earnshaw, Cathy Linton
Time
19th century, Civil War, 1861-1865, 1600s, 20th century, 1861-1865, American Civil War, Civil War, Siglo XIX, 1783-1865, 1801, 1861-65, 1868-, 1894, 19e siècle, 19th Century, 20e siècle, 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
  • Louisa Alcott
  • Louisa May Louisa May Alcott
  • Lousia May Alcott
  • Louisa May 1832-1888 Alcott
  • Louis May Alcott
  • ALCOTT
  • Louisa M Alcott
  • Louisa May Alcott [Annotated]
  • Louisa May LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
  • May Alcott
  • L Alcott
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  • Loauise May Alcott
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  • LOUISA ALCOTT
  • Mme. Louisa May Alcott
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  • Louisa M, Alcott,
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  • Alcott, Louisa May, Illustrated
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  • Alcott. Louisa May. 1832-1888.

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
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
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import