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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: Jack and Jill: a village story.

    First published in 1000 208 editions in 2 languages — 11 previewable Cover of edition jackjillvillages80alco Cover of edition jackjillvillages1880alco Cover of edition jackjillvillages00alco Cover of edition jackandjillvilla00alcouoft Cover of edition jackandjill00alcorich Cover of edition jackjill00alco2 Cover of edition jackandjill00alcogoog Cover of edition jackjill0000alco_z0i6 Cover of edition jackjill0000alco
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  • Cover of: Little men: life at Plumfield with Jo's boys

    First published in 1099 450 editions in 4 languages — 18 previewable Cover of edition littlemenlifeatplalcott Cover of edition littlemenlifeatp00alco_0 Cover of edition littlemenlifeatp1909alco Cover of edition littlemenlifeatp00alco_1 Cover of edition littlemenlifeatp0000loui_h5c8 Cover of edition littlemen0000alco_j3w3 Cover of edition littlemenlifeatp00loui Cover of edition littlemen0000alco_n6y7 Cover of edition littlemen0000alco_f0o9
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  • Cover of: Priory Classics: Series Two

    First published in 1111 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Little women

    First published in 1848 1896 editions in 16 languages — 123 previewable Cover of edition littlewomenormeg00alco3 Cover of edition littlewomenormeg00alco2 Cover of edition littlewomenormeg00alco4 Cover of edition littlewomenormeg00alcouoft Cover of edition littlewomen00alcoiala Cover of edition littlewomenormeg00alco_1 Cover of edition littlewoman0000unse Cover of edition aozorabunko_42307 Cover of edition littlewomenormeg01alco_0
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  • Cover of: Flower fables

    First published in 1854 448 editions in 1 language — 4 previewable Cover of edition flowerfables00alco_1 Cover of edition flowerfables00alco Cover of edition flowerfables00alco_0
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  • Cover of: Hospital sketches: and, Camp and fireside stories

    First published in 1863 179 editions in 1 language — 7 previewable Cover of edition hospitalsketches00alcorich Cover of edition hospitalsketches01alco Cover of edition hospitalsketches0000alco_u5u6 Cover of edition hospitalsketches0000alco_m4l5 Cover of edition hospitalsketches0000alco Cover of edition hospitalsketches00alco_2
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  • Cover of: The religious telescope: July 1, 1863

    First published in 1863 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: On picket duty, and other tales

    First published in 1864 50 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition onpicketdutyothe0033lmal
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  • Cover of: Moods: a novel

    First published in 1864 56 editions in 1 language — 8 previewable Cover of edition moodsnovel00alco Cover of edition moodsnovel00alco_0 Cover of edition moodsalcott00alcouoft Cover of edition moodsnovel1882alco Cover of edition moodsnovel00alcorich Cover of edition moodslouisaalcot00alcorich Cover of edition moods00alco
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  • Cover of: The Rose family: a fairy tale

    First published in 1864 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Nelly's hospital ...

    First published in 1865 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Nelly's hospital

    First published in 1865 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Nelly's hospital.

    First published in 1865 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Proverb stories.

    First published in 1868 93 editions in 1 language — 10 previewable Cover of edition proverbstories96alco Cover of edition proverbstories82alco Cover of edition proverbstories00alco_0 Cover of edition proverbstories00alcorich Cover of edition proverbstories00alco2 Cover of edition kittysclassday00alcoiala Cover of edition proverbstories00alco Cover of edition kittysclassdayst00alcouoft Cover of edition threeproverbstor00alcoiala
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  • Cover of: Aunt Kipp

    First published in 1868 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Morning-Glories, and Other Stories

    First published in 1868 8 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: Psyche's art ...

    First published in 1868 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Hospital sketches and Camp and fireside stories

    First published in 1869 13 editions in 1 language — 6 previewable Cover of edition hospitalsketches00alcouoft Cover of edition hospitalsketches00alcoiala Cover of edition hospitalsketches00alco_0 Cover of edition hospitalsketch00alcorich Cover of edition hospitalsketche00alcogoog
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  • Cover of: An old-fashioned girl

    First published in 1869 359 editions in 2 languages — 12 previewable Cover of edition oldfashionedgirl00alco Cover of edition oldfashionedg00alcoiala Cover of edition cu31924005566652 Cover of edition oldfashionedgirl00alcouoft Cover of edition oldfashioned00alcorich Cover of edition oldfashionedgirl00alco2 Cover of edition oldfashionedgirl00alcoiala Cover of edition oldfashionedgirl0000alco_s6w6 Cover of edition oldfashionedgirl0000alco
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  • Cover of: Little Women or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy: Part Second

    First published in 1870 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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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)
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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
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import