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Last edited by Tom Morris
September 25, 2023 | History

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: Alcott Christmas Collection: A Christmas Dream, a Country Christmas, Excerpts from Little Women, and More

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

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  • Cover of: Little Button Rose
    First published in 1901 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: Bajo las lilas
    First published in 1986 1 edition

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  • Cover of: Thoreau's flute: a poem
    First published in 1950 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: Quatre Filles du Docteur March: L'action Se déroule Aux États-Unis, Pendant la Guerre de Sécession. en l'absence de Leur Père Robert, Pasteur Nordiste Engagé Comme Aumônier Dans le Conflit, Quatre Jeunes Soeurs Font Face Aux Difficultés de la Guerre

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  • Cover of: Louisa Alcott Reader a Supplementary Reader for the Fourth Year of School

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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: 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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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