Charles Dudley Warner(September 12, 1829 – October 20, 1900) was an American essayist, novelist, and friend ofMark Twain,with whom he co-authored the novelThe Gilded Age: A Tale of Today.
Charles Dudley Warner | |
|---|---|
 Warner in 1897 | |
| Born | September 12, 1829 Plainfield, Massachusetts,U.S. |
| Died | October 20, 1900(aged 71) Hartford, Connecticut,U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer, editor |
| Notable works | The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today,Library of the World's Best Literature. |
| Signature | |
 | |
Biography
editWarner was born ofPuritandescent inPlainfield, Massachusetts.From the ages of six to fourteen he lived inCharlemont, Massachusetts,the place and time revisited in his bookBeing a Boy(1877). He then moved toCazenovia, New York,and in 1851 graduated fromHamilton CollegeinClinton, New York.[1]
He worked with a surveying party inMissouriand then studied law at theUniversity of Pennsylvania.He moved toChicago,where he practiced law from 1856 to 1860, when he relocated to Connecticut to become assistant editor ofThe Hartford Press.By 1861 he had become editor, a position he held until 1867, when the paper merged intoThe Hartford Courantand he became co-editor withJoseph R. Hawley.In an 1861 editorial at thePressWarner was the first to propose creating the holidayFlag Day.[2]
In 1884, he joined the editorial staff ofHarper's Magazine,for which he conductedThe Editor's Draweruntil 1892, when he took charge ofThe Editor's Study.[1]
Warner traveled widely, lectured frequently, and was actively interested in prison reform, city park supervision, and other movements for the public good. He was the first president of theNational Institute of Arts and Letters,and, at the time of his death, was president of theAmerican Social Science Association.
He first attracted attention with the reflective sketches inMy Summer in a Garden(1870). First published as a series inThe Hartford Courant,these sketches were popular for their abounding and refined humor and mellow personal charm, their love of the outdoors, their suggestive comment on life and affairs, and their delicately finished style, qualities that suggested the work ofWashington Irving.In 1873, the work Warner is known for today, the novel he wrote with Mark Twain, was published. CalledThe Gilded Age: A Tale of Today,it gavethat era of American historyits name.
Charles Dudley Warner is known for making these famous remarks,
Politics makes strange bedfellows.[3]
Everybody complains about the weather, but nobodydoesanything about it.[4]
Quoted by Mark Twain in one of his many humorous lectures, Warner's quip is still commonly misattributed to Twain.[5]
He died inHartfordon October 20, 1900, and was interred atCedar Hill Cemetery,withMark Twainas a pall bearer andJoseph Twichellofficiating.[6]
The citizens ofSan Diegoso appreciated Warner's flattering description of their city in his bookOur Italythat they named three consecutive streets in thePoint Lomaneighborhood after him: Charles Street, Dudley Street, and Warner Street.[7]
Selected works
edit- My Summer in a Garden and Calvin[his cat],A Study of Character(Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1870)
- Saunterings(1872), descriptions of travel in Western Europe
- BackLog Studies(1872)
- Baddeck, And That Sort of Thing(1874), travels in Nova Scotia and elsewhere
- My Winter on the Nile(1876)
- In the Levant(1876)
- In the Wilderness(1878)
- A Roundabout Journey, in Europe(1883)
- On Horseback, in the Southern States(1888)
- Studies in the South and West, with Comments on Canada(1889)
- Our Italy, etc. [A description of Southern California.](1891)
- The Relation of Literature to Life(1896)
- The People for Whom Shakespeare Wrote(1897)
- Fashions in Literature(1902)
He editedThe American Men of Lettersseries, to which he contributed a biography of Washington Irving (1881), and also edited a largeLibrary of the World's Best Literature(1897). At the time of his death, Warner was writing a biography of his friendFrederic Edwin Church.[8]
- Essays
- A-Hunting of the Deer(1875)
- As We Were Saying(1891)
- As We Go(1893)
- Novels
- The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today(in collaboration withMark Twain,1873)
- Their Pilgrimage(1886)
- A Little Journey in the World(1889)
- The Golden House(1894)
- That Fortune(1899).
Further reading
edit- Andrews, Kenneth R. (1950).Nook Farm: Mark Twain's Hartford Circle.Harvard University Press. Has a lot on Warner, including a complete bibliography of his works.
- Fields, Annie A.(1904).Charles Dudley Warner.New York: McClure, Phillips & Co.
- Lounsbury, T.R.(1904)."Biographical Sketch."In:The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner,Vol. XV. Hartford, Conn: American Publishing Co., pp. i–xxxviii.
- Matthews, Brander(1902)."Mr. Charles Dudley Warner as a Writer of Fiction."In:Aspects of Fiction.New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 280–297.
- Paine, A.B.(1912).Mark Twain: A Biography.New York: Harper & Brothers.
References
edit- ^abChisholm 1911.
- ^Ross, Ashley (June 14, 2016)."The Surprising True History Behind Flag Day".Time.
- ^My Summer in the Garden."Fifteenth Week", James R. Osgood & Co. 1870.
- ^The Book buyer.Vol. 6. C. Scribner & Co. 1889.
- ^"Everybody Talks About the Weather, But Nobody Does Anything About It".Quote Investigator. April 23, 2010.RetrievedFebruary 13,2012.
- ^"CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER".Cedar Hill Cemetery.Archived fromthe originalon 2008-08-28.Retrieved2008-04-28.
- ^Kramer, Ken,About San Diego,KPBS-TV
- ^Kelly, Franklin (1989).Frederic Edwin Church(PDF).Washington: National Gallery of Art. p. 174.ISBN0-89468-136-2.
Attribution:
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Warner, Charles Dudley".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 326.
External links
edit
- Finding aid to Charles Dudley Warner letters at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
- Charles Dudley Warner page with brief biographical sketch and links to his works available on the web, including his "Editor's Study" columns.
- CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER by Mrs. James T. Fields. New York: McClure, Phillips, & Co., 1904. Contemporary Men of Letters Series.
- Works by Charles Dudley WarneratProject Gutenberg
- Works by or about Charles Dudley Warnerat theInternet Archive
- Works by Charles Dudley WarneratLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
- Calvin the Cat, A Study of Character