Josiah Gilbert Holland
American author (1819–1881) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Josiah Gilbert Holland (July 24, 1819 – October 12, 1881) was an American novelist, essayist, poet and spiritual mentor to the Nation in the years following the Civil War.[1] Born in Western Massachusetts, he was “the most successful man of letters in the United States” in the latter half of the nineteenth century and sold more books in his lifetime than Mark Twain did in his.[2]
Josiah Gilbert Holland | |
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Born | (1819-07-24)July 24, 1819 Dwight, Belchertown, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | October 12, 1881(1881-10-12) (aged 62) Park Avenue, New York, New York, U.S. |
Resting place | Springfield Cemetery, Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Pen name |
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Occupation |
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Language | American English |
Period | Modern |
Genres | |
Literary movement | Romanticism, Transcendentalism and Literary realism |
Years active | from 1844 |
Employers | |
Notable works |
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Spouse |
Elizabeth Luna Chapin
(m. 1845) |
Children | 5, including Arthur Gilbert, Annie Elizabeth H. Howe, Kate Melia H. Van Wagenen, Julia and Theodore |
Parents | Harrison Holland and Anna Gilbert |
Signature | |
He penned the first biography of Abraham Lincoln within months after his assassination, which was a bestseller, and Holland was the first to publish a poem written by an African American.
One of Holland’s novels was among the earliest examples of the genre that became literary realism, and he helped publish a few poems of Emily Dickinson’s in the newspaper that he edited. Holland and his wife, Elizabeth Chapin Holland, were close friends with her.
Holland became a popular Lyceum lecturer and wrote advice essays under the pseudonym Timothy Titcomb as well as lyrics to hymns, including the beloved Methodist Christmas tune "There's a Song in the Air.” He helped establish and was editor of the middle-class flagship magazine Scribner's Monthly. His writings are quoted by politicians and people alike though few today recognize Holland’s name.