1868 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1868 in literature involved some significant new books.
Events
- First edition of the World AlmanacWorld AlmanacIn 1993 Scripps sold the Almanac to K-III .The World Almanac was sold to Ripplewood Holdings' WRC Media in 1999. Ripplewood bought Reader's Digest and the book was then produced by the World Almanac Education Group, which was owned by The Reader's Digest Association...
is published. - Emile ZolaÉmile ZolaÉmile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
defends his criticized first novel against charges of pornography and corruption of morals. - Norman MacLeod, editor of Good Words, begins publishing its companion juvenile version, Good Words for the Young. The first issue begins the serial publication of George MacDonaldGeorge MacDonaldGeorge MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister.Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. It was C.S...
's At the Back of the North WindAt the Back of the North WindAt the Back of the North Wind is a children's book by George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine Good Words for the Young beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fantasy centered around a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the North Wind....
.
New books
- Louisa May AlcottLouisa May AlcottLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
- Little WomenLittle WomenLittle Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . The book was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869... - R M BallantyneRobert Michael BallantyneR. M. Ballantyne was a Scottish juvenile fiction writer.Born Robert Michael Ballantyne in Edinburgh, he was part of a famous family of printers and publishers. At the age of 16 he went to Canada and was six years in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company...
-Deep Down - Mary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret.-Life:...
- Dead-Sea Fruit - Mortimer CollinsMortimer CollinsMortimer Collins was an English writer and novelist. He was born at Plymouth, where his father, Francis Collins, was a solicitor. He was educated at a private school, and after some years spent as mathematical master at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, he relocated to London...
- Sweet Anne Page - Wilkie CollinsWilkie CollinsWilliam Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
- The MoonstoneThe MoonstoneThe Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. The story was originally serialized in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are considered Wilkie... - Fyodor DostoevskyFyodor DostoevskyFyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
- The IdiotThe Idiot (novel)The Idiot is a novel written by 19th century Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published serially in The Russian Messenger between 1868 and 1869. The Idiot is ranked beside some of Dostoyevsky's other works as one of the most brilliant literary achievements of the "Golden Age" of... - Émile GaboriauÉmile GaboriauÉmile Gaboriau , was a French writer, novelist, and journalist, and a pioneer of modern detective fiction.- Life :Gaboriau was born in the small town of Saujon, Charente-Maritime...
- Slaves of Paris - Hermann Goedsche - Biarritz
- Bret HarteBret HarteFrancis Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.- Life and career :...
- The Luck of Roaring CampThe Luck of Roaring Camp"The Luck of Roaring Camp" is a short story by American author Bret Harte. It was first published in the August 1868 issue of the Overland Monthly and helped push Harte to international prominence.... - Sheridan Le FanuSheridan Le FanuJoseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
- Haunted Lives - George MacDonaldGeorge MacDonaldGeorge MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister.Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. It was C.S...
- Robert FalconerRobert FalconerSir Robert Alexander Falconer, KCMG was a Canadian academic and bible scholar. He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the eldest child of a Presbyterian minister and his wife. He attended high school in Port of Spain Trinidad while his father was posted there and won a scholarship to... - Hesba StrettonHesba StrettonHesba Stretton was the pen name of Sarah Smith , an English writer of children's books. She concocted the name from the initials of her five siblings and the name of a neighbouring village.-Early life:...
- Little Meg's children - Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
- In Search of the CastawaysIn Search of the CastawaysIn Search of the Castaways is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1867–1868. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Édouard Riou. In 1876 it was republished by George Routledge & Sons as a three volume set titled "A Voyage Round The World"... - Emile ZolaÉmile ZolaÉmile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
- Madeleine Ferat
Births
- February 23 - W. E. B. Du Bois (+ 1963)
- March 28 - Maxim GorkyMaxim GorkyAlexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
, author (+ 1936) - May 6 - Gaston LerouxGaston LerouxGaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera , which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon...
, author (+ 1927) - July 10 - Afawarq Gabra Iyasus, author and linguist (+ 1947)
- October 18 - Ernst DidringErnst DidringErnst Didring was an early 20th century author who wrote mainly of life in his home country of Sweden .-Biography:...
, Swedish writer (+ 1931)
Deaths
- March 8 - Jón Thoroddsen elderJón Thoroddsen elderJón Thoroddsen elder was an Icelandic author.His novels Piltur og Stúlka and Maður og Kona mark the beginning of the modern Icelandic novel. His son, Þorvaldur Thoroddsen, became a well-known scientist.-In English:* Lad and Lass, a Story of Life in Iceland , trans...
, Icelandic author - June 18 - Charles HarpurCharles HarpurCharles Harpur was an Australian poet.-Early life:Harpur was born at Windsor, New South Wales, the third child of Joseph Harpur — originally from Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland, parish clerk and master of the Windsor district school — and Sarah, née Chidley Harpur received his elementary education...
, Australian poet - September 24 - Henry Hart MilmanHenry Hart MilmanThe Very Reverend Henry Hart Milman was an English historian and ecclesiastic.He was born in London, the third son of Sir Francis Milman, 1st Baronet, physician to King George III . Educated at Eton and at Brasenose College, Oxford, his university career was brilliant...
, historian - October 18 - MongkutMongkutPhra Bat Somdet Phra Poramenthramaha Mongkut Phra Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama IV, known in foreign countries as King Mongkut , was the fourth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, ruling from 1851-1868...
, King of Siam, subject of the memoirs of Anna LeonowensAnna LeonowensAnna Leonowens was an English travel writer, educator, and social activist. She worked in Siam from 1862 to 1868, where she taught the wives and children of Mongkut, king of Siam. She also co-founded the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design... - November 30 - August BlancheAugust BlancheAugust Blanche was a Swedish journalist, novelist, and a Socialist statesman.August Theodor Blanche was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the illegitimate child of a servant girl and a priest. His mother eventually married Johan Jacob Blanck, a blacksmith and the boy took his stepfather's name...
, Swedish writer, statesman