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Louisa May Alcott, the most sucessful and prolific writer for young people of her day, was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 29, 1832. The daughter of transcendentalist and education reformer A. B. Alcott, young Louisa was for a time the pupil of Henry David Thoreau. Early on, she was a frequent contributor to magazines, using the pseudonym A. M. Barnard. Her Hospital Sketches, which relates her experiences as an Army nurse during 1862, was published in 1863, and won her some critical acclaim. Her 1865 novel Moods proved less successful. In 1869, Alcott published Little Women, a book modeled upon her family and other people she knew in New England, to great popular success. Though some of her novels for adults were well received, Alcott remains best known as a children's author. She died on March 6, 1888--two days after her famous father.
Hospital Sketches (1863)
Hospital Sketches and Camp and Fireside Stories (1869) (Restricted)
Moods (1865)
On Picket Duty, and Other Tales (1864) (Restricted)
Work: A Story of Experience (1873)
Document: Copyright transfer for Moods (August 19, 1881)
Document: Copy of Publishing Agreement (May 31, 1875)
Letter: James Redpath to Louisa May Alcott (December 1, 1863)
Letter: James Redpath to Louisa May Alcott (January 23, 1864)
Letter: A. K. Loring to Louisa May Alcott (September 30, 1864)
Letter: A. K. Loring to Louisa May Alcott (1864)
Letter: Louisa May Alcott to A. B. Alcott (December 8, 1872)
Letter: L. M. Child to Louisa May Alcott (June 19, 1878)
Photo: Louisa May Alcott, seated
From Oscar Fay Adams, A Dictionary of American Authors (1901)
From Samuel Austin Allibone, A Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1900)
Alcott's works in the Modern English Collection from the Electronic Text Center
Guides to Louisa May Alcott manuscript holdings from UVA Special Collections:Alcott, Louisa May Collection: #6255 through 6255-j