The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia - by Gregory Eiselein & Anne K Phillips (Hardcover)

About the Book

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) is arguably the most widely read 19th-century author in America. Even through the 1990s, her books continued to appear on bestseller lists and her works were made into films. She has long been a staple of children's literature courses and now also receives significant attention in American studies and women's studies classes. While her tremendous popularity has yielded numerous biographies and a growing number of critical works, very few reference books have been devoted to Alcott studies and none are particularly current or complete. This book collects in a comprehensive and reliable single volume the most important facts about Alcott's life and works.

This reference surveys the basic biographical details about Alcott's family and personal life. It supplies essential information on her historical and cultural contexts, including her place in the 19th century publishing milieu, various reform movements, and major historical events, such as the Civil War. It also treats her writings, both the adult and children's works, in an accurate, informative, and accessible manner. The volume includes more than 600 alphabetically arranged entries. Each entry discusses the topic's relevance to Alcott's life and current scholarship about her. Many of the entries close with brief bibliographies, and the book concludes with a list of works for further reading.

Book Synopsis

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) is arguably the most widely read 19th-century author in America. Even through the 1990s, her books continued to appear on bestseller lists and her works were made into films. She has long been a staple of children's literature courses and now also receives significant attention in American studies and women's studies classes. While her tremendous popularity has yielded numerous biographies and a growing number of critical works, very few reference books have been devoted to Alcott studies and none are particularly current or complete. This book collects in a comprehensive and reliable single volume the most important facts about Alcott's life and works.

This reference surveys the basic biographical details about Alcott's family and personal life. It supplies essential information on her historical and cultural contexts, including her place in the 19th century publishing milieu, various reform movements, and major historical events, such as the Civil War. It also treats her writings, both the adult and children's works, in an accurate, informative, and accessible manner. The volume includes more than 600 alphabetically arranged entries. Each entry discusses the topic's relevance to Alcott's life and current scholarship about her. Many of the entries close with brief bibliographies, and the book concludes with a list of works for further reading.

Review Quotes

"College-level students of Alcott's works will find the Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia to be a fine reference examining the biographical details of Alcott's life and family. [T]he Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia provides an excellent reference."-The Bookwatch

?[T]his is a comprehensive work that will be helpful to Alcott scholars in many ways on a number of levels.?-The Lion and the Unicorn

?Any reference that one would want to know about Louisa May Alcott and her writing can be found within this book. The reference descriptions of characters, books, and articles written by Alcott, as well as people who were influential in her life are listed alphabetically and in bold-faced print, thus making topics easier to find. A high school English class that is reading works by Alcott will find this book helpful in describing people or places that she makes reference to in her writing. It is also a fun book to look through; the reader will learn facts about Alcott and her family that is not common knowledge.?-Iowa Reading Journal

?College-level students of Alcott's works will find the Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia to be a fine reference examining the biographical details of Alcott's life and family. [T]he Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia provides an excellent reference.?-The Bookwatch

?Libraries that might want to purchase it would have patrons interested in New England and Boston history, 19th century high and popular culture, women's history and feminism, American Transcendentalism, utopian communes, and children's literature....For both Alcott's Little Women and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre-one of Alcott's own favorite books-fiction and fact are inextricably intertwined, and untangling the relationship between them gives great pleasure. This book enhances that pleasure.?-Catholic Library World

?Recommended for university and public libraries with strong American literature or women's studies collections.?-Choice

"ÝT¨his is a comprehensive work that will be helpful to Alcott scholars in many ways on a number of levels."-The Lion and the Unicorn

"[T]his is a comprehensive work that will be helpful to Alcott scholars in many ways on a number of levels."-The Lion and the Unicorn

"Libraries that might want to purchase it would have patrons interested in New England and Boston history, 19th century high and popular culture, women's history and feminism, American Transcendentalism, utopian communes, and children's literature....For both Alcott's Little Women and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre-one of Alcott's own favorite books-fiction and fact are inextricably intertwined, and untangling the relationship between them gives great pleasure. This book enhances that pleasure."-Catholic Library World

"Recommended for university and public libraries with strong American literature or women's studies collections."-Choice

"Any reference that one would want to know about Louisa May Alcott and her writing can be found within this book. The reference descriptions of characters, books, and articles written by Alcott, as well as people who were influential in her life are listed alphabetically and in bold-faced print, thus making topics easier to find. A high school English class that is reading works by Alcott will find this book helpful in describing people or places that she makes reference to in her writing. It is also a fun book to look through; the reader will learn facts about Alcott and her family that is not common knowledge."-Iowa Reading Journal

About the Author

GREGORY EISELEIN is Associate Professor of English at Kansas State University, where he teaches American literature and cultural studies. He is the author of Literature and Humanitarian Reform in the Civil War Era (1996) as well as several articles on American literature and culture.

ANNE K. PHILLIPS is Associate Professor of English at Kansas State University, where she specializes in children's and adolescent literature and American literature. Her articles have been published in The Lion and the Unicorn, The Children's Literature Association Quarterly, and Children's Literature.