 |
|
|
| Biography |
|
| 1837 | March 1. William Dean Howells is born in Martin’s Ferry OH, to William Cooper and Mary Dean Howells, the second child and second son of their eight children |
| 1840 | William Cooper Howells becomes editor of the Hamilton, Ohio, Intelligencer and publishes a Swedenborgian newspaper called The Retina on the side. |
| 1848 | Trying to gather support for the Free Soil party, William Cooper Howells quits the Intelligencer over a matter of principle. The family moves to Dayton, Eureka Mills, and other places in Ohio. |
| 1851 | The Howells family moves to Columbus for 18 months and later to Ashtabula and Jefferson (in 1853); Howells works as a printer. |
| 1852 | Without William Dean Howells’s knowledge, his father has one of WDH’s poems published in the Ohio State Journal. |
| 1853 | Howells’s first published fiction, “A Tale of Love and Politics, Adventures of a Printer Boy,” appears in the Ashtabula Sentinel |
| 1856 | William Cooper Howells is elected Clerk of the State House of Representatives. |
| 1857 | Howells begins to learn German and to admire the poet Heinrich Heine. He writes a column (“Letter from Columbus”) for the Daily Cincinnati Gazette. |
| 1858 | Howells begins work for the Ohio State Journal, writing reviews, poems, and stories, and translating stories from French, German, and Spanish newspapers. |
| 1860 | Howells meets Elinor Mead, his future wife. He travels to Boston and Concord, where he meets J. T. Fields, Lowell, Holmes, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Emerson. |
| 1861 | Sails from New York to Liverpool and then Venice to take up consular appointment. |
| 1862 | Christmas Eve. Marries Elinor Mead at the American embassy in Paris. |
| 1863 | December 17. First child, Winifred, born to WD and Elinor Howells. |
| 1864 | Article on “Recent Italian Comedy” for North American Review. Returns to America and begins to work for The Nation |
| 1865-66 | WDH lives in New York as a freelance journalist. |
| 1866 | Meets James T. Fields on January 7; Fields offers Howells the assistant editorship of the Atlantic Monthly a few days later. Howells settles on Berkley St. in Cambridge, Mass. |
| 1868 | August 14. The Howellses' second child, John Mead Howells, is born. WDH refuses professorship of Rgetoric at Union College. |
| 1869 | Howells meets Mark Twain in Fields’s office, the beginning of a friendship that will last the rest of their lives. |
| 1871 | July 1. Howells becomes the Editor of the Atlantic Monthly, a post he will keep for the next ten years. |
|
1872 |
The Howellses design and build a house at 37 Concord Avenue in Cambridge. 26 September. The Howellses' third child, daughter Mildred, is born. |
|
1876 |
Some time before this summer, Howells attends a performance of Euripedes’ Medea, an experience that inspires A Modern Instance. |
| 1877 | Howells establishes the “Contributors Club” feature in the Atlantic Monthly in January. |
| 1882 | The Howells family arrives in England; they spend the winter in Venice, where WDH gathers materials for his book Tuscan Cities. WDH declines a professorship at Johns Hopkins University. He had already declined one at Washington University during the seventies. |
| 1884 | August. Howells buys a house at 302 Beacon Street in Boston, two doors away from Oliver Wendell Holmes. |
| 1886 |
Howells begins writing the “Editor’s
Study” column for Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. It contains
some of his best criticism, and several pieces will be collected in Criticism
and Fiction.
Harvard offers WDH the Smith Professorship previously
held by Longfellow and Lowell. Howells declines.
February-March. Howells spends time in Washington,
D. C. with John Hay and Henry Adams.
May 4. During an Anarchist meeting in Haymarket Square, Chicago, bombs explode, killing one man and injuring seven more. In the absence of suspects, eight Anarchists are charged with murder and seven are sentenced to hang. Outraged at the injustice, WDH writes a letter to the New York Tribune in protest, and, after the men are hanged on November 11, an editorial letter called “A Word for the Dead.” |
| 1889 | Daughter Winnie’s death devastates WD and Elinor Howells. |
| 1890 | An “Editor’s Study” column criticizes Harold Frederic’s In the Valley but praises Seth’s Brother’s Wife (1887) and The Lawton Girl (1890). In 1899, Howells lists Frederic’s masterpiece, The Damnation of Theron Ware (1896), as one of the country’s major serious novels. |
| 1891 | Howells moves to New York, and, according
to Edwin Cady and others, brings the “literary center of the country”
with him.
Assumes editorship of Cosmopolitan and writes Altrurian Sketches for it. |
| 1892 | March. Howells’s last column for the “Editor’s Study” |
| 1893 | March. Stephen Crane sends Howells a copy of Maggie; Howells reads it and praises it in a newspaper interview, working from that day forward to get it republished. WDH reads the manuscripts of George’s Mother, Crane’s poems, and The Third Violet, but not The Red Badge of Courage. |
| 1894 | Howells's father dies.
WDH visits his son, John, who is studying architecture in France. |
| 1895 | Begins “Life and Letters” essay review column for Harper’s Weekly (March 30, 1895-February 26, 1898) |
| 1896 | On the recommendation of James Herne, WDH reads Paul Laurence Dunbar’s privately printed Majors and Minors and praises it in his Harper’s Weekly “Life and Letters” column. He persuades literary agent Ripley Hitchcock to place Dunbar’s work and writes an introduction for Dunbar’s next volume, Lyrics of Lowly Life. |
| 1897 | WDH goes to Germany. |
| 1898 | Begins essay-review column “American Literature” for Literature (May 14, 1898-November 10, 1899). Frank Norris comes to Howells’s attention. WDH later reviews McTeague, and a grateful Norris sends him a presentation copy of The Octopus. |
| 1899 | Failure of Harper & Brothers. Col. George Harvey is placed in charge, and WDH begins to write a monthly column, the "Editor's Easy Chair," for Harper's New Monthly Magazine. |
| 1904 | WDH receives a Litt. D. from Oxford. |
| 1908 | Elected first president of the American Academy
of Arts and Letters.
Travels to Italy. |
| 1910 |
Death of Mark Twain (April). Death of Elinor Mead Howells (May). |
| 1911 | Howells joins with Edith Wharton and others in an attempt to get the Nobel Prize in literature for Henry James. The attempt is unsuccessful. |
| 1912 | House of Harper stages an elaborate birthday celebration for WDH's 75th birthday. Among those sending or reading tributes are Henry James, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, and Franklin Sanborn. |
| 1915 | Harper’s agrees to pay Howells $5,000 a year
for the “Editor’s Easy Chair” and occasional introductions to books. WDH
buys a Model T Ford.
American Academy of Arts and Letters establishes the Howells Medal for Fiction; WDH is the first recipient. |
| 1916 | Death of Henry James |
| 1920 | May 11. In New York, Howells dies in his sleep of pneumonia. |
|
Publications |
|
| 1860 |
Poems of Two Friends Lives and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln (campaign biography) |
| 1866 | Venetian Life |
| 1867 | Italian Journeys |
| 1869 | No Love Lost: A Romance of Travel |
| 1871 | Suburban Sketches
Their Wedding Journey (first novel) |
| 1873 | A Chance Acquaintance
Poems. (Augmented edition: 1886.) |
| 1875 | A Foregone Conclusion |
| 1876 |
Sketch of the Life and Character of Rutherford
B. Hayes. (campaign biography) A Day's Pleasure (play) The Parlor Car: A Farce |
| 1877 | Out of the Question: A Comedy
A Counterfeit Presentment (play) |
| 1879 | The Lady of the Aroostook |
| 1880 | The Undiscovered Country |
| 1881 | A Fearful Responsibility, and Other Stories
Doctor Breen’s Practice: A Novel |
| 1882 | A Modern Instance: A Novel
A Fearful Responsibility and Tonelli's Marriage (stories) |
| 1883 | A Woman’s Reason
The Sleeping Car: A Farce |
| 1884 |
The Rise of Silas Lapham
begins serial
publication in the Century Three Villages (essays) The Register: Farce A Little Girl among the Old Masters |
| 1885 |
The
Rise of Silas Lapham A Likely Story (play) The Elevator: Farce |
| 1886 |
Indian Summer
(Harper’s Monthly, July 1885-) Tuscan Cities Dr. Breen's Practice The Garroters (farce) |
| 1887 | The Minister’s Charge
Modern Italian Poets: Essays and Versions (derived from the Lowell Lectures delivered at Harvard in 1870) |
| 1888 |
April Hopes Mark Twain's Library of Humor Their Wedding Journey: with an Additional Chapter A Sea-change : or, Love's Stowaway, a Lyricated Farce in Two Acts and an Epilogue |
| 1889 |
Annie Kilburn The Mouse-Trap and Other Farces The Sleeping-Car and Other Farces (Edited with Thomas Sergeant Perry) Library of Universal Adventure by Sea and Land; Including Original Narratives and Authentic Stories of Personal Prowess and Peril in all the Waters and Regions of the Globe from the Year 79 A.D. to the Year 1888 A. D |
| 1890 |
A Hazard of New Fortunes The Shadow of a Dream A Boy’s Town Described for "Harper's Young People" (memoir) |
| 1891 | Criticism and Fiction |
| 1892 |
An
Imperative Duty The Albany Depot: A Farce in One Act The Quality of Mercy A Letter of Introduction: Farce A Little Swiss Sojourn Christmas Every Day and Other Stories Told for Children |
| 1893 | The World of Chance: A Novel My Year in a Log Cabin (essay and memoir; reprinted from 1887 article for Youth’s Companion) The Coast of Bohemia: A Novel "The Man of Letters as a Man of Business" Evening Dress: Farce |
| 1894 |
A
Traveler from Altruria (utopian
romance) Five O'Clock Tea (farce) |
| 1895 |
Stops of Various Quills
(poems) My Literary Passions Recollections of Life in Ohio, from 1813-1840 |
| 1896 |
The
Day of Their Wedding Impressions and Experiences (essays) A Parting and a Meeting (story) Idyls in Drab (includes The Day of Their Wedding and A Parting and a Meeting) The Country Printer, an Essay |
| 1897 |
The Landlord at Lion’s Head An Open-Eyed Conspiracy Stories of Ohio (children’s history) An Open-Eyed Conspiracy, an Idyl of Saratoga A Previous Engagement: Comedy |
| 1898 | The Story of a Play: A Novel |
| 1899 | Their Silver Wedding Journey
Ragged Lady, a Novel |
| 1900 |
Literary Friends and Acquaintance (essays) Bride Roses: A Scene An Indian Giver: A Comedy The Landlord at Lion's Head: A Novel Room Forty-Five; A Farce The Smoking Car: A Farce |
| 1901 | Heroines of Fiction
The Niagara Book (with Mark Twain and Nathaniel Southgate Shaler) A Pair of Patient Lovers |
| 1902 |
The Kentons: A Novel The Flight of Pony Baker: A Boy's Town Story Literature and Life: Studies |
| 1903 | Letters Home
(novel)
Questionable Shapes Evening-Dress (farce) |
| 1904 | The Son of Royal Langbrith |
| 1905 |
Miss Bellard’s Inspiration "Editha" (published in Harper's Monthly, reprinted in Between the Dark and the Daylight) London Films (travel) |
| 1906 | Certain Delightful English Towns, With Glimpses of the Pleasant Country Between |
| 1907 |
Through the Eye of the Needle, a Romance Between the Dark and the Daylight: Romances |
| 1908 |
Fennel and Rue: A Novel The Whole Family (collaborative novel with eleven other writers, including Henry James, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, and Alice Brown) Roman Holidays, and Others |
| 1909 | Seven English Cities
The Mother and the Father: Dramatic Passages Boy life; stories and readings selected from the works of William Dean Howells, and arranged for supplementary reading in elementary schools (ed. Percival Chubb) |
| 1910 |
My
Mark Twain In After Days: Thoughts on the Future Life Imaginary Interviews |
| 1911 | The Writings of William Dean Howells (edition)
Parting Friends: A Farce |
| 1913 | New Leaf Mills: A Chronicle
(based on the Howells family’s Eureka Mills experiment)
Familiar Spanish Travels |
| 1914 | The Seen and Unseen at Stratford-on-Avon: A Fantasy (story) |
| 1916 | The Leatherwood God
(novel)
Years of My Youth (autobiography to 1860) The Daughter of the Storage and Other Things in Prose and Verse (poems) Buying a Horse |
| 1919 | Eighty Years and After |
| 1920 | The Vacation of the Kelwyns, an Idyl of the Middle Eighteen-Seventies (published posthumously) |
