Nathaniel Parker Willis

Rob Velella (Independent Scholar - North America)

Ed. by Stephen E. Meats, Pittsburg State University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

Born 20 Jan 1806
Died 20 Jan 1867
Activity 1826-1867

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Activities

Primary

Editor
Journalist
Letter-writer/ Diarist
Literary Critic/ Historian
Man/ Woman of Letters
Novelist
Poet
Story-writer
Travel writer

Resources

Willis' Works

Save to Bookshelf

Nathaniel Parker Willis was born in 1806 in the seaport town of Portland, Maine, which was then a territory of Massachusetts, to a storied New England family. He was the third generation of men named Nathaniel Willis to pursue a career in publishing: his father, Nathaniel Willis (1780-1870), worked in the periodical industry in Boston and Maine throughout his life, and his grandfather, also Nathaniel Willis (1755-1831), published and edited newspapers in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Ohio, and had been a participant in the Boston Tea Party. One of nine children, N. P. Willis, as he was sometimes called, also had a brother, Richard Storrs Willis (1819-1900), who became an accomplished music critic and composer, while his sister Sara Payson Willis (1811-1872) earned popularity as the author…

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2886 words

Citation: Velella, Rob. "Nathaniel Parker Willis". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 March 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4742, accessed 25 November 2024.]