Henry Adams

William Merrill Decker (Oklahoma 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 16 Apr 1838
Died 27 May 1918
Activity 1860-1918

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States; England; France

Activities

Primary

Autobiographer
Biographer
Historian / Chronicler
Man/ Woman of Letters
Political writer

Other

Editor
Educationalist
Journalist
Letter-writer/ Diarist
Novelist
Polemicist
Travel writer

Resources

Adams' Works

Save to Bookshelf

In 1998, the Modern Library editorial board designated

The Education of Henry Adams

the most important twentieth-century American work of nonfiction. The memoir of a descendent of two U.S. presidents, the book became a bestseller upon its posthumous publication and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Unbeknownst to many readers, then and now, the work by which Adams is best remembered represents the culmination of a long career which produced three biographies,

Life of Albert Gallatin

(1879),

Life of John Randolph

(1881),

Life of George Cabot Lodge

(1911), two novels

Democracy

(1880),

Esther

(1884), a nine-volume history of the early national period,

The History of the United States during the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

(1889-91), a history of Tahiti,

Memoirs of

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2495 words

Citation: Decker, William Merrill. "Henry Adams". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 December 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=27, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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