Robert Montgomery Bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Robert Montgomery Bird | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1806 |
| Died | 1854 |
| Occupation | Novelist, playwright, photographer, physician |
| Nationality | American |
Robert Montgomery Bird (05 February 1806[1] - 1854) was an American novelist, playwright, photographer, and physician.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Bird was born in New Castle, Delaware. After attending the New Castle Academy and Germantown Academy, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1824. [1] He began to write fiction during his time in medical school and by 1827 had published in the Philadelphia Monthly Magazine. [1] After graduating from medical school, Bird attempted to begin a medical practice but became discouraged after one year and left medicine to pursue a literary career.[1]
[edit] Career
In 1828, Bird's play Pelopidas won a $1000 prize offered by the actor Edwin Forrest, but was never produced. Instead, Bird wrote another play for Forrest, The Gladiator, which was produced in 1831. [2] After writing a few more plays for Forrest, Bird turned to novels. [2] These include Calavar (1834), The Infidel (1835), The Hawks of Hawk-Hollow (1835), Sheppard Lee (1836), Nick of the Woods (1837), and The Adventures of Robin Day (1839).[3]
Bird also pursued a number of other interests. In 1837, he began a career as a journalist, working as the Associate Editor for The American Monthly Magazine. He became the editor of the North American Magazine and United States Gazette in 1847. He also taught medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical College and ran for Congress in 1842 (an attempt which was later aborted).[4]
According to Christopher Looby, "Bird's biographers say that the intensity of these literary labors led to a breakdown of his health, possibly including a mental disorder, and that he retired to a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1840 to restore himself." During the final years of his life, Bird was an active photographer. [5]
[edit] References
- Looby, Christopher. "Introduction." Sheppard Lee: Written By Himself by Robert Montgomery Bird. New York: New York Review of Books, 2008. xv-xliii. [6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Looby, Christopher (2008). Introduction to Sheppard Lee: Written By Himself. New York Review of Books, xxii.
- ^ a b Looby, Christopher (2008). Introduction to Sheppard Lee: Written By Himself. New York Review of Books, xxiii.
- ^ Looby, Christopher (2008). Introduction to Sheppard Lee: Written By Himself. New York Review of Books, xxiii-xxiv.
- ^ Looby, Christopher (2008). Introduction to Sheppard Lee: Written By Himself. New York Review of Books, xxv.
- ^ Looby, Christopher (2008). Introduction to Sheppard Lee: Written By Himself. New York Review of Books, xxiv.
- ^ Sheppard Lee: Written By Himself
[edit] External links
Sources
- Works by Robert Montgomery Bird at Internet Archive (scanned books, illustrated, color)
- Works by Robert Montgomery Bird at Google Books (scanned books, illustrated)
- Works by Robert Montgomery Bird at Project Gutenberg (plain text and HTML)
Other
- Daniel Traister. "Robert Montgomery Bird: Writer and Artist", an exhibition at the Kamin Gallery, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, University of Pennsylvania, Feb-2003.
- "Robert Montgomery Bird", short biography, Encyclopedia Britannica Online
- "Robert Montgomery Bird", short biography, UXL Newsmakers, 2005.
- Clement Edgar Foust. The Life and Dramatic Works of Robert Montgomery Bird. New York, Knickerbocker Press. 1919.
