May Agnes Fleming

May Agnes Fleming
Born May Early
November 15, 1840
Carleton, New Brunswick
Died March 24, 1880 (aged 39)
Brooklyn
Resting place Calvary Cemetery, Brooklyn[1]
Occupation writer
Nationality Canadian
Spouse John W. Fleming
Children 4

May Agnes Fleming (November 15, 1840 - March 24, 1880) was a Canadian novelist. She was "one of the first Canadians to pursue a highly successful career as a writer of popular fiction."[2]

She was born May Early in Carleton, West Saint John, New Brunswick. She married an engineer, John W. Fleming in 1865.[3] She moved to New York two years after her first novel, Erminie; or The gypsy's vow: a tale of love and vengeance was published there (1863).[4]

Under the pseudonym Cousin May Carleton, she published several serial tales in the New York Mercury and the New York Weekly. 21 were printed in book form, 7 posthumously.[5] She also wrote under the pseudonym, M.A. Earlie. The exact count is unclear, since her works were often retitled, but is estimated at around 40, although some were not actually written by her, but were attributed to her by publishers cashing in on her popularity.[6] At her peak, she was earning over $10,000 yearly, due to publishers granting her exclusive rights to her work.[7]

She died in Brooklyn, of Bright's disease.[7]

Bibliography

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References

  1. "Fleming, May Agnes". Canada's Early Women Writers. Simon Fraser University Library. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  2. May Agnes Fleming Biography - (1840–80), Mercury, Metropolitan Record, Western Recorder, Philadelphia Saturday Night, Weekly, Journal Mary Jane Edwards
  3. "May Agnes Fleming [1840-1880]". American Women's Dime Novels, 1870-1920. Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  4. Story, Norah (1968). The Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature. Oxford University Press. p. 254.
  5. Wallace, W. Stewart (1963). The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography (3rd ed.). Macmillan. p. 235. LC 64-10158.
  6. "Obituary". St. John Weekly Sun. May Agnes Fleming, a native of St. John, was a very prolific writer of romances for the story papers, and a large number of her novels have been published by the cheap libraries, as well as many that are not hers, but having been written since her death, have been accredited to her in order to give them circulation.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Hovey, Joan Hall. "MAY AGNES FLEMING: 1840-1880 - Canada's First Best-Selling Novelist". Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  8. Wright bibliography number 920; By Cousin May Carleton (pseud.) Reel F-8

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