Edward Noyes Westcott (September 27, 1846 – March 31, 1898) was an American banker and author, best known as the author of ''

David Harum ''David Harum; A Story of American Life'' is a best-selling novel of 1898 by Edward Noyes Westcott, whose principal legacy is the colloquial use of the term ''horse trading''. Literary significance and criticism Written by retired Syracuse, N ...

''.

Biography

Edward Noyes Westcott was born on September 27, 1846, in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. His father was professor, dentist, dental college founder, and politician Amos Westcott who served as mayor of Syracuse. Edward's brother Frank Nash Westcott was a minister and author who wrote on Catholicism and two novels. He was educated a local schools until he turned sixteen and began working in a bank. Westcott remained in that career for the rest of his life. He died on March 31, 1898, also in Syracuse.

''David Harum''

Westcott began writing''

'', a novel set in upstate New York, while on leave from his banking career because he was sick with chronic

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. The book was rejected several times, but in December 1897 reached

Ripley Hitchcock Ripley Hitchcock (born James Ripley Wellman Hitchcock; 1857–1918) was a prominent American editor. He edited the works of Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, Zane Grey, Joel Chandler Harris, Stephen Crane and Theodore Dreiser. Biography Rip ...

, an editor at D. Appleton & Company. Hitchcock edited the book, which was eventually published in September 1898, and became an immediate best-seller. Westcott had died several months earlier.

References

External links

* "

In Pathetic Remembrance IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...

", a poem by

Florence Earle Coates Florence Van Leer Earle Nicholson Coates (July 1, 1850 – April 6, 1927) was an American poet, whose prolific output was published in many literary magazines, some of it set to music. She was mentored by the English poet Matthew Arnold, with wh ...

* * American bankers American male novelists 1846 births 1898 deaths 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American businesspeople {{US-novelist-1840s-stub