:''For the early American colonist of the same name see
List of Jamestown colonists''
''Hugh Wynne'' was a popular American novel by
Silas Weir Mitchell, who was also a medical doctor, published in 1897. The story is recounted in autobiographical form from the perspective of an American patriot during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
who has a strict father. He eventually serves under General
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
and has various adventures as well as a love interest playing out during the Revolutionary War era. ''
The Bookman'' reported it to be the secondmost-bestselling
book in America for 1898.
Much of the book takes place in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
[MacArthur, James]
A Great American Novel
'' The Bookman'', pp. 139-41 (October 1897) ''
The Bookman'' gave the book high praise.
[
The book was first serialized in '' The Century'' from November 1896 through October 1897.][Cervetti, Nancy]
S. Weir Mitchell, 1829-1914: Philadelphia's Literary Physician
p. 217 (2012)[Roberts, Charles G.D. (November 27, 1897)]
A Fighting Quaker
'' The Illustrated American''
The full title of the book is ''Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker, Sometime Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel on the Staff of His Excellency General Washington.''
Richard J. Beamish
Richard Joseph Beamish (November 6, 1869October 1, 1945) was a Pennsylvania lawyer and journalist. He served a term as the state's Secretary of the Commonwealth, and served on the state's Public Utilities Commission.
Life and career
Beamish was ...
used the novel as the basis for his libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
to Camille Zeckwer
Camille Wolfgang Zeckwer (June 26, 1875–August 7, 1924) was an American pianist and composer.
Biography
Zeckwer was born in Philadelphia, where his father Richard Zeckwer had founded the Philadelphia Musical Academy (now known as the University ...
's cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
The meaning of ...
La Mischianza''.''
See also
* Publishers Weekly list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 1890s
References
External links
{{Gutenberg book, no=6485
1897 American novels
Novels set in Philadelphia