Ripley Hitchcock (born James Ripley Wellman Hitchcock; 1857–1918) was a prominent American editor. He edited the works of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...

Joel Chandler Harris Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a planta ...

Stephen Crane Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism an ...

and

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...

Biography

Ripley Hitchcock was born in

Fitchburg, Massachusetts Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private e ...

on July 3, 1857. His father was surgeon Alfred Hitchcock (1813-1874). He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1877. After his graduation, he was a special student at Harvard in fine arts and philosophy. He attended lectures at the

New York College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...

for one year. He started work as a journalist for ''

The New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the dom ...

'' in 1882. In 1890, he became literary adviser for D. Appleton & Company, in which capacity he edited

Edward Noyes Westcott Edward Noyes Westcott (September 27, 1846 – March 31, 1898) was an American banker and author, best known as the author of ''David Harum''. Biography Edward Noyes Westcott was born on September 27, 1846, in Syracuse, New York. His father wa ...

's narrative ''

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'' (1898) into a bestseller, later made into a film. From 1902 to 1906, he worked for A. S. Barnes as vice president. From 1906 onwards, he worked as an editor for

Harper and Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

. He unfanged Stephen Crane's lewd details and Theodore Dreiser's irony. He also wrote books on art and the history of the West and was a member of the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

, the

Century Association The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinction ...

and the Authors Club. He married Martha Barker Wolcott on May 23, 1883. She died in 1903, and he remarried to Helen Sanborn Sargent on January 7, 1914. They had two sons. Ripley Hitchcock died at the Park Avenue Hotel in Manhattan on May 5, 1918.

Bibliography

*''The Western Art Movement'' (New York, 1885) *''A Study of George Jenness'', with a catalogue of the Jenness exhibition (1885) *''Etching in America'' (1886) *''Madonnas by old masters'' (1888) *''Some American painters in water colors: Fac-similes of new works by William D. Smedley ...

t al. T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

; with portraits of the artists and representations of their work in black-and-white'' (1890) *''Thomas De Quincey: A study'' (1899) *''Louisiana Purchases Explorations Early History Building Of West'' (1903) *''Richard Henry Stoddard: Some personal notes'' (1903) *''The Lewis and Clark Expedition'' (1905)

References

External links

Finding aid to Ripley Hitchcock papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchcock, Ripley 1857 births 1918 deaths Harvard University alumni American editors People from Fitchburg, Massachusetts New York College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni