Hamilton Wright Mabie, A.M., L.H.D., LL.D. (December 13, 1846 – December 31, 1916) was an American

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

, editor, critic, and lecturer.

Biography

Hamilton Wright Mabie was born at

Cold Spring, New York Cold Spring is a village in the town of Philipstown in Putnam County, New York, United States. The population was 1,986 at the 2020 census. It borders the smaller village of Nelsonville and the hamlets of Garrison and North Highlands. The cen ...

on December 13, 1846. He was the youngest child of Sarah Colwell Mabie who was from a wealthy Scottish-

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

family and Levi Jeremiah Mabie, whose ancestors were Scots-

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

. They were early immigrants to New Amsterdam, New Netherland about 1647. Due to business opportunities with the opening of the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing ...

his family moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

when he was approaching school age. At the young age of 16 he passed his

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

entrance examination, but waited a year before he attended

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

(1867) and the

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

(1869). While at Williams, Mabie was a member of

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Delt, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in C ...

fraternity and would serve as the first president of the

North American Interfraternity Conference The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting ...

(formally known as the

National Interfraternity Conference The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting a ...

). He received honorary degrees from his own alma mater, from

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

, and from

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and

Washington and Lee , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

universities. Although he passed his bar exams in 1869 he hated both the study and practice of law. In 1876 he married Jeanette Trivett. In the summer of 1879 he was hired to work at the weekly magazine, Christian Union (renamed The Outlook in 1893), an association that lasted until his

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. In 1884, Mabie was promoted to associate editor of the Christian Union and then elected to the Author's Club, whose members included such men of established reputation as

George Cary Eggleston George Cary Eggleston (26 November 1839 – 14 April 1911) American author and brother of fellow author Edward Eggleston (1837–1902). Sons of Joseph Cary Eggleston and Mary Jane Craig. After the American Civil War he published a serialized ...

Richard Watson Gilder Richard Watson Gilder (February 8, 1844 – November 19, 1909) was an American poet and editor. Life and career Gilder was born on February 8, 1844 at Bordentown, New Jersey. He was the son of Jane (Nutt) Gilder and the Rev. William Henry Gi ...

Brander Matthews James Brander Matthews (February 21, 1852 – March 31, 1929) was an American academic, writer and literary critic. He was the first full-time professor of dramatic literature at Columbia University in New York and played a significant role in est ...

, and

Edmund Clarence Stedman Edmund Clarence Stedman (October 8, 1833January 18, 1908) was an American poet, critic, essayist, banker, and scientist. Early life Edmund Clarence Stedman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 8, 1833; his father, Major Edmund B ...

. In 1890, a small collection of Mabie's essays which reflected upon life, literature and nature were published as a volume entitled ''My Study Fire''. Many of Mabie's books are available at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

. Mabie was a resident of

Summit, New Jersey Summit is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city is located on a ridge in northern-central New Jersey, within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. At the 2010 United State ...

. He died at his home there on December 13, 1916, and was buried at

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch ...

in New York.

Quotations

"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love." "Don't be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against, not with the wind."

Selected works

* ''Norse Stories, Retold from the Eddas'' (1882) * ''Nature in New England'' (1890) * ''My Study Fire'' (two series, 1890 and 1894) * ''In the Forest of Arden'' (1891) * ''Short Studies in Literature'' (1891) * ''Under the Trees and Elsewhere'' (1891) * ''Essays in Literary Interpretation'' (1892) * ''Essays on Nature and Culture'' (1896) * ''Essays on Books and Culture'' (1897) * ''Essays on Work and Culture'' (1898) * ''The Life of the Spirit'' (1899) * ''William Shakespeare, Poet, Dramatist, and Man'' (1900) * ''A Child of Nature'' (1901) Published by Dodd, Mead and Company * ''Works and Days'' (1902) * ''Parables of Life'' (1902) * ''In Arcady'' (1903) Published by Dodd, Mead and Company * ''Backgrounds of Literature'' (1904) * ''Introduction to Notable Poems'' (1909) * ''American Ideals, Character, and Life'' (1913) * ''Japan To-Day and To-Morrow'' (1914)

Every Child Should Know

Doubleday, Page & Co. published this anthology series, in which Mabie edited several early volumes: * ''Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know'' (1905) * ''Myths That Every Child Should Know'' (1905) * ''Heroes Every Child Should Know'' (1906) * ''Legends That Every Child Should Know'' (1906) * ''Famous Stories Every Child Should Know'' (1907) * ''Essays That Every Child Should Know'' (1908) * ''Heroines That Every Child Should Know'' (1908), ed. Mabie and Kate Stephens * ''Folk Tales Every Child Should Know'' (1910) *Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern; New York, R. S. Peale and J. A. Hill, (c.1896-97), co-contributor

References

External links

* * * * *
MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image repository)
illustrations from Hamilton Wright Mabie’s Norse Stories: Retold from the Eddas (1882). Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mabie, Hamilton, Wright Mabie, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Hamilton Wright 1846 births Mabie, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Hamilton Wright Writers from Summit, New Jersey Williams College alumni Writers on Germanic paganism Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery