Horatio Alger, Jr. was a nineteenth century eminent literary figure in America. He prolifically produced juvenile novels. Most of his novels illustrate the lives of impoverished youth who eventually end up attaining a higher social status through hard work.
Born on January 13, 1832, Horatio Alger, Jr. grew up in the New England coastal to a Unitarian minister’s family. He suffered from bronchial asthma and had nearsightedness in his childhood. As his father wished his son to follow his footsteps and become a minister, he provided him classical studies. Alger moved to Marlborough, Massachusetts subsequent to facing severe financial difficulties, here he went to Gates Academy to continue his studies. Then he attended Harvard where he exhibited his literary prowess by earning prestigious scholarly awards.
In 1849, he started off his professional writing career as his essays and poem were published in Pictorial National Library. He was an avid reader of Herman Melville, Sir Walter Scott, Longfellow and other modern fiction writers. He did a number of jobs as an editor before he produced serious literary works. His earlier poems were thematically sexually ambivalent and sometimes written from a woman’s perspective. In 1856 he wrote his first book, Bertha’s Christmas Vision: An Autumn Sheaf, consisting of short pieces. The following year he penned, Nothing to Do: A Tilt at our Best Society, a long satirical poem. During Civil War he was the proponent of the Union and wrote in their favor.
At first Alger used to write for adult magazines, including Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper and Harper’s Monthly. In the New York Weekly his first novel was published in episodic form, titled Marie Bertrand: The Felon’s Daughter. A close acquaintance William Taylor Adams, a juvenile fiction writer himself, influenced Alger to pursue juvenile book writing. His next fiction work, Frank’s Campaign was published in 1864. During the latter half of nineteenth century, he penned two adult novels Helen Ford and Timothy Crump’s Ward. Both the fiction works received lukewarm response from readers and critics alike. However, his stories for youth gained popularity after being published in Student and Schoolmate.
Alger wrote a series of Bildungsroman by the title Ragged Dick. The first installment was published in 1867 in Student and Schoolmate. It was a ‘rags-to-riches’ story concerning a bootblack’s struggle and succession to rise above his station. The story’s successful reception paved way for more installments in the series. Subsequently, the story was stretched to suit the novel format and published in 1868. Ragged Dick achieved a bestseller status in a record time. He continued to write for boys yet he was not financially stable. He penned a few serials, Sam’s Chance and Shifting for Himself, which then turned out to be monotonous and stale.
Moving to California, he repeated his writing pattern for a few years to no success. On his return to New York he tutored offspring of an aristocrat while writing. Alger produced both urban and Western-themed tales alongside. In 1879, he penned The Young Miner and The District Messenger Boy. He was also a humanitarian who played an active role in rehabilitation of street boys. Alger wrote President James A. Garfield’s biography which rather seemed contrived and concocted than factual. However, the biographic book did good business in market and also had him commissioned to write Abraham Lincoln’s biography. He wrote over 100 poems and odes in his lifetime and numerous stories and novels. Horatio Alger, Jr. suffered from bronchitis and asthma in his last days which resulted in his death on July 18, 1899.
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