Frances Hodgson Burnett Letter
In this letter, Frances Burnett informs Mr. McGee of her plans to visit Bermuda to rest before returning to her home in Long Island for the remainder of the summer and tells him when he may contact her regarding her books.
Dates
- 1919 December 10
Conditions Governing Access
Collections are stored offsite, and a minimum of 2 business days are needed to retrieve these items for use. Researchers interested in consulting any of the collections are advised to contact Special Collections.
Conditions Governing Use
The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.
Extent
0.1 Linear Feet
Abstract
In this letter, Frances Burnett informs Mr. McGee of her plans to visit Bermuda to rest before returning to her home in Long Island for the remainder of the summer and tells him when he may contact her regarding her books.
Biographical/Historical Note
Frances Eliza Hodgson was born to Edwin and Eliza (Boond) Hodgson in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, England on November 24, 1845. Her father died in 1854 and her mother struggled to maintain her late husband's business until 1865, when her brother persuaded her to emigrate to Knoxville, Tennessee where he had established a prosperous dry goods store. Their first few years in America proved difficult, and Frances Hodgson began selling her short stories to earn money in 1868. Her output slowed in 1873, when she married ophthalmologist Swan Moses Burnett. The couple had two sons, Lionel (1874-1890) and Vivian (1876-1937), and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1877. Frances Burnett often traveled apart from her family and met such literary personalities as Henry James and Israel Zangwill. and associate with such literary personalities as Henry James and Israel Zangwill. The marriage ended in 1898, and Burnett remarried Steven Townsend in 1900. They divorced the following year. In order to support her increasingly lavish lifestyle, Frances Burnett wrote innumerable short stories and over twenty novels, including The Lass o' Lowrie's (1877), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), The Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1910). She settled in Long Island, New York in 1909 and divided her later years between New York and Bermuda, dying in Long Island on October 29, 1924.
Arrangement
This collection consists of a single folder.
Acquisition Note
Special Collections purchased this letter in May of 1997.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository