F. Hopkinson Smith
Frank Hopkinson Smith was an American author and artist, born on October 23, 1838, in Baltimore, Maryland. He hailed from a distinguished family, with a great-grandfather who signed the Declaration of Independence. Before embarking on his writing career at the age of fifty, Smith was trained as an engineer and made significant contributions to major construction projects, including the Race Rock Lighthouse and the foundation of the Statue of Liberty. His artistic talents were evident in his early travel sketches, which he illustrated himself, leading to the publication of works like "Well-Worn Roads of Spain."
Smith's literary journey included a mix of travel writing and fiction, with popular novels such as "Colonel Carter of Cartersville" and "Peter: A Novel of Which He Is Not the Hero," which achieved notable sales. His storytelling was characterized by a blend of romanticism and realism, often enriched by vivid local color. Throughout his career, he shifted publishers, ultimately leading to the comprehensive "Beacon Edition" of his works published by Scribner. Smith passed away on April 7, 1915, in New York City, leaving behind a legacy of engaging narratives and beautifully illustrated travel accounts. His contributions to literature and art reflect a unique perspective shaped by both his engineering background and artistic sensibilities.
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Subject Terms
F. Hopkinson Smith
Writer
- Born: October 23, 1838
- Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
- Died: April 7, 1915
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Frank Hopkinson Smith was born on October 23, 1838, in Baltimore, Maryland, and raised in a well-to-do family. His great-grandfather was Francis Hopkinson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence for New Jersey. He was married in 1866 to Josephine Van Deventer.
Smith had two successful careers before becoming a writer at the age of fifty. He was trained as an engineer and was a partner in a construction firm that built the Race Rock Lighthouse, the Block Island breakwater, and the foundation for the Statue of Liberty, among other New York projects. Smith was also a talented artist, and his first books were travel sketches illustrated by his own drawings, like Well-Worn Roads of Spain, Holland, and Italy: Traveled by a Painter in Search of the Picturesque. He continued to produce volumes of illustrated travel sketches (such as Venice of To-Day and A White Umbrella in Mexico) throughout his writing career.
Smith was a lively raconteur, and his first book of fiction, Colonel Carter of Cartersville: A Novel, collected many of his favorite after-dinner stories. Houghton Mifflin published Smith’s early works of fiction (including Tom Grogan and Caleb West, Master Diver). Although they were best- sellers, Smith grew dissatisfied with how the publisher promoted his work. He switched to Scribner’s for his remaining books.
Scribner eventually published the Beacon Edition of Smith’s works in twenty-three volumes between 1902 and 1915. Many of his novels were popular (like Peter: A Novel of Which He Is Not the Hero, which sold more than 100,000 copies). Several of them were also serialized in Scribner’s Magazine, a magazine that twenty or thirty years later would be serializing the stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe.
Smith collected his short fiction in nine volumes between 1894 and 1909. He died on April 7, 1915, in New York City. His son, F. Berkeley Smith, completed his father’s last novel, Enoch Crane: A Novel, for Scribner’s in 1916. Given Smith’s background, it is not surprising that his fiction was often poetic, painterly, and well constructed. Smith was a romantic writer, but he could be realistic in his use of local color.