Mary Mapes Dodge
Mary Mapes Dodge was an influential American author and editor, best known for her children's literature, particularly the beloved classic "Hans Brinker: Or, The Silver Skates," published in 1865. Born in New York City on January 26, likely in 1831, she was the daughter of an inventor and editor, which fostered her early love for literature. After marrying William Dodge in 1851 and experiencing personal loss, she returned to her family farm in Waverly, New Jersey, where she dedicated herself to writing.
Dodge's literary career began with contributions to various magazines and culminated in her role as the editor of "St. Nicholas," a highly regarded children's magazine that published notable authors of the time. Under her guidance, the magazine became a platform for strong, engaging writing, avoiding overly didactic themes. Throughout her life, Dodge published numerous volumes of stories and poetry, earning respect in literary circles while also balancing her responsibilities as a mother. She passed away from cancer on August 21, 1905, leaving a lasting legacy in children's literature, both for her own works and her editorial contributions.
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Mary Mapes Dodge
Author
- Born: January 26, 1831
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: August 21, 1905
- Place of death: Onteora Park, New York
Biography
Mary Elizabeth Mapes was born in New York City on January 26, probably in 1831. Her father, James Jay Mapes, was a multi- talented man who worked as an inventor, a chemist, and an editor of a magazine called Working Farmer. He and Mary’s mother, Sophia Furman Mapes, were avid readers, and encouraged their five children to read good literature. Like many children of the time, Mary was tutored at home, and her parents saw to it that the children learned French and Latin, and had lessons in art and music.
In 1847, the family moved to a farm in Waverly, New Jersey, where James hoped to put into practice some theories he had about restoring poor soil with fertilizers. The purchase of the farm was arranged with the help of a lawyer, William Dodge. Four years later, on September 13, 1851, Dodge married Mary Mapes. The couple moved back to New York City to live with Dodge’s extended family, and had two sons, James and Harrington. In 1858, William died suddenly, and Mary and her sons moved back to the family farm in Waverly.
Now twenty-seven, Dodge set up a small cottage where she could write and spend private time with the boys. Using a series of pseudonyms, Dodge wrote articles for Working Farmer and a magazine she edited, the United States Journal, and then began sending short stories to Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. In 1864, she published a collection of short stories for children, The Irvington Stories. The book sold well enough that Dodge was able to publish her next book, Hans Brinker: Or, The Silver Skates (1865), in spite of her publisher’s reservations. Hans Brinker, a story set in Holland with lively characters and a climactic race on ice skates, sold over three hundred thousand copies and became one of the most widely reviewed children’s books of the nineteenth century. The success of the book introduced Dodge to important writers and editors in New York City, and she began contributing to various children’s and adult’s magazines. She worked long hours in New York, traveling back to Waverly on weekends, and earned enough money to support her family and send her sons to college.
In 1872, she became editor of a new children’s magazine, St. Nicholas: Scribner’s Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls, which she envisioned as a “pleasure garden” which published strong and interesting writing with little “sermonizing.” For the next thirty years she guided the magazine, which never wavered in its quality, publishing such authors as Louisa May Alcott, Edward Eggleston, Bret Harte, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. She also continued her own writing, publishing eight more volumes of short stories and verse. She was well-known and respected, and enjoyed a close family, a wide circle of friends, travel, and literature. She died of cancer on August 21, 1905. Today Dodge is known primarily as the author of Hans Brinker, but during her lifetime she was equally important as the editor of St. Nicholas, still considered one of the best children’s magazines ever published.