| Abstrakt: |
The American novelist John Esten Cooke was the younger brother of Philip Pendleton Cooke, the noted poet and story writer of the antebellum South. John Esten Cooke spent his early boyhood on a farm near Winchester, Virginia, but his family moved to Richmond when he was nine years old. In 1846, although he had wanted to attend the University of Virginia, he began to read law in his father’s office. By 1848, he had published some poetry and prose, including pieces in Harper’s Monthly and The Southern Literary Messenger; he also edited The Southern Literary Messenger for short periods in 1851 and 1854. His first real success came with the publication of The Virginia Comedians, the first of the thirty-one books to be published before his death. |
