Background

Mary Elizabeth was born on January 26, 1831 in New York City, New York, United States. She was one of the three daughters of Professor James Jay Mapes, freelance scientist and inventor, and Sophia (Furman) Mapes, and a descendant of General Jonas Mapes who served in the War of 1812.

Education

The Mapes children were educated at home by tutors, and under their father’s guidance became familiar with the best in English literature.

Career

Under the necessity of supporting her two sons after her husband's death in 1858 Dodge went to live in her father’s home, now near Newark, New Jersey, and began writing.

In a deserted farmhouse nearby she fitted up a workshop, decorated with Florida moss and leaves, furnished with cast-off furniture, and warmed by a Franklin stove.

Here she worked for regular hours.

Her writing was quickly accepted by magazines.

The idea came from reading Motley’s Rise of the Dutch Republic, and for years she collected material on Dutch life, though she had never seen Holland. Dutch friends in New York acted as critics. The book had immediate success and has remained her best work and a leading juvenile classic.

It was translated into many foreign languages and received a prize from the French Academy. When she afterward visited Holland, Hans Brinker was recommended to her son by a Dutch bookseller as the best juvenile story of Dutch life.

She wrote frequently for the Atlantic Monthly, the Century, and Harper’s Magazine.

In 1870 she became associate editor of Hearth and Home. The directors of the Century Company, noticing her work here in 1873 secured her as editor for their new juvenile monthly, which she named St. Nicholas Magazine.

She continued in this position until her death and her sane policy and personal supervision made St. Nicholas a leader in its class. She excluded preachiness, sentimentalism, the morbid, and the inartistic. Her acquaintance with authors helped in securing contributions. Her volumes for little children, were compiled from her contributions to St. Nicholas.

During this period her home was an apartment near Central Park, New York.

In 1888 she purchased “Yarrow Cottage, ” at Ontcora Park in the Catskills. There she went in her last illness, hoping for healing among her loved mountains, and there, at the height of summer, she died.

The children of the community, all her friends, formed the procession at her funeral. ” Her stories, wholesome but not “goody-goody, ” have suggestive atmosphere and truthful characterization. Her verse has humor, quaint turns of thought, and a quality which does not grow old.

Achievements

• Mary Dodge was an editor of St. Nicholas magazine, the most successful magazine for children during the second half of the nineteenth century. Her success as editor places her, probably with justice, as “the recognized leader in juvenile literature for almost a third of a century. " Mary Elizabeth received a prize from the French Academy for her book Hans Brinker; or the Silver Skates (1865).

Works

More photos

• book

  • Along the way

    (This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)

  • Baby World: Stories, Rhymes And Pictures For Little Folks (1884)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • A Few Friends And How They Amused Themselves: A Tale In Nine Chapters (1869)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • When Life is Young: A Collection of Verse for Boys and Girls 1894

    (Originally published in 1894. This volume from the Cornel...)

  • Donald and Dorothy
  • The Land of Pluck
  • Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates

Personality

After work Mary played with her boys and their friends.

She was their companion, and tramped, collected specimens, swam, and skated with them.

Mrs. Dodge’s personality was adapted to both success and friendship.

She was brilliant, original, and possessed of discriminating judgment and executive ability.

Her sympathy and love of fun never failed.

She was a woman of fine appearance, with a full oval face, soft wavy hair, a small nose, and a pouting, childlike mouth.

Years drew character lines in her face but made her only more handsome.

Connections

In 1851 Mary Mapes married William Dodge, New York lawyer, who died in 1858. She had two sons. One of the sons died in 1881; the other became an inventor and manufacturer.

Father:

James Jay Mapes

Mother:

Sophia (Furman) Mapes

husband:

William Dodge