book cover of Stories and Poems
 

Stories and Poems

(1914)
A collection of stories by

 
 
Excerpt from Stories and Poems

Though the name Bret Harte is not, as was at one time supposed, a literary pseudonym like Mark Twain or Voltaire, it is neither the complete name of the great writer to whom it belongs, nor is it baptismally or patronymically correct as far as it goes. In obedience, doubtless, to an in defeasible instinct urging him to make a name for himself and start fair the commencing author evolved it as a signature by concurrent processes of simplification and adornment, and having arrived at a form at once individual, modest, and distinguished, ended by adopting it\.for social use. Francis Brett Hart was born in Albany, the capital of New York State, on August 25, 1836, and canie of that good mixed stock which has been the making of So many eminent Americans. The value of pure Dutch and English strains, especially when found together, has been often established, and he had the benefits of both yet what counted for most among the elements of his heredity was contributed by a Jewish grandfather. Beyond this Ebrew Jew (more accurately, an English Jew settled in America) the record on his father's side does not run, but on the mother's side it penetrates well back into the seventeenth century. Passing William Teller, a captain in the Indian wars, whose daughter Helena married Francis Rombout, we come within sight of known names with the marriage, in 1703, of Catharyna, daughter of this Francis Rombout, to the Englishman Roger Brett. Roger Brett was a lieutenant in the Navy, and related to Sir Balliol Brett, the judge who was raised to the peerage as Viscount Esher; and he first appears in America about the year 1700 as a friend of Lord Corn bury, which, to be sure, is not such a recommendation X.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.


Genre: Children's Fiction

Used availability for Bret Harte's Stories and Poems


About Fantastic Fiction       Information for Authors