Jacob Abbot

• Born: November 14, 1803
• Birthplace: Hallowell, ME
• Died: 1879

Jacob Abbott is the author of the first fictional series for children. Born in Maine in 1803, Abbott was raised in a strictly Christian household, the second of seven children. He graduated from Bowdoin College, and went on to study theology at Andover, becoming a teacher and a minister. In 1824, while still a student at Andover, Abbott began teaching at Amherst College, becoming a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy there. Ordained in 1826, he also gave sermons in the college chapel.

In 1829, Jacob Abbott and his brother, John, founded a high school for girls, Mt. Vernon School, in Boston. It was there that Jacob Abbott published his first book, The Young Christian; or, A Familiar Illustration of the Principles of Christian Duty (1832). In 1835, a year after having moved from Mt. Vernon to become a pastor in a Congregational Church in Roxbury, Abbott published the first of his "Rollo" series of books, The Little Scholar Learning to Talk. A Picture Book for Rollo. The series eventually included 14 books, as well as a further series called Rollo's Tour in Europe. Over the next several years, Abbott wrote other series of books, including the "Jonas" series, the "Lucy" series and the "Franconia" stories. He and his brother John wrote Illustrated Histories, biographies of historical figures, written for adolescents.

In total, Abbott wrote 130 books and edited or co-authored another 31. He is credited with having brought a new dimension to children's books. Abbott had been twice married, in 1828 to Harriet Vaughan who died in 1843, and to Mary Woodbury in 1853. He had four sons.

Most Famous Works

• The Young Christian (1832)
• The Little Philosopher, for Schools and Families (1833)
• The Little Scholar Learning to Talk and Rollo learning to Read (1835)
• Rollo Series (1835-1858)
• Jonas Series (1839-1841)
• Lucy Series (1841-1842)
• Illustrated Biographies of historical figures (1848-1853)
• Franconia Series (1850-1853)
• Stories of Rainbow and Lucky (1859-1860)
• Harlie Stories (1862-1863)

Jacob Abbott (November 14, 1803–October 31, 1879) was an American writer of children's books.

Abbott was born at Hallowell, Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820; studied at Andover Theological Seminary in 1821, 1822, and 1824; was tutor in 1824-1825, and from 1825 to 1829 was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College; was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826; founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in Boston in 1829, and was principal of it in 1829-1833; was pastor of Eliot Congregational Church (which he founded), at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1834-1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder, and in 1843-1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in 1845-1848 of the Mount Vernon School for boys, in New York City.

He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother Samuel Phillips Abbott founded the Abbott School.

His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at Home, The History of Sandford and Merton, and the The Parent's Assistant.

His brothers, John Stevens Cabot Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors.

See his Young Christian, Memorial Edition, with a Sketch of the Author by Edward Abbott with a bibliography of his works.

Other works of note: Lucy Books, Jonas Books, Harper's Story Books, Marco Paul, Gay Family, and Juno Books.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

External links

Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about:

Abbott, Jacob

• Works by Jacob Abbott at Project Gutenberg
• Works by Jacob Abbott at Internet Archive - 100+ scanned books many illustrated first editions.

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