Tag: Daniel Lothrop

A Month of Margaret Sidney!

Published on by Isabella Alden2 Comments

Publishing The Pansy magazine was more than just a family affair for Isabella Alden. Writers outside her family circle also contributed poems, biographies, science articles, and other content for the magazine issues. One of those contributors was Harriet Lothrop, who wrote children’s fiction under the pen name of Margaret Sidney.

Black and white photo of Margaret Sidney from the 1890s. She has dark hair worn in the style of the period in a curly knot on top of her head. She wears pince nex glasses. Her gown has a modest scoop neckline surrounded by deep rows of ruffles. Around her throat is tied a wide black ribbon from which a jeweled cross is hung.
Margaret Sidney about 1895, image from the New York Public Library

Harriet’s books were incredibly popular, especially the Five Little Peppers—a series she wrote about brothers and sisters in the fictional Pepper family. Daniel Lothrop, the publisher of the Pepper books, also published Isabella’s books, as well as The Pansy magazine.

Black and white photo of Daniel Lothrop. His hair is neatly cut with touches of grey at his temples and above his ears. He has a very full beard and mustache, which also have touches of grey. He wears a high-collar shirtfront with a thin black bow tie, a vest and suit coat with wide lapels.
Daniel Lothrop

Mr. Lothrop was immediately charmed by Harriet’s Pepper books. In fact, he was so impressed, he asked to personally meet Harriet. One thing lead to another, and they eventually married!

Embossed hard cover of the book, The Stories Polly Pepper Told. The cover is in green with gold embossed letters and figures of children. Decorative embellishments of vines and patterns are printed in brown.
An 1899 cover of one of the Pepper books, The Stories Polly Pepper Told

Together they became a powerhouse in the publishing and literary communities. They purchased Wayside, the Concord, Massachusetts home that previously belonged to American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. There Harriet continued to write her stories and novels; and Daniel enjoyed his weekends there as respite from the hustle and bustle of downtown Boston where his publishing house was located. 

Black and white photo of Wayside, a three-story home with clapboard siding and shutters at the windows. On the left side of the home is a Victorian trimmed veranda that circles around to the side of the house. A first floor bay window has a balcony above it that is accessed through french shuttered doors. A split rail fence, covered in a flowering vine, separates the front lawn from the sidewalk.
Wayside, as it appeared in 1908.

As individuals, Isabella Alden and Harriet Lothrop could not be more different. Isabella lived a rather quiet life, supporting her husband’s ministry, raising her son, writing her books, teaching at Chautauqua, and giving talks and readings of her stories at churches across the country.

By comparison, Harriet loved a good party. She was a leading force in Concord society. When her daughter Margaret turned nine years old, Harriet, in typical style, threw an all-day celebration. She invited children and adults from around the area to join the birthday celebration.

The highlight of the event was when the children formed a circle around a large artificial rose that had been set up on the lawn. And when the rose petals parted and spread, they revealed little Margaret setting in the center of the rose. Here’s an illustration that appeared in a magazine that printed an account of the event.

Harriet was definitely an imaginative hostess, and knew how to throw a party to please children and adults!

The same was true of her stories. Although Harriet was best known for her children’s books, she also wrote novels for teens and young adults.

One such novel was How Tom and Dorothy Made and Kept a Christian Home.

Cover image for novel, How Tom and Dorothy Made and Kept a Christian Home.

Newlyweds Tom and Dorothy Foster have a bright future together, but very little money. They’ve pledged to spend their earnings for God’s good, but it seems each new day brings new temptations. Will they be able to keep the promises they made to God and to each other?

You can read How Tom and Dorothy Made and Kept a Christian Home for free!

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We’re celebrating Margaret Sidney all month long!

Join us next week for another story by Margaret Sidney you can read for free!

A Perfect Partnership: Isabella and Daniel Lothrop

Published on by Isabella Alden4 Comments

In additional to writing novels, Isabella Alden wrote articles and short stories for many different publications.

Her stories and articles were so popular she found herself in a unique position for a writer: She never had to submit her work for publication.

Instead, publishers went to her. Elias Riggs Monfort, the long-time editor of The Herald and Presbyter (a weekly Presbyterian newspaper), gave her a lifetime contract to publish any serials she wrote.

Elias Riggs Monfort, about 1870 (Wikipedia).

Mr. Montfort was such a fan of Isabella’s, he wrote to his friend, Daniel Lothrop, full of praises about Isabella and her stories.

Daniel Lothrop was the owner of D. Lothrop & Company, a Boston publishing house that specialized in books for young people.

Daniel Lothrop.

Daniel Lothrop had been a great reader from his childhood; while he was still a boy himself he developed an ambition to publish books specifically written for children—a novel idea at the time. Even more radical: he believed the books should be beautifully illustrated to serve the story and keep children’s attention.

An undated artist’s rendering of the D. Lothrop and Co. Publishing building in Boston, Massachusetts.

But he persisted, believing that it was possible to publish children’s books that were not only entertaining, but encouraged “true, steadfast growth in right living.”

The interior of D. Lothrop and Company.

He often said to the people in his employ: “I publish books to do good as well as to make money. I always ask first, ‘Will this book help the young people?’ rather than ‘How much money is there in it?’”

His long partnership with Isabella began around 1874. After Elias Monfort sang Isabella’s praises to him, Daniel Lothrop invited Isabella to contribute stories to be published in a small weekly Sunday School newspaper he published.

Little One’s Friend, one of D. Lothrop and Company’s beautifully illustrated books for children.

By 1877 that short weekly paper had grown considerably in size and content—and Isabella was its editor!

Called The Pansy, each issue was filled with inspiring stories, delightful illustrations, short poems, and descriptions of exotic and far-away places to spark children’s imaginations.

Isabella wrote a short story for each issue, and other members of her family did, too, including her husband, her sister Marcia, niece Grace Livingston, and later, once he was old enough, her son Raymond.

Another frequent contributor was Daniel Lothrop’s wife Harriett, who wrote under the pen name “Margaret Sidney.”

Author Harriet Stone Lothrop, who wrote under the name “Margaret Sidney.”

Isabella wrote that Mr. Lothrop always had “a very warm place in his great warm heart” for The Pansy magazine.

Not only was he fertile in suggestions calculated to make it better, but he was ready always to heartily second the suggestions of others, and to aid in carrying them out.

The Pansy Society in particular was very dear to him. He was interested in everything about the Society, from the content of the letters children wrote to the magazine, to the design of the badges that Isabella sent to Pansy Society members. Isabella said:

“It would be difficult—impossible, indeed—to tell you in how many ways he helped along the cause of truth and right in the world.”

Another common interest Isabella and Lothrop shared was the Christian Endeavor Society. From the early days of the Society, Daniel Lothrop saw an opportunity to use his publishing company to further the Society’s message. He recruited authors to write books of interest to Christian Endeavor members. Margaret Sidney, Faye Huntington, and Grace Livingston were among those who answered the call.

An 1897 newspaper ad showing new Lothrop books by the company’s prized authors.

Isabella’s novels, Chrissy’s Endeavor and Her Associate Members were written and published especially for C.E. members.

     

Isabella’s long partnership with Daniel Lothrop lasted almost twenty years. It ended when he passed away in 1892.

Isabella was heartbroken. In her memoirs she wrote:

“Mr. Lothrop was my true, strong, faithful friend all his life.”

She gently told readers in an issue of The Pansy about the passing of “our friend who loved us, and worked for us and with us.”

It’s impossible to know how many lives were influenced for good by Isabella’s partnership with Daniel Lothrop. Her books alone sold more than 100,000 copies a year, and The Pansy magazine had thousands of subscribers all around the world.

They had formed a perfect partnership. Both Isabella and Daniel Lothrop must have been proud of their accomplishments and the knowledge that they always produced books and stories that were consistently wholesome, pure, and elevating.

You can learn more about The Pansy magazine, The Christian Endeavor Society, and The Pansy Society by reading these previous posts:

The Pansy Magazine

The Christian Endeavor Society

The Pansy Society