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Margaret Thomson Janvier

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Margaret Thomson Janvier
Bornc. 1844
New Orleans, Louisiana
Died1913
Moorestown, New Jersey
Pen nameMargaret Vandegrift
NationalityAmerican
GenrePoetry, children's literature
RelativesThomas Allibone Janvier (brother)

Margaret Thomson Janvier (1840s – 1913) was an American poet and author of children's literature who published under the pseudonym Margaret Vandegrift.

Biography

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Janvier was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Francis de Haes Janvier and Emma (Newbold) Janvier.[1] Her brother was the writer Thomas Allibone Janvier.[2] She was initially educated at home and in the public school system before, in 1859, entering the Moravian Female Seminary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.[3] She lived most of her adult life in Moorestown, New Jersey.[4]

Beginning around 1880, Janvier published collections of poetry, adventure novels, short stories, and fairy tales for young readers.[4] Many of her adventure tales featured plucky protagonists — often girls — overcoming difficulties ranging from financial destitution to the death of a parent.[4] Critics of the era praised her as "a most charming entertainer of children".[5] E. B. Bensell illustrated two of her books.

In addition to publishing stand-alone books, Janvier wrote for popular periodicals such as St. Nicholas Magazine, Harper's Young People, and Century Magazine.[4] One of her poems, "Little Wild Baby", which implied a mixed-race relationship between a white man and a woman of color, was rejected by major literary periodicals of its day.[6]

Selected publications

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  • Clover Beach (1880)
  • Under the Dog Star (1881)
  • Holidays at Home (1882)
  • The Queen's Body Guard (1883)
  • The Absent-Minded Fairy, and Other Verses (1884, illustrated by E. B. Bensell)
  • Doris and Theodora (1884)
  • Little Bell and Other Stories (1884, illustrated by E. B. Bensell)
  • Rose Raymond's Wards (1885)
  • Ways and Means (1886)
  • The Dead Doll, and Other Verses (1888)
  • Little Helpers (1888)
  • Umbrellas to Mend (1905)

References

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  1. ^ "Janvier, Margaret Thomson". The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. 12, 1904, p. 460.
  2. ^ Turner, Michael R. Victorian Parlour Poetry: An Annotated Anthology, p. 194.
  3. ^ Smith, Jewel A. Music, Women, and Pianos in Antebellum Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: The Moravian Young Ladies' Seminary. Associated University Presse, 2008, p. 134.
  4. ^ a b c d Schwartz, Helen J. "Janvier, Margaret Thompson". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved Aug. 18, 2017.
  5. ^ "Contemporary Literature". The Universalist Quarterly and General Review, vol. 26 (January 1889), p. 114.
  6. ^ Keetley, Dawn. "19th Century Women's Poetry: Margaret Thomson Janvier (1844-1913)". Society for the Study of American Women Writers, Lehigh University.
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