A Modern Mephistopheles and Taming a Tartar: [Hardcover]

Louisa May Alcott (Author), Madeleine B. Stern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 1987

Louisa May Alcott has always been associated with literature for young adults and children. Here is in effect a "new" book by the universally popular Alcott, a book that reveals an altogether different image of one of America's best-loved authors. A Modern Mephistopheles began as a rejected sensational novel and was revised by Alcott for anonymous publication in 1877. Its subject, style, and language mark radical deviations from those expected of Alcott. Taming a Tartar is a newly discovered Alcott thriller. Originally published as a serialization in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Magazine, this astounding page-turner highlights Alcott's feminists leanings. This unique book marks the first general printing of an Alcott story and the first reprinting in some 75 years of a neglected Alcott novel. Both works are closely analyzed in the detailed introduction by Madeleine B. Stern.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MADELEINE B. STERN is one of the world's leading authorities on antiquarian books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 437 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (August 19, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275927547
• ISBN-13: 978-0275927547
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,706,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Louisa May Alcott was both an abolitionist and a feminist. She is best known for Little Women (1868), a semi-autobiographical account of her childhood years with her sisters in Concord, Massachusetts. Alcott, unlike Jo, never married: "... because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man." She was an advocate of women's suffrage and was the first woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts.