Spofford, Harriet (Elizabeth) Prescott

Spofford, Harriet [Elizabeth] Prescott (1835–1921),New England author best known for her numerous romantic short stories. Her reputation began when the Atlantic Monthly published In a Cellar (Feb. 1859), a tale of adventure characterized by its glowing descriptive passages. Her first novel, Sir Rohan's Ghost (1860), in the tradition of Poe and the Gothic romance, is the story of a man who tries to kill his mistress and is later plagued by her daughter, with whom he falls in love. Azarian: An Episode (1864) is a poetic tale concerning Constant Azarian, an artistic Bostonian who is too self‐centered to appreciate the devotion of idealistic Ruth Yetton. The Amber Gods and Other Stories (1863) was the first of Mrs. Spofford's many collections of romantic tales, which include New‐England Legends (1871), A Scarlet Poppy and Other Stories (1894), Hester Stanley's Friends (1898), Old Madame and Other Tragedies (1900), and The Elder's People (1920). After her marriage (1865) she lived much of the time in Washington, D.C., and her interest in the local color of this city is shown in Old Washington (1906). She wrote other novels and published many volumes of poetry, including In Titian's Garden (1903). Some of her many literary friendships in New England are recalled in A Little Book of Friends (1916).