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Last edited by OnFrATa
October 31, 2023 | History

Horatio Alger, Jr.

13 January 1832 - 18 July 1899

Horatio Alger, Jr. was a prolific 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels following the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels were hugely popular in their day.

Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard University at the age of 16. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following allegations he'd molested two teenage boys. He subsequently retired from the ministry entirely and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His sympathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile "rags to riches" novels. He died in 1899.1

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  • Cover of: Frank and Fearless: or The Fortunes of Jasper Kent

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  • Cover of: Telegraph Boy: Large Print

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  • Cover of: Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot-Blacks

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  • Cover of: Store Boy
    First published in 2016 4 editions in 1 language

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  • Cover of: Dan, the Newsboy

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  • Cover of: Driven from Home; or, Carl Crawford's Experience: Large Print

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  • Cover of: Paul Prescott's Charge

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  • Cover of: Cash Boy
    First published in 2019 4 editions in 1 language

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  • Cover of: Ragged Dick: Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks

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  • Cover of: Paul Prescott's Charge: Halloween Edition

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  • Cover of: Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks Illustrated

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  • Cover of: Dan, the Newsboy

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  • Cover of: Bound to Rise: Up the Ladder

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  • Cover of: Hector's Inheritance or The Boys of Smith Institute

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  • Cover of: Shifting for himself; or, Gilbert Greyson's fortunes

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  • Cover of: Joe's luck, or, A boy's adventures in California

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  • Cover of: Nothing to do: a tilt at our best society ...

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  • Cover of: The young acrobat of the Great North American Circus.

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  • Cover of: The young adventurer: or, Tom's trip across the plains

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  • Cover of: Driven from Home Carl Crawford's Experience (Large Print)

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October 31, 2023 Edited by OnFrATa merge authors
May 16, 2023 Edited by Drini merge authors
July 30, 2022 Edited by Tom Morris merge authors
July 30, 2022 Edited by Tom Morris merge authors
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import