Jacob Abbott biography
Date of birth : 1803-11-14
Date of death : 1879-10-31
Birthplace : Hallowell, Maine, U.S.
Nationality : American
Category : Famous Figures
Last modified : 2011-05-09
Credited as : Author, children's books, The Young Christian
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He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School.
His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at Home, The History of Sandford and Merton, and the The Parent's Assistant.
Fewacres in 1906, Abbott's residence at Farmington, Maine
His brothers, John Stevens Cabot Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors.
See his Young Christian, Memorial Edition, with a Sketch of the Author by Edward Abbott with a bibliography of his works.
Other works of note: Lucy Books, Jonas Books, Harper's Story Books, Marco Paul, Gay Family, and Juno Books.
Author of books:
The Young Christian (1832)
A Familiar Illustration of the Principles of Christian Duty (1832, religion)
The Little Scholar Learning to Talk: A Picture Book for Rollo (1834)
Young Christian: A Memorial Edition (1882, religion)
