View source for Jacob Abbott

{{short description|American writer of children's books (1803-1879)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Jacob Abbott
| image       = Jacob Abbott.jpg
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1803|11|14}}
| birth_place = [[Hallowell, Maine|Hallowell]], [[Massachusetts]], United States
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1879|10|31|1803|11|14}}
| death_place = [[Farmington, Maine]], United States
| alma_mater  = [[Bowdoin College]]
| occupation  = Children's author, historical biographer
}}

'''Jacob Abbott''' (November 14, 1803 – October 31, 1879) was an American writer of children's books and historical biographies.<ref>[[Chambers Biographical Dictionary]], {{ISBN|0-550-18022-2}}, page 2</ref>

== Early life ==
On November 14, 1803, Abbott was born in [[Hallowell, Maine]] to Jacob Abbott II and Betsey Chandler.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0900002 |title=Abbott, Jacob |last=Lach, Jr. |first=Edward L. |website=American National Biography |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0900002 |access-date=August 22, 2022 |quote=Abbott, Jacob (14 November 1803–31 October 1879), educator and author, was born in Hallowell, Maine, the son of Jacob Abbot II, a merchant, and Betsey Chandler.}}</ref> He attended the [[Hallowell Academy]].<ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Abbott, Jacob|edition=15th|year=2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|volume=I: A-Ak – Bayes|location=Chicago, IL|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/13 13]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/13}}</ref>

== Education ==
Abbott graduated from [[Bowdoin College]] in 1820. At some point during his years there, he supposedly added the second "t" to his surname, to avoid being "Jacob Abbot the 3rd" (although one source notes he did not actually begin signing his name with two t's until several years later).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://readseries.com/auth-a/ab-bio.html|title=Jacob Abbott|website=readseries.com|access-date=2019-05-30}}</ref>

Abbott studied at [[Andover Theological Seminary]] in 1821, 1822, and 1824. He taught at [[Portland Academy (Maine)|Portland Academy]] and was a tutor in [[Amherst College]] during the next year.<ref name="BDA1906">{{BDA1906 |wstitle= Abbott, Jacob |volume= 1 |page=27 |short=}}</ref>

== Career ==
From 1825 to 1829 Abbott was professor of mathematics and [[natural philosophy]] at [[Amherst College]];<ref name="EB" /> was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826; founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in [[Boston]] in 1829, and was principal of it in 1829–1833;<ref name="EB" /> was pastor of [[Eliot Congregational Church]] (which he founded), at [[Roxbury, Massachusetts]] in 1834–1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder, and in 1843–1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in 1845–1848 of the Mount Vernon School for Boys, in New York City.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

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 wrote 180 books and was a coauthor or editor of 31 more.<ref name="EB" /> He died in [[Farmington, Maine]],<ref name="BDA1906" /> 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 Play'' and ''Rollo in Europe'', 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 the US, by the authors of ''Evenings at Home'', ''[[The History of Sandford and Merton]]'', and ''[[The Parent's Assistant]]''. To follow up his Rollo books, he wrote of ''Uncle George'', using him to teach the young readers about ethics, geography, history, and science. He also wrote 22 volumes of biographical histories and a 10 volume set titled the ''[[Franconia Stories]]''.<ref name="EB" />

His intention was to both amuse and educate, shown by this quotation from the Preface of ''Bruno'': <blockquote>The books, though called story books, are not intended to be works of amusement merely to those who may receive them, but of substantial instruction. The successive volumes will comprise a great variety, both in respect to the subjects which they treat, and to the form and manner in which the subjects will be presented; but the end and aim of all will be to impart useful knowledge, to develop the thinking and reasoning powers, to teach a correct and discriminating use of language, to present models of good conduct for imitation, and bad examples to be shunned, to explain and enforce the highest principles of moral duty, and, above all, to awaken and cherish the spirit of humble and unobtrusive, but heartfelt piety.<ref>{{cite web|first=Jacob|last=Abbott|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51859/51859-h/51859-h.htm|title=Bruno|date=1854|website=Project Gutenberg|accessdate=2022-03-06}}</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Jacob Abbott House, Farmington, ME.jpg|thumb|''Fewacres'' in 1906, Abbott's residence at Farmington, Maine]]

His brothers, [[John Stevens Cabot Abbott]] and [[Gorham Dummer Abbott]], were also 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''.

== Personal life ==
On May 18, 1829, Abbott married Harriet Vaughan.<ref name="BDA1906" /> He had four sons; [[Benjamin Vaughan Abbott]], [[Austin Abbott]], both eminent lawyers, [[Lyman Abbott]], and [[Edward Abbott (clergyman)|Edward Abbott]], a clergyman, were also well-known authors.

== Select Bibliography ==
=== Biographies ===
{{div col |colwidth=20em}}
* Alexander the Great (1841)
* Alfred the Great
* King Charles I
* King Charles II
* Cleopatra
* Cyrus the Great (1878)
* Darius
* Queen Elizabeth
* Genghis Khan
* Hannibal
* Hortense
* Josephine
* Julius Caesar
* Margaret of Anjou
* Mary, Queen of Scots
* Nero
* Peter the Great
* Pyrrhus
* Richard I
* Richard II
* Richard III
* Romulus
* William the Conqueror
* Xerxes
{{div col end}}

=== American History Series ===
{{div col |colwidth=20em}}
* Aboriginal America (1860)
* Discovery of America (1860)
* Southern Colonies (1860)
* Northern Colonies (1862)
* Wars of the Colonies (1863)
* Revolt of the Colonies (1864)
* War of the Revolution (1864)
* Washington (1865)
{{div col end}}

===Educational fiction===
*''Rollo's Experiments'' (1839)
*''Rollo Learning to Read'' (1847)
*''Rollo at Work or, The Way to Be Industrious'' (1848)
*''Rollo at Play or, Safe Amusements'' (1850)
*''Rollo in London'' (1854)
*''Bruno or, Lessons of Fidelity, Patience, and Self-Denial Taught by a Dog'' (1854)
*''Cousin Lucy's Conversations'' (1854)
*''Rollo in the Woods'' (1857)
*''Georgie'' (1857)
[Note: dates may be revised editions]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Additional sources==
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Abbott, Jacob}}

==External links==
 {{Collier's poster|Abbott, Jacob}}
; Texts
* {{Gutenberg author |id=2136}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jacob Abbott}}
* {{Librivox author |id=699}}
; Other
* {{Find a Grave|73106164|Jacob Abbott}}
* [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-3a8f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 Portrait clipping of Jacob Abbott from The New York Public Library Digital Collections]
* [http://virtualology.com/jacobabbott/ Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887–1889]
* [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/search?author=jacob+abbott&amode=words Works by Jacob Abbott] at Online Books

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Jacob}}
[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:1879 deaths]]
[[Category:American children's writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Maine]]
[[Category:Abbott family|Jacob]]
[[Category:People from Hallowell, Maine]]
[[Category:People from Farmington, Maine]]
[[Category:Bowdoin College alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century American male writers]]