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Bret Harte
(1836-1902)

Active: 1857-1902 in USA, North America, England, Scotland, Britain, Germany, Europe

(Francis BrettHarte)

By Axel Nissen (University of Oslo)

Indexing Data:

  • Active In: USA, North America, England, Scotland, Britain, Germany, Europe
  • Born In: USA, North America
  • Activity: Editor, Essayist, Humorist, Lecturer, Literary Critic, Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Printer, Romancer, Satirist, Story Writer, Teacher

Life, Works and Times

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Bret Harte was born Francis Brett Hart on August 25, 1836 in Albany, New York, the third of Henry and Elizabeth Hart's four children. Harte's father was responsible for the change from Hart to Harte sometime in the 1840s, and the author himself would be known as “Bret Harte” from the time of his literary breakthrough in the late 1860s. Harte was of mixed Dutch, English, and Jewish heritage, being descended from the prominent Jewish merchant, Bernard Hart, and the distinguished upper New York state families, the Bretts, the Truesdales, and the Ostranders. Harte's father was a schoolteacher and tutor of Greek, who died when Harte was nine. Harte's formal education ended at age thirteen, probably due to the family's difficult fina

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First published 08 January 2001

Citation: Nissen, Axel. "Bret Harte". The Literary Encyclopedia. 8 January 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2011, accessed 9 February 2010.]

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