e nesbit
TRANSCRIPT
EDITH NESBIT (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organization later affiliated to the Labour Party.
HER BIOGRAPHY
Nesbit was born in 1858 at 38 Lower Kennington Lane in Kennington, Surrey (now part of Greater London).
The daughter of an agricultural chemist, John Collis Nesbit, who died in March 1862, before her fourth birthday.
Her sister Mary's ill health meant that the family travelled around for some years, living variously in Brighton, France, Spain and Germany, before settling for three years at Halstead Hall in Halstead in north-west Kent, a location which later inspired The Railway Children (this distinction has also been claimed by the Derbyshire town of New Mills).
When Nesbit was seventeen, the family moved back to London, living in South East London at Eltham, Elswick Road in Lewisham, Grove Park and Lee.
Nesbit published approximately 40 books for children, including novels, collections of stories and picture books.
Collaborating with others, she published almost as many more.
Among Nesbit's best-known books are The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1898) and The Wouldbegoods (1899), which both recount stories about the Bastables, a middle-
class family that has fallen on (relatively)
hard times. The Railway Children is also
known from its adaptation into a 1970 film version. Her children's writing also included numerous plays and collections of verse.
NOVELS FOR ADULTS
• The Prophet's Mantle in 1885• Something Wrong in 1886• The Marden Mystery in 1896• The Secret of the Kyriels in 1899• The Red House in 1902• The Incomplete Amorist in 1902• Daphne in Fitzroy Street in 1909• Dormant aka Rose Royal in 1911• The Incredible Honeymoon in 1921• The Lark in 1922
BASTABLE SERIES
• 1899 The Story of the Treasure Seekers• 1901 The Wouldbegoods• 1904 The New Treasure Seekers• 1902 Five Children and It• 1904 The Phoenix and the Carpet• 1906 The Story of the Amulet
POETRY
• 1886 Lays and Legends• 1887 The Lily and the Cross• 1887 The Star of Bethlehem• 1888 The Better Part, and other poems• 1888 Landscape and Song• 1888 The Message of the Dove• 1888 All Round the Year• 1888 Leaves of Life• 1889 Corals and Sea Songs• 1890 Songs of Two Seasons• 1892 Sweet Lavender• 1892 Lays and Legends• 1895 Rose Leaves