Lucy Hooper (February 4, 1816 – August 1, 1841) was a 19th-century American writer known for her poetry and newspaper accounts. Her interests included

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

. Though she died of consumption at the age of 25, she is remembered for writing ''The Lady's Book'', "one of the most accomplished of the American flower books".

Early life and education

Lucy Hooper was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, February 4, 1816. Her father was Joseph Hooper, a merchant of that city. Lucy's father assured that she received the best education possible. At the age of fourteen, the family removed to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York.

Career

Soon after the move to Brooklyn, Hooper became an occasional contributor to the ''

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

Star''. Though anonymous, her pieces were admired and widely copied. Besides her compositions in verse, upon which Hooper's notability chiefly rests, she was the author of many prose articles of merit. These were collected in a volume, and published in 1840, under the title of ''Scenes from Real Life''. Among them was the prize essay on “Domestic Happiness.” But, like Henry Kirke White, the Davidson sisters, Lucretia and

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

, as well as others, Hooper's early, brilliant career ended when she was young.

Death and legacy

Since childhood, her health had been delicate, and she was affected deeply by the death of her father, and other domestic problems. Hooper died of consumption at Brooklyn, on August 1, 1841. Her ''Poetical Remains'' was published in 1842, with a memoir by John Keese. ''Complete Poetical Works'' was published in 1848, in compliance with the wishes of many of Hooper's friends. Some of the pieces in the second part of this volume had not been previously published, and a few, only in one or two local newspapers. The greater number of them were written at a very early age. Hooper had put aside many of these poems for improvement and correction, that they might not be published until they could appear in a more finished form. At the same time, she destroyed others, lest they might, through the partiality of some friends, come out (as she used to say) "to her utter confusion". These early productions were considered interesting for their natural language. There were also unfinished pieces and fragments, which were thought might add interest to the book. One or two poetical effusions were copied from Riker's ''Book of Poetry and Flowers'', which was edited by Hooper a few months before her death. Hooper's prose writings have never been collected and published in a volume, excepting a few tales, entitled ''Scenes from Real Life''. When arranged for publication they were to make two volumes, one of "Tales and Essays", another "Religious and Moral Stories", for juvenile readers.

Selected works

* ''Composition book, 1839-1841'' * ''Look at the sky today'' * ''Scenes from real life : and other American tales'', 1841 * ''Floral souvenir. A perennial gift.'', 1842 * ''The Lady's book of flowers and poetry to which are added a botanical introduction, a complete floral dictionary, and a chapter on plants in rooms.'', 1842 * ''The ladies' hand-book of the language of flowers'', 1844 * ''Poetical remains of the late L. H., collected and arranged; with a memoir by J. Keese.'', 1848

References

Citations

Attribution

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Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Lucy 1816 births 1841 deaths People from Newburyport, Massachusetts Poets from Massachusetts 19th-century American poets 19th-century American women writers American women poets 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state)