''The Peterkin Papers'' is a collection of humorous short stories by American author

Lucretia Peabody Hale Lucretia Peabody Hale (September 2, 1820 – June 12, 1900) was an American writer and editor, best known for her humorous ''The Peterkin Papers'' stories. Family and early life Hale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of editor and ...

. The book was first published in 1880, and a sequel, ''The Last of the Peterkins'' was printed in 1886.The Peterkin Papers - (Not so) Shocking Secrets of the Hale Family, New England Historical Society
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Story publication history

The first Peterkin story, ''The Lady Who Put Salt in Her Coffee'', was published in the April 1868 issue of the children’s magazine '' Our Young Folks''.Lucretia Peabody Hale, Online ''Encyclopedia Britannica''
/ref> Other stories in the series originally appeared in issues of ''Our Young Folks'', until the periodical ceased publication in 1873. Later Peterkin stories were published in ''

St. Nicholas Magazine ''St. Nicholas'' was a popular monthly American children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873 and named after the Christian saint. The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge, who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1 ...

''.

Synopsis

The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Peterkin and their children Elizabeth Eliza, Soloman John, Agamemnon,Lucretia P. Hale, About Elizabeth Eliza’s Piano
/ref> plus three unnamed little boys. They lived near Boston, and encountered difficulties due to their "scatterbrained naivete and were rescued from disaster in each case by the commonsensical Lady from Philadelphia." The author based the Lady from Philadelphia on her friend, Susan Lyman Lesley.

References

External links

at "A Celebration of Women Writers",

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

1924 edition
via archive.org * 1880 short story collections American short story collections Works originally published in St. Nicholas Magazine Children's short story collections American children's books 1880s children's books {{1880s-child-story-collection-stub