The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime, Year 4. 1915.

Image from Story 1072, "Bumpy Flies Without Wings."

I've just uploaded the fourth, and last (for the foreseeable future) installment of The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime by Thornton W. Burgess. It covers 1915, which was a big year for Burgess. He wrote story 1000, introduced his "Quaddy" brand, and met thousands of his fans in person at a "monster meeting" at Bronx Park sponsored by the Bedtime Stories Club of the New York Globe. The pantomime extravaganza, "Peter Rabbit in Dreamland," had its debut at the end of the year, also sponsored by The Globe. And Burgess wrote his first real piece of anti-recreational hunting propaganda, a series of stories featuring the Bob White family, setting up his future relationship with conservationist William T. Hornaday. 

This one took a little more work than the other volumes, including many hours at the New York Public Library browsing microfilm, but it has inspired an audio project on the otherwise little documented "Peter Rabbit in Dreamland," coming soon.

The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime by Thornton W. Burgess. Year 3. 1914.

Illustration by Harrison Cady of Story 664. "Old Mr. Toad's Mistake."

 I've just uploaded the third volume of the Complete Little Stories for Bedtime by Thornton W. Burgess. This one compiles his newspaper stories, #591 to #902, from 1914. This was the year of the first Bedtime Stories Clubs (exhaustively documented) and the year that Farmer Brown's boy became the friend of the folks of the Green Meadows and Green Forest. Here is an opportunity to read these stories in their original continuity. Note that there are plans for a fourth volume but my work will shift to audio for the near future. 

I've been recording myself reading some of Burgess's stories, beginning with the first published story featuring his Green Meadows/Forest characters, "How Reddy Fox was Surprised," which appeared in Good Housekeeping, April 1910, and is most famous as either chapter 3 or 4 of Old Mother West Wind, depending on the edition. As an experiment, I mixed together a mash-up of my own reading together with nine other recorded readings of the story, with some interesting results. I was surprised, for example, at the number of moments when line readings, recorded completely independently, synced almost perfectly together. I've uploaded the mash-up for anyone who is interested, though the overall effect is of an comically under-rehearsed group reading performance. 

The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime 1913 Edition

 

Thornton W. Burgess writing a bedtime story. (Publicity illustration)

As promised last post, I've compiled a second volume of Little Stories for Bedtime, this time covering a full year (1913), and have included an introduction and index, along with three appendices. The first appendix compiles publicity copy, reader comments, and other references to Burgess's stories in newspapers; the second appendix looks at names and natural history in the stories, this time focused on Peter Rabbit; the third details the publication of one of Burgess's favorite non-Little Stories for Bedtime stories, "The Joy of the Beautiful Pine." As always please alert me to any mistakes you might be discover so I can upload a revised edition, but I tried to be careful this time around. 

The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime by Thornton W. Burgess. Year 1. 1912.

 

In honor of Thornton W. Burgess's 150th birthday, I've uploaded a collection of his newspaper stories from February 5 to December 31, 1912, the first year of the "Little Stories for Bedtime" feature. I've also included illustrations, when available (they are of mixed quality) and some annotations, particularly with respect to places these stories were republished.

Many of these stories will be familiar to readers of his books but many will be brand new. Publishing them in their original order also means restoring the original continuity, which would effectively last until story 15,000 in 1960. The numbering and dating of these stories are best guesses. It is possible that there are missing stories, and I've included one such candidate (unnumbered) in the collection. 

At any rate, I will continue this publication project, aiming for one release a month, during the TWB 150th celebration. 

[UPDATE: I've uploaded an expanded and corrected edition of the 1912 book that includes three new appendices, a revised introduction, and an index. And spell-checked.]

The Collected Writings of Thornton W. Burgess, 1895-1911

In anticipation of the 150th anniversary of Thornton W. Burgess's birth coming later this January, I've put together this volume which assembles all the writing he did (that I could find) from the beginning of his career right up until he became a household name in 1912. Nearly 700 pages, uploaded to archive.org as a pdf. Here's the link: The Collected Writings of Thornton W. Burgess, 1895-1911. Consider this the first edition.

Dowhan's bibliography was my main finding guide but I was able to find a number of texts that he didn't list, both by stumbling upon them during digital searches and via a scrapbook in the TWB archives in the Massachusetts Historical Society. I've also included uncredited work in the American Agriculturist that is very likely to be the work of Burgess while he was "Young Folks' Editor" for that publication. 

Note that a handful of items included reveal an uncritical reproduction of ethnic and racial stereotypes. And Burgess's celebration of hunting and trapping (always within the framework of "true sportsmanship") may be shocking to readers who see him as an eternal "friend of the animals." See the Bob White poem from the Springfield Homestead below.

At any rate, I've brought back the blog. Big plans ahead as part of a larger TWB celebration in 2024!

New Burgess Biography: Nature's Ambassador by Christie Lowrance

I am pleased to announce the publication of Christie Lowrance's new biography of Thornton W. Burgess. It is the first truly comprehensive Burgess biography. (Even TWB's own Now I Remember is more a series of memoirs than a true life story).

A careful reader of this blog and other existing accounts of his life will already have the broad outline of TWB's work and its significance. (Indeed, this blog is acknowledged (and recommended) as a useful resource [Thanks, Christie!]). Lowrance's special contribution (beyond putting everything in a cohesive package) is more access to Burgess the man (she draws extensively from his journals and correspondence) and more evidence about his legacy (she interviewed dozens of people [including me], some of whom knew TWB personally). I think she makes a compelling case that Thornton W. Burgess deserves more credit than he currently receives for influencing our relationship with the natural world.

At any rate, it is highly recommended and available through the Burgess Society website.

New Page: Burgess Bedtime Story posts

To make it easier for future readers to make it through the 50-plus Burgess Bedtime Story posts, I have constructed an index page. Readers, of course, can already navigate from year to year simply by following the "older post" and "newer post" links at the bottom of each post. Nevertheless, I thought it might be useful for readers looking for a particular year to have a full linked list. The page does not include posts that are about things other than the stories themselves.