Frederick Orin Bartlett

Born in Massachusetts in 1876, Frederick Orin Bartlett built his writing life the practical way: he left Harvard early to work in Boston journalism, then turned to fiction. His first novel, Joan of the Alley, appeared in 1904, and he went on to publish regularly for years as both a novelist and short-story writer.

Bartlett wrote across a broad stretch of popular fiction. His work included society and character-driven novels as well as adventure stories, and The Web of the Golden Spider is especially noted for its lost-world flavor and its journey from Boston to the Andes. Other titles linked with him include The Triflers, The Wall Street Girl, and The Seventh Noon.

Later in life, he returned to Harvard and completed his degree in 1926, a detail that gives his career an appealing sense of persistence. He died in 1945, leaving behind a body of work that still circulates through public-domain libraries and audiobook collections.