Henry Howard Harper

Born in Minnesota on July 10, 1871, Henry Howard Harper was an American writer whose long career stretched across novels, essays, travel books, literary studies, and plays. Records of his life place his death in Pinehurst, North Carolina, on March 4, 1953.

Harper is closely connected with The Bibliophile Society of Boston, where archival and library records describe him as an officer—especially its treasurer for many years—and as an editor or producer of several finely printed volumes for the society. That background helps explain the range of his published work: books about reading and collecting, literary appreciations, edited texts, and privately printed editions made for dedicated book lovers.

He also wrote more broadly for general readers. Surviving catalogs and public-domain listings show titles such as The Psychology of Speculation, Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs, A Journey in Southeastern Mexico, and Experiences of a Playwright. A memorial record further notes that he was a playwright with three productions on Broadway, which fits the lively, wide-ranging career suggested by his books.