author
Ina Ten Eyck Firkins
1866–1937
A pioneering librarian and bibliographer, she helped readers and researchers navigate vast worlds of drama, short fiction, and literary criticism. Her reference books became practical tools for anyone trying to find the right story, play, or source on a major author.
1 Audiobook
Henrik Ibsen A Bibliography of Criticism and Biography with an Index to Characters
by Ina Ten Eyck Firkins
About the author
Born in Minneapolis in 1866, Ina Ten Eyck Firkins studied at the University of Minnesota and earned a Bachelor of Literature degree in 1888. After graduating, she joined the University of Minnesota Library, where she worked as an assistant librarian and built a career grounded in careful research and literary reference work.
She is best remembered for compiling major guides such as Index to Short Stories and Index to Plays, along with Henrik Ibsen: A Bibliography of Criticism and Biography. These books were designed to help readers, librarians, and students locate stories, plays, and scholarship more easily, and they show the patience and precision that defined her work.
Firkins died in 1937, but her legacy lives on in the long tradition of library reference tools: the kind of work that quietly opens doors for other readers. Archival records at the University of Minnesota preserve papers related to her books and professional life, offering a glimpse of a woman whose influence was practical, scholarly, and lasting.