author
Mary Elizabeth Phillips
1857–1945
Best known for vivid literary biographies, this American writer devoted years to studying the lives of major authors such as James Fenimore Cooper and Edgar Allan Poe. Her work blends careful research with an obvious affection for the people behind the books.
2 Audiobooks
James Fenimore Cooper
by Mary Elizabeth Phillips
Tommy Tregennis
by Mary Elizabeth Phillips
About the author
Mary Elizabeth Phillips was an American author and biographer whose writing centered on literary lives. Archival records at the Boston Public Library describe her as a writer focused especially on biographies of American authors, including Edgar Allan Poe, James Fenimore Cooper, and William Wetmore Story.
Her best-known books include James Fenimore Cooper and Edgar Allan Poe: The Man. Material from the Edgar Allan Poe Society notes that she began her Poe project after a research trip through Baltimore and Richmond in 1914, a sign of the hands-on approach she brought to her work.
Today, she is remembered mainly for making major literary figures approachable to general readers. Listings from The Online Books Page and other public-domain collections show that her books have continued to circulate well beyond her lifetime, keeping her contribution to literary biography alive for new audiences.