author
Matthew W. Alderson
1855–1924
A Montana pioneer with a newspaperman’s eye and a poet’s sense of humor, he wrote lively verse that still feels playful and unexpected. His best-known work, How She Felt in Her First Corset, and Other Poems, offers a glimpse of late-19th-century life through wit, romance, and everyday observation.
1 Audiobook
How She Felt in Her First Corset, and Other Poems
by Matthew W. Alderson
About the author
Born in 1855, Matthew W. Alderson was part of a family whose papers are closely tied to Montana journalism, mining, and public life. Archival records place him within a wide circle of literary productions, scrapbooks, photographs, and family documents that reflect both his writing and his connection to the developing American West.
He is best remembered today for How She Felt in Her First Corset, and Other Poems, a collection preserved by Project Gutenberg. The poems suggest a writer drawn to light satire, sentiment, and scenes from ordinary social life, giving modern readers a vivid taste of the period’s humor and attitudes.
Alderson died in 1924. Surviving records and memorial material describe him not only as a writer, but also as a longtime figure in Montana newspaper and mining circles, which helps explain the practical, observant voice that runs through his work.