author

Munson Aldrich Havens

1873–1942

A little-known early 20th-century American writer, he is best remembered today for Old Valentines, a 1914 love story with a gentle, nostalgic tone. His surviving record also points to a life connected to literary circles and civic work in Washington, D.C.

1 Audiobook

Old valentines : $b a love story

Old valentines : $b a love story

by Munson Aldrich Havens

About the author

Munson Aldrich Havens was an American author born in 1873 and died in 1942. The work most clearly associated with him in major public-domain and library records is Old Valentines; a Love Story, published in 1914.

Beyond his fiction, archival and correspondence records show that Havens moved in literary circles: Yale's finding aids connect him with material relating to Arthur Machen, and other archival sources place him in Washington, D.C. A letter record in the Charles W. Chesnutt Archive identifies him as an influential executive secretary of the Washington Chamber of Commerce from 1905 to 1938.

Much of Havens's life remains lightly documented online, which gives his work a slightly hidden quality today. For readers, that can be part of the appeal: he feels like one of those rediscovered voices from the early 1900s whose books open a small window onto another era.