Abby Langdon Alger (August 3, 1850May 22, 1905) was an American writer and translator, mainly of religious, literary, or folklore texts.
Early life Alger was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, the daughter of Unitarian clergyman William Rounseville Alger and Anna Langdon Lodge Alger. Writer Horatio Alger was her father's cousin, and statesman Henry Cabot Lodge was one of her maternal cousins. Her brother Philip Rounseville Alger was a Naval officer; another brother, William E. Alger, was a diplomat who worked at American embassies in Latin America. Her niece and namesake, Abby Langdon Alger Wilder (1889–1978), was a prominent state official in New Hampshire.
Career Alger translated religious, literary, and folklore texts from Italian, French, and German, including works by historian Henri Martin, dramatist Ernest Legouvé, Benôit-Constant Conquelin, Judith Gautier, novelist Victor Hugo, Auguste Joseph Alphonse Gratry, philosopher Ernest Renan, Saint Francis of Assisi, scientist Louis Figuier, and dramatist X. B. Saintine. "She was a remarkable linguist and had French, German, Italian, and other tongues at her instant command," noted a 1905 obituary in the Boston Evening Transcript. "Possessing this valuable attainment, she was frequently in demand among publishing houses, for which she did much translating."
Alger also produced a benefit performance of a miracle play, based on Italian traditions, performed with Italian musicians and puppeteers, at Boston's Minot Hall in 1894. "It was my wish," she later explained, "to show the earliest form of dramatic representation. We, of the present, may call it rough and grotesque; but when one remembers that it was a faithful reproduction of what was given hundreds of years ago, and that it was then received with every mark of reverence, I am sure there will be no adverse criticism." She interviewed Passamaquoddy and Penobscot elders to compile In Indian Tents (1897), a collection of folktales.
Publications
Original works
"A collection of words and phrases taken from the Passamaquoddy tongue" (1885, paper presented to the American Philosophical Society)Alger, Abby L. "A collection of words and phrases taken from the Passamaquoddy tongue" (1885, paper presented at the American Philosophical Society; via HathiTrust In Indian Tents: Stories Told by Penobscot, Passamaquoddy and Mimac Indians (1897)Alger, Abby Langdon. In Indian Tents: Stories Told by Penobscot, Passamaquoddy and Mimac Indians (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1897). via Project Gutenberg.
Translations
Martin, A popular history of France, from the first Revolution to the present time (1877)Martin, Henri, A popular history of France, from the first Revolution to the present time (Boston: Colonial Press 1877), translated by Abby Langdon Alger and Mary L. Booth, via HathiTrust. Legouvé, Reading as a fine art (1879)Legouvé, Ernest. Reading as a fine art (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1879), translated by Abby Langdon Alger; via HathiTrust Coquelin, The actor and his art (1881)Coquelin, C., The actor and his art (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1881), translated by Abby Langdon Alger; via HathiTrust Gautier, The usurper: an episode in Japanese history (1884)Gautier, Judith. The usurper: an episode in Japanese history (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1884), translated by Abby Langdon Alger; via HathiTrust Reissman, The life and works of Robert Schumann (1886)Reissman, August, The life and works of Robert Schumann (London: G. Bell and Sons 1886), translated by Abby Langdon Alger; via HathiTrust Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1888) and Hans of Iceland (1891) Gratry, Guide to the knowledge of God, a study of the chief theodicies (1892)Gratry, A., Guide to the knowledge of God, a study of the chief theodicies (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1892), translated by Abby Langdon Alger; via HathiTrust Figuier, Joys beyond the threshold: A sequel to The to-morrow of death (1893)Figuier, Louis, Joys beyond the threshold: A sequel to The to-morrow of death (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1893), translated by Abby Langdon Alger; via HathiTrust Bentzon, The Condition of Woman in the United States: A Traveler's Notes (1895)Madame Blanc (Th. Bentzon), The Condition of Woman in the United States: A Traveler's Notes (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1895), translated by Abby Langdon Alger; via HathiTrust Renan, My Sister Henriette (1895) La Motte Fouqué, Undine, a Tale (1897)Frederick, baron De La Motte Fouqué, Undine, a Tale (Boston: Ginn & Company 1897), translated by Abby Langdon Alger; via HathiTrust The little flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi (1898)Saint Francis Assisi, The little flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi (Boston: Little, 1898), translated by Abby Langdon Alger; via HathiTrust Saintine, Picciola (1899)
Personal life Alger died after an operation in a Brookline hospital in 1905, at the age of 54, a few months after her father's death.
References
External links Abby Landon Alger, In Indian Tents (1897), a LibriVox recording Victor Hugo, Hans of Iceland (1821), as translated by Abby L. Alger, a Librivox recording