Burgess, Gelett, 1917
Scope and Content
"The House of Pride," comedy in three acts and seven scenes. 167 leaves, in folder.
Dates
- Creation: 1917
Creator
- From the Collection: Acosta, Mercedes de, 1893-1968 (Person)
- From the Collection: Allmond, Marcus Blakey (Person)
- From the Collection: Andros, R. S. S. (Richard Salter Storrs) (Person)
- From the Collection: Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh) (Person)
- From the Collection: Burgess, Gelett (Person)
- From the Collection: Cooper, James Fenimore (Person)
- From the Collection: Davie, Donald (Person)
- From the Collection: Gioia, Dana (Person)
- From the Collection: Gosse, Edmund (Person)
- From the Collection: Herford, Oliver (Person)
- From the Collection: Howard, Robert, Sir (Person)
- From the Collection: Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920 (Person)
- From the Collection: Lindsay, Vachel (Person)
- From the Collection: Lofting, Hugh (Person)
- From the Collection: Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (Person)
- From the Collection: Mabie, Hamilton Wright (Person)
- From the Collection: Maeterlinck, Maurice (Person)
- From the Collection: Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957 (Person)
- From the Collection: Norris, Frank, 1870-1902 (Person)
- From the Collection: Page, Thomas Nelson, 1853-1922 (Person)
- From the Collection: Perkoff, Stuart Z. (Person)
- From the Collection: Porter, Cole (Person)
- From the Collection: Read, Thomas Buchanan (Person)
- From the Collection: Roberts, Charles George Douglas, Sir (Person)
- From the Collection: Runyon, Damon (Person)
- From the Collection: Ruskin, John (Person)
- From the Collection: Saltus, Edgar (Person)
- From the Collection: Sherman, Frank Dempster (Person)
- From the Collection: Stevenson, Robert Louis (Person)
- From the Collection: Vale, Eugene (Person)
- From the Collection: Van Dyke, Henry, 1852-1933 (Person)
- From the Collection: Weismiller, Edward Ronald (Person)
- From the Collection: Wells, Carolyn (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice is required for access.
Biographical note
Gelett Burgess, in full Frank Gelett Burgess (b. Jan. 30, 1866, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. Sept. 17, 1951, Carmel, Calif.), American humorist and illustrator, best known for a single, early, whimsical quatrain:
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.
Burgess was educated as an engineer and worked briefly for a railroad in that capacity. Between 1891 and 1894 he taught topographical drawing at the University of California. In 1895 Burgess became the founding editor of Lark, a humor magazine, and in 1897 he began to publish books of his self-illustrated whimsical writings.
Burgess’ humor was based upon the sudden break of ideas: a substitution of the unexpected for the commonplace. Among his best-known works are Goops and How to Be Them (1900) and subsequent books on Goops (bad-mannered children). He is credited with adding several words to the English language, including blurb. Among his many other works are Are You a Bromide? (1906), Why Men Hate Women (1927), and Look Eleven Years Younger (1937).
"Gelett Burgess." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 30 Nov. 2010 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/85081/Gelett-Burgess.
Extent
From the Collection: 0.42 Linear Feet (1 legal-size document box)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0189 United States
specol@usc.edu