This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1902.
Events January 5 The political drama Danton's Death (Dantons Tod, completed and published in 1835) by Georg Büchner (died 1837), is first performed, at the Belle-Alliance-Theater in Berlin by the Vereins Neue Freie Volksbühne. George Bernard Shaw's controversial 1893 play Mrs. Warren's Profession receives its first performance at a private London club. January 23 – The first example of a Sherlockian game – a study of inconsistencies of dates in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles (the serialisation of which in The Strand Magazine concludes in April) by publisher Frank Sidgwick – appears in The Cambridge Review. April – Mark Twain buys a home in Tarrytown, New York. On June 4 he receives an honorary doctorate of literature from the University of Missouri. June 16 – Bertrand Russell writes to Gottlob Frege about the mathematical problem to become known as Russell's paradox. July 1 – The Romanian language literary review Luceafărul begins publication in Budapest. August 6 – În sat sau la oraș (In the Village or in the City), by the Romanian peasant leader Constantin Dobrescu-Argeș, is performed in his native Mușătești, in front of an audience comprising Education Minister Spiru Haret and some 2,000 villagers. September 9 – P. G. Wodehouse leaves his job at the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company in London to become a freelance writer. On September 18, his first published novel, the St. Austin's school story The Pothunters, is published in London by A & C Black, as a truncation of the version in their Public School Magazine from January to March.
Early October – Beatrix Potter's self-illustrated children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit (originally published privately a year earlier) appears in its first trade edition with Frederick Warne & Co in London. It sells 28,000 copies by the end of the year. October 5 – Thousands attend the funeral of the French novelist Émile Zola at the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris. They include Alfred Dreyfus, given special permission by Mme Zola to attend. November 4 – J. M. Barrie's comedy The Admirable Crichton is first performed, at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, starring H. B. Irving, Henry Kemble and Irene Vanbrugh. It runs for 828 performances. December 5 – Leo Tolstoy's drama The Power of Darkness («Власть тьмы», Vlast' t'my, written in 1886) has its Russian-language première at the Moscow Art Theatre by Konstantin Stanislavski with some success, although Stanislavski is self-critical. December 18 – Maxim Gorky's drama The Lower Depths – Scenes from Russian Life («На дне», Na dne) is first performed, at the Moscow Art Theatre, as a first major success for Konstantin Stanislavski as director and star. unknown date – The poet Ștefan Petică's cycle Fecioara în alb is published, marking a maturing of Romanian Symbolism.
New books Fiction Azorín – La voluntad (Volition) Jane Barlow – The Founding of Fortunes Pío Baroja – Camino de perfección (pasión mística) (Road to Perfection) Edward Harold Begbie (as Caroline Lewis) – Clara in Blunderland Arnold Bennett Anna of the Five Towns The Grand Babylon Hotel Rhoda Broughton – Lavinia Joseph Conrad Typhoon (serialized in The Pall Mall Magazine January–March and US book publication) Youth: a Narrative, and Two Other Stories, incorporating Youth: a Narrative (1898) and Heart of Darkness (first 1899) The End of the Tether Marie Corelli – Temporal Power: A Study in Supremacy Miguel de Unamuno – Amor y pedagogía Ramón del Valle-Inclán – Sonatas: Memorias del Marqués de Bradomín – Sonata de otoño (Sonatas: The Pleasant Memories of the Marquis of Bradomín – Autumn Sonata) Arthur Conan Doyle – The Hound of the Baskervilles Paul Laurence Dunbar – The Sport of the Gods Hamlin Garland – The Captain of the Gray-Horse Troop André Gide – L'immoraliste Ellen Glasgow – The Battle-Ground Annie French Hector – Kitty Costello Theodor Herzl – The Old New Land Violet Jacob – The Sheepstealers W. W. Jacobs – The Lady of the Barge (short stories, including "The Monkey's Paw") Henry James – The Wings of the Dove Alfred Jarry – Supermale (Le Surmâle: roman moderne) Mary Johnston – Audrey Olha Kobylianska – Zemlya (Land) Jack London – A Daughter of the Snows George Barr McCutcheon – Brewster's Millions Charles Major – Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall A. E. W. Mason – The Four Feathers W. Somerset Maugham – Mrs Craddock Dmitri Merejkowski – The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci Frank Norris – The Pit (serialization) Luigi Pirandello – Il Turno W. Heath Robinson – The Adventures of Uncle Lubin Saki – The Westminster Alice Percy Sykes – Ten Thousand Miles in Persia Jules Verne – The Kip Brothers (Les Frères Kip) Eduard Vilde – Mahtra sõda (The War at Mahtra) Owen Wister – The VirginianWister, Owen (1902). The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains. New York: Gramercy Books.
Children and young people L. Frank Baum – The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus J. M. Barrie – The Little White Bird (includes the story "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens") Edith Ogden Harrison – Prince Silverwings and other fairy tales William Dean Howells – The Flight of Pony Baker Rudyard Kipling – Just So Stories for Little Children Bessie Marchant – Fleckie: A Story of the Desert, etc. E. Nesbit – Five Children and It Beatrix Potter – The Tale of Peter Rabbit Edward Stratemeyer – The Young Volcano Explorers Mrs George de Horne Vaizey – A Houseful of Girls C. N. and A. M. Williamson – The Lightning Conductor: the Strange Adventures of a Motor-car
Drama J. M. Barrie – The Admirable Crichton Gaston Arman de Caillavet and Robert de Flers – Le Cœur a ses raisons Constantin Dobrescu-Argeș – În sat sau la oraș (In the Village or in the City, first performance) Clyde Fitch – The Girl with the Green Eyes Cosmo Gordon-Lennox – The Marriage of Kitty Maxim Gorky – The Lower Depths Haralamb Lecca – Septima. Câiniĭ Maurice Maeterlinck – Monna Vanna Frank Wedekind – King Nicolo W. B. Yeats – Cathleen Ní Houlihan
Poetry
Edwin James Brady – The Earthen Floor Walter de la Mare (as Walter Ramal) – Songs of Childhood Ștefan Petică – Fecioara în alb
Non-fiction Jane Addams – Democracy and Social Ethics James Allen – As a Man Thinketh Hilaire Belloc – The Path to Rome Euclides da Cunha – Os Sertões (translated as Rebellion in the Backlands) Arthur Conan Doyle – The War in South Africa: Its Cause and Conduct Michael Fairless (pseudonym of Margaret Barber) – The Roadmender John A. Hobson – Imperialism: a study William James – The Varieties of Religious Experience Bertrand Russell – A Free Man's Worshipbeach William Wynn Westcott – Collectanea Hermetica (finishes publication)
Births January 1 - Muhammad Zaki Abd al-Qadir, Egyptian journalist and writer (d. 1981) January 5 – Stella Gibbons, English novelist (died 1989) January 20 – Nazim Hikmet, Turkish lyricist and dramatist (died 1963) January 30 – Nikolaus Pevsner, German-born architectural historian (died 1983) February 13 – Fernando Chaves, Ecuadorian novelist, essayist, and journalist (died 1999) February 16 – Ion Călugăru, Romanian novelist, short story writer and journalist (died 1956) February 19 – Kay Boyle, American writer, educator and political activist (died 1992) February 27 – John Steinbeck, American novelist and journalist (died 1968) March 10 – Stefan Inglot, Polish historian (died 1994) March 29 – Marcel Aymé, French novelist and short-story writer (died 1967) April 2 – Jan Tschichold, German-born typographer (died 1974) April 6 – Julien Torma, French poet and dramatist (died 1933) April 9 – Lord David Cecil, English literary critic and biographer (died 1986) April 23 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic novelist (died 1998) June 5 – Hugo Huppert, Austrian poet, writer and translator (died 1982) July 10 – Nicolás Guillén, Afro-Cuban poet (died 1989) July 8 – Gwendolyn B. Bennett, African American writer and artist (died 1981) August 15 – Katharine Brush, American short story writer (died 1952) August 16 – Georgette Heyer, English novelist (died 1974) August 19 – Ogden Nash, American poet and humorist (died 1971) August 24 Felipe Alfau, Spanish-American fiction writer, poet and translator (died 1999) Fernand Braudel, French historian (died 1985) October 13 – Arna Bontemps, African American poet (died 1973) October 23 – Dadie Rylands (George Rylands), English Shakespeare scholar (died 1999) October 26 – Beryl Markham (Beryl Clutterbuck), English-born Kenyan adventurer and memoirist (died 1986) October 31 – Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet (died 1987) November 1 – Nordahl Grieg, Norwegian poet and author (killed in action 1943) November 2 Hu Feng (胡风), Chinese novelist (died 1985) Gyula Illyés, Hungarian author (died 1983) November 29 – Carlo Levi, Italian writer (died 1975) December 20 – Jolán Földes, Hungarian novelist and playwright (died 1963)
Deaths
January 7 – Wilhelm Hertz, German poet and translator (born 1835) April 6 – Gleb Uspensky, Russian writer (born 1843) April 20 – Frank R. Stockton, American writer and humorist (born 1834) April 21 – Ethna Carbery, Irish poet (born 1866) May 5 – Bret Harte, American author and poet (born 1836) May 6 – Emma Augusta Sharkey, American dime novelist (born 1858) May 17/18 — Harriet Abbott Lincoln Coolidge, American philanthropist, author and reformer (b. 1849) June 10 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan poet (born 1845) June 18 – Samuel Butler, English novelist (born 1835)Article by Elinor Shaffer. August 31 – Mathilde Wesendonck, German poet (born 1828) September 11 – Ernst Dümmler, German historian (born 1830) September 19 – Masaoka Shiki (正岡 子規), Japanese haiku poet (born 1867) September 29 William McGonagall, Scottish doggerel poet (born 1825) Émile Zola, French novelist (carbon monoxide poisoning, born 1840) October 7 – George Rawlinson, English historian (born 1812) October 13 – John George Bourinot, Canadian historian (born 1836) October 25 – Frank Norris, American novelist (peritonitis, born 1870) October 31 – Cornélie Huygens, Dutch writer, social democrat and feminist (born 1848) November 16 – G. A. Henty, English historical novelist (born 1832) November 20 – George W. Ryer, American playwright and theatrical manager (born 1845) December 26 – Mary Hartwell Catherwood, American author and poet (born 1849)
Awards Nobel Prize for Literature: Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen
References
External links Popular Books of 1902 at Goodreads Published 1902 Books at Goodreads 1902 Books at Goodreads