James Lane Allen

James Lane Allen (December 21, 1849 – February 18, 1925) was an American novelist and short story writer whose work, including the novel A Kentucky Cardinal, often depicted the culture and dialects of his native Kentucky. His work is characteristic of the late 19th-century local color era, when writers sought to capture the vernacular in their fiction. Allen has been described as "Kentucky's first important novelist".
Early life and education
James Lane Allen was born near Lexington, Kentucky, to Richard and Helen Jane (Foster) Allen on December 21, 1849. Allen, the youngest child in the family, had four sisters Lydia, May, Sally, and Annie, and two brothers, John and Henry. Allen lived at the Scarlet Gate estate in Lexington in the late 1800s until age 22 years.
In 1872 Allen graduated from the University of Kentucky, Lexington, taught at Fort Spring, Kentucky, at Richmond and at Lexington, Missouri, and from 1877 to 1879 at the academy of the University of Kentucky, where he was principal and taught modern languages. In 1880 he was professor of Latin and English at Bethany College (West Virginia); and then became head of a private school at Lexington, Kentucky. Allen spent his youth in Lexington during the Antebellum era, the American Civil War, and the Reconstruction periods. His childhood experience heavily influenced his writing. He described living at Scarlet Gate in the introduction to A Kentucky Cardinal.
Career in New York
In 1893 Allen moved to New York City, where he lived until his death. He was a contributor to Harper's Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, and other popular magazines of the time. His novels include The Choir Invisible, which was a very popular best seller in 1897.
Death and legacy
Allen died "from insomnia" in 1925, and is buried in Lexington Cemetery. At the northern edge of Gratz Park in Lexington is the "Fountain of Youth", built in memory of Allen using proceeds willed to the city by him.
James Lane Allen School, an elementary school off Alexandria Drive in Lexington, Kentucky is named in his honor.
Bibliography
Works published by Allen include:
Flute and Violin (1891) (compilation of previously published stories)
The Blue-Grass Region of Kentucky (1892) (second compilation)
John Gray (1893)
A Kentucky Cardinal (1894)
Aftermath (1895) (sequel to A Kentucky Cardinal)
Summer in Arcady (1896)
The Choir Invisible (1897)
Two Gentlemen of Kentucky (1899)
The Increasing Purpose (1900)
The Reign of Law (1900)
The Mettle of the Pasture (1903)
The Bride of the Mistletoe (1909)
The Doctor's Christmas Eve (1910)
The Heroine in Bronze (1912)
The Last Christmas Tree (1914)
The Sword of Youth (1915)
A Cathedral Singer (1916)
The Kentucky Warbler (1918)
The Emblems of Fidelity (1919)
The Alabaster Box (1923)
The Landmark (1925)
Notes
Further reading
Bennett, Enoch Arnold (1901). "Mr. James Lane Allen." In: Fame and Fiction. London: Grant Richards, pp. 171–180.
Bottorff, William K. (1964). James Lane Allen. New York: Twayne Publishers.
Knight, Grant C. (1935). James Lane Allen and the Genteel Tradition. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
Townsend, John Wilson (1928). James Lane Allen: A Personal Note. Louisville, Ky.: Courier-journal Job Printing Company.
External links
James Lane Allen, by George Brosi
Works by James Lane Allen available online
James Lane Allen: A Sketch of his Life and Work
1849 births
1925 deaths
19th-century American male writers
19th-century American novelists
19th-century American short story writers
American male novelists
American male short story writers
Kentucky culture
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Novelists from Kentucky
Transylvania University alumni
Writers from Lexington, Kentucky