Metta Victor (née Metta Victoria Fuller; March 2, 1831 – June 26, 1885), who used the pen name Seeley Regester among others, was an American novelist, credited with authoring one of the first detective novels in the United States. She wrote more than 100 dime novels, pioneering the field.[1]
Metta Victor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Metta Victoria Fuller March 2, 1831 Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | June 26, 1885 (aged 54) Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Resting place | Ridgewood's Valleau Cemetery |
| Pen name | Seeley Regester |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Literary movement | "Dime novels" |
| Spouse | Orville James Victor |
Life
editShe was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the third of five children of Adonijah Fuller and Lucy (Williams) Fuller.[2] The family moved to Wooster, Ohio in 1839, where she and her elder sister Frances (who also became a famous writer) attended a female seminary; they both published stories in local newspapers and, later, in the Home Journal. The sisters moved to New York City together in 1848, where they continued their literary pursuits.[3]
Metta married editor and publishing pioneer Orville James Victor in 1856. Her sister Frances would later marry Victor's brother.[4] Metta served as editor for the Beadle & Company monthly Home and for Cosmopolitan Art Journal, and later anonymously published dime novels for her husband's series for Beadle.[3]
She died of cancer on June 26, 1885, in Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey, and was buried in Ridgewood's Valleau Cemetery.[1]
Works
editHer noteworthy works are Alice Wilde (1860), an early dime novel; Maum Guinea, and Her Plantation "Children" (1861), expressing abolitionist sentiments; The Dead Letter (1866), the first full-length American work of crime fiction;[1][5] The Figure Eight (1869); A Bad Boy's Diary (1880); and The Blunders of a Bashful Man (1881).
She also wrote under the names Corinne Cushman, Eleanor Lee Edwards, Metta Fuller, Walter T. Gray, Mrs. Orrin James, Rose Kennedy, Louis LeGrand, Mrs. Mark Peabody, The Singing Sybil, Mrs. Henry Thomas.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c Orso, Miranda (2002). "Victor, Metta Victoria Fuller". Archived from the original on 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2013-11-04.
- ^ "from Beadle and Adams Dime Novel Digitization Project". Ulib.niu.edu. 1949-05-30. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
- ^ a b "Metta Victoria Fuller Victor". Britannica.
- ^ Morris, William A. (1 December 1902). "Historian of the Northwest. A Woman Who Loved Oregon: Frances Fuller Victor". The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society. 3. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ Corrigan, Maureen (1 December 2003). "Queens of Pulp". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
- ^ Carr, Felicia L. (ed.). "Metta Victor". American Women's Dime Novel Project: Dime Novels for Women, 1870-1920. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
External links
edit
- Foxwell, Elizabeth, "Metta Fuller Victor: A Sensational Life", Mystery Scene, no. 81 (2003).
- Works by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Metta Victor at the Internet Archive
- Works by or about Seeley Regester at the Internet Archive
- Works by Metta Victor at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Miranda Orso, Summer 2002: Bio from Pennsylvania Center for the Book
- Bio from American Women's Dime Novel Project
