Nesbit, Edith

(1858-1924)

   She was born in London, the daughter of John Collis Nesbit, agricultural chemist. Following her father's death in 1862, the family lived in France and Germany until 1872. Soon she married the writer Hubert Bland in 1880; he contracted smallpox and in 1914 died. Edith supported her family by writing verses and painting pictures for greeting cards. Although a notable poet and political thinker (she was a member of the Fabian Society), she published novels and collections of poetry for adults, but is most remembered as a writer of children's books (she published more than 60). She died of heart disease and possibly of lung cancer. The ever-popular The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1899) and The Railway Children (1905) have both been made into films. She died at Jesson St. Mary's, New Romney, Kent. Some of her poetry publications: The Dawn, 1876. Lays and Legends, 1886. The Star of Bethlehem, 1894. A Pomander of Verse, 1895. Some of her poems: "Among His Books," "Baby Seed Song," "Child's Song in Spring," "Mr. Ody Met a Body," "Spring in WarTime," "Summer Song."

   Sources: A Century of Humorous Verse, 1850-1950. Roger Lancelyn Green, ed. E.P. Dutton (Everyman's Library), 1959. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Poems for Seasons and Celebrations. William Cole, ed. World, 1961. Scars upon My Heart: Women's Poetry and Verse of the First World War. Catherine W. Reilly, ed. Virago Press, 1981. Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Home Book of Verse for Young Folks. Burton Egbert Stevenson, ed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1929. The New Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. Christopher Ricks, ed. Oxford University Press, 1987. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.