Author: Richard P. Phelps

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's 1877 novel is set in a New England college town, and focuses on Avis Dobell, a professor's daughter. Avis is a talented painter, and bucks against the constraints placed on women in the 19th century. She wants to pursue a career as an artist and rejects marriage and motherhood, until she meets the charismatic young professor Philip Ostrander. Phelps's novel is a beautifully-written examination of the conflicts between marriage and career for women that is still relevant today. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)

2Little Mud-Sparrows

By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

LibriVox volunteers bring you 13 recordings of The Little Mud-Sparrows by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for December, 4, 2011.<br><br> This poem is taken from CHRISTMAS IN LEGEND AND STORY; A Book for Boys and Girls, complied by Elva S. Smith, Carnegie Library Pittsburgh and Alice I. Hazeltine, Public Library St. Louis 1915. (from the book's frontispiece) </p>

3Songs of the Silent World, and Other Poems

By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

This is a volume of poetry by American poet and feminist social reformer Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Many of the poems in this volume reflect the ideas Phelps advocated during her life, and are meant to encourage the reader to entertain them. - Summary by Carolin

4Essays on Modern Novelists

By William Lyon Phelps

A collection of essays on 19th century novelists, both famous ones and those largely forgotten now. Among the writers presented most wrote in English, but three foreign authors are also discussed. Phelps taught a course on novels at a university and he added to those biographical essays some of his ideas about the importance of novels in the process of teaching about literature. (Summary by Piotr Nater)

5Essays on Things

By William Lyon Phelps

William Lyon Phelps was founder of the Pundits, a secret society at Yale, noted for its collection of the wittiest and most erudite students, and he later became one of the most beloved professors at Yale for many years. He was sought after as a lecturer, preacher, and scholar. His writing output covered a wide range of literary guides to novels, poetry, and drama from Shakespeare to Russian novels,, as well as works on the Bible. In this collection of fifty-two short essays, with unusual wit, insight, and breadth of learning, Phelps covers such serious topics as “War,” “Russia Before the Revolution,” “Church Unity,” and “Optimism and Pessimism,” but also draws insights from the mundane such as, “A Pair of Socks,” “Molasses,” “Tea” and “Spooks.” Not to be left out are his travels such as, “Going to Church in Paris,” “Going to Honolulu,” and “London as a Summer Resort.” - Summary by Larry Wilson