We have so much respect for great writers and photographers, and we love to see the places where they did there work. The following photos capture some of our nation's greatest writers at their writing desks or in their writing rooms. It's inspiring to think about how many great books were created here...
Walt Whitman first published his epic work, Leaves of Grass, in 1855, but he continued to revise and expand it all the way up until his death in 1892. Hit Next Page to see the next photo...
Did you ever read Little Women as a child? We loved it, and so we are happy to share this great photo of its author, Louisa Mae Alcott, writing at her desk sometime in the mid 1880s.
Now here's one of the true greats: Charles Dickens. The prolific author died in 1870, so we are lucky to have this photo of him hard at work from 1858. He would publish A Tale of Two Cities in 1859 and the masterpiece Great Expectations in 1861.
Mark Twain began his life as a poor printer's assistant, but after traveling all over the U.S. in his late teens and early 20's, Twain landed in San Francisco and began a prolific writing career. This photo captures him at work at his desk in 1880.
John Steinbeck is perhaps our favorite writer of all time. We love this photo from LIFE magazine that shows Mr. Steinbeck relaxing in his writing room. He was a dedicated, but slow writer, evidently, as he would aim to produce one to two good pages of writing a day.
Here's Ernest Hemingway in a rare candid moment. One of our favorite things about this photo is the bookcase behind the great author: it seems to be filled with books from the early 1800s judging by the bindings. We also suspect that there were a bunch of cats running around - he evidently had quite a few!
Jack London, author of The Call of the Wild and White Fang, was a favorite of young men around the U.S. He had a tragically short life, but not only wrote some great books, but contributed a great deal to helping organize under-paid labor in San Francisco.
We love a good mystery novel, and Agatha Christie is among the best! She was known to write most of her notes and ideas on sketch paper before she sat down to start typing. This is just about exactly how we'd picture her office.
Here is the great children's book author, E.B. White hard at work in a quiet cottage on the water. In addition to being the author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, he also co-wrote The Elements of Style, which is used as the quintessential guide to grammar and style.
How could we do a feature on authors without including Laura Ingalls Wilder? While we don't have a great picture of her at work on the Rocky Ridge Farm, we do have this photo of her at a book signing toward the end of her life. We love her so much!
