WRITER

Horatio Alger

1832 - 1899

Photo of Horatio Alger

Icon of person Horatio Alger

Horatio Alger Jr. (; January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was an American author who wrote young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to middle-class security and comfort through good works. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Horatio Alger has received more than 1,240,844 page views. His biography is available in 27 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 25 in 2019). Horatio Alger is the 4,909th most popular writer (down from 4,403rd in 2019), the 6,830th most popular biography from United States (down from 6,141st in 2019) and the 547th most popular American Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 47.81

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 27

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.03

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.32

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Ragged Dick
Fiction, Street children, Shoe shiners
"Ragged Dick" was contributed as a serial story to the pages of the Schoolmate, a well-known juvenile magazine, during the year 1867. While in course of publication, it was received with so many evidences of favor that it has been rewritten and considerably enlarged, and is presented to the public as the first volume of a series intended to illustrate the life and experiences of the friendless and vagrant children who are now numbered by thousands in New York and other cities.Several characters in the story are sketched from life. The necessary information has been gathered mainly from personal observation and conversations with the boys themselves. The author is indebted also to the excellent Superintendent of the Newsboys' Lodging House, in Fulton Street, for some facts of which he has been able to make use. Some anachronisms may be noted. Wherever they occur, they have been admitted, as aiding in the development of the story, and will probably be considered as of little importance in an unpretending volume, which does not aspire to strict historical accuracy.
1868
Driven from Home
Runaways, Juvenile fiction, Runaway teenagers
1906
Bound to Rise
Classic Literature, Fiction
From the book:Horatio Alger, Jr., an author who lived among and for boys and himself remained a boy in heart and association till death, was born at Revere, Mass., January 18, 1884. He was the son of a clergyman; was graduated at Harvard College in 1852, and at its Divinity School in 1860; and was pastor of the Unitarian Church at Brewster, Mass., in 1862-66. In the latter year he settled in New York and began drawing public attention to the condition and needs of street boys. He mingled with them, gained their confidence, showed a personal concern in their affairs, and stimulated them to honest and useful living. With his first story he won the hearts of all red-blooded boys every-where, and of the seventy or more that followed over a million copies were sold during the author's lifetime.
1873
Paul the Peddler
Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Boys
Young Paul is determined to win a better life for his mother, and he sets out on a whirlwind of entrepreneurial jobs to try to make a good living. From selling candy packages outside the post office to neckties from a cart, he will try his hand at anything to turn a profit. A rousing tale of moral triumph and free trade, "Paul the Peddler" is Horatio Alger at his best.
1871
The Store Boy
1890
The Cash Boy
1900

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Horatio Alger ranks 4,909 out of 7,302. Before him are Nathanael West, Ann Druyan, Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, Suzanne Lilar, Ferenc Karinthy, and Marilynne Robinson. After him are Alan Paton, C. L. Moore, Diane Ackerman, Eugène Guillevic, József Katona, and Jan Arnald.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1832, Horatio Alger ranks 82. Before him are Eugenio Montero Ríos, Caroline Harrison, Heinrich Gerber, Zsófia Torma, Boston Corbett, and Adalbert Krueger. After him are Léon Gautier, William Thomas Blanford, Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero, Gyula Szapáry, Mary Everest Boole, and Kolos Ferenc Vaszary. Among people deceased in 1899, Horatio Alger ranks 71. Before him are Franziskus von Paula Graf von Schönborn, Zsófia Torma, Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa, Teuku Umar, Klaus Groth, and Kaʻiulani. After him are Karolina Světlá, Gaëtan de Rochebouët, Grant Allen, Mary Elizabeth Barber, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Claus, and Princess Marie of Baden.

Others Born in 1832

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1899

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United States

Among people born in United States, Horatio Alger ranks 6,830 out of 20,380. Before him are Marilynne Robinson (1943), Dolores Hart (1938), Rachel Bilson (1981), Tim Hardin (1941), Maurice Greene (1974), and Seth Green (1974). After him are William Christian Bullitt Jr. (1891), C. L. Moore (1911), Martin Donovan (1957), Hannah Van Buren (1783), Diane Ackerman (1948), and Max Baucus (1941).

Others born in United States

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among WRITERS In United States

Among writers born in United States, Horatio Alger ranks 547. Before him are Tabitha King (1949), George Washington Williams (1849), Robert Charles Wilson (1953), Nathanael West (1903), Ann Druyan (1949), and Marilynne Robinson (1943). After him are C. L. Moore (1911), Diane Ackerman (1948), Edmund Wilson (1895), Mark Frost (1953), Mary Oliver (1935), and Paula Fox (1923).

American born Writers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous