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345:, where he eventually found long-term employment, was his ghost story "Back from that Bourne". Fiction published as fact, this purported to be the true account of a recently deceased resident of Maine returning as a ghost. One of Mitchell's later stories, "An Uncommon Sort of Spectre", is one of fiction's earliest examples of a ghost from the future. Many of Mitchell's fictions—published originally as factual newspaper articles—deal with ghosts or other supernatural events, and would now be considered works of fantasy rather than science fiction.
391:, at that time the leading newspaper in the United States. In 1912, following his first wife's death, he married Ada M. Burroughs; this marriage produced a fifth son. Mitchell remained a popular and respected figure in American journalism until his death of a cerebral hemorrhage in New London, Connecticut. He was buried in his beloved Glen Ridge. During his lifetime, his journalism paid him well, and he clearly had no desire for public recognition, since he had many opportunities to achieve this yet never attempted to do so.
270:. Among other traits, Mitchell shares Poe's habit of giving a basically serious and dignified fictional character a humorous name, such as "Professor Dummkopf" in Mitchell's "The Soul Spectroscope" and "The Man Without a Body". Since Mitchell's fictions were originally published in newspapers, typeset in the same format as news articles and not identified as fiction, he may possibly have used this device to signal to his readers that this text should not be taken seriously.
25:
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313:, rendering him completely blind. His burnt left eye eventually healed and regained its sight, but his uninjured right eye remained blind. The blind eye was later removed surgically, and replaced with a prosthetic glass eye. While recovering from this surgery, Mitchell wrote his story "The Tachypomp".
348:
Mitchell often inserted more than one innovative concept into a science-fiction tale. His 1879 story "The
Senator's Daughter", set in the future year 1937, contains several technological predictions which were daring for the time: travel by pneumatic tube, electrical heating, newspapers printed in
262:
with a detailed introduction by
Moskowitz giving much information about Mitchell's personal life. Because Mitchell's stories were not by-lined on original publication, nor indexed, Moskowitz expended major effort to track down and collect these works by an author whom Moskowitz cited as "the lost
331:
Mitchell had a lifelong interest in the supernatural and paranormal, and several of his early newspaper pieces are factual investigations of alleged hauntings, usually determined (by
Mitchell) to have a normal explanation. Mitchell later interviewed and befriended
308:
to Bath, Maine, a hot cinder from the engine's smokestack flew in through the window and struck
Mitchell's left eye, blinding it. After several weeks, while doctors attempted to restore this eye's sight, Mitchell's uninjured right eye suddenly underwent
1002:"E.P. MITCHELL DIES; 50 YEARS ON THE SUN; Associate of Dana Succumbs to Cerebral Hemorrhage After Retiring at Age of 74. HIS DEATH NOT EXPECTED New England Youth Rose to Great Editorial Influence -- Tributes Paid by Associates.",
297:, later describing them in his memoirs. In the aftermath of the bloody riots, Mitchell's father moved the family to Tar River, North Carolina. While living there, as a boy of fourteen, young Mitchell's letters to
278:
Mitchell was born in Bath, Maine, the home of his maternal grandparents. Mitchell's family were wealthy at the time of his birth. When he was eight years old, his parents moved with him to
357:). This same story contains several social predictions: votes for American women, a war between the United States and China (with China winning), and interracial marriage.
384:
and is credited with founding the community: he moved to this region when it was comparatively unpopulated, and his local influence led others to build houses there.
368:, where the marriage produced two sons. (The second son was born during a visit to relatives in Bath, Maine.) The need for larger quarters brought the couple to
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The gradual rediscovery of
Mitchell and his work is a direct result of the publication in 1973 of a book-length anthology of his stories, compiled by
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372:, where they lived while their next two sons were born. By all accounts, Mitchell's family life was happy. One of Mitchell's colleagues at the
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Sam
Moskowitz (1973), "The Crystal Man: Stories by Edward Page Mitchell, collected and with a biographical perspective by Sam Moskowitz".
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The one great personal tragedy of
Mitchell's life was a bizarre accident in 1872, when he was twenty years old. On a train journey from
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215:. Mitchell wrote fiction about a man rendered invisible by scientific means ("The Crystal Man", published in 1881) before
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251:("Old Squids and Little Speller"). "Exchanging Their Souls" (1877) is one of the earliest fictional accounts of
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In 1874, Mitchell married Annie Sewall Welch. During the early years of
Mitchell's tenure at the
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the home by electrical transmission, food-pellet concentrates, international broadcasts, and the
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at HorrorMasters.com (archived 2007-10-26) – full text PDF, including dozens by
Mitchell
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208:. Mitchell was recognized as a major figure in the early development of the
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255:. Mitchell retired in 1926, a year before dying of a cerebral hemorrhage.
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in New York City. He became that newspaper's editor in 1897, succeeding
235:"; now perhaps his best-known work) in 1874, a thinking computer and a
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On July 20, 1903, Mitchell became editor-in-chief of the New York
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301:(his birthplace's local paper) were his first published writing.
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With the exception of "The
Tachypomp", which was published in
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328:, now also recognized as an early author of science fiction.
919:
Memoirs of an Editor: Fifty Years of American Journalism
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Mitchell first became a professional journalist at the
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290:'s main branch. His family were Congregationalists.
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266:Mitchell's stories show the strong influence of
247:("The Man without a Body", 1877) and a superior
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286:directly across from the future site of the
51:introducing citations to additional sources
353:of a living human being through freezing (
190:(1852–1927) was an American editorial and
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231:, wrote about faster-than-light travel ("
409:, based on the famous editorial article
41:Relevant discussion may be found on the
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1105:Works by or about Edward Page Mitchell
324:, Massachusetts, where his mentor was
1158:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
1093:Stories by American Authors, Volume 5
406:Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
7:
1150:, with 3 library catalog records
263:giant of American science fiction".
1193:Editors of New York City newspapers
1134:at ForgottenFutures.com – full text
1228:American writers with disabilities
1213:People from Glen Ridge, New Jersey
1208:People from Bloomfield, New Jersey
14:
1218:American male short story writers
853:"The Shadow on the Fancher Twins"
1183:American science fiction writers
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922:. C. Scribner's Sons. p. 76
636:"The Facts in the Ratcliff Case"
438:, all stories were published in
399:Mitchell was portrayed by actor
364:, they lived in an apartment on
34:relies largely or entirely on a
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1130:The Tachypomp and Other Stories
827:"Old Squids and Little Speller"
403:in the 1991 made-for-TV movie
376:was that paper's night editor
1:
1114:Works by Edward Page Mitchell
1082:Works by Edward Page Mitchell
662:"An Uncommon Sort of Spectre"
273:
1188:American short story writers
1138:Classic Horror Short Stories
743:The Clock that Went Backward
705:"The Professor's Experiment"
619:"The Terrible Voyage of the
1120:(public domain audiobooks)
677:The Ablest Man in the World
567:"The Cave of the Splurgles"
541:"The Case of the Dow Twins"
421:while Mitchell was editor.
241:The Ablest Man in the World
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580:"An Extraordinary Wedding"
140:January 22, 1927 (aged 76)
515:"The Inside of the Earth"
489:"The Story of the Deluge"
293:In 1863 he witnessed the
1090:Mitchell contributed to
801:"The Flying Weathercock"
771:"The Last Cruise of the
692:"The Senator's Daughter"
554:"Exchanging Their Souls"
528:"The Man Without a Body"
274:Mitchell's life and work
1223:American male novelists
1203:People from Bath, Maine
1132:by Edward Page Mitchell
1046:"Mitchell, Edward Page"
916:Mitchell, E.P. (1924).
840:"A Day Among the Liars"
502:"The Soul Spectroscope"
476:"Back from that Bourne"
412:Is There a Santa Claus?
288:New York Public Library
143:New London, Connecticut
1198:Bowdoin College alumni
382:Glen Ridge, New Jersey
370:Bloomfield, New Jersey
62:"Edward Page Mitchell"
758:"The Wonderful Corot"
715:"Our War With Monaco"
649:"The Devil's Funeral"
339:Mitchell's entree to
311:sympathetic blindness
206:Charles Anderson Dana
1154:Edward Page Mitchell
1144:Edward Page Mitchell
993:Moskowitz, p. lxviii
906:Moskowitz, p. xxviii
814:"The Legendary Ship"
188:Edward Page Mitchell
118:Edward Page Mitchell
47:improve this article
1148:Library of Congress
1071:Mitchell's obituary
1035:Moskowitz, p. lxxii
966:Moskowitz, p. xxxii
606:"The Pain Epicures"
351:suspended animation
326:Edward Everett Hale
1017:Moskowitz, p. lxxi
1005:The New York Times
984:Moskowitz, p. lxvi
948:Moskowitz, p. xxix
939:Moskowitz, p. xxvi
788:"The Balloon Tree"
593:"The Devilish Rat"
467:Scribner's Monthly
436:Scribner's Monthly
415:which appeared in
395:In popular culture
378:Garrett P. Serviss
1098:Project Gutenberg
1086:Project Gutenberg
1048:. Pulitzer Prizes
1026:Moskowitz, p. lxx
975:Moskowitz, p. lix
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728:"The Crystal Man"
222:The Invisible Man
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295:Draft Riots
217:H. G. Wells
194:writer for
192:short story
170:Nationality
130:Bath, Maine
1167:Categories
926:2023-01-31
868:References
355:cryogenics
239:in 1879 ("
162:journalist
150:Occupation
103:March 2019
73:newspapers
888:: Page ix
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173:American
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