M. A. B. Evans
M. A. B. Evans | |
|---|---|
 M. A. B. Evans, from an 1895 publication | |
| Born | Mary Anna Buck January 27, 1857 Lockport, New York |
| Died | January 6, 1934 Lockport, New York |
| Occupation | Poet |
Mary Anna Buck Evans (January 27, 1857 – January 6, 1934), usually published under the name M. A. B. Evans, was an American poet.
Early life and education
[edit]Mary Anna Buck was born in Lockport, New York, the daughter of John Hildreth Buck and Harriet M. Fletcher Buck. Her father was mayor of Lockport.[1] She graduated from Lockport Academy in 1874.[2][3] Later in life, she was president of the Lockport High School Alumni Association,[4] and annually presented a volume of Shakespeare's works to a member of the school's graduating class, in her husband's memory.[5]
Career
[edit]Evans wrote poetry and published several collections of verse,[3][6] sometimes based on her travels in Europe.[7] Her work appeared often in periodicals, including The Book-lover's Almanac[8] and Vogue.[9] She gave poetry readings at the annual American Music Festival when it was held in Rockport in 1918[10] and 1920.[11] She gave lectures on French and English history, and translated French fiction.[3]
Reviews of Evans's work were mixed.[12] "Some of the rhymes gallop along at a rather lively and cheerful rate," said the Buffalo Enquirer in 1895.[13] "Whatever his sex, it is evident that he is a musician, for he breathes a love of music in many a verse," commented a Brooklyn Daily Eagle reviewer in 1911, after admitting that they did not know which pronouns to use for the poet.[14] Louis Untermeyer dismissed her last collection in The New Republic, with a typographic description: "The Cry of Vashti has almost two hundred pages of excellently printed, technically correct, neatly spaced verse."[15]
Evans was vice-president of the New York chapter of the National League of American Pen Women.[16] She was a longtime member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Buffalo, and the Saturday Club of Rockport.[17] In 1931, she won a spelling bee conducted by the Buffalo Evening News and the Poetry Society of Buffalo.[18]
Publications
[edit]- In Various Moods (1891, 1893)[19]
- Nymphs, Nixies, and Naiads: Legends of the Rhine (1895)[20]
- The Moonlight Sonata and Other Verses (1910)[21]
- The Caliph's Secret and Other Verses (1916)[22]
- The Cry of Vashti (1922)[23]
Personal life
[edit]Buck married Spalding Evans in 1879.[24] Her husband's company manufactured dredges and merry-go-rounds; he died in 1923.[25] They had a daughter, Mary Hale Evans Norton.[26] Evans died from a stroke in 1934, at the age of 77, at her home in Lockport.[5][16] One of her sisters died soon after; she became ill while attending at Evans's funeral.[27]
References
[edit]- ^ "Valuable Heirloom in Home of Mrs. Spalding Evans, Lockport, Made by Father of Joseph Ellicott". The Buffalo Times. 1927-10-30. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. American commonwealth Company. 1914. p. 280.
- ^ a b c "M. A. B. Evans". The Magazine of Poetry and Literary Review. 7 (11): 481–483. November 1895.
- ^ "Annual Meeting of Lockport High School Alumni". The Buffalo Times. 1919-06-23. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Mrs. Mary Evans Dies in Lockport; Widely Known Writer and Club Woman Succumbs to Apoplexy at Home". The Buffalo News. 1934-01-08. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Varied Verse in 'Cry of Vashti'; New Book by M. A. B. Evans Just Off the Press". The Buffalo Times. 1922-11-26. p. 45. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Caliph's Secret; New Book of Poems by M. A. B. Evans is Just Issued". Buffalo Courier. 1916-09-08. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Evans, M. A. B. (1895). "'Ballade of Rare Books' and 'The Price of Tamurlane'". The Book-lover's Almanac. 3: 8, 51.
- ^ Evans, M. A. B. (December 26, 1895). "Ballade of Fashions". Vogue.
- ^ "Sixty Artists at Lockport Festival". Musical America. 28: 11. September 21, 1918.
- ^ Watt, Charles E. (September 24, 1920). "Lockport, N. Y." The Music News. 12 (2): 8, 19–20.
- ^ "Mrs. Spalding Evans' Fine New Book of Poetry". Buffalo Courier. 1910-12-21. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Literary Gossip". The Buffalo Enquirer. 1895-12-18. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Poems of M. A. B. Evans". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1911-03-04. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Untermeyer, Louis (June 27, 1923). "The Average Run". The New Republic. Vol. 35. p. 131.
- ^ a b "Mary Evans, Writer, Dies at Lockport; Manufacturer's Widow was Prominent in Literary Groups". Democrat and Chronicle. 1934-01-07. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Evans, M. A. B. (November 1895). "Saturday Club, Rockport". University Extension Bulletin (11): 359–360.
- ^ "Shorter Words Trip Veteran Spellers of Poetry Society; Mrs. Spaulding Evans Wins Contest". The Buffalo News. 1931-12-31. p. 28. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Evans, M. A. B. (1891). In various moods. New York etc.: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
- ^ Evans, M. A. B. (1895). Nymphs, nixies and naiads; legends of the Rhine. New York, London: G.P. Putnam's sons.
- ^ Evans, M. A. B. (1910). The moonlight sonata, and other verses. New York and London: G.P. Putnam's sons.
- ^ Evans, Mary Anna Buck (1916). The Caliph's Secret: And Other Verses. G.P. Putnam's Sons.
- ^ Evans, M. A. B. (1922). The cry of Vashti. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's sons.
- ^ "Mrs. Spaulding Evans Writes a New Book". The Buffalo Times. 1916-06-12. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Adams, Clarence (1999-01-17). "Four families grew and intermarried, influencing the history of Lockport/Clarence Adams". The Buffalo News. p. 110. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "City Owes Her Symmetry to Great Surveyor". The Buffalo Times. 1927-11-06. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mrs. Fannie Clark Dies in Lockport; Stricken While in City for Funeral of Her Sister". The Buffalo News. 1934-01-17. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.