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Author: Hitchcock, David

Biography:

Hitchcock, David (1773-1849: WBIS)

Son of a shoemaker, he was born in Bethlem or Bethlehem CT, the eldest of six children. His father died in 1790, at which point the son's schooling ended. He briefly tried farming with a neighbour, then served an incomplete apprenticeship with another shoemaker. At twenty, he moved to Massachusetts, eventually settling in Great Barrington. Most of the biographical information about Hitchcock is found in the prefaces--written by himself, or (ostensibly) by his publisher--which present him, like Bloomfield in Britain, as a working-class author. He married in 1799 and had at least three children. He earned his living as a cobbler, composed while he worked and wrote the lines down after work (also like Bloomfield), and claimed to write mainly to supplement the family income. (Appleton; ancestry.com 25 Mar. 2019)

 

Books written (6):

The Knight and Quack: Or, a Looking-glass for Impostors, in Physic, Philosophy, or Government. An Allegorical Poem.

Hudson [NY]: printed at the Balance Press, 1805

The Shade of Plato: Or, a Defence of . . . Religion, Morality, & Government. A Poem, in Four Parts.

Hudson [NY]: printed at the Balance Press, 1805

The Poetical Works . . . . Containing the Shade of Plato, Knight and Quack, and the Subtlety of Foxes.

Boston: Etheridge and Bliss, 1806

A Poetical Dictionary; or Popular Terms Illustrated in Rhyme; with Explanatory Remarks. For the Use of Society in General, and Politicians in Particular. Part First .

Lenox [MA]: Lewis's Press, 1808

The Social Monitor; or, a Series of Poems, on Some of the Most Important and Interesting Subjects; being a Continuation of . . . "A Poetical Dictionary . . ."..

Stockbridge [MA]: printed for the author by H. Willard, 1812

The Social Monitor; or, a Series of Poems, on Some of the Most Important and Interesting Subjects.

2nd edn. New York: Gould, Banks and Gould, Prior and Dunning, Isaac Riley, and Collins and Co., 1814