The Story of Doctor Dolittle Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts. Never before Printed.

- By Hugh Lofting
Font Size
English American children's writer Hugh LoftingLofting in 1935BornHugh John Lofting(1886-01-14)14 January 1886Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, UKDied26 September 1947(1947-09-26) (aged 61)Topanga, California, USAResting placeEvergreen Cemetery, Killingworth, Middlesex County, Connecticut, USAOccupationNovelist, poetGenreChildren's literature, fantasyNotable worksDoctor Dolittle seriesNotable awardsNewbery Medal 1923 SpouseFlora Werner Small (1912–1927), Katherine Ganson Harrower (1929–1929), Josephine Fricker (1925–1947)Children3 Hugh John Lofting (14 January 1886 – 26 September 1947) was an English American writer, trained as a civil engineer, who created the classic children's literature character Doctor Dolittle.[1] The fictional physician to talking animals, based in an English village, first appeared in illustrated letters to his children which Lofting sent from British Army trenches in the First World War. Lofting settled in the United States soon after the war and before his first book was published. Personal life[edit] Lofting, born January 14, 1886, in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to Elizabeth Agnes (Gannon) and John Brien Lofting,[2] was of English and Irish ancestry.[3] His eldest brother, Hilary Lofting, later became a novelist in Australia, having emigrated there in 1915. Lofting was educated at Mount St Mary's College in Spinkhill, Derbyshire. From 1905 to 1906, he studied civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[4][5] Lofting travelled widely as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Irish Guards regiment of the British Army in the First World War. Not wishing to write to his children about the brutal war, he wrote imaginative letters, which later became the foundation of the successful Doctor Dolittle novels for children. Seriously wounded in the war, he emigrated with his family to Killingworth, Connecticut, in 1919.[6] He was married three times and had three children, one of whom, his son Christopher,[7] became the executor of his literary estate. Lofting died September 26, 1947, at his home in Topanga, California[8] from cirrhosis of the liver.[2] He is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Killingworth, Middlesex County, Connecticut.[9] Doctor Dolittle[edit] Main article: Doctor Dolittle The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle Hugh Lofting's character, Doctor John Dolittle, an English physician from "Puddleby-on-the-Marsh" in the West Country, who could speak to animals, first saw light in illustrated letters written to his children from the trenches, when actual news, he later said, was too horrible or too dull. The stories are set in early Victorian England in the 1820s–1840s – The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle gives a date of 1839.[10] The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts Never Before Printed (1920) began the series and won a posthumous Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958. Its first sequel, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922) won a Newbery Medal. Eight novels completed by Lofting followed and two more books were edited after his death. Other works for children[edit] The Story of Mrs Tubbs (1923) and Tommy, Tilly, and Mrs. Tubbs (1936) are picture books aimed at a younger audience than the Doctor Dolittle books. They tell of the old woman and her pets, with whom she can speak, and the animals who help her out of trouble. Porridge Poetry (1924) is the only non-Dolittle work by Lofting still in print. It is a lighthearted, colourfully illustrated book of poems for children. Noisy Nora (1929) is a cautionary tale about a girl who is a noisy eater. The book is printed as if hand-written, and the many illustrations often merge with the text. The Twilight of Magic (1930) is aimed at older readers. It is set in an age when magic is dying and science beginning. This work is the only one of Lofting's books to be illustrated by another person: Lois Lenski.[10] Victory for the Slain[edit] Victory for the Slain (1942), Lofting's only work for adults, consists of a single long poem in seven parts about the futility of war, permeated by the refrain "In war the only victors are the slain". It appeared only in the United Kingdom.[10] Published books[edit] Lofting commented: "For years it was a constant source of shock to me to find my writings amongst 'juveniles'. It does not bother me any more now, but I still feel there should be a category of 'seniles' to offset the epithet".[10] Doctor Dolittle The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920) The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922) Doctor Dolittle's Post Office (1923) Doctor Dolittle's Circus (1924) Doctor Dolittle's Zoo (1925) Doctor Dolittle's Caravan (1926) Doctor Dolittle's Garden (1927) Doctor Dolittle in the Moon (1928) Gub Gub's Book: An Encyclopedia of Food (1932) Doctor Dolittle's Return (1933) Doctor Dolittle's Birthday Book (1936) Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake (1948) Doctor Dolittle and the Green Canary (1950) Doctor Dolittle's Puddleby Adventures (1952) Other The Story of Mrs Tubbs (1923) Porridge Poetry (1924) Noisy Nora (1929) The Twilight of Magic (1930) Tommy, Tilly, and Mrs. Tubbs (1936) Victory for the Slain (1942) References[edit] ^ "Hugh Lofting". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 19 December 2009. ^ a b Death certificate for Hugh John Lofting. Family Search (familysearch.org). Username and password required! ^ "Hugh Lofting (1886–1947)". The Free Library by Farlex (thefreelibrary.com). Confirmed 9 January 2023. ^ "Register of Students" (PDF). Bulletin of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 41 (1): 386. December 1905. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2017. ^ "150 Years in the Stacks – Year 60 – 1920: The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting". Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries. Archived from the original on 29 November 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2017. ^ Cindi Pietrzyk, Connecticut Off the Beaten Path, p. 157. Globe Pequot, 2013. ^ "Obituary of Christopher Clement Lofting". gannonfuneralhome.com. The Gannon Funeral Home, Inc. Retrieved 12 September 2022. ^ "Hugh Lofting Noted Topanga Writer, Passes". Topanga Journal. 3 October 1947. "Requiem mass was recited Tuesday morning ..."."Topanga Journal and Malibu Monitor from Topanga, California on October 3, 1947 · 1". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 15 September 2022. ^ "Cemeteries". Hartford Courant. 16 July 1999. "Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut on July 16, 1999 · Page 41". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 15 September 2022. ^ a b c d G. D. Schmidt (1992), Hugh Lofting. New York: Twayne Publishing. External links[edit] Wikisource has original works by or about:Hugh Lofting Children's literature portalFantasy portal Works by Hugh Lofting in eBook form at Standard Ebooks Works by Hugh Lofting at Project Gutenberg Works by Hugh Lofting at Faded Page (Canada) Works by or about Hugh Lofting at Internet Archive Works by Hugh Lofting at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) A Hugh Lofting website First Editions UK – with images Hugh Lofting at Library of Congress (including twelve "from old catalog") Awards Preceded byHendrik Willem Van Loon Newbery Medal winner 1923 Succeeded byCharles Hawes vteHugh Lofting's Doctor DolittleBooks The Story of Doctor Dolittle The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle Doctor Dolittle's Post Office Doctor Dolittle's Circus Doctor Dolittle's Zoo Doctor Dolittle's Caravan Doctor Dolittle's Garden Doctor Dolittle in the Moon Doctor Dolittle's Return Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake Doctor Dolittle and the Green Canary Doctor Dolittle's Puddleby Adventures Gub Gub's Book Short stories "Doctor Dolittle Meets a Londoner in Paris" FilmsTheatrical Doctor Dolittle Dr. Dolittle Dr. Dolittle 2 Dolittle Direct-to-video Dr. Dolittle 3 Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts Other Characters TV series Stage musical "Talk to the Animals" Authority control databases International FAST ISNI VIAF National Norway Spain France BnF data Germany Israel Belgium United States Latvia Japan Czech Republic Australia Greece 2 Korea Croatia Netherlands Poland Academics CiNii Artists MusicBrainz ULAN People Deutsche Biographie Trove Other SNAC IdRef
THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE THE FIRST CHAPTER PUDDLEBY
He lived in a little town called, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. All the folks, young and old, knew him well by sight. And whenever he walked down the street in his high hat everyone would say, "There goes the Doctor!-He's a clever man." And the dogs and the children would all run up and follow behind him; and[2] even the crows that lived in the church-tower would caw and nod their heads.
The house he lived in, on the edge of the town, was quite small; but his garden was very large and had a wide lawn and stone seats and weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, Sarah Dolittle, was housekeeper for him; but the Doctor looked after the garden himself.
He was very fond of animals and kept many kinds of pets. Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen closet and a hedgehog in the cellar. He had a cow with a calf too, and an old lame horse-twenty-five years of age-and chickens, and pigeons, and two lambs, and many other animals. But his favorite pets were Dab-Dab the duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, Polynesia the parrot, and the owl Too-Too.
His sister used to grumble about all these animals and said they made the house untidy. And one day when an old lady with rheumatism came to see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog who was sleeping on the sofa and never came[3] to see him any more, but drove every Saturday all the way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten miles off, to see a different doctor.
woman leaving doctor's house "And she never came to see him any more" Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him and said, "John, how can you expect sick people to come and see you when you keep all these animals in the house? It's a fine doctor would have his parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! That's the fourth personage these animals have driven away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they wouldn't come near your house again-no matter how sick they are. We are getting poorer every day. If you go on like this, none of the best people will have you for a doctor."
"But I like the animals better than the 'best people'," said the Doctor. "You are ridiculous," said his sister, and walked out of the room. So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and more animals; and the people who came to see him got less and less. Till at last he had no one left-except the Cat's-meat-Man, who didn't mind any kind of animals. But the Cat's-meat-Man[5] wasn't very rich and he only got sick once a year-at Christmas-time, when he used to give the Doctor sixpence for a bottle of medicine.
Sixpence a year wasn't enough to live on-even in those days, long ago; and if the Doctor hadn't had some money saved up in his money-box, no one knows what would have happened. And he kept on getting still more pets; and of course it cost a lot to feed them. And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler.
Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live in a bureau-drawer. But the money he got for that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit he wore on Sundays and went on becoming poorer and poorer. And now, when he walked down the street in his high hat, people would say to one another, "There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a time when he was the best known doctor in the West Country-Look at him now-He hasn't any money and his stockings are full of holes!"
But the dogs and the cats and the children still ran up and followed him through the town-the same as they had done when he was rich.

Current Page: 1

Word Lists:

Caw : the harsh cry of a crow or similar bird.

Pantry : a small room or closet in which food, dishes, and utensils are kept.

Rheumatism : any disease marked by inflammation and pain in the joints, muscles, or fibrous tissue, especially rheumatoid arthritis.

Crow : a large bird with mostly glossy black plumage, a heavy bill, and a raucous voice.

Tidy : arranged neatly and in order

Lame : (especially of an animal) unable to walk without difficulty as the result of an injury or illness affecting the leg or foot

Calf : a young bovine animal, especially a domestic cow or bull in its first year

Grumble : complain about something in a bad-tempered way

Cellar : a room below ground level in a house, typically one used for storing wine or coal

Linen : cloth woven from flax

More...

Additional Information:

Rating: C Words in the Passage: 711 Unique Words: 289 Sentences: 33
Noun: 239 Conjunction: 77 Adverb: 43 Interjection: 6
Adjective: 43 Pronoun: 67 Verb: 95 Preposition: 67
Letter Count: 2,744 Sentiment: Positive Tone: Neutral Difficult Words: 82
EdSearch WebSearch
Questions and Answers

Please wait while we generate questions and answers...

Related Passages:

Related Passages

Ratings & Comments

Write a Review
5 Star
0
0
4 Star
0
0
3 Star
0
0
2 Star
0
0
1 Star
0
0
0

0 Ratings & 0 Reviews

Report an Error