Bret Harte biographical card, Coloma, California, circa 1902

Subjects: Portraits Public Figures
Card type: Printed photo
Date: c. 1907 (Golden Age)

Back of Bret Harte biographical card, Coloma, California, circa 1902, c. 1907 printed photo postcard — Back

About this subject

A printed card featuring a halftone portrait of Bret Harte at left, with a long biographical text about his life and career printed on the right and below. Published by Ashers' Photos, Coloma, Calif., as part of the Interesting Facts series No. 16.

Postcard Details

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PublisherAshers' Photos

INTERESTING FACTS about BRET HARTE Bret Harte - poet, writer, dramatic yet faithful herald of California's heroic age, was born in Albany, N. Y., August 25th, 1836. His forbears, of English descent blended with Hebrew & Dutch strains, possessed culture & refinement. Bret Harte's boyhood days were spent in a home pervaded with a passion for literature & his perfection of style as a writer was largely influenced by a Mother's keen, critical, intellectual faculty. Bret Harte was a precocious lad. At the age of 5 he burlesqued the rather bald language of his Primer. At 6 he was reading Shakespeare & at 7 became a student of Dickens, whose writings markedly affected his whole career. At 14, during an illness of 2 months, he as- tonished his mother by learning to read Greek. His first poem, "Autumnal Musings," published surrepti- tiously in the New York "Sunday Atlas", was written at the age of 11. School days ended at the age of 12 & he immediately entered a lawyer's office & became self supporting before he was 16. In 1854 Bret Harte, with his sister, Margaret, came to California. Arriving in San Francisco via Nicaragua, he left the next morning for Oakland where his mother was living with her second husband, the courtly, cultured, generous Col. Andrew Williams, Oak- land's first Mayor. For a year Bret Harte made his home with them and during that time, no doubt, had that gambling experience he so graphically depicts in his "Bohemian Days in San Francisco." In 1856 we find him a tutor at Alamo, in the San Ramon Valley; & next year, at the age of 21, a wells Fargo express- man in Humboldt County. His predecessor was shot through the arm by a high- wayman, his successor was killed. To be "held up" was a common occurrence & breakdowns & floods were alarmingly frequent, but Bret Harte bore a charmed life. This experience gave birth to such characters as "Yuba Bill," "Col. Starbottle," etc. Bret Harte, in these 2 impressionable years, contacted California pioneer life in many of its varied colorful forms & his keen, sympathetic insight, together with his amazing literary genius, uniquely fitted him for its beau- tiful, effective & truthful portrayal. His short session as school teacher gave him a profound & sympathetic knowledge of children, magnificently uti- lized in "Cressy," "The Youngest Prospector in Calaveras," etc. His story, "How I went to the Mines," possesses the ear marks of autobiography & is re- garded as such by his sisters. His editorial in the "Northern Californian" written during the absence of its editor, scathingly denouncing the murder of Indians, brought an angry mob together for the purpose of hanging the editor. Bret Harte awaited their coming with a brace of pis- tols, but the timely arrival of a few U. S. Cavalrymen averted the danger. He returned to San Francisco in 1857 & from the position of typesetter with the "Golden Era" he was quickly promoted to the editorial room & thus began his literary career. On August 11th, 1862 he married Miss Anna Griswold at San Rafael, & in 1864 was appointed Secretary of the California Mint, an office he held for 6 years. During this period he made the acquaintance of Rev. Starr King & Mark Twain. At Starr King's suggestion he wrote the noble poem "Reveille" that fired San Francisco with patriotic fervor in Civil War days, & it was in memory of Starr King he wrote "Relieving Guard," the finest of all his poetic efforts. Of Bret Harte, Mark Twain magnanimously said, "Bret Harte trimmed & trained & schooled me patiently until he changed me from an awkward utterer of coarse grotesqueness to a writer of paragraphs & chapters that have found a certain favor in the eyes of even some of the very decentest people in the land." Bret Harte was the first editor of the "Overland Monthly" & its second num- ber, containing the story of "The Luck of Roaring Camp," made his literary reputation. It was followed by his poem, "The Heathen Chinee." Within a few weeks the fame of Bret Harte had spread over the entire English-speaking world. In 1871, tempting offers from the east had conspired with his constitu- tional improvidence to remove him from his Mecca of the Argonauts to the Atlantic coast, where he was received with princely hospitality. In 1878, he was appointed U. S. Commercial Agent at Crefeld, Prussia & in 1880 was transferred to the Consulship at Glasgow, Scotland. Deprived of this office in 1885 he went to London, where he labored industriously at literary tasks until summoned to the Great Beyond, May 5th, 1902. Bret Harte's accurate & masterly depiction of California early days in prose & poetry, together with other writings, made generous contribution to the world's best literature. ASHERS' PHOTOS, Coloma, Calif. Interesting facts series No. 16. Other numbers - "Mark Twain", "John Muir", etc. --- POST CARD CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS PLACE STAMP HERE

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Postcard record

Series	Interesting facts series No. 16
Condition	Good
Place mentioned	Coloma, CA
Place mentioned	London
Place mentioned	New York, NY
Place mentioned	San Francisco, CA
Notes	White border around printed area; horizontal crease/fold across middle; no handwriting or stamp visible on front. No postmark. Unused divided-back 'POST CARD' with CORRESPONDENCE / ADDRESS panels and a 'PLACE STAMP HERE' box; dealer pencil mark 'RML 3 4/-' at top left. No message, no address, no stamp.

Cite this card

Bret Harte biographical card, Coloma, California, circa 1902, postcard, c. 1907. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/bret-harte-biographical-card-coloma-california-circa-1902. Accessed October 5, 2026.