The Mississippi Bubble

The Mississippi Bubble
AuthorEmerson Hough
IllustratorHenry Hutt[1]
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherBowen-Merrill Company
Publication date
April 1902
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages454

The Mississippi Bubble is a 1902 novel by American author Emerson Hough. It was Hough's first bestseller, and the fourth-best selling novel in the United States in 1902.[2]

The historical novel revolves around the story of John Law (1671-1729) and the "Mississippi Bubble", an economic bubble of speculative investment in the French colony of Louisiana.[3][4]

The book sold well from the time of its release, with The New York Times reporting 1,000 copies selling per day in the first month of its release.[5] It became the number one best-selling book in America for the month in the August 1902 issue of The Bookman.[6]

Hough wrote the book at night, working between 10pm and 4am, after his day job at Forest and Stream magazine in Chicago. He earned $11,640.15 from it.[7]

  1. ^ (May 10, 1902). A young woman ..., The New York Times (small item reports that a young woman started reading the novel while waiting on Hutt and offered to post as Catherine for the frontispiece)
  2. ^ Hackett, Alice Payne. Seventy Years of Best Sellers 1895-1965, p. 98 (1967) (the bestseller lists for 1895-1912 in this volume are derived from the lists published in The Bookman (New York))
  3. ^ O'crast, P.R. Emerson Hough's "The Mississippi Bubble" (book review), The Bookman (New York), Vol. XV, No. 4, pp. 374-76 (June 1902)
  4. ^ (May 3, 1902). Other New Books, St. Louis Republic
  5. ^ (June 14, 1902). Notes and News, The New York Times
  6. ^ Best Selling Books, The Bookman (New York) (August 1902, p. 600) (It entered the Top 6 list in the July 1902 issue at No. 2, rose to No. 1 in August, fell to No. 3 in the September and October issues, and came in at No. 4 in November)
  7. ^ Johnson, Carole M. Emerson Hough's American West, from Books at Iowa 21 (November 1974)